Part 18

In 1850—quite half a century ago—a committee was appointed to raise a fund of $125,000 for the university. President Wayland was then at the head of the institution. Among the subscribers to this fund was Matthew Watson, who contributed $500. Watson was, I believe, a descendant of a sturdy Irish immigrant, who settled in Barrington, R. I., in 1722. This immigrant’s name was also Matthew Watson, and nearly every generation of the family since that day has had a Matthew in it. Bicknell, in his “Sketches of Barrington,” tells us that Matthew the settler became a brickmaker and in time wedded Miss Read, the daughter of his employer. Her father opposed the match and represented to her the “folly” of throwing herself away, as he expressed it, on “a little poor Irishman.” His arguments were of no avail, however, and she and Matthew were married at Barrington in 1732. The marriage was a happy one. The “little poor Irishman” subsequently purchased the farm of his father-in-law and conducted the brickmaking business on an extensive scale. He erected a commodious brick house, which became known to the country round about as “the great Watson mansion.” Matthew, the immigrant, at one time held the position of judge of the court of common pleas for Bristol county. He is estimated to have accumulated in his brickmaking industry a fortune of $80,000. Some of his descendants are still living on the homestead. Matthew Watson, the benefactor to Brown in 1850, is believed, as I have stated, to be a descendant of this old Barrington settler.

The part taken by students and alumni of Brown University in the Civil War has been alike honorable and eminent. A memorial volume has been published on the subject. Of the graduates in 1856, Thomas Ewing, Jr., became one of the most distinguished. He came of a prominent Ohio family and on his mother’s side was of Irish descent. He was made colonel of the Eleventh Kansas Volunteers, 1862; brigadier-general of United States Volunteers, 1863, and brevet major-general United States Volunteers in 1865. Later he became chief justice of Kansas.

John C. Sullivan of the class of 1867 served in the Fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, entering the regiment in 1862. He became a student of Brown University after leaving the army.

In 1861, when the literary society of Brown was arranging its annual reunion, the question of a poem, of course, came up. It was finally decided that Fitz James O’Brien, a brilliant young Irishman, should be invited to officiate as poet of the occasion. O’Brien was a native of Limerick, Ireland, and born in 1828. His father was a lawyer and his mother a woman of uncommon beauty. Fitz James was educated in Dublin. He came to this country in 1852 with letters of introduction to prominent Americans. He quickly gained entrance to literary and fashionable society, where his talents soon made him a great favorite. He wielded a prolific pen. Among his contributions were: “The Ballad of Sir Brown,” “The Gory Gnome,” “The Wonderful Adventures of Mr. Papplewick” and “The Demon of the Gibbet.” Among his poems, in addition to those mentioned, were: “Down in the Glen at Idlewild,” “The Zouaves,” “Helen Lee,” “The Countersign,” “Sir Brasil’s Falcon,” “The Song of the Locomotive,” and “The Prisoner of War.” His stories include “The Diamond Lens,” “The Golden Ingot,” “The Dragon Fang” and “The Pot of Tulips.”

O’Brien enlisted in the Seventh New York regiment and marched with it to the defence of Washington. At the expiration of his term of service he returned to New York and started in, personally, to raise a regiment to be known as the McClellan Rifles. It was while thus engaged that he received the invitation to attend the exercises at Brown. After considering the matter, he replied, expressing regret at being unable to accept. Said he:

“A regiment of rifles which I am now engaged in raising demands all my time. If you can put me on the track of one hundred good men, you will please me better than if you crowned me with bays. If there is a spare population up your way, I would take a recruiting trip thither, and present my regrets in person.”

So he did not come and the assemblage at Brown was denied the sunshine of his presence. O’Brien died of a wound received in battle and was given a soldier’s burial in Greenwood. Nowhere was his death more deeply felt than among his friends in Providence.

I have already alluded to James G. Dougherty of the class of 1865. In 1862 he enlisted in the Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, and saw service in Virginia. The close of the war was enthusiastically celebrated at Brown. Dougherty was chairman of the committee of arrangements and introduced President Sears to the great gathering assembled on that occasion. Mayor Doyle of Providence was also among the speakers. There was music, an illumination and unbounded enthusiasm.

