“HALF THE ARMY (AMERICAN) IS SCOTCH-IRISH. ” CH: 11

Chapter 11

“HALF THE ARMY (AMERICAN) IS SCOTCH-IRISH. ”
Joseph Galloway.

When the American colonists took up arms to oppose what they judged to be unjust British measures against them, the support from the Ulster born people and their descendants in America for the Colonial cause was immediate and whole-hearted. It was offered in all parts of the country, not only in the original thirteen states, but in the widespread dangerous frontier areas, too. Their help came, not only from men who enrolled to fight, but also from the people of that race generally. The statement quoted at the beginning of this chapter was made to an investigating committee of the British House of Commons by a man, who, as a former member of the American Continental Congress, had been in a position to know the composition of the Colonial forces. It was, too, in keeping with the findings of several recognised historians since.

Woodburn observed that the town of Londonderry, in New Hampshire, had sent more soldiers to aid Washington’s army than any other town in the colonies. The reader may recall that this was the place settled originally by those Ulster people who had sailed in the “Robert.” Again, even before the Continental Congress had appointed George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, they sent out a call for the raising of companies of riflemen to Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

Froude points out that the response from Pennsylvania, which has been described as “the hub of Scotch. Irish settlements” was so enthusiastic that Congress had to authorise the forming of nine companies instead of six, previously asked from that state. These were organised under the command of Ulster born Colonel William Thomson as Thomson’s Rifle Battalion and gave outstanding service on many battlefields. Lecky wrote that the privates and N.c.O.’s of the famous Pennsylvania Line were almost entirely men from the North of Ireland. That unit of the American forces had a most enviable record for the outstanding part it played in the critical days of the early campaign in the New England states. At that time in the war, Washington’s forces had been sustaining crushing defeats at New York, Philadelphia, and Brandywine, but the firm, courageous stand made by the Ulster Scots in that Line prevented a demoralising rout.

The enthusiasm of the men from Ulster was manifested also in the response of Daniel Morgan and his fellow Presbyterians from the Valley of Virginia, when the call came from Boston for help. They made a forced mounted journey of over 600 miles in 3 weeks’ time, without losing a single man, and went almost immediately into battle at Bunker Hill. A similar wholehearted effort was made by men of the same race in the frontier areas of North and South Carolina, and even farther West, when the British troops under “Bloody” Ban Tarleton, were sweeping across the Southern colonies, laying them waste, as they gave to the settlers the merciless “Tarleton quarter,” sparing few, if any.

Colonel William Campbell and Major Charles McDowell appealed for support and immediately it was forthcoming from the backwoodsmen from the Westem border areas. As it has been recorded, “the frontiersmen rallied to the cause, achieved unity of command, and (at Cowpens and King’s Mountain) destroyed their enemy in a remarkably business.like manner.”

The quantity of the Ulster Scots who took up arms in the Revolutionary cause is indisputable, their military performances in the battles that followed proved that their soldierly qualities were also well up to the standard demonstrated at Londonderry, Enniskillen, and the Boyne. They have been described as “the first to start and the last to quit.” Lecky wrote also “that no troops in that army had shown themselves
more courageous, more patient, and more devoted.“‘ George Washington certainly had no doubts of their loyalty and dependability When he stated, “If defeated everywhere, I shall make my last stand for liberty among the Scotch, Irish of my native Virginia, Surely a most revealing tribute from one who had suffered many heart breaking disappointments, betrayals, and defeats in his campaigns.

He had spent his younger days as a surveyor on the lands of Lord Fairfax in that State, among the many Ulster people there. He had also stated after the demoralising defeats around New York and his attempts to build up his forces afterwards in the Winter quarters, “At Valley Forge many deserted, but the Scotch. Irish endured every privation without a mumur, naked and distressed on a cold, black hill, sleeping under frost without clothes or blanket.”‘ Well might Wertenbaker write, “The Scotch lrish constituted the very backbone of Washington’s army at Valley Forge. When many others deserted him, they remained, despite cold and hunger to keep alive the waning cause.”

