Edward J Sullivan

Edward was born in Cork, Ireland, on the 16th of May 1870, and I am unsure when he came to the United States. It is known that he enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1896 and that he was a Private when he deployed to Cuba in support of the Spanish-American War. His actions there, along with fifty-one other sailors and Marines, would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Marblehead during the operation of cutting the cable leading from Cienfuegos, Cuba, 11 May 1898. Facing the heavy fire of the enemy, Sullivan displayed extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action.

I know I have mentioned this mission many times and most accounts of it are vague. I was able to find that the mission to cut the underwater communications cables lasted about eighty minutes and the US sailors and Marines were under close range fire the entire time. When I say close range, I mean close: at times they were within fifteen feet of the enemy. Once they brought up the cables, they cut through them with hacksaws and dragged out to sea to prevent them from being repaired. These communications cables connected Spanish fortifications with the rest of the world.

Edward received the Medal of Honor on the 7th of July 1899, and he exited the Marine Corps in 1901 at the rank of Corporal. He was married to Bertha on the 19th of November 1901, and the couple had one son and two daughters. Edward Joseph Sullivan died on the 11th of March 1955 at the age of 84 and he is buried with his wife in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Uxbridge, Massachusetts: Section 5, Row 3.