The university has long numbered among her brightest students young men of Irish lineage. From the days of long ago down to the present, graduates of Irish descent have gone forth and won honorable distinction in life. The dear old _alma mater_ has proudly watched their career and rejoiced in the credit reflected by their success. Americans they are, Americans they have been, by birth, by association, by education, in sympathy, in allegiance, in patriotism. Not that they love the land of their ancestors less, but that of their nativity more. Of Brown’s alumni may be mentioned in this connection:

McGuinness, twice secretary of state of Rhode Island, and twice mayor of Providence.

Whitney, later ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Harson, the prominent merchant, the vigorous writer, a founder of the fraternity Phi Kappa Sigma.

Sheahan, clerk of the house of representatives; member of the bar.

Monaghan, United States consul to Mannheim and Chemnitz.

Brennan, a lawyer of note; judge-advocate-general on the staff of Governor Davis.

And so on, through a long and imposing list,—Murphy, Quinn, Holland, O’Connor, Kiley, McDonald, Gillrain, McGinn, Smith, Corcoran, Fitzgerald, Magill, Sexton, Cunningham, O’Neil, Hamill, O’Donnell, Mahoney, Hoye, Feeley, Cavanaugh and the rest.

The late George J. West, the eminent lawyer, the able legislator, the earnest friend of public education, was also a graduate of Brown. He was born in Ireland.

Nor should we forget that other graduate, Hon. Augustus S. Miller, who became speaker of the Rhode Island house of representatives. He himself has told me of his paternal Irish ancestry.

Sarah E. Doyle, on whom the university recently conferred a degree, likewise should not be overlooked. Eminent honor has she reflected on her Irish father.

And so I conclude. I have endeavored in this paper to show that in the history of Brown there is an Irish chapter and one of which we may be proud; one, too, of which the university may be proud. I have by no means exhausted the subject, which is capable of much additional development.

FOUR MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL THOMAS W. SWEENY, U. S. A.—A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH—1820–1892.

BY WILLIAM MONTGOMERY SWEENY, ASTORIA, L. I., N. Y.

Thomas William Sweeny, popularly known as “Fighting Tom” Sweeny, was born in Cork, Ireland, Dec. 25, 1820. He immigrated to the United States in 1832, and died at Astoria, L. I., N. Y., April 10, 1892.

He was the youngest son of William Sweeny of Dunmanway, in the county of Cork, of whom it is said that he “was a true Celt, gifted with uncommon force of character, and not less remarkable for his courage, daring, and manly spirit than for that nice sense of honor that ever distinguishes ‘the noblest work of God, an honest man.’” He died in 1827 and was buried at Macroom, Cork, where numerous generations of the family are interred.

The branch of the family from which Gen. Thomas William Sweeny, the subject of this sketch, was descended, has been located in the county of Cork since the thirteenth century, having migrated thither from Donegal, in the north of Ireland. Of the parent stock, Dr. McDermott states that “it was itself a branch of the O’Neills which settled in Donegal and founded three great families, namely: MacSweeny of Fanad, who had extensive territories west of Lough Swilly, and whose castle was at Rathmullen; MacSweeny of Banagh, who had a castle at Rathain, and MacSweeny na D’Tuatha, signifying MacSweeny of the Territories.” According to O’Brien and other authorities he was called MacSweeny na D’Tuagh, signifying MacSweeny of the Battle Axes, a title said to have been derived from their having been standard bearers and chiefs of gallowglasses to the O’Donnells. It is from the latter MacSweeny that the subject of our sketch was descended.

Dr. Smith, in his History of the County of Cork, states that “the MacSweenys had the parish of Kilmurry, in the territory of Muskery, county of Cork, and their chief castle at Cloghda, near Macroom, and had also Castlemore, in the parish of Moviddy.” He likewise mentions that “they were anciently famous for Irish hospitality,” and relates “that one of the family erected a large stone near the castle of Cloghda, inviting all passengers to repair to the house of Edmund MacSweeny for entertainment.” John O’Mahony, the distinguished Irish scholar, author of the standard translation of Keating’s History of Ireland, says: “The MacSweenys were standard bearers and marshals of the O’Donnells. They were famous throughout Ireland as leaders of those heavy-armed soldiers called gallowglasses. A branch of the family settled in the county of Cork in the thirteenth century, as commanders of those soldiers under the McCarthys of Desmond.”