The support of their ordinary folk, too, for the American cause was also spontaneous, whole.hearted, and lasting. This is exemplified by an occasion recorded by the American historian Ford. When Washington retreated across the Delaware, dispirited after setbacks at Long Island, Harlem Plains, and White Plains, he was amazed by the help he got in clothing, blankets, and food supplied by the Ulster Scots in Northampton and Bucks Counties. Ford also relates how at that dark hour the Presbyterian minister, Rev. John Rosbrugh, in that area raised a company of militia to help. Professor Leyburn of Washington and Lee University has described, too, how the people of that race in the Valley of Virginia sent 137 barrels of flour to relieve the poor of Boston when supplies were restricted after the “Boston Tea Party.”‘ It is recorded as well by W.J. Marshall in his book “Ulster Sails West” how in 1780, when the American army was in really sore straits for money and supplies, men of Ulster Scottish stock gave most generously.

Blair McClenaghan contributed $50,000, James Mease, born in Strabane, gave $25,000, while his uncle John helped with $20,000. John Dunlap from the same town, John Murray from Belfast, John Donaldson from Dungannon, John Nixon, Thomas Barclay, and John Nesbitt, all with Ulster connections contributed most generously. The number and quality of Ulster Scottish prominent army officers in the Revolutionary War were in keeping with the quantity and excellence of the privates and N.C.O.’ s. Their leadership was courageous, decisive, and devoted – not only in the Northem and Southem sectors of the conflict, but also in the often forgotten, but vitally important frontier areas, especially in the North West around the Ohio basin.

The Northem sector embraced, too, the fiercely contested Canadian Border area, and, there, also, generals of Ulster blood played prominent parts – on both sides. W.F. Marshall lists almost thirty generals connected with the Red Hand Province who served with distinction in the War. Indeed so numerous and well respected were they that a provision of the Constitution of the United States regarding eligibility for election to the first House of Representatives was made so that those bom in Ulster could be included. (Ford)

Two of the most brillant and outstanding commanders in the battles on the Canadian Border were Ulstermen, who ironically fought on opposite sides. They were General Richard Montgomery and General Guy Carleton. Both were born in the Province of Ulster, Montgomery in Co Donegall and Carleton only a few miles away in Strabane in County Tyrone. They had both served in the. British army, indeed had taken part in several campaigns almost alongside each other. After participating as captains under General Wolfe at Quebec, they had parted. Montgomery sold his commission and settled in New York State, where he married into the Livingston family. On the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he joined the forces of the Colonists and was soon in command in the attack on Canada. Meanwhile Carleton had retumed to service in Canada, where he was appointed Govemor in 1767, and in 1775 was placed in command of the British forces there.

It was almost inevitable that the two former friends would meet on opposing sides. Montgomery’s campaign was brillant in its planning and execution and he quickly took St. John’s and Montreal. His forces then combined with those under Benedict Amold and they moved in to attack the British at Quebec. There, Guy Carleton was in command. Under the free and easy conditions of enlistment under which the American militia served, the date for many of them to leave was near. As a result, the date for attack had to be hastened. The battle took place in a blinding snow storm. In spite of the adverse conditions, the attack was going well, when Montgomery fell fatally wounded in a charge on a strong cannon emplacement. Since Amold, too, was wounded, the assault faltered. At that time, another Ulster leader was on hand to take over the command of the Americans in that sector. It was Daniel Morgan, and he almost achieved a most unlikely victory.

After the battle General Carleton sought out the body of his former colleague, and had it buried with full military honours, an act which displeased some of the British politicians. He was the first general of the American forces to be killed in the War for Independence, and the State authorities in 1818 had his remains removed from there and reburied in New York City. A statue selected by Benjamin Franklin was erected by a grateful nation. Regarding his friend, Guy Carleton, it has been estimated that, although an outstanding soldier, it was as a statesman that he served Britain best. Canada could so easily in those days have gone over to the aid of America, but his tact and tolerance prevented that. It was largely through his efforts that this large country was preserved as part of the British Empire.

Another Ulster Scot, General John Stark, from Londonderry in New Hampshire, had gained a reputation as a daring, but independent, leader in wars against the Red Indians prior to the Revolution. Even when he was captured and ordered by an Indian chief to carry out a menial task, he showed his spirit by refusing, and throwing the proffered tools into a nearby pond. This act earned him the chiefs admiration and not his anger. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he hurriedly gathered for service some 800 volunteers of the Green Mountain Rangers, mostly descendants of the settlers from Ulster who had landed in New England in the early 18th century. They enthusiastically went to play their part in the struggle for independence. Stark was soon appointed Colonel of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment, a unit which he led with great skill and success at Bunker Hill. His subsequent out-thinking and out-manoeuvring of the British commander in various battles led to his being dubbed ‘Burgoyne’s evil spirit.’ Leading the Colonial army, he inflicted one of the most decisive defeats on the British forces at Bennington. It has been described as one of the most spectacular successes achieved by American troops during the Revolutionary War.

