Agnew came to
Boston in the latter part of 1775, holding the rank of
lieutenant-colonel. By 1777, he had been appointed a local brigadier general and commanded a brigade. General Agnew was engaged at the
Battle of Long Island in 1776. In 1777, Agnew accompanied
British forces under the command of General
William Tryon and General
William Erskine on an inland raid against
Patriot supply depot in
Danbury, Connecticut. After successfully destroying Patriot supplies, the British forces engaged and defeated
Continental Army Generals
David Wooster,
Benedict Arnold, and
Gold S. Silliman and Patriot militiamen in the
Battle of Ridgefield. Lastly, Agnew was at the
Battle of the Brandywine, where he was wounded. While leading his 4th brigade in support of Lord Cornwallis at the
Battle of Germantown, General Agnew was shot by a sniper and the damage severed his spine and left him paralyzed. The sniper who shot General Agnew is rumored to be Hans Philip Boyer but there aren't many sources to solidify this claim. His soldiers brought him back to his quarters in John Wister's Big House (now called
Grumblethorpe) on Germantown Avenue. Agnew bled out in the northwest room on the ground floor. He is buried at De Benneville Family Burial Grounds, on the 6000 block of North Broad Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ==References==