- Thomas Bullitt
Thomas Bullitt (c.1734-1782) was an
United States soldier and pioneer fromPrince William County, Virginia .Thomas was born to Benjamin and Sarah (Harrison) Bullitt abut 1734 in Prince William County of
Virginia . He became active in the militia when young, and became interested in western exploration and development. By 1754 he was a Captain in the County's militia, and participated in a number of attempts to secure western Virginia andPennsylvania from the French.French and Indian War
Captain Bullitt led part his company with Colonel Washington's expedition in 1754 that ended with defeat in the
Battle of Great Meadows . The next year he again marched againstFort Duquesne , this time with theBraddock Expedition , and again they failed at the Battle of Monogahela onJuly 9 ,1755 .The third try in 1758 also started badly, but ended in success. Bullitt led a militia company in the
Forbes Expedition . In September he was part of the large advance party of regulars and militia commanded by Major James Grant. After Grant refused advice on wilderness fighting, his party was ambushed by the French and their Indian allies onSeptember 21 ,1758 . They took heavy losses and Grant was captured. Bullitt took to the woods, but rallied the militia, and counter attacked their pursuers. He then led more than half of the original party back to their main force. The French were forced to abandon the fort in November.After the war
Bullitt kept his interest in the frontier. He began to speculate in land and invest in development. When a number of his militia company exercised their land grant bounties in what would become
Bath County, Virginia , he bought land there and built an Inn at Hot Springs in 1766. Over the next few years his guests includedThomas Jefferson andGeorge Washington .He also continued his militia service, and at the war's end in 1763 he became adjutant general of the state militia, a post that he held through the early days of the Revolutionary War.
urveying Kentucky
By 1773, Virginia was still searching for land to satisfy grants and bounties, and was still struggling with the details of the
Proclamation of 1763 . Settlers were pushing west intoKentucky , even without colonial authorization or control. In an effort to bring some order to the situation, Governor Dunmore, authorized Captain Bullitt to organize a party to survey northern and eastern Kentucky.Bullitt gathered about 40 men and set out from the
Kanawha River Valley and generally followed the along the south side of the Valley of the Ohio. He made some excursions from his direct path, going as far north as Chillicothe to speak with Chief Cornstalk of theShawnee . By July his party had reached theFalls of the Ohio , and Bullitt laid out a town site there that later becameLouisville, Kentucky .Bullitt and his men tried to maintain peaceful relations with the Indians, but did lose one work party in an attack. The incursion was also one of the Indian complaints that caused Lord Dunmore's War the following year. As a reward for his service on this expedition and in the French and Indian War, Bullitt was granted convert|1240|acre|km2|0 in the newly surveyed territory. He chose a site he believed best for early development, in what is today downtown
Charleston, West Virginia .The Revolutionary War
Bullitt still held the post of Adjutant General for the Virginia militia. As the Revolution became imminent his sympathies lay firmly in the rebel cause. When Governor Dunmore made his last stand in 1775, Captain Bullitt was a part of the forces that assembled for the
Battle of Great Bridge . He took charge of engineering works for ColonelWilliam Woodford who had overall command. His rapidly constructed defenses aided in the overwhelming American victory onDecember 9 ,1775 . Dunmore fell back into Norfolk, but was forced to abandon that as well when Bullitt began the construction of siege trenches and works. By the end of December, Virginia had no British forces on her land, and Bullitt was promoted to Colonel.Thomas Bullitt was elected several times to the House of Delegates (legislature) of the newly formed Virginia government. But he did not usually attend their meetings. He made an exception in November and December of 1777 to help
George Rogers Clark promote his plans for a western campaign. The delegates made Clark a Lieutenant Colonel and authorized him to defend the western frontiers. A second, and secret, set of orders allowed him to invade theIllinois Country . These were known only to Bullitt,Patrick Henry ,Thomas Jefferson ,George Mason andGeorge Wythe .Later Bullitt went south to support American General Robert Howe in
South Carolina . He never returned, and died in 1782.Persondata
NAME= Bullitt, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=United States soldier andpioneer
DATE OF BIRTH=c.1734
PLACE OF BIRTH=Prince William County,Virginia ,United States
DATE OF DEATH=1782
PLACE OF DEATH=
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