Robert White

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In 1775, White enlisted as a private in the Virginia militia company under the command of Captain Hugh Stephenson (or Stevenson), which had been organized in Berkeley County, Virginia (present-day Jefferson County, West Virginia). Stephenson's company departed for the Boston campaign "a few days" before Daniel Morgan's company departed from Winchester. White, along with Stephenson's company, departed on June 20, 1775, from Morgan's Spring near Shepherdstown and marched to Boston to reinforce commander-in-chief of the Continental Army George Washington's forces who had besieged the British Army forces there.

While in Boston, White's "chivalric bearing" received the attention of Washington, who "saw in the boy the germ of that remarkable decision of character". On March 17, 1776, British forces withdrew from Boston, thus ending the Boston campaign. In the summer of 1776, White was elevated to the rank of ensign. White then fought as a lieutenant at the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777, under Major William Darke of Berkeley County. Throughout the spring of 1778, White was engaged in attacking British Army detachments.

Later in 1778 at Short Hills, New Jersey, White suffered a fractured femur caused by a musket ball and received a wound to the head from the stock of a British Army grenadier's musket. Following the engagement at Short Hills, White was taken as a prisoner of war by the British forces. White had fallen unconscious and was taken to the tent of "an amiable and accomplished" British officer who had rescued him from death. He was later exchanged, and in the autumn of 1778 White returned to Winchester "by slow and painful efforts, exceedingly lame, weak and emaciated by acute and protracted suffering". His wounds had not yet healed by the time of his return to Winchester, but following the removal of bone fragments, the wound began to close. White remained permanently physically disabled as a result of his injuries.

While "not fully recovered from his wounds", White received the commission of a captain of cavalry in 1779. He commenced the recruitment and training of American troops in Philadelphia to fight in the war, but due to the severity of his injuries, he retired from military service at the age of 20 and returned to Winchester. White was inducted as an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati for his military service during the war.

Law and political careers

Following his military service and return to Winchester in 1779, White studied jurisprudence under his uncle, Alexander White, one of the most prominent lawyers practicing in the Shenandoah Valley. During the course of his four years of law studies, White read the legal treatises of William Blackstone and Edward Coke among others while lying on his back or propped up on a couch recovering from his injuries. White was admitted to practice law at Winchester in December 1782, after which he engaged in the practice of law for eleven years.

White's health continued to improve, and his law practice was "an extensive and profitable" one. In a May 1837 biographical sketch of White published in the Southern Literary Messenger, White was described as "an able lawyer, clear and cogent in argument, but not eloquent, his voice rather harsh and shrill, and in the impetuosity of debate his enunciation was sometimes affected even to stammering". White maintained a "lofty eminence" within the Frederick County bar for over a decade. During this time, White served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1789 to 1793 representing the multi-member district of Frederick County. White ran for election against Matthew Page and Joseph Holmes for the seat in 1791, and won alongside Page with 310 votes to Page's 335 votes. White ran for election to his seat in 1793 against Page, Thomas Buck, and James Singleton. White received the largest total of votes with a result of 388.

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