He took part in public affairs prior to the revolutionary war,
        and, when the movement for independence began, was a member of the
        Philadelphia committee of safety. He was captain of a military company
        half derisively and half admiringly nicknamed "The Silk-Stocking
        Company," nearly all of whose members afterwards held commissions in
        the patriot army. On the formation of the City battalions, he was
        placed in command of one of them, and shortly afterwards was promoted
        brigadier-general and placed in command of the Pennsylvania militia.
             He cooperated in the capture of the Hessians at Trenton, 26
        December 1776, and was present as a volunteer at the battles of
        Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. In the autumn of 1777, at the
        request of Washington, he assisted in organizing the militia of the
        eastern shore of Maryland. In the following winter, a combination
        against Washington was developed, which threatened to be formidable,
        and General Cadwalader challenged the most outspoken of the plotters,
        Thomas Conway. Cadwalader shot his antagonist in the mouth, and was
        himself unhurt. After the independence of the United States was
        secured, he removed to Maryland, and became a member of the state
        legislature. Cadwalader published "A Reply to General Joseph Reed's
        Remarks" (Philadelphia, 1783).
        

Source: Appletons Encyclopedia.