But this second Philip, preferring a military life, entered the British army, in which he had a long career, fighting against American freedom in the Revolution.1 His uncle Pierre (youngest son of the first Philip and grandson of Stephanas) ultimately became the leading member of the Van Cortlandt family resident on the manor. Pierre Van Cortlandt's is one of the great names of Westchester County, second, indeed, to none in all the illustrious and noble array. This is not the place for a particular account of his career, which, in its more distinctive features, is connected with the events of the Revolutionary and subsequent periods. When those events come to be treated we shall see that in the almost balanced condition of sentiment in this country at the time of the Revolution, his was probably the determining influence. Others led the political hosts for independence, but Van Cortlandt's support, calmly and unpretendingly given, though with all resoluteness and conviction, was a factor that counted for quite as much as the activities of the agitators. Not an old man, ami yet arrived at an age of gravity; not a politician in the common sense, but well experienced in public affairs and having a reputation for great judiciousness and virtuous love of truth and right; the head of a family as reputable and as highly and widely connected as any in the province, his example was of inestimable moral value to a cause which, in this county at least, had little need for vehement and aggressive advocates, but much for courageous upholders from among the dignified and conservative classes of society. His services to the patriot movement began in the colonial assembly, of which he was a member, and from that time until after the organization of the government of the United States he was one of the most earnest, useful, and prominent promoters of political independence and stable republican institutions.