Northeast of Carlisle borough near the intersection of Cavalry Road and Route 11 sits a distinguished, white-washed, brick home known as the Wilson House. That impressive structure bore witness to a part of the compelling story of Revolutionary War officer Major James Armstrong Wilson. He has frequently been confused with another James Wilson (1742-1798) who signed the Declaration of Independence and was a resident of Carlisle for a time. The life of James A. Wilson began in 1752 in Cumberland County. He was the son of Thomas Wilson, a provincial justice, and Jean Armstrong Wilson.
On January 9, 1776, James Wilson was commissioned a captain in the 6th Pennsylvania Battalion. That spring, the unit marched to Canada and was involved in Brigadier General John Sullivan's attack on Trois Rivieres, Quebec, on June 8. After a disastrous defeat in which many men, including the commander of the 6th Battalion, were captured, Sullivan and his men began a retreat to Crown Point, New York. Wilson survived Trois Rivieres and was part of a later reconnaissance mission. According to British Lieutenant William Digby, a British "party of observation ... .fell in with a party of the enemy, and, after some fireing [sic], brought them to us prisoners, with the loss only of one Indian and a few wounded. The captains [sic] name was Wilson." A footnote in Digby's published journal states that Wilson was leading thirty men and that "Wilson's men fought so well as to excite the admiration of their foes." Two of Wilson's men died due to the encounter.
General James Wilkinson, a captain in the Continental Army at the time, wrote later in his memoir that he had proposed "a little enterpize" [sic] to capture enemy scouts. "Captain Wilson of Carlisle ... .impatient of success, adventured too far, and was intercepted in the river Sorel, near the Isle aux Noix, by Captain James H. Craig, of the 47th British infantry, who had just embarked on a similar enterprise, with a superior force." Sources disagree on when and exactly where Wilson was captured, but it was between the end of June and late July 1776. The Canadian Campaign also ended at that time. The Continental Army's attempt to disrupt British operations in the north and bring the French into the fold failed.
It is also unclear when Wilson was paroled and exchanged, but he and Margaret Miller of Carlisle, daughter of Robert Miller, reportedly married in March 1777. In testimony given in 1840, Margaret's cousin Sarah Miller related Wilson's return to Carlisle:
I remember being taken when a child by the then Margaret Miller afterward married to Major Ja A Wilson to a Mr. White's tavern in Carlisle to see Mrs. White. [A]nd while there, there came men riding to the front door. [O]ne of them was Major Wilson returning from being a prisoner in Canada[.] [O]n hearing his voice Margaret took me by the hand and went out at the back door & we ran home[.] [S]oon after either that day or next day he came to see the family and continued to come very frequently untill [sic] Margaret & him were married ... .I have always understood that she was about Eighteen Years old when Wilson & her were married.
A building used as a tavern by a Robert White during that time still stands, at 137 East High Street in Carlisle.
In early 1777, members of the 6th Pennsylvania Battalion who reenlisted were placed into the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment. At that time, Wilson was a "prisoner on parole and left out of the arrangement." As he put it, "I still waited with an expectation of being reinstated ... .I was supersedid [sic] before my exchange." Wilson was later given back pay, 40 dollars per month, to cover what he was owed from when he was excluded to when he was promoted to major.
On October 6, 1777, Congress determined "that two companies be raised on continental establishment for the purpose of guarding the stores at Carlisle ... that they shall not be removed from Carlisle, nor be ordered on any other service. That James Armstrong Wilson be appointed to one of the said companies, with the rank and pay of a major, and that Samuel Postlethwaite be appointed captain of the other company." The independent companies were to serve one year unless Congress shortened the term.
A Carlisle Barracks historian noted that "the assignment of these two companies naturally increased the strength and the importance of the post." That same source listed Wilson as the first commander of Continental troops at the post. Considering that Carlisle Barracks at that time consisted of Public Works producing artillery materiel for the Army and a branch of the Department of the Commissary General of Military Stores, Wilson probably was the first American line officer to command troops there.
In May 1757 Colonel‑Commandant John Stanwix led five companies of his first battalion of the Royal American Regiment to Carlisle. He also took over command of the colonial forces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all of whom were hard‑pressed by attacks of pro‑French Indians. His senior subordinates were colonels George Washington of Virginia and John Armstrong of Pennsylvania.
When the Septennial Census of Carlisle was taken in 1814, it included the names and occupations of all the borough’s taxables. Nineteen of them, including two women, were identified as weavers, and at least half of them were born in Ireland.