Major General John Stark

Following several discouraging defeats, it turned the tide of the struggle America’s way in the Northern sector. Stark in the encounter at Bennington had brought about the success largely by disregarding rather timid orders given to him, during the battle. He was later, first of all, reprimanded, but then put in complete command of the entire Northern Department of the American forces. He remains a national hero in U.S.A. even today, and justifiably so, because he repeated his out-witting of Burgoyne at the later battles of Saratoga. Some of his instructions to his troops were simple in their wording, but most practical and extremely effective when carried out in battle. “Boys aim at their waistbands!” could hardly be bettered for controlling aim and ensuring that nearly every shot counted. He refused to rush his men even under the heaviest enemy fire, and brought about the calming down of his less experienced young officers by telling them, “One fresh man in action is worth ten fatigued.” His most quoted saying revealed his utter dedication to the American cause, “We’ll beat them before night, or Molly Stark will be a widow.” He had a town named after him – Starkville. In 1809, a group of veterans from the Battle of Bennington gathered to commemorate the battle. General Stark, then aged 81, was not well enough to travel, but he sent a letter to his comrades, which closed

“Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.”

The motto Live Free or Die became the New Hampshire state motto in 1945

Two other sons of the Ulster Scottish settlers in New England played such distinguished parts in the Revolutionary War near the Commander-in-Chief that they must have been among his closest friends. They were Joseph Reed and Henry Knox. The Knoxes had sailed with the Rev Dr Boyd to New Hapmshire where they established the town of Londonderry in 1718. Henry was born there in 1750.  Reed’s grandfather came from Carrickfergus, in County Antrim, before settling in New Jersey. His father became a wealthy merchant in Trenton. On the outbreak of war, Joseph was appointed Lieutenant Colonel. He became Staff Officer to Washington, and also his military secretary. When the campaign around New York was going very badly, it was Reed who suggested to the Commander-in-Chief that a diversion would have to be organised. The Hessians, who were employed as mercenaries in the British forces, were, to their very great surprise, attacked at Trenton. About this place Reed’s intimate knowledge proved of inestimable help, and the slow-moving Germans were quickly overcome by the Colonists. Washington’s forces immediately occupied the abandoned town.

A similar surprise attack was made possible by a night reconnaisance under the leadership of Reed, during which twelve prisoners were taken, The British force was expecting a further attack from Trenton, but Washington, because of the information got from prisoners, moved by night. and attacked at Princeton, This was so successful that Lecky, the historian, wrote that as a result of the victory” a fatal damp was thrown upon the cause of the Loyalists in America, from which it never fully recovered,” It is recorded that Washington valued Reed’s abilities most highly, Joseph declined the position of Chief Justice in the new administration, but later became President of the Supreme Executive of Pennsylvania.

Henry Knox has been described as the most illustrious soldier of the Revolution after Washington himself. He was bom in Boston in 1750 of County Antrim stock, He seems to have been interested in military matters even in his boyhood, especially in larger guns, When the American seige of Boston had been successfully repulsed by the British for some time, Knox proposed to Washington the moving of heavy artillery from Ticonderoga to attack the city, The Commander-in-Chief agreed. By using over 40 sledges, 80 yoke of oxen, a small number of men, and a great deal of ingenuity, he had moved approximately 60 tons of heavy cannons and mortars over 400 miles of extremely bad roads, They were successfully used in the taking of this strategically important town. Knox called this assortment of guns, “his noble train of artillery,” Later, as the extremely efficient Chief of Artillery, he advised on the laying-out of defence positions for all vulnerable points in the different theatres of war, set up the Springfield arsenal in Massachusetts, and “turned a makeshift organisation of inadequate weapons and inexperienced men into a combat arm that very nearly met all Washington’s needs,” Right down to the final victory of Yorktown, his influence was effective in bringing continuous successes, Washington’s esteem and affection for this Ulster Scot was demonstrated at the formal leave-taking of his officers by the Commander-in-Chief at the end of hostilities. Knox was the first he greeted, and it is recorded that both men were in tears. He was appointed Secretary of War in Washington’s first cabinet in 1785. He has been assessed as “a major figure in the winning of American independence,”

