I was a merchant, a soldier, and a trusted ally of General George Washington.

I was born in 1742 in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in a prosperous family connected to both Philadelphia and Europe. After studying overseas and at the College of Philadelphia, I went into business with my brother Lambert, and together we built a successful merchant enterprise. In 1768, I married Elizabeth Lloyd of Maryland, and a year later, her father introduced me to George Washington — a meeting that began a lifelong bond. Elizabeth and I had three daughters before her passing in 1776, and later, I remarried Williamina Bond and raised three more children.

As a merchant, I had seen firsthand how unfair British taxation was to the colonies. In 1774, I organized a well-dressed Philadelphia militia known as the “Silk Stocking Company,” and in 1775, I became colonel of the Third Battalion of that militia.

During the critical winter of 1776, Washington asked me to hold my men in Trenton, New Jersey, instead of pushing ahead to Princeton. He tasked me with organizing our forces and determining if newly arrived sailors from Philadelphia could serve as foot soldiers. I attempted to cross the Delaware River alongside Washington for the Battle of Trenton, but icy waters and harsh winter weather prevented my artillery from reaching the field in time.

A week later, I redeemed myself at the Battle of Princeton. From my position in New Jersey, I gathered intelligence on British troop locations and resources, and I passed a detailed map to Washington. I then led the Philadelphia militia into battle, and the map I created helped secure another critical victory for the Continental Army.

In 1777, Congress offered me the title of brigadier general in the Continental Army. Though I respectfully declined, Washington continued to treat me as one of his most trusted officers, sending me orders and seeking my counsel. I later accepted the rank of brigadier general in the Philadelphia militia, and continued to support the war effort through both action and strategy.

After retiring from the military, I served three terms in the Maryland House of Delegates. I died young, in 1786, at the age of forty-four. Though my life was short, I lived it with honor and conviction. Even those who disagreed with my politics remembered me as a man of integrity, a patriot whose heart never wavered from the cause of liberty.