James Willing

James Willing (1750–1801) was a representative of the American Continental Congress who led a 1778 military expedition during the American Revolutionary War. Known as the Willing Expedition, the effort involved raiding British forts, plantations, and other properties of loyalists in the colonial British West Florida settlement of Natchez. Later that year, he sought protection from the British by hiding out in New Orleans, but was taken prisoner by them on his attempt to return to Philadelphia. Early life James Willing came from a prominent family in Philadelphia. His father was Charles Willing, who twice served as mayor of Philadelphia, and his mother Anne Shippen was the granddaughter of Edward Shippen, who was the second mayor of Philadelphia. His older brother Thomas Willing was an American merchant and a delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania, and the first president of the First Bank of the United States. In his early life, Willing was a merchant and operated a general store in the colonial British West Florida settlement of Natchez. During the American Revolution, the majority of the population of Natchez remained loyal to the British crown. Willing was not a successful merchant and returned to Philadelphia, where he was commissioned as a naval captain in the Continental Navy.