John Cadwalader | |
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Philadelphia Museum of Art
John and Elizabeth Lloyd Cadwalader and their Daughter Anne (1772) by Charles Willson Peale. |
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Born | January 10, 1742 Trenton, New Jersey |
Died | February 10, 1786 (aged 44) Kent County, Maryland |
Occupation | Merchant |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Lloyd Williamina Bond |
Children | Anne, b: 1771 Elizabeth, b: 1774 Maria, b: 1776 Thomas, b: 1779 Frances, b: 1781 John, b: 1784 |
Parent(s) | Thomas Cadwalader Hannah Lambert |
John Cadwalader (January 10, 1742 – February 10, 1786) was a commander of Pennsylvania troops during the American Revolutionary War.
John Cadwalader was born in Trenton, New Jersey of Quaker parentage, the eldest son of Thomas Cadwalader (1707–1779) and Hannah Lambert, his wife. In 1750, the Cadwalader family removed to Philadelphia where John and Lambert Cadwalader, his brother, were merchants.
On September 25, 1768, John Cadwalader married Elizabeth Lloyd (1742–1776), the daughter of Edward Lloyd, of Talbot County, Maryland. Her brother, Edward Lloyd IV, was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Maryland. Their daughter, Maria Cadwalader (1776–1811), married Samuel Ringgold, who became a congressman representing Maryland. Two of their sons, Samuel Ringgold and Cadwalader Ringgold, had distinguished military careers.
In 1776, Colonel John Cadwalader was elected senior officer of the Philadelphia Associators, a volunteer militia founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1747. By December, Cadwalader and the Associators were positioned about 10 miles south of Trenton on the west side of the Delaware River in Bucks County, Pennsylvania at the ferry between Bristol, Pennsylvania and Burlington, New Jersey. Cadwalader had received orders to send his column across the river on the night of December 25–26 and march to Trenton from the south. Meanwhile, George Washington's column would cross the river to the north of Trenton and attack the city from that direction. After successfully crossing his light forces, Cadwalader discovered that river ice prevented crossing his artillery. He then returned his column to the Pennsylvania side, leaving Washington's forces unsupported in New Jersey. It was fortunate for Washington that a Hessian column, having marched from their garrison at Bordentown to Mount Holly where they were engaged in the Battle of Iron Works Hill, were no longer in position to defend Trenton. Washington was successful in his surprise attack on the morning of December 26 against the Hessian garrison in Trenton.