The Illiterate General

[W. Gray]

Ask any youngster about this person and none of them will know who he is.

But, us older folks know.

He was the only general officer in the history of the United States military who was illiterate.

At five feet four inches and 140 pounds, he spoke English, French, and Spanish fluently, and could sufficiently converse in ten Indian languages.

Nevertheless, he could not read nor write. He had books and poetry read to him.

He was married three times.

He was born in 1809 in Kentucky. As a youngster, his family moved to Howard County, Missouri.

First appointed as a Second Lieutenant by President James K. Polk during the 1840s, his commission was voided by Congress due to a charge of petty politics surrounding the commission.

During the Civil War, he became a Colonel. After the war, he was promoted to Brigadier General. He left the Army in 1867.

He died one year later.

Most of us know of him as a frontier scout.

His name was Christopher Houston Carson, aka "Kit."