Irvine James was an American soldier and politician of the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Post-Revolutionary periods.
Background
James was born on August 4, 1735 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of George Irvine and Mary Rush. His father, an emigrant from the north of Ireland, died when James was five years old. Very early he manifested a desire for a military career.
Career
At the age of twenty-five Irvine was an ensign in the first battalion of the Pennsylvania provincial regiment (May 2, 1760). On December 30, 1763, he was promoted to captain. This period of his military service was spent along the northern Pennsylvania frontier in Northampton County. In 1764 he served under Col. Henry Bouquet in the expedition against the Indians northwest of the Ohio. One of the first to embrace the patriot cause at the outbreak of the Revolution, he was a delegate to the provincial conference at Philadelphia, January 23, 1775. In the fall of that year when the first battalion of Philadelphia Associators was organized he was chosen captain, and on November 25 following, when field officers were selected by Congress, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel.
On December 4, 1775, he was ordered by Congress to lead part of his battalion to Virginia against Lord Dunmore. He returned early in 1776, in time to accompany his entire battalion to Canada under Col. John Philip de Haas to join General Benedict Arnold. He served in the Canadian expedition until the fall of 1776, when he was given the rank of colonel in charge of the 9th Pennsylvania Regiment (October 25, 1776). On March 12, 1777, he was transferred to the 2nd Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, dissatisfied at seeing men younger in the service promoted more rapidly, and believing that Congress would give him no higher rank, he resigned from the Continental Army, June 1, 1777.
His resignation apparently did not dim his enthusiasm for the American cause, for on August 26, 1777, he accepted the appointment of brigadier-general of militia from the Pennsylvania Council and was given command of the 2nd Brigade. During the battle at the Brandywine, his brigade was stationed at Wilmington, and at Germantown he was with General Armstrong on the extreme right of the American army. While Washington was at Whitemarsh, near Philadelphia, with the main army, Irvine was sent (December 5, 1777) with six hundred men on a skirmishing expedition against the British. A sharp engagement followed at Chestnut Hill, and in the mêlée his horse fell under him, three fingers were shot from his left hand, he suffered a contusion in his neck resulting in a wound from which he never entirely recovered, and his militiamen fled, leaving him a prisoner in the hands of the British. He was taken to Philadelphia, then to New York, and finally to Flushing, where he was confined.
During his imprisonment he wrote repeatedly to Congress and the Pennsylvania Assembly pleading for exchange, and in December 1780 he was permitted to go to Philadelphia to present in person petitions in behalf of himself and his fellow prisoners. In spite of his bitter complaints, however, he was not exchanged until September 3, 1781.
Immediately upon his return to Philadelphia he was active in recruiting troops for the expected attack by the British on that city. In October 1782 Irvine was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania as a Constitutionalist, serving there for three years. From November 6, 1784, until his resignation, October 10, 1785, he was vice-president of the Council. During 1785-86 he was a member of the Assembly. On May 27, 1782, he was commissioned majorgeneral of Pennsylvania militia, which post he held until his resignation in 1793.
During much of his later life he was an invalid. He died in Philadelphia after a lingering illness.
Politics
His party affiliation was Constitutionalist.
Personality
Irvine was aggressive and forceful and was regarded as a valiant officer.