It is generally believed that Charles Todd, pictured above circa 1820, was the first to be commissioned a Kentucky Colonel. Todd served in the Kentucky militia during the war of 1812, following which he was made aid-de-camp by Governor Isaak Shelby to serve on his staff. An "Aid-de-camp" is a pretty cushy assignment (and it should be noted that Todd later married Shelby's youngest daughter), it's a French term for "camp assistant," which makes it sound like Todd there is in charge of cleanup at the soldiers' arts & crafts tent. According to our friends at Wikipedia, that may not be far from the truth, they describe an aid-de-camp as a high ranking "personal assistant, secretary or adjunct." So after seeing a little action in the war of 1812 (and getting friendly with the Gov's daughter), Todd got a posh appointment with no heavy lifting and was, one assumes, given free liberty to pursue his dream of becoming commander and chief of the infamous Kentucky Faux Hawk Brigade, 4th division. The rest is history, readers (and I bet David Beckham thinks he invented that haircut).
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