William Augustine Washington, a distant relation of General Washington's, was born in Stafford County, Virginia, February 28, 1752. He was educated for the church, but entered the army as captain of infantry, and fought in the battles of Long Island, Trenton, and Princeton. In 1778 he was lieutenant-colonel of dragoons, and served in the South under Generals Lincoln, Greene, and Morgan. He distinguished himself at the victory of the Cowpens, for which he received from Congress a silver medal; was made a prisoner at Eutaw Springs, and remained in captivity in Charleston, South Carolina, till the close of the war, when he settled in that city. He served for some time in the South Carolina Legislature; was appointed on General Washington's staff with the rank of brigadier-general, in 1797, and died in Charleston, March 6, 1810.
January 17, 1781.
Joh. Egar Howard legionis peditum præfecto Comitia Americana. ℞. Quod in nutantem hostium aciem, etc.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
[Victory of the Cowpens.]
JOH. (Johanni) EGAR. (sic) HOWARD LEGIONIS PEDITUM PRÆFECTO COMITIA AMERICANA. (The American Congress to John Eager Howard, commander of a regiment of infantry.) Lieutenant-Colonel Howard, on horseback, is in pursuit of a foot-soldier of the enemy who is carrying away a standard. A winged Victory hovers over him, holding in her right hand a crown of laurel, and in her left a palm branch. duviv. (Duvivier).