Eleazer Oswald (baptized bp 2 February 1750/51 – 30 September 1795) was born at Falmouth, Cornwall, in England, but moved to British America as a young man.

He was not exchanged until 10 January 1777 when he received a commission as lieutenant colonel in John Lamb's 2nd Continental Artillery Regiment.

[3] During the action, Lamb's three-gun battery made a valiant attempt to stop a British bayonet charge.

[9] Since Lee had expressed doubts about the wisdom of harassing the retreat of Sir Henry Clinton's British army, George Washington placed the American advance guard under the command of Gilbert Motier, marquis de La Fayette.

When they reached the bridge across Spottswood Middle Brook (West Morass), conflicting reports caused the column to delay.

After his soldiers dispersed some British light dragoons, Lee sent John Durkee's brigade to support Oswald's guns.

[13] Because Lee was recently released in a prisoner exchange, he failed to grasp the improvements in the American army since his capture in December 1776.

When Lee demanded to know why, Oswald explained that one cannon was disabled, the crews were exhausted from the day's extreme heat, and that the guns had run out of roundshot.

At this time, Scott and Maxwell chose to fall back, either because they saw Oswald retreat or because they noticed Butler and Jackson changing position.

[17] As Lee tried to extemporize a defense line, he ordered Olney's brigade to hold a hedgerow while Wayne asked Walter Stewart and Nathaniel Ramsey defend some woods on the left flank.

With his four remaining guns, Oswald placed two on a hill behind the hedgerow to support Olney's men while the other two were ordered to cover Wayne's troops.

Washington's artillery chief, Henry Knox ordered Oswald to withdraw his cannon across Spottswood Middle Brook.

The next two hours were occupied by an artillery duel between 10 British pieces near the hedgerow and between 10 and 14 American cannons that Knox assembled on Perrine Ridge.

He left the Maryland Journal and went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in April 1782 to start the Independent Gazetteer, or the Chronicle of Freedom, a harshly partisan newspaper.

He opened Bradford's London Coffee House in 1783 and began printing the Price Current which was possibly the earliest business newspaper in the United States.

[3] In the summer of 1788, Oswald printed a piece in the Independent Gazetteer that made anonymous allegations against Andrew Browne, the head master of a girls' school.

The Independent Gazetteer was one of only twelve papers in the United States to regularly publish essays opposing ratification.

[24] Between 5 October 1787 and 24 November 1788 a series of 24 anti-Federalist articles were published in the Independent Gazetteer and Freeman's Journal in Philadelphia.

[3] On 18 September 1792, Oswald received a colonel's commission in the French army from General Charles François Dumouriez.

[4] A remarkable set of documents survived in which Oswald sought reimbursement from the French government for expenses he incurred in the line of duty.

His secret mission was certified by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Henri Hélène Marie Lebrun-Tondu.

A letter of introduction from Thomas Paine testified that Oswald's motive was to repay France for helping America in its War of Independence.

[1] Including their eldest son John who was mentioned earlier, Oswald and his wife Elizabeth Holt had seven children.

[5] John Holt Oswald became an international merchant and died in 1810, leaving behind his wife Emily and three surviving children.