He was the second son of the Earl of Leven and Melville from Scotland and a captain in the 17th Foot of the British Army during the American War of Independence.

He was mortally wounded during the Battle of Princeton and buried with military honours by American General George Washington at Pluckemin, New Jersey.

[5] The following day his friend Benjamin Rush learned of Leslie's death from British Captain John McPherson while treating the wounded at Princeton.

[6] On 5 January at Pluckemin, General George Washington ordered military honors for the burial when he learned Leslie was a friend of Rush.

As the original had crumbled, a replacement with the same inscription was erected c. 1836 by Professor Ogilby of Rutgers University[11] at the request of David Leslie-Melville, 8th Earl of Leven.