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37-1002: Not all Continental infantry regiments raised in a state were part of a state quota, however. On December 27, 1776, the Continental Congress gave Washington temporary control over certain military decisions that the Congress ordinarily regarded as its own prerogative. These “dictatorial powers” included the authority to raise sixteen additional Continental infantry regiments at large. Early in 1777, Washington offered command of one of these additional regiments to Nathaniel Gist of Virginia, who accepted. He also offered command of an additional regiment to William Grayson of Virginia, who accepted. In 1776, Grayson had served as one of Washington’s personal aides. Finally, Washington offered command of an additional regiment to Charles Mynn Thruston of Virginia, who accepted. Still other Continental infantry regiments and smaller units, also unrelated to

74-658: A British prison ship. William Woodford was born in Caroline County , Virginia Colony , in present-day Woodford . His father, Major William Woodford, was one of Governor Spotswood's Knights Of the Golden Horseshoe . His grandfather, Dr. William Cocke , served Virginia as the Secretary of the Colony and a member of the governor's Council under Governor Spotswood. Woodford's great uncle was Mark Catesby ,

111-692: A British spy. Christian thought Gist was remorseful for becoming involved with the British agents, but did not entirely trust him. Nevertheless, he kept him from harm and Gist later regained his popularity. Gist maintained that it was impossible for him to escape so he appeared to go along with the enemy purpose, a story that was accepted by Governor Henry and the Virginia council in December. Washington appointed Gist colonel in command of Gist's Additional Continental Regiment on 11 January 1777. The regiment

148-470: A famous English naturalist . He married Mary Thornton, daughter of Col. John Thornton. She survived him by decades, dying in 1828. His wife's grandmother, Mildred Washington Gregory, was George Washington's aunt and godmother. They had a son, John Thornton Woodford (1765-1845), who married and had children. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates. His descendants moved to Kentucky. During

185-612: A rise known as Comb's Hill and was able to pound the British left flank with artillery. In late 1779, Woodford and his brigade were sent to join the Southern Continental Army and fought at the Siege of Charleston , where he and his unit were captured in May 1780. The British sent their prisoner William Woodford to New York City , where he died of disease, on board a British prison ship , on November 13, 1780. Woodford

222-632: A state quota, were raised as needed for special or temporary service. The independent companies raised by Virginia in 1777 to garrison Fort Pitt and Fort Randolph were examples of such “extra” units. In January 1781, Virginia's General Assembly passed a measure which announced that voluntary enlistees in the Virginia Line's regiments would be given a slave as a reward. In August 1775 the Virginia Convention voted to raise fifteen companies to serve one year. The companies were raised in

259-800: A whole. Instead, the companies of Captains John Gist and Joseph Smith were attached to the 3rd Maryland Regiment while the company of Captain Samuel Lapsley served with the 12th Virginia Regiment . The three companies that comprised the regiment fought with the main army in the Philadelphia Campaign in the summer and fall of 1777 and at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. On 22 April 1779, Gist's Regiment absorbed Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment and Thruston's Additional Continental Regiment . The consolidated regiment reformed in

296-590: Is unlikely because the Anglo-Cherokee War was raging and Gist was serving in Adam Stephen 's colonial Virginia regiment against the Cherokees. This unit advanced as far as Long Island before peace was made between the two sides. Samuel C. Williams believed that Gist fathered Sequoyah around 1775 by his mother Wurteh Watts. Of a prominent clan, she was related to Old Tassel . Williams dismissed

333-594: The American loyalist settlers from the rebels, so that the Indians could attack the rebels. They apparently hoped to enlist Gist in the effort. Jarret Williams, a settler got back to Virginia with the news that Gist was working with the British. In fact, Gist was in the pay of Cameron at the time. For his part, Gist warned the Cherokees not to start a war, but they began attacking the settlements anyway. In 1776, Virginia sent an expedition under William Christian against

370-773: The Forbes Expedition in 1758. The outbreak of the American Revolution found him on the frontier. At first suspected of sympathizing with the British, he convinced the Americans of his loyalty. George Washington , a close friend of his father, authorized him to form Gist's Additional Continental Regiment in January 1777. Gist probably participated in Light Horse Harry Lee 's Paulus Hook Raid in 1779. He and his regiment were captured at

407-628: The Siege of Charleston in May 1780. After the war, he took an American wife Judith Cary Bell (1750–1833) and the couple had four daughters, one of whom married Francis P. Blair . He is variously said to have died in 1796, 1812, or at the end of the War of 1812 . He is confused with his uncle Nathaniel Gist (1707–1780). He was a first cousin of Mordecai Gist . Born on 15 October 1733 in Baltimore , Province of Maryland , Gist's parents were Christopher Gist (1706–1759) and Sarah Howard (b. 1711). The surname

