John Whistler-- Part 1: Served With British and U.S. Armies

From Wikipedia.

Back in May i was writing about the first USMA  at West Point graduate, Joseph G. Swift.  On May 22 I wrote that he had mentored younger engineers George Washington Whistler and William Gibbs McNeill.  Was this Whistler fellow somehow related to the famous artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler?

While researching him I found out that the artist's grandfather had been John Whistler who served in the American Revolution on the British side and the War of 1812 on the American side.

John Whistler was born in 1756 in Ulster, Ireland.  He ran away at an early age and joined the British Army and served with British General John Burgoyne in the American Revolution.  After the surrender at Saratoga, John Whistler returned to England and was honorably discharged.

He eloped with the daughter of his father's friend and emigrated to the  United States and settle in Hagerstown, Maryland.

--Brock-Perry