William Ingles (1729 – September, 1782), also spelled Inglis, Ingliss, Engels, or English, was a colonist and soldier in colonial Virginia.

His wife, Mary Draper Ingles, was captured by Shawnee warriors and held captive for months before escaping and walking several hundred miles to her settlement.

[5] Records show that Thomas and his sons were apparently imprisoned after a political dispute, but by the fall of 1744 all of them had crossed the Atlantic and journeyed to Augusta County, Virginia.

"[9] In March, 1753, Thomas Ingles and his son William were listed in the Augusta County court records as workers on a road construction crew.

William Ingles and John Draper were harvesting wheat in the fields until they saw the smoke from the burning cabins, but they arrived too late to help.

William Ingles then went back to Williamsburg to try to convince Governor Robert Dinwiddie to order an attack on the Shawnee.

[18]: 86–88 In February, 1756, William Ingles joined a force of 220 militia and 130 Cherokee warriors as a lieutenant on the Sandy Creek Expedition to attack Lower Shawneetown in Ohio.

[3]: 511  William's brother John Ingles is credited with shooting a scout from a tree, and then sounding the alarm that the fort was about to be attacked.

[22]: 401  William's brother Matthew Ingles fought hand-to-hand until his rifle broke, then with a frying pan handle, killing two of his attackers.

[30]: 360–1  One source reports that William met a man named Baker who had been held captive by the Shawnee at Lower Shawneetown, and had known Thomas and his adoptive father.

[18]: 86–88  William hired Baker to find Thomas (now living on the upper Scioto River) and bring him back to Ingles Ferry.

Thomas Ingles later served as a lieutenant under Colonel William Christian in Lord Dunmore's War (1773-1774) against the Shawnee.

[1]: 109  During the first few years of its existence, Indians frequently attacked the farm and ferry,[36]: 84–93 [1]: 7–8  and Ingles constructed a small stockaded blockhouse, which he named Fort Hope, to protect his family and neighbors.

[38]: 99–101  Construction of the Ingles Ferry Hill Tavern and blacksmith shop on the Pulaski County side of the river was completed in 1772.

By 1780, William Ingles owned 907 acres, 67 cattle,[41] and ten slaves, who ran his ferry, worked in his mills or in domestic capacities.

[42] On 8 May 1779, Lord Henry Hamilton, a British prisoner of war, was being escorted under guard to Williamsburg and spent the night at the home of William and Mary Ingles.

Ingles assembled a group of sixteen or eighteen men and attacked the Indians' camp at dawn, killing seven of them, retrieving the goods and rescuing the captives.

On 13 September he reported to his commanding officer, William Preston, about a skirmish between Indians and his militiamen, who "all behaved like good soldiers."

Ingles requested permission to continue serving at Fort Hope, even though powder and shot were in short supply.

[45]: 56 [28]: 15  In October 1763, Ingles was called to pursue a group of fifty (probably Shawnee) warriors who had attacked settlements at Roanoke and Catawba and were heading back to Ohio with three prisoners.

On the battlefield, Ingles admired the courage of the Indians who "disputed the Ground with the Greatest Obstinancy, often Runing up to the Very Muzels of our Guns."

[53] The same year, Ingles submitted a petition to the state legislature complaining about the surveying and land speculation practices of his former friend and military comrade William Preston.

[59] William Ingles was charged with treason and ordered to put up a bond of £100,000,[60]: 257–58  a massive sum of money for that time.

[1]: 144  A copy of his will found at the Virginia Probate Archives dictates: "Son Thomas a tract of land 1000 [acres] on the Blue Stone, known by the name of Absolem's Valley, and a slave.