Charles Scott (April 1739 – October 22, 1813) is an eighteenth-century American soldier who is elected the fourth governor of Kentucky in 1808.

Orphaned at an early age, Scott enlists in the Virginia Regiment in October 1755 and serves as a scout and escort during the French and Indian War.

He quickly rises through the ranks to become a captain.

After the war, he marries and engages in agricultural pursuits on land left to him by his father, but he returns to active military service in 1775 as the American Revolution began to grow in intensity.

He is promoted to colonel and given command of the 5th Virginia Regiment In August 1776.

The 5th Virginia joins George Washington in New Jersey later this year, serving with him for the duration of the Philadelphia campaign.

Scott commands Washington's light infantry, and by late 1778 is also serving as his chief of intelligence.

Furloughed at the end of the Philadelphia campaign, Scott returns to active service in March 1779 and is ordered to South Carolina to assist General Benjamin Lincoln in the southern theater.

He arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, just as Henry Clinton has begun his siege of the city.

Scott is taken as a prisoner of war when Charleston surrenders.

Paroled in March 1781 and exchanged for Lord Rawdon in July 1782, Scott manages to complete a few recruiting assignments before the war ends.

After the war, Scott visits the western frontier in 1785 and begins to make preparations for a permanent relocation.

He resettles near present-day Versailles, Kentucky, in 1787.

Confronted by the dangers of Indian raids, Scott raises a company of volunteers in 1790 and joins Josiah Harmar for an expedition against the Indians.

After Harmar's Defeat, President Washington orders Arthur St. Clair to prepare for an invasion of Indian lands in the Northwest Territory.

Scott, by now holding the rank of brigadier general in the Virginia militia, is meanwhile ordered to conduct a series of preliminary raids.

He leads the most notable and successful of these raids against the village of Ouiatenon in July 1791.

St. Clair's main invasion, conducted later this year, is a failure.

Shortly after the separation of Kentucky from Virginia in 1792, the Kentucky General Assembly commissions Scott as a major general and gives him command of the 2nd division of the Kentucky militia.

Scott's division cooperates with "Mad" Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States for the rest of the Northwest Indian War, including their decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Having previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates and as a presidential elector, the aging Scott now riuns for governor.

His 1808 campaign is skillfully managed by his step-son-in-law, Jesse Bledsoe, and he wins a convincing victory over John Allen and Green Clay.

A fall on the icy steps of the governor's mansion early in his term confines Scott to crutches for the rest of his life, and leaves him heavily reliant on Bledsoe, whom he appoints Secretary of State.

Although he frequently clashes with the state legislature over domestic matters, the primary concern of his administration is the increasing tension between the United States and Great Britain that eventually leads to the War of 1812.

Scott's decision to appoint William Henry Harrison as brevet major general in the Kentucky militia, although probably in violation of the state constitution as Harrison is not a resident of the state, is nonetheless praised by the state's citizens.

After his term expires, Scott returns to his Canewood estate.

His health declines rapidly, and he dies on October 22, 1813.

Scott County, Kentucky, and Scott County, Indiana, are named in his honor, as are the cities of Scottsville, Kentucky, and Scottsville, Virginia.