Just as Scotch-Irish Green Mountain Rangers, so ably led by John Stark, gained a decisive victory over the British at Bennington in the Northern sector, so it was that in the South two forces of the same race ably led by two officers of a similar racial background, by two resounding victories began a run of American successes that culminated in the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown, Those two leaders were General Daniel Morgan and Colonel William Campbell the battles, Cowpens and King’s Mountain. Daniel Morgan was often referred to as “the Old Wagoner” because, as a young man, he had served in that capacity in drawing supplies in wars against the Indians, Born at Ballinascreen, in County Londonderry, in Ulster, he had settled with his father near Durham Ironworks in Pennsylvania, His courage was shown on two occasions in his youth. His refusal to perform some degrading job for a British officer earned for him a hard blow with the flat of the military man’s sword on his face. Morgan immediately retaliated knocking the officer down. He was seized and received 500 lashes not unusually a fatal punishment. He later claimed that the British owed him one lash, as the drummer had miscounted. On another occasion, in spite of his being severely wounded by an Indian bullet, which passed through his neck and knocked out several teeth, he rode on to deliver his despatches. It has already been related how he led the volunteers from the Valley of Virginia to Boston and how he almost achieved a most unlikely victory at Quebec. He led his excellent riflemen so well and with such effective response from them at the battles of Saratoga, the British General Burgoyne following his being surrounded and defeated said to him after the battle:

“Your Scotch-Irish Rifles is the finest in the world”. 

Morgan, by his skilful leadership earned for himself the praise of the historian Bancroft as

“the ablest commander of light troops in the world,” and affirmed that in no European army of that day were there troops like those he had trained.

This was his assessment following his study of Old Wagoner’s tactics and command of his forces at the battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. His orders there for delayed, well aimed volleys of fire were so ably carried out by the expert riflemen from Virginia, who then fell back to allow their equally skilled comrades to continue in a similar way, that the effect on the British troops was devastating. Almost the entire enemy force was killed, wounded or captured. Every frontiersman, according to Fiske, while marching at the “Double Quick” could cleave with a rifle-ball a squirrel at 300 yards.” “Bloody” Tarleton’s reputation as a commander never really recovered from this disaster, For his brillant leadership and the victory, Congress awarded General Morgan a gold medal, General Andrew Pickens, a sword of honour, and Colonel Howard, a silver medal. All three, as well as the men under their command, were Ulster Scots, Morgan and Pickens were elders of the Presbyterian Church. Daniel Morgan died on 2nd July, 1802. At the funeral to the Presbyterian cemetery at Winchester, seven of the riflemen he had led to Boston in 1775 escorted the body of their beloved commander.

Maud Glasgow, the historian, records that both Washington and Jefferson assessed the battle of King’s Mountain as the turning point of the Revolutionary War. It certainly was fought at a time when the Americans had suffered many military setbacks. Their main force in the South under General Gates had been defeated at Camden, and units under Generals Ferguson and Tarleton were threatening to over-run the whole Southern states. The battle of King’s Mountain had several features worthy of mention. Almost to a man the Colonial force and their officers were from the Ulster Scottish communities of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and from as far as West as the settlements on the Watauga and Holston Rivers. The men were all volunteers who had come promptly to help in response to the calls from officers of their districts. Most of them wore no military uniform, but the customary frontiersman’s clothing of fringed buckskin, hunting shirt, broad ornamented belt, coon-skin cap, similar to that worn later by the redoubtable Davy Crockett, and coarse woollen leggings. Many of them had taken part a few years earlier in the first skirmish of the Revolutionary War at the Alamance River. Employing the same tactics as those adopted at the Cowpens, of firing and falling back, they completely overwhelmed the British forces led by the renowned Scotsman, Patrick Ferguson. He, like many of his men, was killed by deadly, accurate firing from the backwoodsmen’s Dieckart rifles. The remainder of his force were taken prisoners. In little over an hour the threat to that region was nullified.

The leader of the Colonists was Colonel William Campbell. His family had settled in Londonderry in Ulster, after leaving their native Argyll in Scotland. He had been educated at the former log cabin school, Augusta Academy, later to become the Washington and Lee University. He was married to the sister of Patrick Henry, the dedicated, fiery Congressman, who from tile start had advocated independence. Powerfully built and over six feet in height, Campbell had already established a reputation for his no-nonsense”, just dealings with lawbreakers, in his civil as well as his military life. His men recognised in him a trustworthy leader they would follow anywhere. It is recorded that at King’s Mountain, “Begrimed and black with gun-powder and with nothing to distinguish him from any private soldier, he moved up and down in that fearful field to where the battle was fiercest and most deadly.” All the colonels in command of the Colonial troops that day, five in number, were Presbyterian elders. One of them was Charles McDowell, who lived near the head-waters of the river Catawba. He was a descendant of a Siege of Derry veteran. He had two brothers, who also gave distinguished service in that war.

