James Irvine (Pennsylvania) - Military Career

Military Career

As a young man Irvine worked as a hatter, but in 1760 he enrolled in Samuel Atlee's provincial Pennsylvania unit and served in the French and Indian War. He spent most of his time along Pennsylvania's northern frontier. In 1763 he was promoted to captain. The following year, during Pontiac's Rebellion, he served with Henry Bouquet's expedition into the Ohio Country.

In the fall of 1775 Irvine was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion of the Continental Army. He served in Virginia and Canada, and was promoted to colonel in Pennsylvania's 9th Regiment in late 1776; he was then given command of the 2nd Regiment. Irvine resigned, believing that he should have been promoted to general. However, a few months later he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania militia.

After returning to the battlefield Irvine was captured by the British in a skirmish at Chestnut Hill, near Philadelphia, on December 5, 1777. He suffered neck injuries and lost three of the fingers on his left hand in the fight. He was held prisoner by the British for nearly four years, first in New York and then in Flushing. He was released June 1, 1781. He was active in planning the defense of Philadelphia against suspected British attack.

After the war, he held the rank of major general in the Pennsylvania militia from 1782 to 1793.