After having fought in Bavaria, Bohemia, and Flanders, de Borre was badly wounded during the passage of the Rhine River in 1745.

[1] While a lieutenant colonel in 1757, de Borre raised a unit from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège,[1] the Liègeois d'Orion Regiment.

On 14 December 1776, then a temporary artillery brigadier general, he set out with Philippe Charles Tronson de Coudray and a large group of French officers who were given the government's blessing to assist the American Revolution.

The ship also carried a secret cargo of gunpowder, small arms, and material for uniforms, all bound for the American army.

[7] Because de Coudray had been promised the rank of major general, Henry Knox, Nathanael Greene, and John Sullivan vowed to resign if the Frenchman was promoted over their heads.

The freshly-minted Inspector General promptly began quarreling with other French officers such as the capable engineer Louis Lebègue Duportail and involved himself in intrigues.

[10] One Frenchman noted that de Coudray's arrogance offended the Congress and damaged relations between the American colonies and France.

Finally, on 16 September 1777 de Coudray stupidly rode his horse onto a Schuylkill River ferryboat and the skittish animal leaped overboard, drowning its rider.

[11][non sequitur] On 22 August, Sullivan mounted an unsuccessful raid on British positions near New York City in the Battle of Staten Island.

[13] On 11 September, the British-Hessian army of Sir William Howe squared off against Washington's 12,000 continentals and 3,000 militiamen at the Battle of Brandywine.

Howe's column veered to the southeast past Strode's Mill toward Osborne's Hill where the footsore troops were permitted to rest.

At this location they were finally spotted by American cavalrymen and Theodorick Bland quickly notified both Washington and Sullivan of the danger.

[18] Washington immediately instructed Stirling and Stephen to march north toward Birmingham Meeting House, a place of Quaker worship.

[20] During the maneuver, de Borre asked Sullivan if Hazen's regiment could rejoin his brigade, but the request was denied.

De Borre later stated to Samuel Smith of the 4th Maryland that a wound on his cheek was caused by the English firing fish hooks.

[24] Since it led the column of march, Hazen's regiment apparently did not take part in de Borre's maneuver and instead joined Stirling's left flank.

[28] Washington averted a disaster when he brought up George Weedon's brigade of Greene's division at 6:00 PM to slow the British pursuit.

[30] He urged Washington to pull the entire army back into Philadelphia and call up 50,000 militia to annoy the British, but this suggestion was ignored.

[31] Charged with mismanagement and told that a court of inquiry would be convened, de Borre sent in his resignation on 14 September and Congress accepted it.

Historian Mark M. Boatner III remarked that the war record of the 2nd Maryland Brigade showed that it was made up of excellent regiments.

A story arose at the time that he insisted on his division being assigned to hold the post of honor on the right flank, but historian Thomas J. McGuire disproved this myth.

[33] Leaving Charleston, South Carolina on 20 January 1779, de Borre took dispatches to Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing whose French fleet was then at Cap-François in Haiti.

He was promoted to brigadier general in the French royal army as of 1 March 1780, but a little over one month later the retirement process was begun due to his physical disability.