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444-527: The Siege of Charleston . He retired from the army on 1 January 1783. Gist received 7,000 acres in Kentucky for his services in the war. He moved there in 1793 and built an estate called Canewood. At that time he was described as six feet tall and "stout-framed", with a dark complexion. Williams believed that he died around the end of the War of 1812 . Historian Francis B. Heitman asserted that Gist died in 1796. Nathaniel had two brothers, Richard Gist, who

481-791: The Virginia provisional forces . Having fortified a passage across the Elizabeth River on the border of the Dismal Swamp leading into Norfolk, Woodford's forces drove the royal governor, Lord Dunmore , from the Norfolk peninsula in the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775. No Virginians died in the first significant battle of the Revolution on Virginia soil, although the Tory forces had 45 casualties. Later in December 1776,

518-794: The 2d Virginia Regiment was ordered to join Washington's main army in New Jersey. It became part of the Virginia Line of the Continental Army . William Woodford was promoted to brigadier general in February 1777. Woodford was wounded in September 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine , where he and his troops performed well. Recovering by June 28, 1778, Woodford led his brigade at the Battle of Monmouth , where he took control of

555-541: The 2nd Virginia Regiment. The 3rd Virginia Detachment would be formed under Colonel Abraham Buford and was composed of elements of the 7th Virginia, as well as various pieces of other units. The first two Detachments of the Virginia Line served at the Siege of Charleston in South Carolina and were surrendered to the British Army on 12 May 1780. The 3rd Detachment was cut to pieces at the Battle of Waxhaws ;

592-503: The 7th through 9th Virginia Regiments were raised as state troops. In the course of 1776 the state regiments were placed on the Continental establishment. On September 16, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved to raise an army of eighty-eight infantry regiments which were to serve for the duration of the war. Virginia was called upon to contribute fifteen of these regiments. The 1st through 9th Virginia Regiments were reconstituted in

629-579: The Cherokees. He was enjoined to capture the Stuarts, Cameron, and Gist as enemies. When the column reached the French Broad River , Gist came into the Virginian camp under a flag of truce. On 15 October 1776, Christian reported to Governor Patrick Henry that some of the Virginia troops recalled Gist's exploits on the frontier in a good light, while most of the soldiers wanted to lynch him as

666-583: The Continental Army as regiments raised to serve for the duration of the war. The cadres for these regiments were drawn from the regiments which Virginia had sent to the field in 1775 and 1776. The remaining six regiments (the 10th through 15th Virginia Regiments) were entirely new. Three Additional Continental regiments were raised and allotted to Virginia in 1777. There were 16 Additional regiments planned of which only 14 were actually raised. The responsibility for raising these units did not rest with

703-552: The Overhill Cherokees. After a trip to West Florida , he returned to Cherokee country with Henry Stuart, the brother of John Stuart , the British agent to the southern tribes. At this time, the Stuarts and another agent Alexander Cameron were trying to get the white settlers on the Nolichucky and Watauga Rivers to move to West Florida. When the American Revolution broke out, the British agents desired to separate

740-513: The Virginia Line was in the vicinity of White Plains, New York, after serving at the Battle of Monmouth . New commissions issued at this time were dated September 14, 1778. In the White Plains rearrangement the Virginia Line was reorganized thus: The Virginia regiments were still understrength and continued to dwindle in 1779, reduced to a fraction of their paper strength; at this point, regimental history becomes very confusing to track. Given

777-425: The Virginia line had effectively ceased to exist. The single exception was the two-company 9th Virginia Regiment of 1779, which was stationed at Fort Pitt (the present Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ). In October 1780 the Continental Congress, in consultation with George Washington , ordered a further reorganization of the Continental Army. Under this reorganization, which was to be effective on January 1, 1781, Virginia

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814-547: The couple had four daughters, Eliza Violet , Sarah Howard, Anne Cary, and Maria. Eliza married Francis Preston Blair and was the mother of Montgomery Blair who served in Abraham Lincoln 's cabinet and Francis Preston Blair Jr. a Union general and US Senator . Sarah married Jesse Bledsoe who became a US Senator, Anne wed Dr. Joseph Boswell, and Maria married Benjamin Gratz. The noted Maryland officer Mordecai Gist

851-460: The fall of 1775 and organized into two regiments. The Continental Congress resolved, on November 1, 1775, to place these two regiments on the Continental establishment. The regiments were designated the 1st and 2d Virginia Regiments. On December 28, 1775, the Continental Congress voted to raise four more regiments in Virginia. The Virginia Convention concurred on January 11, 1776. The Convention ordered that an additional 72 companies be raised and that

888-465: The number of men fit for duty, these “regiments” are not really “regiments” at all any more, yet they are still named as such. In 1780, the word “Detachment” comes into use, describing a 700-man conglomeration of these “regiments.” The 1st Virginia Detachment was led by Richard Parker . The 2nd Virginia Detachment was formed out of various regiments under the 2d Virginia Regiment’s original colonel, Brigadier General William Woodford , including elements of

