William Darke
| William Darke | |
|---|---|
Portrait of William Darke
|
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| Born | 1736 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | November 26, 1801 (aged 64–65) Jefferson County, Virginia |
| Buried at | Ronemous Eagle Cemetery, Jefferson County, West Virginia |
| Allegiance |
 Great Britain United States
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1755–1801 |
| Rank |
 Major General
|
| Battles/wars | |
William Darke (1736 – November 26, 1801) was an American soldier. In 1740, he moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Virginia. He was in Braddock's army in the defeat in 1755, and was made a captain at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. He was made prisoner at the Battle of Germantown, and was commanding colonel of the Hampshire and Berkeley regiments at the capture of Cornwallis. Darke was often a member of the Virginia legislature, and, in the convention of 1788, voted for the Federal Constitution. Lieutenant-colonel of the regiment of "Levies" in 1791, he commanded the left wing of the St. Clair's army, at its defeat by the Miami Indians, November 4, 1791. He made two unsuccessful charges with the bayonet in this fight, in the second of which his younger son, Captain Joseph Darke, was killed, and he himself was wounded and narrowly escaped death. He wrote a letter to President George Washington describing the battle. Afterwards, Darke was a major-general of the Virginia militia. He died on November 26, 1801.
Darke was descended from early Quaker settlers at the Falls in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was a cousin of Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence. William Darke was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on May 6, 1736, the son of Joseph Darke, according to the "Hopewell Friends History." In 1740, he and his family moved to the Elk Branch near Shepherdstown, Virginia. Darke had two brothers and one sister. As a child he fished, ploughed, and planted. He was described as "a strong man of his hands", and "herculean".
Darke enlisted in the British Army in 1755. He served briefly in the Braddock Expedition during the French and Indian War under the command of General Edward Braddock. Braddock's plan was to capture the Fort Duquesne from the French. Even though there were many casualties, Darke was not injured.
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