John Sullivan, Revolutionary War Hero, Born in New Hampshire on February 17, 1740

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General John Sullivan, a hero in the War for Independence and a key figure in ending the Siege of Boston, was born in Somersworth, NH on February 17, 1740.  

 Sullivan was the third of five sons born to Owen Sullivan of Limerick and Margery Browne of Cork, both indentured servants from Ireland. He and his brothers were home-schooled by their father, who had been a teacher in Ireland.  His brother James Sullivan was governor of Massachusetts and his brothers Daniel and Ebenezer also fought in the American Revolution. 

John became a lawyer, served in the New Hampshire legislature, and was chosen as a member of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775.  As the Revolutionary War escalated, Sullivan was selected as one of General George Washington’s eight Brigadier Generals in the Colonial Army. 

When Henry Knox delivered the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Massachusetts in the winter of 1776, it gave the colonial forces the mean to end Britain's Siege of Boston. That effort came to a head on March 17, 1776, when Knox's cannons were aimed at the British Fleet in Boston Harbor from atop Dorchester Heights.  The British had been outmaneuvered and had no choice but to leave Boston, quitting their 11 month occupation. 

The password used to enter the fortifications that day was St. Patrick, according to the National Archives. 

 The Massachusetts Historical Society has a letter from Sullivan to John Adams dated March 15, 1776, in which Sullivan describes the colonial army’s fortification at Dorchester Heights to drive the British troops out of Boston. “When the British wake up one morning to find a large number of Henry Knox’s cannon pointed directly at them from Dorchester Heights, hasty action is required to salvage the situation.” 


Dorchester Heights photo courtesy of National Park Service

Sullivan participated in numerous battles throughout the seven year war.  He was briefly taken prisoner by the British after the Battle of Long Island, and on Christmas Day, 1776 he was with George Washington when crossing the Delaware River for the Battle of Trenton.  He was also involved in the Battle of Brandywine in September, 1877 and the the Battle of Newport, Rhode Island in August, 1778, where he fought alongside generals Lafayette and Green.

In spring, 1779, he led the brutal 'Sullivan's March' across upstate New York where he decimated Native American villages in an effort to neutralize the strength of Britain's ally, the Iroquois, according to American Battlefield Trust. 


After the war, Sullivan became a New Hampshire congressman, and later attorney-General of NH. In 1789, President Washington appointed him Judge of the U.S. District Court of NH, which he held until his death on January 23, 1795.  He is buried in New Hampshire, and there is a monument honoring Sullivan in Durham, NH.

Thousands of Irish born in Ireland and in New Englanders had significant roles in the Revolutionary War. Read more here. 

Find more about the illustrious history of the Boston Irish by visiting IrishHeritageTrail.com.

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