American merchant in London.

Officer in Maryland regiments of the Continental Army (1776-81); rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel (1777). Lost a leg at the Battle of Brandywine (1776). Traveled to London as a representative of the mercantile firm Forrest, Stoddert, & Murdock (c. 1783). Member of the Maryland Assembly (1781-83, 1786-90), Continental Congress (1787), Maryland Executive Council (1791-92), U.S. Congress (1793-94), and Maryland Senate (1796-1800). Clerk of the Washington, DC, district court (1801-05). Federalist.

Probably a son of Thomas Forrest of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Married Rebecca Plater; had issue.

First letter in correspondence: April 10, 1784; Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1961), p. 905; Edward C. Papenfuse, et al., eds., A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature, 1635-1789 (2 vols., Baltimore and London, 1979-85), i, 324-5.