“One of America’s greatest soldiers” is the reputation which has often been applied to General Anthony Wayne. “Mad Anthony” as he was called, undoubtedly had a military career, which, even in the very troubled years of the Revolutionary War, and in the early days of the young nation, when heroism was displayed by so many on many a battlefield, was outstanding and effective. Anthony’s Ulster-born parents settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 1724. Their famous son was born in 1745. As Colonel of the 4th Pennsylvanian Battalion in William Thompson’s Brigade, he fought on the Canadian Border and at Ticonderoga. Later he served with great distinction at Brandywine, but it was at the taking of the very strongly held fort at Stony Point on the River Hudson, that his excellent qualities as a military leader were really displayed. The reply that Wayne gave to Washington, when asked if he thought he could take this strategically important position, summarised this leader’s daring and resolve, “I’ll storm Hell itself, if you’ll but plan it, General.”

It was vital that Stony Point be taken, because, from it, the British forces were able to prevent supplies by ferry reaching the Americans. The Ulster Scottish general’s tactics were masterly and successful. Operating on a particularly dark night, when by prior arrangement, American civilians had withdrawn from strategic points, he led his forces silently into position for attack. This, in itself, was a considerable achievement as the terrain was very difficult, consisting largely of marshy ground. A corps, under one of his commanders, set up a diversionary attack in the centreof the area, and their firing was the signal for a devastating bayonet charge by Wayne’s main force. In a very short time it was all over and the almost impregnable position secured.

His command of troops was exceptional. At the battle of Monmouth his five regiments were right in the centre of the American line. Continuous concentrated attacks were made on it, but his firmlygiven order of “Steady! Steady! Wait for the word, then pick out the king-birds “kept his men cool and confident. The opposing troops were within very close range with their bayonets, when well. directed and sustained volleys from his riflemen broke up each attack. At the final battle of Yorktown, Wayne led his men in a bayonet charge which was irresistible and decisive.

Soon after the end of the War of Independence, Wayne’s determined leadership was again called upon to bring success in a most dangerous situation, It occurred in the wilderness of Ohio. Even after peace had been declared between Britain and America, Indians in the border areas were encouraged and helped by the British Governor of Canada to continue to attack exposed settlements in America, This, they did with great savagery, and there was much loss of life and property among the settlers, Wayne, at first, took an army of about two thousand regular troops, called “the Legion of the U.S,” to build a system of forts in the areas affected. This done, he led a force of several hundred mounted riflemen from Kentucky, most of whom were of Ulster Scottish descent, to meet almost 2000 Miami and Shawnee Indians, with some 70 Canadian Rangers, who had assembled to attack. They were mustered behind trees which had blown down in a fierce storm. On seeing them, Wayne led a furious charge, the small strong horses jumping over the fallen trees, and, taking the would be attackers completely by surprise, the Kentuckians routed them.

The encounter became known as'”The Battle of the Fallen Timbers,” It took place near the present site of the town of Toledo in Ohio on the shore of Lake Erie, No wonder, “Mad Anthony”, whose grandfather fought under King William at the Battle of the Boyne, has such a great reputation in the country for which he did so much, he list of such leaders is a very long one, and mention must be confined to only a few more. However, they all contributed to the debt America owes to the people from Ulster, who did so much in those years towards the successful setting up of her young independent nation.

