Jeremiah O'Brien | |
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 Miniature portrait of O'Brien | |
| Born | 1744 |
| Died | September 5, 1818 (1818-09-06) (aged 74–75) |
| Buried | O'Brien Cemetery, Machias |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | Massachusetts State Navy Massachusetts Militia |
| Rank | Captain (Massachusetts State Navy) Colonel (Massachusetts Militia) |
| Conflicts | |
Jeremiah O'Brien (1744 – September 5, 1818) was an American military officer who served in theAmerican Revolutionary War. Born inKittery,Massachusetts, he captured the British schoonerHMS Margaretta in theBattle of Machias, renaming herMachias Liberty before leading the successfulraid on Saint John. O'Brien was subsequently commissioned into theMassachusetts State Navy at the rank ofcaptain, though he was captured by the British in 1780 and imprisoned in England. Escaping to France and then to North America, O'Brien was commissioned as colonel into theMassachusetts Militia. Six ships have been named in his honor.[1]
Jeremiah was the eldest son of Irish immigrants Morris and Mary O'Brien. He was born in Kittery, District of Maine in 1744. His family moved toScarborough, Maine and settled in Machias, Maine in the 1760s to engage in lumbering. They owned two sawmills.Maine was a part ofMassachusetts at the time.[2]
Reports of thebattles of Lexington and Concord reached Machias by early May 1775, leading Jeremiah and Benjamin Foster to rally Machias residents at Job Burnham's tavern. Machias merchant captain Ichabod Jones sailed his shipsUnity andPolly toBoston with a cargo of lumber and purchased food for sale in Machias. British troops encouraged Jones to deliver another cargo of lumber for construction of their barracks in Boston. AdmiralSamuel Graves ordered HMSMargaretta, under the command of James Moore, to accompany Jones' ships to discourage interference from Machias rebels. When the ships reached Machias on 2 June 1775, Capt. James Moore saw the town's liberty pole and ordered it removed. The Machias townspeople refused to remove the pole and to load the lumber. Foster plotted to capture the British officers when they attended church on 11 June, but the British escaped capture and retreated downriver aboardMargaretta. On 12 June Jeremiah pursuedMargaretta aboard Jones' ship theUnity. Foster intended to participate in thepacket boatFalmouth. But after theFalmouth ran aground, O'Brien and his five brothers, Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph, and men of Machias took theUnity and went on alone.[2]
Under the command of Jeremiah O'Brien, thirty-one townsmen sailed aboardUnity armed with guns, swords, axes, and pitch forks and capturedMargaretta in an hour-long battle after Capt. Moore of theMargaretta had threatened to bombard the town. John O'Brien jumped aboardMargaretta as the two ships closed, but was forced to jump overboard by the British crew. After rescuing John, theUnity again closed on theMargaretta until their rigging became entangled. TheUnity was bombarded bygrenades from the British ship, butMargaretta surrendered after James Moore was mortally wounded.[2]
This battle is often considered the first time Britishcolors were struck to those of the United States, even though theContinental Navy did not exist at the time. TheUnited States Merchant Marine claimsUnity as its member and this incident as their beginning. In August 1775, O'Brien participated in theraid on St. John. He continued as the captain ofUnity, renamedMachias Liberty, for two years, and received the first captain's commission in theMassachusetts State Navy in 1775. He met with GeneralGeorge Washington more than once.
PresidentJames Madison appointed O'Brien as the federal customs collector for the port of Machias in 1811, and he held the position until his death in 1818.[2]
Jeremiah O'Brien is the central figure in the novelThe Irish Yankee that tells of his of his adventures as a Patriot in the fight for America's independence,https://www.reganwalkerauthor.com/the-irish-yankee.html.
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