Born in Middlesex County on November 24, 1754, Joseph Eggleston was brought to Amelia County at age four to be raised at the family homestead of "Egglestetton." After private schooling at home, he entered William and Mary College and graduated with honors in 1776. He soon joined the Virginia Continental Army, serving as paymaster in the Continental Cavalry from March to November 1777. On April 21, 1778, he became lieutenant and paymaster in Henry Lee's Lighthorse Cavalry, and by September 1779 had advanced to captain. Captured at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, on January 25, 1780, he was restored to duty in a prisoner exchange and rejoined Lee's Legion for operations in the South. His service at Guilford, Augusta, and Eutaw Springs in 1781 was recognized for gallantry and earned him the final rank of major. In 1785, he began 16 years of public service, representing Amelia County in the state legislature and Virginia in the Fifth and Sixth United States Congress. He died at his home on February 15, 1811.