Colonel William Russell III (March 6, 1758 – July 3, 1825) was a soldier, pioneer, and politician from Virginia and Kentucky.
William Sr. was a prominent citizen of southwestern Virginia and served as a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
In 1773, the elder Russell took his family, including William Jr., westward in the first attempt to establish a permanent white settlement in Kentucky.
At the war's end, he moved to Kentucky, settling in 1783 in Fayette County on land granted to his father for military service.
Colonel Russell led a raid on July 1, 1813, with at least 700 mounted rangers and traveled 500 miles through the Indiana territory destroying hostile Indian villages.