John Cadwalader was born in Trenton, New Jersey of Quaker parentage, the eldest son of Thomas Cadwalader and Hannah Lambert, his wife. In 1750, the Cadwalader family removed to Philadelphia where John and Lambert Cadwalader, his brother, were merchants. On September 25, 1768, John Cadwalader married Elizabeth Lloyd, the daughter of Edward Lloyd, of Talbot County, Maryland. Her brother, Edward Lloyd IV, was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Maryland. Their daughter, Maria Cadwalader, married Samuel Ringgold, who became a congressman representing Maryland. Two of their sons, Samuel Ringgold and Cadwalader Ringgold, had distinguished military careers.
Revolutionary War
In 1776, Colonel John Cadwalader was elected senior officer of the Philadelphia Associators, a volunteer militia founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1747. By December, Cadwalader and the Associators were positioned about 10 miles south of Trenton on the west side of the Delaware River in Bucks County, Pennsylvania at the ferry between Bristol, Pennsylvania and Burlington, New Jersey. Cadwalader had received orders to send his column across the river on the night of December 25–26 and march to Trenton from the south. Meanwhile, George Washington's column would cross the river to the north of Trenton and attack the city from that direction. After successfully crossing his light forces, Cadwalader discovered that river ice prevented crossing his artillery. He then returned his column to the Pennsylvania side, leaving Washington's forces unsupported in New Jersey. It was fortunate for Washington that a Hessian column, having marched from their garrison at Bordentown to Mount Holly where they were engaged in the Battle of Iron Works Hill, were no longer in position to defend Trenton. Washington was successful in his surprise attack on the morning of December 26 against the Hessian garrison in Trenton. Cadwalader and his column did cross the river the next day. Cadwalader subsequently took part in the further actions in New Jersey, which forced the British commander General William Howe and his principal subordinate, Lord Cornwallis, to surrender the colony to the Americans. After the Conway Cabal, he fought a duel with Thomas Conway in 1778 in which Cadwalader wounded his opponent with a shot in the mouth. Supposedly Cadawalader, a supporter of Washington throughout the cabal, boasted, "I have stopped that damned rascal's lying anyway" as he stood over the bleeding Conway. In the January 11, 1777 issue of The Ipswich Journal, an incident referring to a young "Mr. Cadwallader, a young officer in the service of the rebels..." is described. It does not specify the first name of this gentleman, but it may be assumed that this story refers to John or a member of his family. The article states: "When Mr. Cadwallader, a young officer in the service of the rebels, was dismissed the other day by the General's orders, on account of his father's civil treatment of Gen. Prescot, while a prisoner, he burst into tears, upon the instance of generosity shewn him, and discovered such sensibility on the occasion as did him honour as a man and gentleman. 'Tis to be regretted that such men could have been seduced into so unexampled a rebellion against the King and the constitution of this country."
His early and inflexible patriotism will endear his memory to all true friends of the American Revolution. It may with strictest justice be said of him, that he possessed a heart incapable of deceiving. His manners were formed on the nicest sense of honor and the whole tenor of his life was governed by this principle. The companions of his youth were the companions of his manhood. He never lost a friend by insincerity nor made one by deception. His domestic virtues were truly exemplary and while they served to endear the remembrances they embitter the loss of him to all his numerous friends and connections.
Furniture
John and Elizabeth Cadwalader built a city house on 2nd between Spruce & Union Streets in Philadelphia in 1770, and commissioned suites of furniture from cabinetmakers such as Thomas Affleck and Benjamin Randolph. Surviving pieces are among the finest and best-documented Philadelphia Chippendale furniture ever made. Colonial Grandeur in Philadelphia: The House and Furniture of General John Cadwalader Examples are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Winterthur Museum, and other collections. A Cadwalader easy chair with hairy-paw feet by Affleck sold at Sotheby's New York for $2.75 million on January 31, 1987, setting a world record for the highest price ever paid for any piece of furniture at auction.
