Caesar Rodney (1728–1784)

Caesar Rodney was a Delaware statesman and military leader best remembered for his heroic "midnight ride" to Philadelphia to cast the deciding vote for independence. Despite suffering from severe facial cancer and asthma, he galloped eighty miles through a thunderstorm to break a deadlock in the Delaware delegation on July 2, 1776. This act of extreme physical "fortitude" ensured that the colonies presented a united front against the British Crown. Rodney served as a brigadier general in the Delaware militia, protecting the colony from British incursions while simultaneously serving as its wartime governor. He remained a tireless public servant until his death, embodying the selfless dedication of the revolutionary generation.