925-508: The quarrel for the failure of the Cherokees to aid the British against the French. In 1755 Gist accompanied Braddock's Expedition in 1755, serving as a lieutenant in his father's ranger company in Washington's colonial regiment. He continued his military service in 1756, protecting the frontier against raids by pro-French Indians. In 1757, Gist received promotion to captain and was given responsibility for 200 Cherokees living in Virginia. He

962-539: The states, but with the Continental Congress which gave George Washington almost complete control over them. The colonels were Nathaniel Gist , William Grayson , and Charles Mynn Thruston . In 1779 the three units were consolidated into Gist's regiment. The Continental Congress ordered a reorganization of the Continental Army on May 27, 1778. Under this resolve, the Virginia quota was reduced from fifteen infantry regiments to eleven. In September 1778

999-500: The story that Sequoyah's father was an itinerant German peddler by the name of Guess. He noted that Sequoyah went by George Guess, Guest, and Gist, and that he finished the Cherokee alphabet in 1821 when he was about 40. This was much too young for a man born in 1761. Williams noted that a letter showed that in 1828, Sequoyah visited Gist relatives in Kentucky and was acknowledged as a family member. The year 1775 found Gist living with

1036-694: The strength of eight companies. The unit was assigned to the 1st Virginia Brigade on 12 May. Gist preferred charges against Light Horse Harry Lee after the latter's capture of British prisoners at the Battle of Paulus Hook on 19 August 1779. Brigadier General George Weedon , who evidently disagreed with the charges, called Gist "the head of the Wrongheads". On 4 December, the regiment was ordered to march to Charleston, South Carolina . On 6 April 1780, William Woodford 's contingent of 750 Virginia Continentals arrived, having marched 500 miles (805 km). Gist and his regiment were captured on 12 May 1780 at

1073-413: The term of service of the original fifteen companies be extended. The 87 companies were to be organized into nine regiments of ten companies each (the 9th Virginia Regiment having at first only seven companies). The new force was to serve for not exceeding two and a half years. The 1st and 2d Virginia Regiments were reconstituted; the 3d through 6th Virginia Regiments were raised as Continental regiments; and

1110-639: The war, Woodford served as an ensign in Colonel George Washington 's Virginia Regiment , and was later promoted to lieutenant in 1761. He served in the Cherokee Expedition , under William Byrd and Adam Stephen . As war with Great Britain loomed, William Woodford was a delegate to the Third Virginia Convention . He there accepted a commission as colonel in command of the 2nd Virginia Regiment , of

1147-691: Was assigned a quota of eight infantry regiments. The Virginia Line was reorganized thus: Nathaniel Gist Nathaniel Gist (15 October 1733 – 1812) was born in Maryland and fought during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War . He was reputed by Wurteh Watts to be the father of Sequoyah , the famous Cherokee . Like his father Christopher Gist (1706–1759), he served in Braddock's Expedition in 1755 and

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1184-407: Was born on 2 September 1729 and died at the Battle of King's Mountain in 1780, and Thomas Gist, who moved to Kentucky after the American Revolutionary War . Heitman states that it was Nathaniel Gist Jr., an ensign in his father's regiment, who died at King's Mountain. His father had two brothers. Nathaniel is sometimes confused with his uncle Nathaniel. In 1783, Gist married Judith Cary Bell and

1221-447: Was buried with military honors at Trinity Church, New York . In the 1787 Virginia tax census, either his estate or his very young grandson, also William Woodford (1787-1831), was taxed for two horses, and his widow Mary Woodford was taxed for 10 adult and 15 younger slaves, as well as six horses, 19 cattle and a 4-wheeled chariot. Their son John Woodford would serve in the Virginia House of Delegates beginning in 1802. Two counties in

1258-399: Was credited with leading these native peoples as an auxiliary force during the successful Forbes Expedition of 1758. In 1760, Gist accompanied Daniel Boone and other hunters on a trek to Abingdon, Virginia , then called Wolf Hill. The two then split up, with Boone going on to Long Island and Gist traveling to Cumberland Gap . He was said to have sired Sequoyah in 1760 or 1761, but this

1295-523: Was his first cousin. Footnotes Citations 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 . He was captured at the Siege of Charleston , South Carolina and died of disease in New York City about six months later aboard

1332-494: Was intended to be a light infantry unit. Four companies of southern frontier rangers would be enrolled. In addition, Gist was to recruit 500 natives from the Cherokee and other tribes to serve as scouts. Aside from the military purpose, it was believed that enlisting the braves would bind the tribes in an alliance with the American cause. Only three companies were formed from Virginians and Marylanders. The regiment did not fight as

1369-656: Was sometimes rendered Guest. In 1753 his father made a remarkable trek through the wilderness with George Washington . By this time the 20-year-old Nathaniel Gist was a trader living with the Overhill Cherokee near Echota . He and a partner Richard Pearis sold his father's goods to the Native Americans. Both men coveted the land at Long Island in the Holston River (now Kingsport, Tennessee ) and soon fell out. Governor Robert Dinwiddie blamed

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