Major Murphy was a fat British officer during the American War. In a skirmish in 1776, he was attacked by three of the enemy. His dirk had slipped behind his broad back, and owing to his corpulence, he could not reach it. In desperation, he rushed at the enemy, and sent the three flying.
Later, the British attacked Fort Washington. The fort stood on an almost perpendicular hill, up which the Highlanders scrambled like cats. When half-way up they heard a melancholy voice below crying, "Oh, my soldiers, are you going to leave me here?" Looking back, they saw poor Major Murphy at the foot of the hill, panting and perspiring. Some of the soldiers ran back, took the major in their arms, and carried him from ledge to ledge until they reached the summit.
英軍少校墨菲是個大胖子。一七七六年，美國獨立戰爭一場小戰之中，他遭三個敵兵攻擊，所配短劍卻滑到寬闊的背後，他由於太胖，伸手都夠不着，情急之下，就向敵人撞過去。三個敵兵給他一撞，站立不穩，摔到老遠。
後來，英軍進攻威靈頓城堡。城堡築在山上，崖崿陡斜，蘇格蘭士兵攀緣而上，敏捷如貓，爬到山腰，卻聽到山下傳來苦惱的叫聲：「各位同袍啊，你們就把我留在這裏嗎？」他們往下一望，只見墨菲少校氣喘如牛，滿頭大汗，還在山腳，可憐得很。有些士兵走回去，把他擡起來，從一塊石臺走到另一塊，如是一直走到山頂。