James Monroe was born at Monroe's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on April 28, 1758, to Scots-Welsh parents. He attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, but left school to enlist in the Third Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army in 1776. He crossed the Delaware River with General George Washington and was severely wounded in the Battle of Trenton that followed. He saw action in five other major battles, was cited for bravery, and was promoted, eventually reaching the rank of Lt. Colonel. He was the only President other than President Washington who served in the Continental Army. Following the war, he practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and served in two administrations before his election. As a special emissary of President Thomas Jefferson, he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase from France. A life-sized statue of Monroe appears with the French representative and another American in a large sculpture on the north side of the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City on the bluff high above the Missouri River memorializing the Purchase. He died July 4, 1831, becoming the third President to die on Independence Day.