 In 1774, he became principal of an academy in Wilmington, Delaware.A Patriot in the American Revolution, after the battles of Lexington and Concord he began instructing his students in military matters and served as adjutant in a local company of the Delaware militia.When classes were suspended because of the War of Independence, he returned to Greenwich Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey, where he had earlier lived, and hastily received enough training to serve as an assistant surgeon in a New Jersey militia company.