[2] He joined Caesar Rodney's Delaware regiment as a lieutenant, and fought at the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Princeton, and Monmouth.

[5] In December 1777, in personal combat with three British dragoons near Philadelphia, Captain McLane killed one, wounded another, and compelled the third to flee.

[3] After the British captured Charleston in March 1780, McLane came under the command of Baron von Steuben, who was then assisting General Nathanael Greene in the Southern campaign.

[3][6] In June 1781, McLane took ship on the American privateer Congress to carry dispatches from George Washington to Count Paul de Grasse, who was at Cap-François, Haiti, commanding a French fleet.

In 1797, Washington appointed McLane as Collector of Customs for the Port of Wilmington, a lucrative position that provided income from the seizure of contraband.

As a well-known and a fervently loyal Federalist, McLane received the strong backing of James A. Bayard, who enabled him to keep the position despite the accession of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency in 1801.

McLane retained his appointment under presidents of both political parties, into the administration of Andrew Jackson, and served until his death on May 22, 1829, at the age of 83.