Owen (Eoghan) O'Sullivan - Ardea,Ireland and Berwick, Maine

 
Clearly, some of the most conspicuous and distinguished of the American branch of our family are the Sullivans of New England. Patriarch of the family was Owen Sullivan, born circa 1714 in Limerick. Apparently nursing a great personal hurt, he left the nation swearing that he was going where they should never see or hear from him again. And they never did. He secured passage on a ship bound for America where he became a schoolteacher and farmer in a frontier town in Maine. He later married Cork-born Margery Browne, whom he had met on the voyage over. In 1796 the family received a letter from Ireland inquiring about relationship. The letter was received in 1796 from Philip O Sullivan.

"Sir, A grand Uncle of myne having gone to America about sixty years back or something over, whose relations suffered greatly by being without the means of finding out his doom, till now that by great look I am inform’d you are a son of his. If you find by the under acc that I have not been misinformed, I submissively expect you’ll let me know hyow you and the rest of his Children are. I am , S. yours, Respectfully, Philip O Sullivan, Ardea, May 16, 1796.
An exact copy of his reply follows:

"I am the son of Major Philip O Sullivan of Ardea in the County of Kerrey and Parish of thouougaisty by the River of Kilmare and Barony of Glanorough in said County. His father was called Owen O Sullivan, originally Descendant from the second son of Daniel O Sullivan called Lord of (sic) Beer Heaven. He married with Mary MacSweney, Daughter of Col. Owen MacSweney of Musgrey, and sister to Capt. Edmond MacSweney, a noted man for anecdotes and witty syings. I heard often tell that my Grandfather had four Countesses to his Mothers and Grandmothers. How true that was or who they were I know not.

My father died as they told me of an ulcer raised in his breast occasioned by a wound he received in France where he fought a duel with a French officer, and when he wounded his antigonist (sic) another run’d a sword through his back so that the point appeared at his breast. They were all a short lived family, they either died in the bloom or went out of the Nation. I never heard of any of the men kind to arrive at sixty and don’t remember but of one to be a live when I left the Nation.

My mother’s name was Joane McCarthy, daughter to Dermod McCarthy of Killowen. She had three brothers and one sister, her mother’s name I forget but that she was Daughter to MacCarthy Reak of Carbery. Her oldest brother Col. Florence alas Mac finnin. He and his two brothers Capt. Charles and Capt. Owen went in the defence of the nation against Orange. Owen was killed in the battle of Aughrim (July 12, 1691). Florence had a son who retains the title of Mac finnin. Charles I just remember he had a charge of powder in his face at the Siege of Cork. He left two sons, Derby and Owen. Derby married with Ellina Sullivan of the Sullivans of Bannabe; his brother Owen married to Honora Mahony, daughter to Dinish Mahony of Droummere in the Barony of Dunkerrane or Cappenecussiss. He also died in the prime of life much lamented. They were short lived on both sides. but the brevity of their lives, to my great grief and sorrow, is added to the length of mine.

My mother’s sister was married to Dermod O Sullivan, eldest son of Daniel O Sullivan, Lord of Dunkerane. Her son Cornelius, as I understand, was with the pretender in Scotland in the year 1745. That is all that I can say about my origin. But I shall conclude with a Latin sentence which occured to my mind at the conclusion of this genealogical narration."

Owen lived to be 105 years old. It is written that in his later years he learned French. He was apparently quite functional physically and mentally up to the year before his death. He regularly saddled his own horse and rode the twenty five miles to visit his son John.

His son John, a three-time governor who was appointed a Major General in the Continental Army, lived in a house at 2 Newmarket Rd that was built in 1740. On December 13, 1774, when Paul Revere announced "The British are coming", the Sons of Liberty made plans to attack and secure the stocked munitions from the fort of William and Mary in the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Captaining the fort was John Cochran. Governor John Wentworth ordered its defense. By 3:00pm the following day four hundred patriots approached the fort. A shot was fired from within but before anything else could be done the fort was taken. One hundred barrels of gunpowder were taken.

