John Cadwalader (January 10, 1742 – February 10, 1786) was a commander of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
troops during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and served under
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
. He was with Washington at
Valley Forge
Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the B ...
.
Early life
John Cadwalader was born in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.[Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...]
parentage, the eldest son of
Thomas Cadwalader (1707–1779) and Hannah Lambert, his wife.
[Historical Society of Pennsylvania][Kent, p. 15] In 1750, the Cadwalader family removed to Philadelphia where John and
Lambert Cadwalader
Lambert Cadwalader (December 1742 – September 13, 1823) was an American merchant and leader in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He fought in the Revolutionary War, then represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress and the U.S. Congres ...
, his brother, were merchants.
In 1768 he was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
. On September 25, 1768, John Cadwalader married Elizabeth Lloyd (1742–1776), the daughter of Edward Lloyd, of
Talbot County, Maryland
Talbot County is located in the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 37,526. Its county seat is Easton, Maryland, Easton. The county was named ...
. Her brother,
Edward Lloyd IV, was a delegate to the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
for Maryland. Their daughter, Maria Cadwalader (1776–1811), married
Samuel Ringgold, who became a congressman representing Maryland. Two of their sons,
Samuel Ringgold and
Cadwalader Ringgold
Cadwalader Ringgold (August 20, 1802 – April 29, 1867) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in the United States Exploring Expedition, later headed an expedition to the Northwest and, after initially retiring, returned to service ...
, had distinguished military careers.
Revolutionary War
![John Cadwalader plaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/John_Cadwalader_plaque.jpg)
In 1776, Colonel John Cadwalader was elected senior officer of the
Philadelphia Associators, a volunteer militia founded by
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
in 1747. By December, Cadwalader and the Associators were positioned about 10 miles south of
Trenton on the west side of the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
in
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the Englis ...
at the ferry between
Bristol, Pennsylvania
Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorporat ...
and
Burlington, New Jersey
Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743.
Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...
. Cadwalader had received orders to send his column across the river on the night of December 25–26 and march to Trenton from the south. Meanwhile,
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's column would cross the river to the north of Trenton and attack the city from that direction. After successfully crossing his light forces, Cadwalader discovered that river ice prevented crossing his
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
. He then returned his column to the Pennsylvania side, leaving Washington's forces unsupported in New Jersey. It was fortunate for Washington that a
Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
column, having marched from their garrison at
Bordentown to
Mount Holly where they were engaged in the
Battle of Iron Works Hill
The Battle of Iron Works Hill, also known as the Battle of Mount Holly, was a series of minor skirmishes that took place on December 22 and 23, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. They took place in Mount Holly, New Jersey, bet ...
, were no longer in position to defend Trenton. Washington was successful in his
surprise attack
Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ac ...
on the morning of December 26 against the Hessian garrison in Trenton.
Cadwalader and his column did cross the river the next day. Cadwalader subsequently took part in the further actions in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, which forced the British commander General
William Howe and his principal subordinate,
Lord Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
, to surrender the colony to the Americans.
After the
Conway Cabal
The Conway Cabal was a group of senior Continental Army officers in late 1777 and early 1778 who aimed to have George Washington replaced as commander-in-chief of the Army during the American Revolutionary War. It was named after Brigadier Gen ...
, he fought a
duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules.
During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...
with
Thomas Conway
Thomas Conway (February 27, 1735 – c. 1800) served as a major general in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became involved with the alleged Conway Cabal with Horatio Gates. He later served with Émigré for ...
in 1778 in which Cadwalader wounded his opponent with a shot in the mouth. Supposedly Cadawalader, a supporter of Washington throughout the cabal, boasted, "I have stopped that damned rascal's lying anyway" as he stood over the bleeding Conway.
Post-war
In 1779, Cadwalader became a trustee of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and returned to his estate on the banks of the
Sassafras River
The Sassafras River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula in the United States. It is approximately longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, ...
at Shrewsbury, Kent County, Maryland. He became a member of the Maryland State Assembly.
