Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Irvine, William (1741-1804)
IRVINE, WILLIAM (1741–1804), American brigadier-general, was born near Inniskilling, Ireland, 3 Nov. 1741, studied medicine at Dublin University, and served as a surgeon in the royal navy during part of the war of 1756–63. He resigned before the close of the war, emigrated, and settled in medical practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He sided with the colonists at the beginning of the revolution, and took an active part in public affairs. He was a member of the provincial convention assembled at Philadelphia, 15 July 1774, which recommended a general congress. He was appointed by congress colonel of the 6th Pennsylvanian infantry and ordered to Canada. He raised the regiment, led it through the mouth of the Sorel, and commanded it in the attempted surprise of the British at Three Rivers. He was taken prisoner on 16 June 1776, and was released on parole, but was not exchanged until 6 May 1778. He was a member of the court-martial that tried General Charles Lee. In 1778 he commanded the 2nd Pennsylvanian infantry, and in 1779 was made brigadier-general and given command of the 2nd Pennsylvanian brigade, with which he was engaged at Staten Island and in Wayne's unsuccessful attempt on Bull's Ferry, 21–22 July 1780. He attempted unsuccessfully to raise a corps of Pennsylvanian cavalry. In March 1782 he was sent to Fort Pitt to command on the western frontier, where he remained until October 1783. In 1785 he was appointed agent for the state of Pennsylvania to examine the public lands, and had the administration of the act directing the distribution of the donation-lands promised to the soldiers of the revolution. He suggested the purchase of the piece of land known as ‘The Triangle,’ to give Pennsylvania an outlet on Lake Erie. He was a member of the continental congress of 1786, and was one of the assessors for settling the accounts of the union with individual states. He commanded the Pennsylvanian state militia against the whisky insurgents in 1794; served as a representative in the third congress from 2 Dec. 1793 to 3 March 1795; subsequently he removed to Philadelphia, and in 1801 was made superintendent of military stores there. He was president of the state society of Cincinnati at the time of his death, which took place at Philadelphia 29 July 1804. Two of Irvine's brothers were in the military service of the revolution, Andrew, a captain of infantry, and Matthew, a surgeon; and he left several sons serving as officers in the United States army.
Appleton's Cyclop. American Biography, vol. iii. The statement in Appleton that Irvine ‘graduated’ at Dublin is doubtful, as the name does not appear in the Dublin Catalogue of Graduates.]