The journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Vol. VII, 1907Various
History
The journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, Vol. VII, 1907
Various
American-Irish Historical Society -- Periodicals; Ethnology -- United States -- Periodicals; Irish Americans -- Periodicals
The party, sixteen in number, boarded an unwieldy, sloop-rigged old
craft and darted off down the river to Portsmouth. It was a clear, cold
moonlight night, and presently the crude masonry of old Fort William and
Mary loomed up in the distance, reminding them of the fact that they
were close on to their quarry. When within a rod or so of the shore
their vessel grounded in the shallow water, and in silence they waded to
land, mounted the fort, surprised the garrison and found themselves
victorious without the loss of a man or even of a drop of blood.
Securing the prisoners, the patriots at once broke into the magazine,
where they found one hundred pounds of powder. The powder, along with
one hundred stand of small arms, was put aboard of their craft and taken
back to Durham, where it was buried under the pulpit of the old
meeting-house in front of Major Sullivan’s house.
Six months later the battle of Bunker Hill came off, and it was this
same powder, captured by Major Sullivan at Fort William and Mary, that
enabled the Americans to kill so many of the British in that historic
encounter. Powder was exceedingly scarce in the patriot army, and
Sullivan, anticipating that such might be the case, filled “old John
Demerett’s ox-cart” with the powder he had buried under Parson Adams’
pulpit and sent it over the sixty-odd miles of rocky road to Boston,
where it was destined to do such good service in the cause of liberty.
It was the news of Sullivan’s capture of Fort William and Mary that
precipitated the Revolution. After such a daring deed Lexington was a
foregone conclusion. In the words of another, “Sullivan was the first
man in active rebellion against the British government, and he drew with
him the province he lived in.” In an address on the history of this part
of New Hampshire, Rev. Quint, of Dover, referring to the attack on the
fort, said: “The daring character of the assault cannot be
over-estimated. It was an organized investment of a royal fortress where
the king’s flag was flying and where the king’s garrison met them with
muskets and artillery. It was four months before Lexington, and
Lexington was resistance to attack, while this was deliberate assault.”
DOMINICK LYNCH AND HIS FAMILY.
Compiled from Various Sources.
Dominick Lynch was a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, New
York, as early as 1786; a prominent merchant; was of the firm Lynch &
Stoughton, New York. A biographical sketch of Mr. Lynch was published
some years ago in the _American Catholic Historical Researches_. It was
written by Richard H. Clarke, LL. D., and treated the subject at great
length. According to Dr. Clarke, Mr. Lynch was born in Galway, Ireland,
in 1754.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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