Thomas Bullitt (1730 – February 1778) was a United States military officer, and surveyor from

Prince William County, Virginia Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 482,204, making it Virginia's second most populous county. The county seat is the independent city of Manassas. A part ...

and pioneer on its western frontier.

Early and family life

Thomas was born to Benjamin and Sarah (Harrison) Bullitt in 1730 in Prince William County, then in the

Province of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for th ...

. Active in the local militia as a youth, he became interested in western exploration and development. By 1754 he was a captain of the county's militia, and participated in a number of attempts to secure western Virginia and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from the French. His younger brother

Cuthbert Bullitt Cuthbert Bullitt (c. 1740 – 1791) was an American colonial planter and lawyer from Prince William County, Virginia. During the American Revolution, he was a local and colonial politician, and voted against ratification of the U.S. Constitut ...

studied to become an attorney, became a planter in Prince William County and represented it in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, mostly after this man's death.

French and Indian War

Thomas Bullitt served as a cadet in Lt. Colonel

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

's expedition in 1754 that ended with defeat at the Battle of Great Meadows. The next year Captain Bullitt and his men again marched against

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...

, this time with the

Braddock Expedition The Braddock Expedition, also known as Braddock's Campaign or Braddock's Defeat, was a British Empire, British military expedition which attempted to capture Fort Duquesne from the French colonial empire, French in 1755 during the French and Ind ...

, and again failed, at the Battle of Monogahela on July 9, 1755. The third try in 1758 also started badly, but ended victoriously. Bullitt commanded a militia company in the

Forbes Expedition The Forbes Expedition was a British military campaign to capture Fort Duquesne, led by Brigadier-General John Forbes in 1758, during the French and Indian War. While advancing to the fort, the expedition built the Forbes Road. The Treaty of Eas ...

. 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 on September 21, 1758. They suffered great losses and Grant was captured. Bullitt took to the woods, but rallied the militia, and counterattacked their pursuers. He then commanded more than half of the original party back to their main force. The French were forced to abandon the fort during November. On May 22, 1759, French and Indian troops defeated a party of 100 Virginians commanded by Captain Thomas Bullitt on the Forbes Road near Fort Ligonier. Bullitt and his troops were taking provisions from Bedford to Fort Ligonier when they were attacked. They suffered more than 40 casualties and lost many of their supplies. William Byrd published in Hunter's Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg) a letter dated 26 Oct 1759 and sent from Pittsburgh in which he stated that Gen. John Stanwix at Byrd's request convened a court of inquiry to investigate Captain Bullitt's conduct. The court decided unanimously 'that Captain Bullitt behaved like a good Officer, and did every Thing in his Power to repulse the Enemy, and save the Convoy.'"

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 Bath County is a United States county located in the Shenandoah Valley on the central western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,209, making it the second-least populous county in Virginia. Bath ...

, he bought land there and built an Inn at

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

in 1766. During the next few years his guests included

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. During the war, Andrew Lewis and Thomas Bullitt had surveyed part of the area and had heard stories from the Native Americans and colonists about the healing powers of the springs. In 1764, Captain Thomas Bullitt received a colonial land grant of 300 acres which contained seven hot and warm springs. "After receiving the award, Captain Bullitt moved his militia company and their families to the area. The land was cleared, and within two years, a wooden 18 room wooden hotel was constructed there, and in 1766 the "Homestead" was opened and named in honor of the homesteaders who built the resort and bathhouses."

The Omni Homestead Resort The Omni Homestead Resort is a luxury resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, United States, in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains. The area has the largest hot springs in the Commonwealth, and the resort is also known for its championship golf cou ...

, as it is termed today, continued to be operated by Thomas Bullitt's family after his death during the Revolution, until 1832, when it was sold to Dr.

Thomas Goode (physician) Thomas Goode (October 31, 1787, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia – April 2, 1858, in Bath County, Virginia) was a Virginian physician who purchased the Warm Springs resort in Virginia and helped establish European style hydrotherapies there. Biog ...

