Essays and Such
Irish Cultural Society
of San Antonio Texas
Promoting Awareness of Irish Culture
Captain O'Brien
by L.P.Kelley
First Naval Engagement of the Revolutionary War
Captain Jeremiah O'Brien
O'BRIEN, Jeremiah, patriot, born in Scarborough, Maine, in
1740; died in Machias, Maine, 5 October, 1818. His father,
(Maurice[1]) Morris, a native of Cork, Ireland, according to
some stories) emigrated from Ireland to Boston around 1700 due
to his alleged rebel actions against the British crown. He
moved in 1765 to Machias, Maine where he was engaged with his
six sons in the lumber business when the Revolutionary war began.
Maurice O'Brien carried from Ireland a picture of Brien Boru,
one of Ireland's ancient hero kings who drove the Danes out of
Ireland in the battle of Clontarf, and. had gifted his sons with
a hatred for British tyranny. So, in the 1770s the O'Briens
were active supporters of the rebel cause.
On hearing of Lexington, the people of Machias erected a
liberty-pole. A few days afterward on June 9, 1775 the British
armed schooner "Margaretta," anchored in Machias Harbor,
convoying the sloops UNITY and POLLY loaded with anxiously
awaited supplies needed by the colonists. The goods were to be
sold to the colonists and the two sloops were to be freighted
with lumber for the British defensive works in Boston. The
English would only deal with Tories, many citizens opposed to
aiding the British war effort were angered by this, and they
plotted to strip the two sloops of the supplies and attempted
to capture Captains Jones and Moore. Captain Moore, of the
"Margaretta," and the nephew of High Admiral Graves of the Royal
Fleet in Boston ordered the liberty-pole to be taken down, and
threatened to fire on the town if it were not done. The citizens
attempted to seize the British officers while they were at
meeting on Sunday, but the British saw them coming, hurried on
board their vessel, and sailed down the river. On June 12,1775,
a month after the Battle of Lexington and Concord and five days
before Bunker Hill, the six O'Brien brothers and a company of
sixty volunteers unloaded the lumber sloop UNITY and gave chase.
Jeremiah O'Brien was chosen captain. The "Margaretta" lay
becalmed in the bay near Round Island on Machias Bay[4], the
sloop UNITY was towed up by boats. The English commander ordered
O'Brien to sail away or he would open fire. O'Brien is said to
have responded "Fire and be damned." The sloop came along side
the "Margaretta" although Moore had sixteen swivel-guns and
four-pounders. O'Brien maneuvered the UNITY into a position
which allowed her bowsprit to pierce the mainsail of the warship
MARGARETTA. The two ships swung together and O'Brien's crew with
some about 20 [1]) muskets ( three rounds each), pitchforks; and
axes and the fierce determination of their Captain after a sharp
hand-to-hand combat were victorious. They defeated a superior
force of professional soldiers and sailors armed with muskets and
grenades [2][5]. This was the first sea-fight of the Revolution.
O'Brien returned to Machias with the "Margaretta" and its
armament was transferred to the sloops Unity (rechristened the
"Machias Liberty) and Polly. O'Brien in command of his fleet of
two sloops sailed out to meet the warships which would be sent
against them. The "Diligence," and her tender the
"Tapnaquishin", came from Halifax to retake the "Margaretta."
In what should have been an easy victory for the Royal Navy
Capt Jeremiah O'Brien captured both British ships.
The "Liberty," with Captain Jeremiah O'Brien and his
brother William as lieutenant, and the "Diligence," on which
his brother John was lieutenant, received a commission from
the provincial government of the Massachusetts Congress to
intercept supplies for the British troops [2], for the sum of
160 pounds lawful money of this Colony of supplying the men
with provisions and ammunition."[5].
Captain O'Brien cruised on the coast for a year and a
half, taking several prizes. At the end of the war, O'Brien
resumed work in the family lumber business and eventually
landed a government patronage job as collector of the port
of Machias. He held that position when he died in 1818 at
the age of 78.
Jeremiah O'Brien was later remembered in the naming of a World
War II liberty ship. The SS Jeremiah O'Brien was built in South
Portland, Maine, and launched on June 19, 1943. It participated
in the original D-Day operation and was the only liberty ship
to return in 1994 to participate in the 50th anniversary
commemorations. Of the 2,710 built for the war, only two remain
and only the O'Brien has not been modified. The SS Jeremiah
O'Brien is currently home ported at Fisherman's Wharf in San
Francisco.
USS O'Brien (DD 975) is the fifth U.S. warship to be named in
honor of Captain Jeremiah O'Brien,
In 1937 a plaque created by John Paramino was placed at the state
house commemorating
O'Brien's "distinguished services for winning the first navel
engagement in the War of the Revolution and of his subsequent
exploits in said war as the first regularly commissioned naval
officer and commander of the Revolutionary Navy of Massachusetts."[5]
REF:
[1] Speech by Joseph F. O'Connell June 12, 1937, at unveiling of
tablet honoring Captain Jeremiah O'Brien, printed in congressional
record for June 22,1937
[2] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/dd-975.htm
[3] http://www.famousamericans.net/jeremiahobrien/
[4] http://www.usmm.org/revolution.html
[5] http://www.irishheritagetrail.com/jobrien.htm