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Note: N6921 Major John Macpherson to Capt. John Macpherson [father] "The Burroughs Family" pg. 787 (He wrote his father a letter the night before the assault on Quebec, addressed to be delivered only in case he fell MHB) My Dear Father: If you receive this it will be the last this hand shall ever write you. Orders are given for a general storm on Quebec this night, and Heaven only knows what will be my fate. But whatever it may be, I cannot resist the inclination I feel to assure you that I experience no reluctance in this cause to venture a life which I consider as only lent to be used when my Country demands it. In moments like these such an assertion will not be thought a boast by any one, by my Father I am sure it cannot. It is need-to tell that my prayers are for the happiness of the family and for its preservation in this general confusion. Should Providence in its wisdom call me from rendering the little assistance I might to my Country, I could wish my brother did not continue in the service of her enemies. That the all-gracious Disposer of human events may shower on you, my Mother, brothers, and sisters, every blessing our nature can receive, is, and will be to the last moment of my life, the sincere prayer of your dutiful and affectionate son. John Macpherson Headquarters before Quebec 30th Dec. 1775 [with above letter] Permit me, sir, to mingle my tears with yours for the loss we have sustained you as a Father, I as a friend. My dear young friend fell by the side of his General, as much lamented as he was beloved; and that I assure you, sir, was in an eminent degree. This, and his falling like a hero, will console in some measure a father who gave him the example of bravery. General Montgomery and his corpse were both interred by General Charleton with military honors. Your most obedient and humble servant Ph. Schuyler Albany, 14th June 1776 ========================================
This final day of 1775 Major John MacPherson, Jr. of New Castle became the first Delaware officer to die in the American Revolution when he was killed in the storming of Quebec with Richard Montgomery (an Ulster-Scot) the first American General killed in the war. MacPherson was a graduate of Princeton and admitted to the bar, though but twenty-one years old when the war began. H is father, Captain John MacPherson (1726-1 792), son of William MacPherson and Jean Adamson of Edinburgh was notable in the British navy and afterward settled in Philadelphia.
John MacPherson, Jr., served as Richard Montgomery's aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. He died in the attack on Quebec. His brother, William MacPherson, was an army officer whose several commands included: a Pennsylvania militia battalion (MacPherson's Blues) in the 1794 Whiskey Insurrection; a legion formed during the 1798 conflict with France; and troops sent to enforce revenue laws in Northampton County during the 1798 Fries Rebellion. Correspondence of the MacPherson family of Philadelphia includes: personal letters, 1766-1773, of John MacPherson, Jr., to William Patterson of N.J., and a letter, 1775, written a few hours before his death. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to William MacPherson on his military service, as well as land transactions and other business affairs. There are also a few letters, 1804-1807, written to William from Jamaica by his brother John Montgomery MacPherson about family affairs and business trade in Jamaica.
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