He first joined the NY Society an transferred to the NJ Society 4 Jul 1789. Began his service in the Revolutionary War as 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Continental Artillery 13 Jan 1777. Commissary of Military Stores to the Artillery in 1778. Transferred to Lamb’s regiment of Continental Artillery 21 Jul 1779. Attached to the command of Lafayette in Virginia in 1780, who presented him with a sword for gallantry in action. Regimental Adjutant of the 2nd NY Regiment of Continental Artillery on 1 Jan 1781. Resigned from service on 21 Aug 1782. Born in New York on 8 Mar 1760 and died in Bridgeton, NJ on 23 Jul 1825. Studied law under Joseph Bloomfield. Attorney and member of the Bar 1783. Clerk of Cumberland County, NJ 1788-1803. Commissioned Brigadier General of the Cumberland Brigade of the NJ Militia in 1793and held this position until 1805. President of Cumberland County Bank. Was presented a sword by the Marquis de Lafayette in 1780 and greeted Lafayette in 1824 when he visited the Society of the Cincinnati in New Jersey. Freemason and founder of Brearly Lodge #9 (now #2), and Warrant Master 1791. Married Hannah Bloomfield on 23 May 1784. The James Giles home in Bridgeton, NJ is an historic site. [Sources: M; H; (66); (98); (C); “Institution of the Society of the Cincinnati… 1783…of the State of New York”, by John Schuyler 1886; “New York State Society of the Cincinnati, Biographies of Original Members and Other Continental Officers”, by Francis Sypher, Jr. 2004; “Biographical Encyclopaedia of New Jersey”, p427; Rootsweb’s World Connect Project; Famous New Jersey Masons; “The Colonial Newsletter”, May 1986. Pics: (J); “The Colonial Newsletter”, May 1986; Vertical File at Anderson House.]