He fought in the Continental Army as an artillery officer during the American Revolutionary War.

During the American Revolutionary War he was commissioned a captain in Colonel Thomas Proctor's Pennsylvania Artillery Battalion on October 5, 1776.

Situated on high ground at the head of King and Queen Streets, his two brass six-pound cannons and other American guns helped dominate the battlefield.

He was again elected as a Federalist to the 17th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Milnor.

His portrait by Charles Willson Peale hangs in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.