Their names, even if omitted here, will be recorded on some Roll of Honour of those who served in those stirring times. Perhaps the reader will bear with the recall of a few more names. General William Irvine, whose ancestors came from Enniskillen, commanded the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment in the North.West region, General James Chambers served throughout the war and led the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment with great distinction. His father, Benjamin, was widely regarded as the first permanent settler in Franklin County, in Cumberland Valley, in Pennsylvania, General Robert Magaw maintained the morale of the troops under his command in the protracted campaign on Long Island, General Andrew Lewis, born in Ulster, was at one time recommended for the highest military post, that of Commander-in Chief. Colonel William Preston, from Augusta County in Virginia led the militia from that area in the battle of Guildford, General Walter Stewart, born in Londonderry, in Ulster, Antrim bom General John Clark, General Francis Preston’s father was also born in Ulster. The list goes on General Enoch Poor’s parents settled in New Hampshire, where he was born, Colonel George Mathews, Captain William Hendricks, who rushed with his Pennsylvania Regiment to Lexington, and the two John Armstrongs, father and son, The father arrived in America in 1745, and had before the war given outstanding service against Indian attacks at Kittanning, He was promoted to general in the Revolutionary War. and in command of the Pennsylvania troops at Brandywine, He was a lifelong friend of George Washington, His son became aide to General Mercer and served at Saratoga, He became Secretary of War in 1813. in which position he met a great deal of powerful opposition when he supported the appointment of another Ulster Scot to the rank of major general. none other than the redoubtable Andrew Jackson. For this he was dismissed by Madison. but the later military achievements of “Old Hickory” certainly justified Armstrong’s judgment. Then there were the Livingstons from New York. who can be traced back to the clergyman who helped so much in the” EAGLE WING adventure so many years before.

They are recorded as having provided more officers for the Colonial army than any other family. There were also Colonel John Gibson. in charge of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment at New York. New Jersey. and Philadelphia. and Colonel Ephraim Blaine. who was Quartermaster General to Washington’s army. and who by his loan of $400.000 saved the troops from starvation at Valley Forge. Two others were Colonel Ezekial Polk who led his military unit at Eutaw Springs, and General James Clinton whose valiant defence of a stronghold in 1777 was recognised by the State when the post was termed Fort Clinton.

The most of these distinguished leaders had served in campaigns in the Eastern sectors. But there is one outstanding in American history, whose military exploits in the Western and North-Westem frontier areas merit especial mention. Indeed his contribution to the successful expansion of the young nation was so great and comprehensive that it requires description not only here but in a wider connection George Rogers Clark stamplater. That man was George Rogers Clark, of Ulster-Scottish descent, born in Virginia. His taking of the important outposts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes gained for him the title in American history of “the Hannibal of the West” Indeed there is a town on the great river Mississippi, and on the Missouri Illinois border named Hannibal in his memory.

To appreciate Clark’s genius it is necessary to begin with his approach to Patrick Henry, the governor of Virginia, for help in money and supplies to support the defence of threatened posts in Kentucky. After the initial meeting of the soldier and the statesman, Clark revealed his real pain. It was a most audacious scheme to seize the two strategically important towns in the Mississippi/Wabash rivers area. He pointed out to the Governor that the taking of these would give the Americans control of the whole Illinois territory. Henry and other influential Congressmen agreed. The tall frontiersman was authorised to draw military supplies from Fort Pitt, ostensibly for the defence of Kentucky, in case that information would be leaked as to his real intention. Soon afterwards, with the supplies collected, Clark along with some 170 “Over Mountain” volunteers, went down the Ohio river on large rafts to Corn Island, near where Louisville now stands. There, very strict and rigorous training was undertaken. It finished, they proceeded on the rafts to the mouth of the Tennessee River, near the present site of Paducah, where they disembarked. They set off on a most challenging journey of about 130 miles towards the forts on the Wabash and Mississippi rivers. To an outside observer it must have seemed they had an impossible task. The forces in the forts were thought to be strong. The British forces were operating from, and being supplied by, the well-stocked and strongly fortified base of Detroit. The French were nominally, at least, supportive of the British, and many Red Indians had been recruited by payments made by the British general Hamilton. The rewards that he arranged to give them for American scalps had earned for him the odious title of “the Hair Buyer.”

The main advantages that were on Clark’s side were the boldness of himself and his frontiersmen, their daunting reputation for fierce, determined fighting against the Indians, the concealment of their real purpose, and the widely held belief among the defenders that the approaches to the forts were virtually impassable. Pushing forward through marshy ground, and crossing swollen rivers on rafts, which they made as required, the colonists came first to the neighbourhood of Kaskaskia. Learning from informants that many of the British garrison had been removed to Detroit, they slipped quickly into the town. There, their fearsome reputation of “the Long Knives” caused the French and Indians to surrender without offering much resistance. The few British saw that they, too, would have to yield. Shortly afterwards, Clark left a token force there, and proceeded to Vincennes on the Wabash. There, the same tactics of surprise again brought an almost bloodless surrender. The resourceful leader then set out for Kaskaskia again to organize the defence of the whole region. Hamilton, in the meantime, furious at the successes of the colonists, proceeded swiftly from Detroit and took over Vincennes from the few defenders Clark had left there. He had with him some 1000 men.

