Samuel Dale | |
|---|---|
 An 1860 artist's impression of Sam Dale acting as a scout ca. 1795 | |
| Born | 1772 |
| Died | May 24, 1841 (aged 68–69) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Daniel Boone of Alabama, Brigadier General Samuel Dale |
| Occupation(s) | frontiersman, soldier, politician |
| Employer(s) | British Government, Pennsylvania State Government, U.S. Government |
| Known for | serving, under General Andrew Jackson, in the Creek War of 1813-1814, and who later became a brigadier general in the U.S. Army, and an advocate for Alabama statehood. |
Samuel Dale (1772 – May 24, 1841), known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama", was an American frontiersman, soldier, and politician, who fought under General Andrew Jackson, in the Creek War, later, becoming a brigadier general in the U.S. Army, and an advocate for Alabama statehood.
Samuel Dale was born in 1772, in Rockbridge County, Virginia to Scotch-Irish parents from Pennsylvania. As a boy, both he and his parents moved, many times, with westward border expansion, most notably in 1775 and 1783. With the death of his parents in December 1792, he was responsible for the welfare of eight younger children. From 1793–96 he served as a United States Government scout. He abandoned work as a trader between Savannah, Georgia and the border settlements and as a mill owner-operator to guide immigrants into Mississippi, over Native American lands.
Dale was present, in 1811, when Tecumseh enlisted local Alabama Native Americans to fight against Americans, during his campaign to establish a pan-Indian confederacy. Dale was involved in, many of, these confrontations, particularly in 1814, when he served as a courier bringing documents to Andrew Jackson in New Orleans, from Georgia in just eight days.