Physician; born in
Scotland in 1731; came to
America in early life, and practised his profession in
Fairfax county, Va. He was the intimate
[
415]
friend and family physician of
Washington; was with him in his expedition against the
French in 1754, and in
Braddock's campaign in 1755.
In 1775 he was placed in the medical department of the
Continental army, and rose to the first rank.
He unearthed many of the secrets of the Conway cabal and did much to defeat the conspiracy.
He was director of the army hospital at
Yorktown in the siege of that place, in 1781, and after the Revolution settled near
Mount Vernon, where he was the principal attendant of
Washington in his last illness.
He died in
Fairfax county, Va., Feb. 6, 1814.
