John Armstrong , Sr . John Armstrong ( October 13 , 1717 – March 9 , 1795 ) was an American civil engineer and soldier who served as a major general during the Revolutionary War . He was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Pennsylvania . Armstrong County , Pennsylvania is named in his honor . Early life . Armstrong was born on October 13 , 1717 , in Brookeborough , County Fermanagh , in the Kingdom of Ireland , to James Armstrong and Jane Campbell . John was educated in Ireland and became a civil engineer before emigrating to Pennsylvania . Armstrong came to Pennsylvania as a surveyor for the Penn family , the proprietary owners of the colony . In 1750 he laid out the first plat or plan for the town of Carlisle , Pennsylvania , and was one of its first settlers . He was later appointed surveyor for the newly established Cumberland County . Seven Years War . In 1756 he led the Kittanning Expedition . In 1758 , Colonel Armstrong led 2 , 700 Pennsylvania provincial troops on the Forbes expedition , the approach of which compelled the French to vacate and blow up Fort Duquesne . Armstrong became a good friend to the other militia commander in this expedition , Colonel George Washington . American Revolution . In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War , Armstrong was a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania militia . On March 1 , 1776 , the Continental Congress appointed him to that same rank in the Continental Army . He was sent south to begin preparations for the defense of Charleston , South Carolina . He contributed his engineering talents to the construction of defenses that enabled them to withstand the Battle of Sullivan ' s Island later that year . When General Charles Lee arrived to take command , he returned to his duties with the main army and with the Pennsylvania militia . Pennsylvania named him major general in charge of the state militia . This ended his service in the Continental Army , but not the war or his cooperation with General George Washington . At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11 , 1777 , Armstrong ' s militia held the far left of the American line . They were also to guard the army ' s supplies . After a hard day ' s fighting the Americans were forced to withdraw or face being surrounded . Armstrong brought the supplies and his militia out from Pyle ' s Ford after dark . In the Battle of Germantown on October 4 , General Armstrong led the American right . His mission was to skirt the British left flank and attack there and in their rear . Despite delays and the troubles some units had in moving , the overall attack was going well , until the center was held up at the Benjamin Chew House . The attack then collapsed after a friendly fire incident in the fog in which General Adam Stephen ' s men fired on Anthony Wayne ' s troops causing their withdrawal . Armstrong , whose men had advanced nearly to the center of Germantown , but were not greatly involved in the fight later complained that it was " . . . a glorious victory fought for and eight tenths won , . . . mysteriously lost , for to this moment no one man can . . . give any good reason for the flight . " After Germantown , Armstrong was granted permission to give up active command . At aged sixty , his health was declining , and old wounds were troubling him . Returning home to Carlisle , he was elected to the Continental Congress by the Pennsylvania Assembly . As a delegate from 1777 to 1780 he was a strong supporter of Washington and the army . Armstrong was firm in his support for a new United States Constitution , and was returned to the Congress of the Confederation during its final days in 1787 and 1788 . Later life . Throughout his life Armstrong served in a number of local or civic offices . One of these , the Carlisle school board , led him to originally oppose Dr . Benjamin Rush ' s proposal to start a college in the town . He later relented , and became a member of the first Board of Trustees for Dickinson College . John died at home in Carlisle , Pennsylvania , on March 9 , 1795 , and is buried in the Old Carlisle Cemetery . In 1800 , when Pennsylvania created a new county at Kittanning , it was named Armstrong County in his honor .