[Jordan]
Personal life
![John Cadwalader's grave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/John_Cadwalader%27s_grave.JPG)
John Cadwalader married Williamina Bond (1753–1837), daughter of Dr.
Phineas Bond, of Philadelphia and niece of
Thomas Bond.
Their son, Thomas (1779–1841), like his father, became a general of the Pennsylvania militia. Their daughter, Frances (1781–1843), married
David Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine
David Montagu Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine (12 August 1776 – 19 March 1855) was a British diplomat and politician.
Background and education
A member of Clan Erskine, Erskine was the eldest son of Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine, fourth son o ...
(1777–1855), who was the
British Ambassador to the United States
The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America.
T ...
from 1807 to 1809.
John Cadwalader died February 10, 1786, of pneumonia.
He is buried at
Shrewsbury Chapel
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
, Kent County, Maryland.
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
wrote his epitaph:
His early and inflexible patriotism will endear his memory to all true friends of the American Revolution. It may with strictest justice be said of him, that he possessed a heart incapable of deceiving. His manners were formed on the nicest sense of honor and the whole tenor of his life was governed by this principle. The companions of his youth were the companions of his manhood. He never lost a friend by insincerity nor made one by deception. His domestic virtues were truly exemplary and while they served to endear the remembrances they embitter the loss of him to all his numerous friends and connections.
Furniture
John and Elizabeth Cadwalader built a city house on 2nd between Spruce & Union (now Delancey) Streets in Philadelphia in 1770, and they commissioned suites of furniture from cabinetmakers such as
Thomas Affleck and
Benjamin Randolph. Surviving pieces are among the finest and best-documented Philadelphia Chippendale furniture ever made. ''Colonial Grandeur in Philadelphia: The House and Furniture of General John Cadwalader'' (The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1964) Examples are in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
, the
Winterthur Museum
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home o ...
, and other collections. A Cadwalader easy (wing) chair with hairy-paw feet by Affleck sold at
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
New York for $2.75 million on January 31, 1987, setting a world record for the highest price ever paid for any piece of furniture at auction.
[Lita Solis-Cohen]
"Phila.-made chair sold for record $2.75 million,"
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', February 1, 1987.
Family tree
Notes
References
* Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Biography of John Cadwalader*
Fischer, David Hackett
David Hackett Fischer (born December 2, 1935) is University Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University. Fischer's major works have covered topics ranging from large macroeconomic and cultural trends (''Albion's Seed,'' ''The Great Wave'' ...
(2004). ''
Washington's Crossing
Washington's Crossing is the location of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776 in the American Revolutionary War. This daring maneuver led to victory in the Battle of Trenton and altered the cou ...
''. New York: Oxford University Press.
* Jordan, John W. (1914). ''Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography''. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 111: 720-723
John Cadwalader family history* Kent County Heritage Committee (2003). ''Guide to Kent County heritage''. Chestertown, Maryland.
* ''Rodgers Biographical Dictionary''. "General John Cadwallader ". pp. 224–228.
* Weeks, Christopher, et al. (1984). ''Where land and water intertwine, an architectural history of Talbot County, Maryland''. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
*The Ipswich Journal Ipswich, Suffolk, England Saturday, January 11, 1777
External links
Biography and portrait of Gen. John Cadwalader at Virtualology.com*
*
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania
* Th
Cadwalader Family Papers including correspondence and Revolutionary War materials belonging to General John Cadwalader, are available for research use at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadwalader, John
1742 births
1786 deaths
People from Trenton, New Jersey
American people of Welsh descent
American duellists
Militia generals in the American Revolution
Pennsylvania militiamen in the American Revolution
People from Kent County, Maryland
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Burials in Maryland
Continental Army officers from New Jersey
University of Pennsylvania people
People of colonial New Jersey