Who was William Blount?

Blount’s name appears in thousands of  War Department Papers.  Who was he? Blount came from Windsor North Carolina, born into a family of merchants and planters who owned large tracts of property along the Pamlico River. During the American Revolutionary War, he  was a regimental paymaster for the 3rd North Carolina Regiment.  He participated in the regiment’s march north in the late spring of 1777 to join Washington’s army in the defense of Philadelphia. His North Carolina unit later served under Saratoga hero General Horatio Gates, who engaged Cornwallis in a bloody loss at Camden, South Carolina.  Having earned his revolutionary credentials, Blount served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and the Federal Convention of 1787. Later, Blount received an appointment from President Washington as Governor of the Southwest Territory (Tennessee) and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Department.  He established Knoxville (named after the Secretary of War) as the territorial capital.

Later Blount became a Senator. Long engaged in land speculation activities, he eventually found himself in financial difficulty.  He was implicated in a British plot to incite the Creeks and Cherokees to aid the British in conquering Spanish territory in West Florida.  When President Adams got wind of the plan, he informed the Senate.  The House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of expulsion from the Senate for treason.   In this letter from George Washington t0 James McHenry, Washington discusses the “nefarious” conduct of the late governor and senator.