Irvine

Sept. 3, 1781. Immediately upon his return to
Philadelphia he was active in recruiting troops
for the expected attack by the British on that city.
In October 1782 Irvine was elected to the Su-
preme Executive Council of Pennsylvania as a
Constitutionalist, serving there for three years.
From Nov. 6, 1784, until his resignation, Oct. 10,
1785, he was vice-president of the Council. Dur-
ing 1785-86 he was a member of the Assembly.
On May 27, 1782, he was commissioned major-
general of Pennsylvania militia, which post he
held until his resignation in 1793. Irvine was ag-
gressive and forceful and was regarded as a val-
iant officer. During much of his later life he
was an invalid. He died in Philadelphia after a
lingering illness.

[James Irvine, "Descendants of John Rush," in Pa.
Mag. of Hist, and Biog., XVII (1893), 3*5-35 >

V (1881), 269 f.; XVII, 161, 421; XXVIII (1904),
120; Pa. Archives, i ser., VIII (1853), 660-65; VI
(1853), 70-72, 85, 100-02; 2 ser., X (1880), 397, 674;
5 ser., I (1906), 312, 335; Minutes of the Provincial
Council of Pa., vols., X, XI, XIII, XIV (1852-53) J
Paulson's Am. Daily Advertiser, Apr. 30, 1819.]

J.H.P.

IRVINE, WILLIAM (Nov. 3, i74i-July 29,

1804), Revolutionary soldier, was born near En-

niskillen, Fermanagh county, Ulster province,

Ireland, The Irvines were of ancient Scotch ex-

traction ; a branch of the family had migrated to

Ireland and built Castle Irvine in Fermanagh

under a grant from the Stuarts. William Irvine

was educated at Enniskillen, and at Trinity Col-

lege, Dublin. After a brief and unfortunate ca-

reer at arms, he studied medicine under the cele-

brated Cleghorn. He was appointed surgeon on

a British ship of war and served in the Seven

Years* War. After 1764 he practised his profes-

sion in Carlisle, Pa. Here he married Anne Cal-

lender, daughter of Capt. Robert Callender. Like

most Scotch Ulstermen, Irvine supported Amer-

ican independence from the outset. He was a

member of the provincial convention in Phila-

delphia of July 15, 1774, which denounced Brit-

ish tyranny in Boston and declared for Ameri-

can rights. He raised and commanded the 6th

(later 7th) Pennsylvania Regiment, being ap-

pointed colonel in 1777, to rank from Jan. 9,

1776. His command participated in the expedi-

tion against Canada, where he was captured in

the encounter at Trois Rivieres. He was re-

leased on parole soon afterward, but was not ex-

changed until May 6, 1778. Immediately there-

upon, he resumed arms and participated in the

battle of Monmouth, in which Mary McCauley

fo<J— "Molly Pitcher"— who had been a serv-

ant in the Irvine family, made a name for her-

self in history. He was a member of the court

martial which sat in judgment over Gen. Charles

Irvine

Lee, declared him guilty, and suspended him from
his command.

On May 12,1779, Irvine was promoted to brig-
adier-general in the Continental Army. His bri-
gade was employed in New Jersey around Tren-
ton, took part in Lord Stirling's expedition
against Staten Island, and in the unsuccessful
attack of Gen. Anthony Wayne at Bull's Ferry.
In the fall of 1781, upon the recommendation of
Washington, Irvine was entrusted with the de-
fense of the northwestern frontier. He was sta-
tioned at Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh), and retained
command there until the close of the war. His
troops were poorly trained and inadequately sup-
plied, and his task was aggravated by mutinies
from within and Indian raids from without. He
received indispensable assistance during these
years from his aide-de-camp, a gifted Russian
who called himself John Rose and after the war
was identified as Gustavus de Rosenthal of Li-
vonia, a baron of the Empire.

When peace was declared, Irvine wrote to
General Washington, to whom he was both per-
sonally and professionally attached, compliment-
ing him on his success. "With great sincerity,"
the Commander-in-Chief replied, "I return you
my congratulations." Pennsylvania rewarded
Irvine with a generous land grant, and, in 1785,
he was appointed agent to direct the mode of
distributing the donation lands promised to the
troops. In exploring the territory, he became
convinced of the advisability of the purchase by
Pennsylvania of a tract of land called the "Tri-
angle," which would give the state a consider-
able front on Lake Erie. The suggestion was in-
corporated in his report and accepted by the gov-
ernment On closing the business of the land
agency he was elected a delegate to the Conti-
nental Congress of 1786-88. While in New York
in this capacity, he sat for his portrait to Robert
Edge Pine, the English artist in America. A
handsome copy of this painting was later made
by Bass Otis of Philadelphia.

In 1790 Irvine was elected to sit in the con-
stitutional convention of his state, which framed
the organ adopted on Sept. 2 of that year. He
served .as one of the commissioners who settled
the financial account between the several states
and the United States government in 1793, and
in that year was sent to the Third United States
Congress by Cumberland district. In 1794 he
was active both as arbitrator and commanding
officer of the state troops in quelling the Whiskey
Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. He was ap-
pointed superintendent of the military stores at
Philadelphia on Mar. 13, 1800, in which capacity
he had charge of the arsenals, ordnance, and sup-

500