On the passage to the United States, with his mother and brother William, in 1832, Thomas W. Sweeny, the subject of this sketch, was swept overboard from the ship _Augusta_, by a huge wave, and narrowly escaped drowning, being rescued by three members of the crew who put off in a boat. He had been in the water thirty-five minutes.

After finishing his education in the schools of New York city, young Sweeny was apprenticed to the printing business in the well known firm of Gould, Banks & Company (now, 1899, Banks & Brother), at that time the leading law book publishers of the United States, “where his many good qualities made him a general favorite.”

He early evinced a taste for military training, and in 1837, while a mere youth, attached himself to a military and literary association of young men known as the “Paul Jones Parading Club,” commanded by Capt. Joseph Hinken. Afterwards they placed themselves under the command of Capt. W. W. Tompkins, and adopted the name of “Tompkins’ Cadets.” They then consolidated with the “Scott Cadets,” commanded by Capt. Charles Baxter, and in 1842 or 1843, they were again strengthened by a portion of the seceders from the “Tompkins’ Blues,” whereupon, for the purpose of identification, they adopted the name “Independent Tompkins’ Blues.”

At the breaking out of the Mexican War, in 1846, Sweeny was one of the first to volunteer, and he was elected second lieutenant in Company A of the First New York Volunteers, commanded by Col. Ward B. Burnett. On Christmas day, 1846, Messrs. Gould, Banks & Company, uniting with a large number of individuals in their employ, took the occasion—which was also his birthday—to present Lieutenant Sweeny “a handsome pair of revolving pistols as a token of esteem and regard.”

On Jan. 8, 1847, Sweeny’s regiment, to the number of about 800 men, sailed from New York for the seat of war. At Lobos Island, near Vera Cruz, where the troops landed, Lieutenant Sweeny was placed in command of a detachment to prepare the ground for encampment. This was his first command, and was “executed with dispatch and to the full satisfaction of his superior officer.” Speaking of his subsequent movements an eye witness says: “After the bombardment of Vera Cruz, his regiment with the others, was marched into the interior. It was at Cerro Gordo, April 18, 1847, that Lieutenant Sweeny first practically smelt powder. Company A and one other were detached to support Capt. Francis Taylor’s battery in taking the first height. They cut a road through the chaparral for the artillery, to the left of the enemy’s position, in order to turn it. After reaching the base of the hill, and winding around it, they halted for orders. They were here exposed to a raking fire of grape and canister from the Mexican batteries.”

At Contreras, Aug. 19, 1847, where the New York regiment stood the whole night in a gully up to their knees in mud, the men were greatly encouraged by the bearing of Lieutenant Sweeny.

At Churubusco, Aug. 20, 1847, while leading his men into action, Sweeny was struck in the groin by a spent ball. It passed through three pieces of clothing and produced a painful, though not dangerous, wound. Although advised to retire, he refused so long as he was able to stand. In a few minutes he was again wounded, receiving a musket ball in the right arm, but nevertheless he continued to lead and animate his men until he sank from exhaustion and loss of blood and had to be carried to the rear.

The wound in his arm proved to be so serious that amputation was found to be necessary in order to save his life. General Shields, who was present at the operation, was affected even to tears at the fortitude displayed by Sweeny, who, notwithstanding the fact that no anæsthetics were used, showed not the slightest signs of flinching under the terrible ordeal.

On his return to New York city, in 1848, Lieutenant Sweeny was received with much honor; he was brevetted captain by the governor of the state, and was presented a silver medal by the city government. He was also given a “grand reception ball” at Castle Garden, which was described as the “largest and most brilliant ball of the season.” Among the invited guests were ex-President Martin Van Buren, Major-Gen. John A. Quitman, U. S. A., Hon. Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Hon. William B. Maclay, M. C., representatives of the city and state governments and other people of note.

