Chairman of the New Jersey Committee of Safety in 1775. Began his service in the Revolutionary War as Colonel of the 2nd Regiment New Jersey Line 8 Nov 1775. One of the most experienced general officers at the start of the war. Went by the nickname “Scotch Willie”. Engaged in the 1776 Campaign in Canada. Brigadier General of the Continental Army on 23 Oct 1776. Served with General Schuyler on Lake Champlain. In the Battles of Three Rivers, Brandywine, Germantown and was at Valley Forge. Fought in the Battle of Monmouth. In 1779 he was with Sullivan’s Expedition against the Indians. Maxwell’s Brigade is said to have been the first to fly the Stars and Stripes in Battle, which was during the Philadelphia Campaign. Resigned from service on 25 Jul 1780. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland in 1733. Came to America in 1747. Died in Lansdown, NJ on 12 Nov 1796. Prior to the Revolution he fought in the French and Indian War as an Ensign in 1758 and fought in the Battles of Duquesne and Ticonderoga. Member of the Provincial Congress in New Jersey 1775-1776. Member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1783. Freemason and member of the Pennsylvania Military Lodge #19. Past Master of a New Jersey Lodge in 1786. [Sources: M; H; (98); Find A Grave Memorial; www.military.com; www.famousamericans.net; “National Cyclopaedia of American Biography”, Volume 1; “Drake’s Dictionary of American Biography”, 1872.]