Dr. Robert Creighton, later buried in Alexandria, served as a military physician during General Braddock’s catastrophic expedition to seize Fort Duquesne.
Born in Ayrshire, Scotland, Creighton crossed the Atlantic and found himself in the thick of one of the most consequential failures in British colonial warfare. As a surgeon in Braddock’s army, he witnessed firsthand the ambush and devastation of British forces at the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755—a turning point in the French and Indian War that altered British strategy and set the stage for colonial unrest.
After the defeat, Creighton lived for four decades in Jamaica before returning to Alexandria in declining health. He died in 1801 and was buried in the Old Presbyterian Meeting House 18th-Century Burial Ground. His gravestone recalls his wartime service and long Atlantic journey.
Buried nearby is fellow Braddock expedition surgeon Dr. James Craik, who tended to the mortally wounded general on the battlefield—and later became George Washington’s personal physician.