On recommendation of General Scott, Sweeny was appointed by the president a second lieutenant in the Second United States Infantry, March 3, 1848, and from March to July, 1848, he was stationed at Fort Columbus, Governor’s Island, New York harbor. During August and September, 1848, Lieutenant Sweeny was at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and in October, 1848, he was stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York harbor, on recruiting service.

Nov. 8, 1848, his regiment, under command of Brevet Maj.-Gen. Bennett Riley, who had been appointed military governor of California, sailed from New York for California _via_ Cape Horn. At Rio Janerio, where they stopped several days, they were entertained at a ball aboard the United States steamship _Brandywine_. They reached Monterey, Cal., April 6, 1849, and soon established regimental headquarters at San Diego.

On June 11, 1851, Sweeny was promoted to be first lieutenant in the Second Infantry. In 1852 he engaged in the Yuma Indian War, and commanded an expedition of twenty-seven men, who penetrated into the Cocopa country in May, and after a sharp engagement, captured one hundred and twenty-five armed warriors and marched them into Camp Yuma, where a treaty was entered into which broke up the confederation of the River tribes. While engaged on this duty, Sweeny received a severe arrow wound in the neck.

In 1854 he was ordered to Fort Pierre, in what was then northern Nebraska, where he served as aid to Gen. William S. Harney, participating in the campaign against the Sioux in 1855–’56, and was present at the “Great Treaty” made with the Sioux nation at Fort Pierre, at which many famous chiefs were present. In 1858 Sweeny was ordered to New York city on recruiting service, and was stationed there when the Rebellion broke out.

Jan. 19, 1861, he was promoted to captain, and soon after was ordered by General Scott to proceed to St. Louis, Mo., and assume command of the United States arsenal there. It contained at this time sixty thousand stand of arms, several field batteries, a number of heavy guns, a million and a half of ball cartridges, over forty tons of powder and a large quantity of other munitions of war. Captain Sweeny had only forty unassigned recruits under him to defend this vast property, while in the city were over three thousand Confederate minute-men, armed and drilled, to be ready at a moment’s notice. Learning of a threatened attack, Sweeny let it be known that he would blow up the arsenal sooner than allow it to be captured, and he meant what he said. So they did not make the attempt.

Sweeny was brigadier-general of Missouri Infantry, May 20 to Aug. 14, 1861; made colonel of Fifty-second Illinois Infantry, Jan. 21, 1862; was brigadier-general of volunteers, Nov. 29, 1862, to Aug. 24, 1865; commissioned major in the Sixteenth United States Infantry, Oct. 20, 1863, and was retired with the full rank of brigadier-general, United States army, May 11, 1870.

In June, 1861, General Sweeny took command of the Southwest expedition, and proceeded to Springfield, Mo., where he assumed command of all the United States forces in that part of the state, including Siegel’s and Saloman’s regiments, which had left St. Louis with two 4–gun batteries. July 20, General Sweeny took command of a flying column of twelve hundred men, moved on a depot of Confederate supplies at Forsyth, Mo., and captured the same. He led the Second Kansas regiment at the battle of Wilson’s Creek, Aug. 10, 1861, General Lyon leading the First Iowa. Sweeny was severely wounded, but after the death of Lyon favored following up the enemy. Sturgis, who succeeded Lyon in command, however, decided otherwise.

As colonel of the Fifty-second Illinois, Sweeny was attached to General Grant’s army, and after the capture of Fort Donelson took charge of six thousand prisoners of war _en route_ to Alton, Ill. At the battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), April 6 and 7, 1862, Sweeny commanded the Third Brigade of the Second Division, Army of the Tennessee, the brigade comprising about five thousand, five hundred men. Towards the close of the first day’s battle, his command occupied a ravine near Gen. W. T. Sherman’s left, known as the “Hornet’s Nest.”

Speaking of this battle General Sherman has said: “I remember well that Col. Thomas W. Sweeny, a one-armed officer who had lost an arm in the Mexican war and did not belong to my command, stood near by and quickly spoke up: ‘I understand perfectly what you want; let me do it.’ ‘Certainly,’ said I; ‘Sweeny, go at once and occupy that ravine, converting it into a regular bastion.’ He did it, and I attach more importance to that event than to any of the hundred achievements which I have since heard ‘saved the day,’ for we held that line and ravine all night, and the next morning advanced from there to certain victory.”

