Irvine, William, 1741-1804

William Irvine (November 3, 1741 – July 29, 1804) was an Irish-American physician, soldier, and statesman from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He practiced medicine as a ship's surgeon for the Royal Navy before he sympathized with the American Revolution and fought against the British during the American Revolutionary War. As tensions escalated between the American colonies and the British government during the 1770s, Irvine sympathized and allied himself with the revolutionary cause. He subsequently served as a brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War and served in the western theater. After the war he served in the Continental Congress, and later played an active role in ending the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. He also served two terms in Congress representing Pennsylvania, and was also active in the state's other public affairs.

Born in County Fermanagh, Ulster, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Irvine pursued classical studies and graduated from the University of Dublin where he studied medicine and classical literature. Thereafter he was admitted to practice where he served as ship's surgeon on a British man-of-war during the French and Indian War. In 1763 he immigrated to the British colonies in America and settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. That year he became a delegate to the State Revolutionary conventions held from 1764 to 1766. Irvine served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and served under General George Washington, with whom he frequently corresponded.

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