Russell, William, Jr.

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Russell, William, Jr.

RUSSELL, WILLIAM, JR. (1758–1825). Militia officer. Virginia. Born in Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1758, Russell claimed that at age fifteen he was on an expedition with Daniel Boone. During the Revolution he served as a militia lieutenant and was at Kings Mountain, South Carolina, in October 1780. As a militia captain he fought against the Cherokee and then took part in negotiating a peace treaty. Serving under William Campbell, Russell saw action at Wetzell's Mills and Guilford, North Carolina, in March 1781. Moving to Kentucky after the war, he took part in several campaigns against the Indians, leading the Kentucky volunteers in the final operations of General Anthony Wayne. Active in the movement for Kentucky statehood, he was elected annually to the legislature from 1792 until 1808, when President Madison appointed him colonel of the Seventh U.S. Infantry. Succeeding General William Henry Harrison as commander of the Indiana—Illinois—Missouri frontier in 1811, he led the 1812 expedition against the Peoria Indians. He died in Fayette County, Kentucky, on 3 July, 1825.

SEE ALSO Campbell, William.

                            revised by Michael Bellesiles

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