Timothy Hierlihy

He was born in Ireland in 1734 and at age 19 arrived in Connecticut (1753). He married Elizabeth Wetmore on May 10, 1755 in Christ Church, Middletown and they had 10 children.[5]

During the French and Indian War, in 1755 he was in the Connecticut Regiment, under the command of Sir William Johnston, when he fought in the Battle of Lake George. In 1756, he was stationed at Fort Edward under the command of the Earl of Loudon and then in 1757 under the command of General Webb. In 1758, under the command of General Abercrombie he fought in the Battle of Ticonderoga. The following year, he fought again at Ticonderoga and Crown Point under Sir Jeffrey Amherst. In 1759 he fought in the siege of Oswego, taking of Fort William Augustus, Montreal and Canada. In 1761 he fought at Crown Point and then in 1762, he was at the capturing of Havana under the command of Earl of Albemarle. He became a major in General Phineas Lyman to capture the Spanish Caribbean Islands, the campaign that concluded the war.[6][7]

During the American Revolution, Major Hierlihy lived in Middletown, Massachusetts. His friend Montfort Browne had been taken prisoner on New Providence by Commodore Esek Hopkins of the Continental Navy on 3 March 1776. While Montfort Browne was imprisoned in Middletown, Hierlihy raised the Prince of Wales’ American Regiment in Long Island (July 1776).[8] (Hierlihy and Browne knew each other previously in the province of West Florida, when Hierlihy was with the "Company of Military Adventurers," and the Browne was the lieutenant governor.)[9]

In September 1776, while Browne was imprisoned, Hierlihy risked his life to deliver the plan to raise the regiment to the Commander in Chief Howe. According to Hierlihy's account, the route included crossing Long Island Sound “in the dead of Night, Twenty Six Miles wide in a little open leaky Boat, passing by a Rebel Battery (Fort Black Rock) of 23 Guns.” Howe was so impressed with Hierlihy’s plan that he immediately negotiated with George Washington to have Browne released from prison. While Hierlihy was raising the new regiment, the Patriots took his family members prisoner and kept them until the end of the war (six years).

In 1777, he created the Independent Companies (Hierlihy's Corps; 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales American Volunteers). He was part of the expedition against Danbury, Connecticut, where they lost 130 men. He was later stationed with his own unit at Harlem Heights, Morrisania. (This unit laid the foundation of Antigonish, Nova Scotia.)

After 6 years, in 1783, Major Hierlihy returned to New York where his wife and 10 children were released from prison. He returned to Nova Scotia and began command of the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment.[20] His wife Elizabeth died in Halifax on 2 April 1784.[21] On their passage to Antigonish eight days later, Hierlihy’s oldest daughter died.[22] (She is the first British person buried in Antigonish.)

He fought alongside John Small in the French and Indian War. John Small supported his application for a land settlement in Nova Scotia.[23] He died at age 63 in 1797.

• Nova Scotia in the American Revolution

• "The Memorial of Lieut. Colonel Timothy Hierlihy" 20 May 1783. Great Britain, Public Record Office (PRO), Headquarters Papers of the British Army in America, PRO 30/5/10106.
• "The Memorial of Timothy Hierlihy, Major Commandant of His Majesty's Independent Companies" 27 August 1779. PRO, Colonial Office, Class 226, Volume 7, folios 42–44.
• Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636–1776 – Regimental Records