, who also purchased the Healing Springs, Virginia and the resort at

Warm Springs, Virginia Warm Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bath County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 121.John Murray, to lead the party was also authorized a substantial tract (1,240 acres due to his rank as a Captain). Primarily, his role was to survey 10,000 acres for

. In April 1773, Bullitt gathered about 40 men which included Joshua Morris, and Hancock Taylor which set out from the New River Settlements to the Kanawha 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 "Corn stalk" or "Cornstalk" may refer to: * The stem of a maize plant * ''Dracaena fragrans'' or cornstalk dracaena, a flowering plant * Cornstalk (Shawnee leader), a Shawnee Indian chief during the American Revolution (1720–1777) * Cornstalk, We ...

of the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

. By July his party had reached the

Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Indiana Department ...

, and Bullitt laid out a town site there that later became

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Bullitt and his men tried to maintain peaceful relations with the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

, but did lose one work surveyor in an attack. The incursion was also one of the complaints that caused

Lord Dunmore's War Lord Dunmore's War, also known as Dunmore's War, was a brief conflict in the fall of 1774 between the British Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo in the trans-Appalachia region of the colony south of the Ohio River. Broadly, the war incl ...

the next year. During the expedition, another smaller survey was being conducted a month earlier by a group of rangers and Walter Kelly, who departed in February 1773 and had already Tomahawked and begun improvements on many sought after lands. Leading to an attempt by George Washington to obtain full rights to the "Burning Springs," which was discovered by Peter and John Van Bibber.

The Revolutionary War

Bullitt still had the post of Adjutant General for the Virginia militia. As the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

became imminent he sympathized with 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 The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The refusal by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any ...

, alongside fellow surveyor Ensign Joshua Morris. He commanded engineering works for Colonel

William Woodford William Woodford (October 6, 1734 – November 13, 1780) was a Virginia planter and militia officer who distinguished himself in the French and Indian War before becoming a general of the 2nd Virginia Regiment in the American Revolutionary War ...

who had overall command. His rapidly constructed defenses aided in the overwhelming American victory on December 9, 1775. Dunmore fell back to

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, 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. In August 1775, Bullitt was elected as Adjutant General of the Virginia Militia. Thomas Bullitt was elected in military positions by the House of Delegates (legislature), he never was successful at securing a position and never once held a seat. He made an exception in November and December 1777 to help

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American military officer and surveyor from Virginia who became the highest-ranking Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot military officer on the American frontier, nort ...

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 the

Illinois Country The Illinois Country ( ; ; ), also referred to as Upper Louisiana ( ; ), was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s that later fell under Spanish and British control before becoming what is now part of the Midwestern United States. Whi ...

. These were known only to Bullitt,

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. May 18, 1736une 6, 1799) was an American politician, planter and orator who declared to the Virginia Conventions, Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty or give m ...

, Thomas Jefferson,

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

and

George Wythe George Wythe (; 1726 – June 8, 1806) was an American academic, scholar, and judge who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The first of the seven Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, signatories of the ...

Death and will

Bullitt died at his home in Fauquier County, Virginia, in February, 1778, at the comparatively early age of forty-eight years. His will, dated September 17, 1775, was probated February 23, 1778 (Will Book I, p. 321, Fauquier County). By his will, he left 400 acres and an annual allowance for support to his illegitimate daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Brounaunt, or Bronaugh, and most of the balance of his estate to his brother,

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

.Estelle & King
''Abstracts of Wills, Administrations, and Marriages of Fauquier County, Virginia, 1759-1800: With Cemetery Inscriptions, Rent Rolls, and Other Data'', by Junie Estelle and Stewart King; Genealogical Publishing Company; 1978, p. 12.

Early and family life

French and Indian War

After the war

The Revolutionary War

Death and will

References

Further reading