Thomas Proctor ( general ) Thomas Proctor or Thomas Procter ( 1739 – 16 March 1806 ) commanded the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment during the American Revolutionary War . He was born in County Longford , Ireland , emigrated to British America , and joined the carpenter ' s guild in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in 1772 . He received a commission as an artillery captain in October 1775 and proceeded to raise a company of Pennsylvania state artillery . In the summer of 1776 , a second company was recruited and Proctor was promoted to major . One of the companies fought well at the Battle of Trenton in December 1776 , though Proctor was not there . He wed Mary Fox the same month . He led his gunners at Princeton in January 1777 . The Pennsylvania artillery companies informally joined George Washington ' s army . The state authorities elevated Proctor to colonel and charged him to recruit the Pennsylvania State Artillery Regiment in February 1777 . In June 1777 Proctor ' s Continental Artillery Regiment officially became part of the Continental Army . He played an important role at the Brandywine in September 1777 and at Germantown a few weeks later . In June 1778 he led his gunners at Monmouth . In 1779 he went on the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois Nation . On 10 August 1779 his regiment was renamed the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment . He took guns into action at Bull ' s Ferry in 1780 . The hot - tempered Proctor often quarreled with the Pennsylvania civil authorities and this led him to resign from the army in April 1781 . Proctor served as sheriff of Philadelphia County from 1783 to 1785 and was elected to the Philadelphia city council in 1790 . Secretary of War Henry Knox appointed him in 1791 to go on a peace mission to the native American tribes near Lake Erie . Governor Thomas Mifflin appointed Proctor a brigadier general of militia in 1793 and the following year sent him with a brigade of 1 , 849 men to put down the Whiskey Rebellion . By 1798 he was a major general of militia . He was a Freemason and founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati in Pennsylvania . He died at his home in Philadelphia on 16 March 1806 , having outlived his second wife Sarah Ann Hussey by two years . Career . Proctor was born in County Longford , Ireland in 1739 . With his parents Francis and Betsey Proctor , he moved first to Nova Scotia and then to the American colonies . At some point in the 1750s he took up the carpenter ' s trade . The year 1759 found him at Fort Pitt where he met the Indian , Captain Joseph Hays . In 1772 , he joined the Carpenter ' s Guild in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and remained a member until his death . After the outbreak of the American Revolution , the state of Pennsylvania authorized an artillery company on 16 October 1775 . Proctor asked the state Council of Safety to appoint him captain on 27 October and his request was immediately granted . While other state troops were sent to the Flying Camp ( reserve ) , the artillery company was retained near Philadelphia to defend Fort Island . At first , Proctor ' s company mustered only 25 men but it increased to 100 by May 1776 . A muster roll from 31 July 1776 showed Proctor ' s company numbering 114 soldiers with 12 musicians . The staff included one captain - lieutenant , one first lieutenant , one second lieutenant , one lieutenant fireworker , one quartermaster sergeant , and one clerk . The company also counted three sergeants , three corporal s , eight bombardier s , 24 gunner s , 69 matross es , six musicians , five drummers , and one fifer . The gunners served on the " USS Hornet ( 10 ) " during an engagement with the British " HMS Roebuck ( 44 ) " . Pleased with the gunners ' performance , the state added a second artillery company to make a battalion on 14 August 1776 . At the time , John Martin Strobaugh was appointed captain of the 1st Company , Thomas Forrest became captain of the 2nd Company , and Proctor was promoted to major . Proctor vigorously recruited enough gunners and matrosses to fill both companies . The Pennsylvania State Artillery Battalion transferred to George Washington ' s main army on 23 September . In October the state re - enrolled the soldiers for the duration of the war . Proctor led his artillerists at the Battle of Princeton on 3 January 1777 . After the engagement , he added a captured British brass 6 - pound cannon to his battery . Since he did not have enough horses to haul an additional piece , he left behind an old iron 3 - pound cannon .