Irish/Ulster connections to the War of
1812
Above: Andrew Jackson, (later the first Scots Irish President of the
USA) commander of US forces in New Orleans, the next target had Ross
succeeded at Baltimore.
At the Battle of New Orleans, January 1815, Jackson roundly defeated
the British army, including regiments which Ross had previously led
to such striking success at Bladensburg.
The
career of General Ross is remarkable for the light it sheds on the
Irish military tradition. On the continent, during the Peninsular
War, Ross both fought with and against Irishmen or men of Irish
descent. This is even more apparent in relation to his short career
in America during the War of 1812, a conflict dubbed by some as the
'Second War of Independence'.
The
Scots Irish, it is well known, featured
prominently in the American Declaration of Independence and in the
subsequent War of Independence. ‘By the time the war ended a
significant proportion of Washington’s army and numerous of his
staff officers – ten generals and twenty-nine brigadiers – were
Ulstermen, or the descendants of Ulstermen’. Less well known is the
fact that the Scots Irish and others of Irish descent were so
conspicuous in resisting the British
during the War of 1812, including the operations in which Ross
featured.
The
Scots Irish mother of Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, ‘hero’ of the US victory at
the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, hailed from Newry, County Down,
Northern Ireland. Lieutenant Thomas MacDonagh and Brigadier General
Alexander Macomb, the victorious US naval and army commanders at the
battles of Plattsburgh and Lake Champlain (both fought on 11th
September 1814), were also of Irish descent. Meanwhile, ‘United Irishmen’, who had
previously fought for an Irish republic, later mobilised as
‘Republican greens’ in New York under the command of William James
MacNevan to resist the British. Among other American
Irish contributions to the US war effort the career of Captain Thomas
Boyle, skipper of the privateer, the Chasseur, was
particularly noteworthy. Boyle's
exploits emulated the feats of John Paul Jones during the War of
Independence by raiding the British coastline. It was a measure of
Boyle's pluck that he had a notice posted to the door of Lloyd's of
London proclaiming a blockade of British ports, generating newspaper
headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.
While
American militia forces struggled to make an impact on Ross’ regular
forces during the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, the London Times
noted that the most serious American resistance was provided by a
group of ‘Irish rebels’. According to some accounts, the gunman who
shot Ross off his horse as he entered Washington was a ‘club-footed
Irish barber’. Meanwhile, General Samuel Smith, who successfully organised
the defence of Baltimore, had Ulster family connections. Similarly,
Fort McHenry, which featured so prominently during the resistance to
Ross’ attack on Baltimore, was named after Dr James McHenry,
Secretary for War to both President Washington and President Adams.
Of Scots Irish descent, he hailed from Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Ross was killed at a
location that was to become known as Dundalk, near Baltimore. (Ironically, Dundalk,
County Louth, Republic of Ireland, is not far from Ross’ home
village of Rostrevor, County Down, Northern Ireland).
Perhaps most remarkable of all are the Scots Irish antecedents of two
future presidents of the USA who featured in the military operations
in which Ross was involved in America, James Buchanan (Battle of
Baltimore, 1814) and Andrew Jackson (defender of New Orleans,
Ross’ prospective next target after Baltimore). As Henry Bisharat,
from the US Consulate in Belfast, has pointed out, ‘before President
Obama, Ulster was the only region of the world outside the U.S. to
have “First Fathers”, and not just one , but three – and two of
these were involved with Gen. Ross! (The third is Chester Arthur,
whose father is from near Ballymena. There were also several
Presidents with mothers born outside the U.S., including Andrew
Jackson’s mother from Carrickfergus)’.
**
While mentioning the importance of these Scots Irish links, it is
important not to exaggerate them either, as Professor Kevin Kenny
has cautioned in his book, The American Irish, (New York,
2000). Scots Irish (or Scotch Irish) they may have been, but these
men were primarily motivated by American patriotism. Similarly in
relation to the enthusiasm of Irish Republican refugees for the
American war effort, Professor Kevin Whelan (Notre Dame) stresses that 'they took
advantage of the war against Britain to exhibit their loyalty to
America', as he explains in a chapter in his forthcoming book.
Sources include: The American Presence in Ulster by Francis
M.Carroll, p.9; Henry Bisharat, US Consulate, Belfast, N.Ireland.
For
more on Captain Thomas Boyle and the African-Americans who sailed
with him, see Christopher T. George, 'African-American Sailors
Served in Our Nation's "Private Navy" at
www.baltimoremd.com/monuments/blacksatsea.html
