Folk Figure. He began his military career fighting Indians with the Virginia militia in 1792 and joined the United States Army with General Alexander Hamilton from 1799 to 1800. He rejoined the army in 1803 and served in Illinois, just across the river from St Louis. It was there on January 1, 1804 that he joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a private and was voted to sergeant in August when Sergeant Floyd died of appendicitis. He was even given command of the expedition for a period of time during the return while Lewis and Clark each went on separate expeditions. He remained in the army after the expedition and fought in the War of 1812. In the battle of Lundy's Lane, at the present day Niagara Falls, Ontario, he suffered a wound that cost him an eye. At the age of sixty he married a woman of 22 and had 5 children in the next 15 years of her life. They settled in Wellsburg, West Virginia, where was the last survivor of the Lewis and Clark until he died at 99 years of age. He kept a journal during the expedition and it was in the journal that the term "Corps of Discovery" was first used. The journal was published in 1807 and later reprinted in England and translated into French and German.
Folk Figure. He began his military career fighting Indians with the Virginia militia in 1792 and joined the United States Army with General Alexander Hamilton from 1799 to 1800. He rejoined the army in 1803 and served in Illinois, just across the river from St Louis. It was there on January 1, 1804 that he joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a private and was voted to sergeant in August when Sergeant Floyd died of appendicitis. He was even given command of the expedition for a period of time during the return while Lewis and Clark each went on separate expeditions. He remained in the army after the expedition and fought in the War of 1812. In the battle of Lundy's Lane, at the present day Niagara Falls, Ontario, he suffered a wound that cost him an eye. At the age of sixty he married a woman of 22 and had 5 children in the next 15 years of her life. They settled in Wellsburg, West Virginia, where was the last survivor of the Lewis and Clark until he died at 99 years of age. He kept a journal during the expedition and it was in the journal that the term "Corps of Discovery" was first used. The journal was published in 1807 and later reprinted in England and translated into French and German.
Bio by: Tom Todd
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