10 Facts About James Willing

James Willing was a representative of the American Continental Congress who led a 1778 military expedition during the American Revolutionary War.

James Willing's older brother Thomas Willing was an American merchant and a delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, and the first president of the First Bank of the United States.

James Willing was not a successful merchant and returned to Philadelphia, where he was commissioned as a naval captain in the Continental Navy.

In 1777, as a representative of the Continental Congress, James Willing traveled to Natchez to try to convince the residents to join the American movement for independence.

James Willing reported back to the Continental Congress that "West Florida was a serious threat to the cause of independence".

Pollock received a letter from Robert Morris and William Smith who were members of the Committee of Secret Correspondence stating that James Willing would be leading an expedition against loyalist settlements along the river above New Orleans.

Those who swore the oath agreed not to take up arms against the United States of America, in exchange for assurances that the people they enslaved would not be seized nor freed, and that James Willing would treat with Choctaws nearby to prevent attacks.

James Willing continued to plunder and raid the countryside during the period known as the James Willing Expedition.

James Willing was taken prisoner and held in New York.

James Willing was living in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, at the end of his life.