In this battle Sweeny was again wounded, “receiving a minié ball in his remaining arm and another shot in his foot, while his horse fell riddled with seven balls. Almost fainting from loss of blood, he was lifted upon another horse and remained on the field through the entire day. His coolness and his marvelous escapes were talked of before many campfires throughout the army.”

Capt. C. H. Fish, Fifty-second Illinois, speaking of the first day’s battle at Shiloh, wrote of Sweeny: “Colonel Sweeny came riding up the line and reached our regiment, but not recognizing it, asked: ‘What regiment is this?’ On my telling him it was the Fifty-second Illinois, he said: ‘Well, I am at home once more. I guess I will stay here.’ Our colonel had only one arm—the left one; the other he lost in Mexico. When on drill or review he held the reins in his teeth and sword in left hand. The balls seemed to fill the air at this moment, the firing was so terrific, but our colonel [Sweeny] coolly sat on his horse, quietly smoking a cigar, ever and anon removing it and puffing forth vast quantities of smoke. Presently a minié ball came cutting through the air, struck his cigar, and cut it off at his teeth, doing some slight injury to his moustache. Yet not a muscle moved. He quietly replaced the cigar with a fresh one and smoked away.”

After the battle of Shiloh, Sweeny was granted a leave of absence owing to disability resulting from wounds received. During this period he was presented an elegant sword by the city of Brooklyn, N. Y. At the expiration of his leave, he again took the field, returning in time to participate in the battle of Iuka and the siege of Corinth—Oct. 3 and 4, 1862,—where he was again wounded, and had a horse shot under him. Gen. Thomas A. Davies, commanding the Second Division, in his report of the battle of Corinth, states that “Colonel Sweeny, commanding First Brigade, behaved in the most gallant manner throughout, and should be immediately promoted.”

Sweeny was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, Nov. 29, 1862. In the Atlanta campaign, he commanded the Second Division of the Sixteenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee. At Snake Creek Gap he took possession of the “Gap” with his division twenty-four hours before the arrival of supporting cavalry, and held it in spite of the desperate efforts of the enemy to dislodge him. Subsequently he took part in the battle of Resaca, and forced a passage across the Oostenaula river, at Lay’s Ferry, where he fought a successful battle which resulted in Gen. “Joe” Johnston’s retreat southward. He also took part in the battles of Dallas and Kennesaw Mountain, the actions at Nickajack Creek, Ruff’s Mills, Rome Cross Roads, Calhoun’s Ferry and other engagements.

At the battle before Atlanta, July 22, 1864, his division drove the enemy back with great slaughter, capturing four battle flags and nine hundred prisoners. This was the day that General McPherson was killed—he had shared Sweeny’s tent the previous night. At the conclusion of the battle Gen. Frank P. Blair, commanding the Seventeenth Army Corps, who had witnessed the repulse by Sweeny’s division, rode down at the head of his staff to where Sweeny stood and grasping him warmly by the hand, said: “Sweeny, I congratulate you. You have saved the army of the Tennessee!”

General Sweeny was one of the Guard of Honor in charge of the remains of President Lincoln when they lay in state in the city hall, New York. On Aug. 24, 1865, Sweeny was mustered out of the volunteer service, and was in command of the post at Nashville, Tenn., to October of that year.

An ardent lover of the land of his birth, General Sweeny longed for the day and the hour when, on the field of battle, he might meet the common foe of his adopted and of his native land. Even while lying disabled by his wounds in Mexico, he had made arrangements to cast himself into the then expected struggle for Irish independence, but the opportunity was not afforded him. In 1856, while he was stationed at Fort Pierre, Nebraska territory, he wrote to his family: “I see they are making another movement for Irish independence. I hope it will amount to something this time. E——, how would you like me to embark in such an undertaking? We might accomplish great things—do deeds that our children could point at on the page of history with pride—perhaps help to pull a sinewy tyrant from his throne, and raise a prostrate people from chains to liberty.”