The following day Captain Langdon and then-Major John Sullivan returned with seventy men and removed cannons, muskets and other supplies. On January 6, 1776 the sons of Liberty issued theirown declaration of independence, a full six months before the official one.

On April 19, 1776 the commander of British forces in America, Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, ordered his troops to confiscate a store of gunpowder allegedly stockpiled by the rebels at Lexington and Concord. During a confrontation there were casualties. The British retreated back to Charlestown and by that time they suffered two hundred and seventy-three casualties. The following June the Iroquis league of Indians voted amongst themselves to fight the Americans on behalf of the English.

On August 27, 1776, under the command of Major General Putnam at the Battle of Long Island, Sullivan was taken prisoner. He was taken aboard the "Eagle", the flagship of Lord Howe, the British Admiral. As was the practice in those times, he was exchanged for another British officer of the same rank, General Richard Prescott. He rejoined Washington at Westchester.

On Christmas Day, 1776, he was engaged in the Battle of Trenton, leading the left. He wintered at Valley Forge with Washington and the patriot Army, most of who were barefoot and without blankets. The following campaign season found him at the Battle of Brandywine, September, 1777, where he had his horse shot out from under him.

In October, commanding the right wing of Washington’s Army, he attacked the British at Chestnut Hill, about two miles north of Germantown. In Washington’s report to Congress about the battle he said, "In justice to General Sullivan and the whole right wing of the army, whose conduct I had an opportunity of observing, as they immediately came under my own eye, I have the pleasure to inform you that both officers and men behaved with a degree of gallantry that did them the highest honor." During this period Sullivan was present, or commanding forces, during the siege of Boston, Battle of Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, Staten Island, Brandywine and Rhode Island.

In New York, at the Council with the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, the principal chief of the Mohawks determined the Iroquois league should not take any part in the struggle between England and America. After the council broke up, Steyawa and his Mohawk followers went directly to the annual Grand Council in Onondaga, New York at the time of the annual Council Fire of the Harvest Moon. Here, when the chiefs present learned of what Steyawa had done they unanimously denounced him, declaring the death of the Iroquois League.

By April, 1779 George Washington knew he had to eliminate the Iroquois as a military irregular force. The Continental Congress authored him to protect Pennsylvania’s and New York’s settlers. Washington intended to carry the war into the heart of the country of the Six Nations, cut off their settlements and destroy their next years crops. Major General Horatio Gates turned the command down because of ill health. A contingency letter was sent to the next in line, thirty-nine year old John Sullivan.

Sullivan’s Indian Campaign began when he assembled his forces at Easton, Pennsylvania, on the border of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, this campaign was somewhat unpopular with some segments of the young American nation. The Quakers, for example, opposed the expedition. Farmers in the rich Wyoming Valley, members of the Pennamite Party, were tremendously wealthy and possessed great political power. As one could expect, they were not very happy with settlers from Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Authorities were not happy about providing Sullivan with necessary troops and materials.

During August the force caught up with the British and Indian allies. Incredibly, their initial confrontation took the lives of six Indian chiefs; Gu-cinge, Rozinoghyata of the Onondagas, Kayingwaurto of the Senacas, Captain John of the Mohawks and Queen Esther. The entire force left in full flight, barely escaping the pincer movement designed to catch them all.

Sullivan resigned his commission on 30 November 1779. At Elmira, New York, three miles East on State Route 17, is a monument dedicated to him. It is the site of the Newton Battlefield. Occasional battle re-enactments are presented throughout the year. Hiking and biking trails are enjoyed today. There are picnic areas, campsites and playgrounds. It’s open daily from 10:00am to dusk, May 28 - October 10, Admission is free. Telephone is (607) 939-1352.

After the war Sullivan served as a Delegate to Congress and as Attorney General of New Hampshire. In January of 1795, at the age of 55, he was laid to rest behind the house where he had resided for thirty years.

In ‘The Wilderness War’, by Allan W. Eckert, a detailed epic is reported on his Indian War against the Five Nations, begun in 1779. In the bibliography is mentioned the Journals of John Sullivan, Auburn, N.Y.,1887.