Tench Tilghman Tench Tilghman ( December 25 , 1744 – April 18 , 1786 ) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary war . He served as an aide de camp to General George Washington , achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel . Tilghman rose to become a trusted member of Washington ' s staff . The historic events of the time sparked his transformation from a privileged family member of Loyalists to a dedicated Patriot . Tench paid a high price , facing such tragedies as a split with his family and suffering an early death from disease contracted during the American Revolutionary War . Early life . Tench Tilghman was born on December 25 , 1744 at " Fausley , " a plantation owned by his father , James Tilghman , located on Fausley Creek , a branch of the St . Michaels River , in Talbot County , Maryland , a few miles from the town of Easton . Tench ’ s great grandfather was Richard Tilghman , a British Navy surgeon who was born in Kent County , England . In 1661 , he moved his family to Talbot County , Maryland , settling in an area along the Third Haven River . Within a short time , Richard moved to the " Hermitage , " located on the Chester River , then in Kent County , but today in Queen Anne ' s County . Richard ’ s son ( and Tench ' s grandfather ) , James Tilghman , was a distinguished gentleman lawyer and important Marylander in his time . Tench ' s father James was the Attorney General of Pennsylvania . Tench graduated from the College of Philadelphia ( now the University of Pennsylvania ) with an A . B . degree in 1761 . One of his first jobs was using his communication skills to negotiate with the Six Nations on behalf of the British and their American colonists . Revolutionary service . At the start of the Revolution , Tench ran a saddle - making business , which suffered when the Non - Importation Resolution made it impossible to import British goods . Because Tench supported the resolution , Tories burnt down his shop . Tench enlisted in the Maryland Militia , but was soon assigned to the Continental Army . On August 8 , 1776 , Tilghman received a commission as Washington ' s aide - de - camp . He served General George Washington as confidential secretary for an additional three years . During the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 , Tench distinguished himself as one of a handful on Washington ' s staff fluent in French . Tench Tlighman ' s Patriot loyalties split his family . He became the first among his - eleven - siblings to join the Revolutionary cause . Most of the Tilghman family served the King , as did many other rich families at that time : his brothers Richard and Philemon served in the British military . Another brother William Tilghman wanted to follow in their father ' s path and study law in England , which created a professional conflict for Tench , who refused him passage to England on June 12 , 1781 . The Siege of Yorktown in October 1781 culminated in a Patriot victory and an honor for Tench , whom Washington picked to carry the surrender papers to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia . Poets Dr . Oliver Huchel and Howard Pyle each considered Tilghman a hero for that ride . Tilghman ' s own journal entry was terse : In a letter to Tilghman the following year , Washington ’ s humor and admiration is apparent : As the war formally ended with peace negotiations , Washington discussed the surrender of King George III with his trusted aide : Later life and death . The National Park Service writes that Tilghman was even sick during his ride from Yorktown to Philadelphia " with chills and fever " and that he left the army in 1783 with failing health . Nonetheless , the veteran had restarted his business after the war , shipping wheat , tobacco and other American products to Spain , in exchange for which Riera [ head a Spanish company ] shipped wine and manufactured products to Baltimore . Tilghman was an original member of the Maryland Society of the Cincinnati . Tench Tilghman died in 1786 [ in ] his 42nd year . Washington ' s regard for Tilghman can be inferred from their joint portrait with Lafayette , by Charles Willson Peale After Tilghman ' s death , Washington twice wrote to his brother Richard Tilghman : Posthumous honors . Tench Tilghman is buried in a historic cemetery in Oxford , Maryland . The horizontal lid on his grave vault references his achievements under Washington . A plaque on the stone lid notes that his remains were reinterred from Baltimore on November 30 , 1971 . Adjacent to his grave , the Tench Tilghman Monument is a spire , approximately 10 feet tall , the tallest monument in the cemetery . The Maryland State archives has a painting of Tench Tilghman and two swords which he once owned and which his descendant Mrs . Judith Goldsborough Oates donated to the State of Maryland on December 26 , 1997 . Baltimore City also named an elementary / middle school and a recreation center for the patriot , who is also the namesake of a Daughters of the American Revolution chapter in Bethesda , Maryland .