The death of Ireland-born Major General Richard Montgomery during a raging snowstorm on December 31, 1775, while leading the desperate assault on the mighty fortress-city of Quebec during his audacious bid to conquer Canada. Montgomery was America’s first general to be killed in combat during the American Revolution and became its first martyr. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 1 7/29/2015 12:23:13 PM Proud of his Ulster Province, Northern Ireland heritage, General Daniel Morgan was a tough Virginia frontiersman of exceptional leadership ability. He continued to lead the doomed assault on Quebec after Major General Montgomery’s death. Morgan was captured with most of his men in attempting to do the impossible on the last day of 1775. Morgan conceived one of the few tactical masterpieces of the American Revolution when he won a remarkable victory at the battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, on January 17, 1781. Author’s Collection.
General Henry Knox was the dynamic son of County Derry immigrants. A talented, self-taught visionary with an abundance of tactical and strategic insights, Knox played early and multiple key roles that bestowed George Washington with a highly efficient artillery arm. The commander in chief and his army benefited immeasurably from Knox’s many gifts as a natural leader, orga- nizer, and innovative free thinker. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 2 7/29/2015 12:23:15 PM General John Stark was a resourceful Indian fighter who had served with distinction as the top lieutenant of Major Robert Rogers’s famed Rangers during the French and Indian War. The exploits of this son of Northern Ireland immigrants became the stuff of legend in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Leading mostly Presbyterian Irish soldiers like himself, he orchestrated a masterful victory at Bennington, Vermont, on August 16, 1777, which helped to pave the way for the decisive victory of America’s northern army at Saratoga, New York, in October 1777. Author’s Collection
General John Sullivan was the pugnacious son of immigrants from Ulster Province, Northern Ireland. He was captured at the disastrous Battle of Long Island, New York, on August 27, 1776. In a solid vote of confidence from Washington, who greatly respected this self- made man and former attorney, Sullivan commanded the First Division of Washington’s surprise attack that captured a full Hessian brigade at Trenton, New Jersey, on December 26, 1776. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 3 7/29/2015 12:23:18 PM Of Scotch-Irish descent, General Anthony Wayne was one of Washington’s best lieutenants , and he commanded the elite Pennsyl- vania Continental troops. Wayne’s Pennsylvania troops consisted of so many Irish and Scotch-Irish soldiers that the Pennsylvania Line, one of the largest units of Washington’s Army, became known as the “Line of Ireland.” These troops were among the finest fighting men of Washington’s Army. Author’s Collection.
General Anthony Wayne’s audacious attack overran the formidable British bas- tion of Stony Point on July 16, 1779. Throughout the war, Wayne was well known for his aggressiveness and hard-hitting style. Wayne’s capture of Stony Point was an amazing tactical success that displayed his skill and daring. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 4 7/29/2015 12:23:19 PM Map of Wayne’s brilliant assault on Stony Point, resulting in a remarkable success that astounded leading military men on both sides.
Andrew Jackson was the son of Irish immigrant parents from Northern Ireland who became the seventh president of the United States. Continuing the Scotch-Irish family tradition of fighting against the British, the wiry teenager served as a South Carolina partisan in the nightmarish civil war that consumed South Carolina and destroyed his family after the disastrous fall of Charles- ton in May 1780. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 5 7/29/2015 12:23:21 PM Partisan Francis Marion, of part Scotch-Irish descent, won widespread fame as the daring “Swamp Fox” of the American Revolution. During the darkest days of the war in the South, he kept South Carolina’s resistance effort alive against the victorious British and Loyalists after the surrender of Charleston. This famous scene depicts Francis Marion offering his meager fare of potatoes to a British officer at the hidden partisan encampment on Snow’s Island, South Carolina. Author’s Collection.
An early depiction of Colonel Henry Knox’s artillery firing from the high ground of Trenton’s northern edge, where Washington’s Second Division under General Nathanael Greene attacked in conjunction with General John Sullivan’s First Division. Originally published in Life of George Washington by Washington Irving, 1859. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 6 7/29/2015 12:23:24 PM A black Irish soldier, an Irish im- migrant who was distinguished by dark hair and features, of the second Pennsylvania Continental Regiment. 1778 by Don Troiani. Citation: Don Troiani, www.historicalimagebank. com.
Born in Ballymena, Ulster Province, and formerly a physician, Lieutenant Colonel James McHenry served as one of George Washington’s most able staff officers of his headquarters “family.” Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, birthplace of the national anthem, was named in honor of this capable, gregarious Irishman. Author’s Collection.
How the Irish Won the Revolution Insert Images.indd 7 7/29/2015 12:23:27 PM A Celtic soldier of the British Army, which contained large numbers of Irish and Celtic fighting men who battled for years against the Irish of Washington’s Army. 42nd Highland Drummer © Jaime Cooper, 2007
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