American War of Independence
Fitzgerald joined the British Army in 1779, he served on the staff of Lord Rawdon in the southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on 8 September 1781, his life being saved by an escaped slave named Tony Small (nicknamed 'Faithful Tony'). Fitzgerald commissioned a portrait of Tony Small by John Roberts in 1786 whom Lord Edward freed and employed to the end of his life.
He was evacuated from Charleston, South Carolina in 1782 when the British forces abandoned the city.
Read more about this topic: Lord Edward FitzGerald
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