Anthony Walton White Anthony Walton White ( July 7 , 1750 – February 10 , 1803 ) was a cavalry officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . Early life . Anthony W . White was the son of Anthony White . His great grandfather was Anthony White I , a royalist , who , after the execution of Charles I , emigrated to Bermuda and became connected with the government of the islands , of which his son , Anthony White II , and grandson , Leonard White , were chief justices . Anthony White III moved to the United States from Bermuda and married Elizabeth Morris , the daughter of Governor Lewis Morris of New Jersey . White received his education under the immediate direction of his father . At the age of twenty - five , his time was employed in study and in assisting his father in the management of his large estates . In October 1775 , he obtained a commission as major and aide - de - camp to General George Washington . American Revolution . On February 9 , 1776 , White was commissioned by the Continental Congress as the lieutenant colonel of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment . He was actively engaged in the service in the North until 1780 , being successively appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Continental Light Dragoons in the Continental army , February 13 , 1777 , lieutenant colonel commandant of the 1st Continental Light Dragoons , December 10 , 1779 , and colonel , February 16 , 1780 . At that time , he was ordered by General Washington to take command of all the cavalry in the southern army , and , upon his own personal credit , equipped two regiment s with which to operate against Lord Cornwallis in South Carolina . On May 6 , 1780 , with the remnant of Maj . Benjamin Huger ' s cavalry , he crossed the Santee River and captured a small party of British , but while waiting at Lanneau ' s Ferry to recross the river , he was surprised and defeated by Col . Banastre Tarleton . White and many of his troops were taken prisoner . In 1781 he was ordered to join the army under Lafayette in Virginia , and on his march to that state had several successful encounters with Colonel Tarleton . White was present with General Anthony Wayne in the movement before Savannah on May 21 , 1782 ; and , on the evacuation of that place , returned to Charleston , South Carolina , where he became security for the debts of the officers and men of his regiments , who were in want of almost all the necessaries of life . These debts he was subsequently obliged to pay at enormous sacrifices of his own property , and , on returning to the North at the close of the war , his financial ruin was completed by entering into speculation at the persuasion of military friends . Later years . In 1793 White moved from New York , where he had resided for about ten years , to his native town . In the following year was appointed by President Washington as a brigadier general of cavalry in the expedition against the insurgents of the Whiskey Rebellion , serving under General Henry Lee . General White died at a comparatively early age , and was buried in the grounds of Christ Church Episcopal Churchyard in New Brunswick , New Jersey . His grandson was Anthony Walton White Evans .