William Irvine (general)

William Irvine (November 3, 1741 – July 29, 1804) was an Irish-American physician, soldier, and statesman from Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

William Irvine
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's at-large district
In office March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	None
Personal details
Born	November 3, 1741 Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Kingdom of Ireland
Died	July 29, 1804 (aged 62) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Anti-Administration
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	Continental Army
Rank	Brigadier General
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War

Biography

Irvine was born near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in the Kingdom of Ireland. He served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army and represented Pennsylvania in both the Continental Congress (1787–88) and the United States House of Representatives (1793–1795). During the war, he convinced Colonel William Crawford to come out of retirement and lead an expedition against Indians in villages along the Sandusky River, which ended in Crawford's brutal execution. The militia troops went back under the command of John Rose, a Baltic German officer from Estonia.

He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was buried in a graveyard near Independence Hall. He was reburied in 1833 at the new Ronaldson's Cemetery. When it was closed in the 1950s, the graves of a few Revolutionary War officers such as Irvine were identified by the rector of Old Swedes' and reburied at Gloria Dei Church cemetery.

His great-granddaughter Margaret Biddle married Thomas Biddle of the Biddle family of Philadelphia.

Irvine was the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Irvine v. Sims's Lessee.

External links

• Irvine's biographic sketch at the U.S. Congress website
• William Irvine at Find a Grave
• J. G. Wilson ed., J. Fiske ed., Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography "General William Irvine" (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887–1889).
• ExplorePAHistory.com
• The Irvine-Newbold Family Papers, including correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, records and other materials beginning with General William Irvine and spanning over 200 years of family history, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.