Charles Scott (governor)
American soldier and fourth governor of Kentucky
1739 CE to 1813 CE
Charles Scott (April 1739 – October 22, 1813) is an eighteenth-century American soldier who is elected the fourth governor of Kentucky in 1808.
Orphaned at an early age, Scott enlists in the Virginia Regiment in October 1755 and serves as a scout and escort during the French and Indian War.
He quickly rises through the ranks to become a captain.
After the war, he marries and engages in agricultural pursuits on land left to him by his father, but he returns to active military service in 1775 as the American Revolution began to grow in intensity.
He is promoted to colonel and given command of the 5th Virginia Regiment In August 1776.
The 5th Virginia joins George Washington in New Jersey later this year, serving with him for the duration of the Philadelphia campaign.
Scott commands Washington's light infantry, and by late 1778 is also serving as his chief of intelligence.
Furloughed at the end of the Philadelphia campaign, Scott returns to active service in March 1779 and is ordered to South Carolina to assist General Benjamin Lincoln in the southern theater.
He arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, just as Henry Clinton has begun his siege of the city.
Scott is taken as a prisoner of war when Charleston surrenders.
Paroled in March 1781 and exchanged for Lord Rawdon in July 1782, Scott manages to complete a few recruiting assignments before the war ends.
After the war, Scott visits the western frontier in 1785 and begins to make preparations for a permanent relocation.
He resettles near present-day Versailles, Kentucky, in 1787.
Confronted by the dangers of Indian raids, Scott raises a company of volunteers in 1790 and joins Josiah Harmar for an expedition against the Indians.
After Harmar's Defeat, President Washington orders Arthur St. Clair to prepare for an invasion of Indian lands in the Northwest Territory.
Scott, by now holding the rank of brigadier general in the Virginia militia, is meanwhile ordered to conduct a series of preliminary raids.
He leads the most notable and successful of these raids against the village of Ouiatenon in July 1791.
St. Clair's main invasion, conducted later this year, is a failure.
Shortly after the separation of Kentucky from Virginia in 1792, the Kentucky General Assembly commissions Scott as a major general and gives him command of the 2nd division of the Kentucky militia.
Scott's division cooperates with "Mad" Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States for the rest of the Northwest Indian War, including their decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
Having previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates and as a presidential elector, the aging Scott now riuns for governor.
His 1808 campaign is skillfully managed by his step-son-in-law, Jesse Bledsoe, and he wins a convincing victory over John Allen and Green Clay.
A fall on the icy steps of the governor's mansion early in his term confines Scott to crutches for the rest of his life, and leaves him heavily reliant on Bledsoe, whom he appoints Secretary of State.
Although he frequently clashes with the state legislature over domestic matters, the primary concern of his administration is the increasing tension between the United States and Great Britain that eventually leads to the War of 1812.
Scott's decision to appoint William Henry Harrison as brevet major general in the Kentucky militia, although probably in violation of the state constitution as Harrison is not a resident of the state, is nonetheless praised by the state's citizens.
After his term expires, Scott returns to his Canewood estate.
His health declines rapidly, and he dies on October 22, 1813.
Scott County, Kentucky, and Scott County, Indiana, are named in his honor, as are the cities of Scottsville, Kentucky, and Scottsville, Virginia.
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Braddock has received important assistance from Benjamin Franklin, who has helped procure wagons and supplies for the expedition.
Among the wagoners are two young men who will later become legends of American history: Daniel Boone and Daniel Morgan.
Other members of the expedition include Ensign William Crawford and Charles Scott.
Among the British are Thomas Gage; Charles Lee, future American president George Washington, and Horatio Gates.
In some cases, the column is only able to progress at a rate of two miles (about three kilometers) a day, creating Braddock's Road—an important legacy of the march—as they go.
To speed movement, Braddock splits his men into a "flying column" of about thirteen hundred men under his direct command, and, lagging far behind, a supply column of eight hundred men with most of the baggage, commanded by Colonel Thomas Dunbar.
They pass the ruins of Fort Necessity along the way, where the French and Canadians had defeated Washington the previous summer.
Small French and native war bands skirmish with Braddock's men during the march.
The natives are from a variety of tribes long associated with the French, including Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Potawatomis.
Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur, the Canadian commander, receives reports from native scouting parties that the British are on their way to besiege the fort.
He realizes he cannot withstand Braddock's cannon, and decides to launch a preemptive strike, an ambush of Braddock's army as he crosses the Monongahela River.
The native allies are initially reluctant to attack such a large British force, but the French field commander Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu, who dresses himself in full war regalia complete with war paint, persuades them to follow his lead.
This evening, the natives send a delegation to the British to request a conference.
Braddock sends Washington and Fraser.
The natives ask the British to halt their advance so that they can attempt to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal by the French from Fort Duquesne.
Both Washington and Fraser recommend this to Braddock but he demurs.
The advance guard of three hundred grenadiers and colonials with two cannon under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage begins to move ahead.
George Washington tries to warn him of the flaws in his plan—for example, the French and the natives fight differently than the open-field style used by the British—but his efforts are ignored; Braddock insists on fighting as "gentlemen".
Then, unexpectedly, Gage's advance guard comes upon the French and natives, who are hurrying to the river, behind schedule and too late to set an ambush.
In the skirmish that follows between Gage's soldiers and the French, the French commander, Beaujeu, is killed by the first volley of musket fire by the grenadiers.
Although some one hundred French Canadians flee back to the fort and the noise of the cannon holds the natives off, Beaujeu's death does not have a negative effect on French morale; his patronage of native customs has helped raise the morale and fighting tenacity of the warriors under his command.
Dumas rallies the rest of the French and their native allies.
The battle, known as the Battle of the Monongahela, or the Battle of the Wilderness, or just Braddock's Defeat, is officially begun.
Braddock's force is approximately fourteen hundred men.
The British face a French and native force estimated to number between three hundred and nine hundred.
The battle, frequently describes as an ambush, is actually a meeting engagement, where two forces clash at an unexpected time and place.
The quick and effective response of the French and natives—despite the early loss of their commander—lead many of Braddock's men to believe they had been ambushed.
However, French documents reveal that the French and native force had been too late to prepare an ambush, and had been just as surprised as the British.
After an exchange of fire, Gage's advance group falls back.
In the narrow confines of the road, they collide with the main body of Braddock's force, which had advanced rapidly when the shots were heard.
The entire column dissolves in disorder as the Canadian militiamen and natives envelop them and continue to snipe at the British flanks from the woods on the sides of the road.
At this time, the French regulars begin advancing from the road and begin to push the British back.
Following Braddock's example, the officers keep trying to reform units into regular show order within the confines of the road, mostly in vain and simply providing targets for their concealed enemy.
Cannon are used, but in such confines of the forest road, they are ineffective.
The colonial militia accompanying the British takes cover and returns fire.
In the confusion, some of the militiamen who are fighting from the woods are mistaken for the enemy and fired upon by the British regulars.
After several hours of intense combat, Braddock is shot off his horse, and effective resistance collapses.
Colonel Washington, although he has no official position in the chain of command, is able to impose and maintain some order and form a rear guard, which allows the remnants of the force to disengage.
This earns him the sobriquet Hero of the Monongahela, by which he will be toasted, and establishes his fame for some time to come.
By sunset, the surviving British and colonial forces are fleeing back down the road they had built.
Braddock dies of his wounds during the long retreat, on July 13, and is buried within the Fort Necessity parklands.
Of the approximately thirteen hundred men Braddock had led into battle, four hundred and fifty-six have been killed and four hundred and twenty-two wounded.
Commissioned officers are prime targets and suffered greatly: out of eighty-six officers, twenty-six were killed and thirty-seven wounded.
Of the fifty or so women that have accompanied the British column as maids and cooks, only four survive.
The French and Canadians report eight killed and four wounded; their native allies lose fifteen killed and twelve wounded.
Colonel Dunbar, with the reserves and rear supply units, takes command when the survivors reach his position.
He orders the destruction of supplies and cannon before withdrawing, burning about one hundred and fifty wagons on the spot.
Ironically, at this point the defeated, demoralized and disorganized British forces still outnumber their opponents.
The French and natives do not pursue and are engaged with looting and scalping.
The French commander Dumas realizes the British are utterly defeated, but he does not have enough of a force to continue organized pursuit.