As the most severe Wintry weather had, by this time, set in, the British commander believed, seemingly, that no further enemy action was possible. He permitted vigilance to be relaxed, as time went on. Clark obviously had other ideas. He decided to spring a further surprise. He divided his forces into two sections. The smaller one was to travel on a galley on which four’pound guns were placed, along with a few others that could be swivelled round. They were to attack by river. The main section, led by himself, would undertake the very long and almost impossible journey of some 240 miles, as directly as possible over the flooded land to their target.

The obstacles certainly were formidable, but Clark and his men were not easily discouraged, and went forward with stern determination. The difficulties of the journey were described in his diary by one who took part,The smaller rivers lying between the mighty Mississippi and the Wabash were all swollen, one to a width of some five miles, and the larger areas of swampy land, which had to be crossed, were also flooded. For several days at a time the men had to wade through ice cold water, more than three feet deep, and always keep their weapons and ammunition as dry as possible, They had to live off the land, their main food the animals they were able to kill. They slept in the open and dried their clothing when the sun put in very infrequent appearances, However, their main advantage of surprise was maintained, When they reached Vincennes, they found that the other section had also reached the neighbourhood, and so a concerted attack was arranged. As night-fall approached they opened up a bombardment with all guns, and continued this heavily throughout the hours of darkness, The French and Indians who formed part of the defenders deserted in the morning, but it was not till the end of the second day that Hamilton surrendered.It was a victory that brought far-reaching consequences. It won for the colonists control of that vast region, although, later, attempts were to be made to prevent their settlement of it. It fully vindicated the great risks taken by Clark and the daunting hardships that he and his backwoodsmen had endured.

Coleraine man who designed the US dollar $ symbol

There were two other men of Ulster descent who played a significant part in the North-West campaign, too.although, at the time, they were both far away from it. They were a trader, Oliver Pollock, and George Gibson, who later became colonel in the 1st Virginia Regiment. The parts they played are intriguing enough to form the basis of a secret agent thriller. Pollock, who was born in Coleraine in Ulster, managed to establish himself as a trader at New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi, then under Spanish rule. He co-operated well with the authorities, and often helped the Governor there, even to the extent of military assistance. When Clark’ s operations in the North West region began, Captain Gibson with a small group of his men, all disguised as traders, travelled down from Fort Pitt on the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. There, contact was made with Pollock and arrangements made to obtain and smuggle a very large quantity of gun-powder up the rivers for the use of Clark’s forces. The route having been thus established, Oliver Pollock did not spare himself, in time, or effort, or money (largely his own) to keep going what was really a life-line for the Colonial forces. J.A. James, in his Dictionary of America, points out that this great American patriot sent supplies valued at almost $400,000 in this way. It is recorded. too, that, to achieve this, he mortgaged his own property and borrowed a very large sum of money. No wonder that James credits him with contributing more than any other person in money value to the Revolutionary cause. He also is credited with the ultimate step of a revolutionary in that he designed the currency symbol for the American dollar “$” in 1778.

Thus, many and varied were the contributions that Ulstermen made for America in the struggle for independence, but there was one aspect of their giving that was generally typical. They held nothing back that they could offer for the benefit of their adopted country. It is unfair, in a way, to select names for special mention, for if one gives all one can, what more is there to give. Testimony of their whole.hearted patriotism is to be seen in the hundreds of little Presbyterian graveyards to be found from New Hampshire to Georgia, from the banks of the Susquehanna to the Tennessee, indeed, all over the Eastern half of that vast country. As John Speers, a New Jersey journalist, born in Bushmills in County Antrim, wrote in 1976 – two hundred years on from the Declaration of Independence –

“There, in soil, literally heaving with Ulster dust, lie men from Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, and Tyrone, their names and lives remembered only in stone, their deeds and achievements saluted by the miniature American flags, which flutter perpetually over the last resting place of every known Revolutionary War soldier.”‘ Those in authority at the end of that war well appreciated the part Ulster Scots played throughout it, for the resting place chosen by them for the body of “the Unknown Soldier” of their War of Independence was not in an Arlington Cemetery, but in the graveyard of the Presbyterian Meeting House, in Fairfax Street, in Alexandria, slightly farther down the Potomac River, than Washington, D.C.