Dr. John Todd-- Part 2: At The River Raisin

Brother of Robert Smith Todd (Mary Todd Lincoln's father, so he world be her uncle.)

From the River Raisin.org site.

Under Selected American Leaders page.

Dr. John Todd, born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1787.  Was  surgeon of the 5th Kentucky Volunteer Regiment in 1812.  Stayed behind to take care of the wounded after the Battle of the River Raisin.

At the British hospital at Stony Creek  on January 23, 1813, he urged the British to return to French Town to rescue  the wounded who were being killed by the Indians, but to no avail.

After the war, Todd practiced medicine in Lexington, then moved to Illinois.  His niece, Mary Todd would become the wife of Abraham Lincoln.

--Brock-Perry

Robert Smith Todd (Mary Lincoln's Father)-- Part 3: At Battles of Frenchtown and Thames

In July 1812, when the 5th Kentucky Regiment left Lexington, , it contained Robert , three of his brothers and eight Todd cousins.  Initially, Robert did not receive his commission, although his two older brothers did.

Along with his younger brother, Samuel, Robert enlisted as a private.  Before he could leave Ohio, however, he caught pneumonia and had to stay there to recover.

After recovering (and during which time he returned home to marry Eliza Parker), he went to the front of military action and  fought at the Battle of Frenchtown in Michigan in January 1813 and later in the fall was at the Battle of the Thames, where Tecumseh was killed and which ended fighting in that part of the war.

Before the end of the war, Robert was promoted to captain.

--Brock-Perry

Robert Smith Todd (Mary Lincoln's Father)-- Part 2: Militia and War of 1812

After graduating from Transylvania College, he began studying law, first by apprenticing himself in the office of clerk of Fayette County and then with noted jurist George Bibb, chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (and later U.SD. senator and Secretary of the Treasury in the 1840s.

He was admitted to the bar in  on September 11, 1811, however, he never practiced law and chose instead to go into business.

Even before the War of 1812 began, Robert Todd  was active in a company of the Kentucky militia that eventually  merged into the Lexington Light Artillery of the 5th Kentucky Regiment.  During the winter of 1811-1812, he asked for a commission as an officer from Senator Henry Clay.

--Brock-Perry

Nathaniel G.S. Hart-- Part 2: Killed at River Raisin Massacre

Mathaniel Hart attended Princeton and studied law under Henry Clay.  His wife was the sister of Henry Clay's wife.

The Lexington Light Infantry" was called "The Silk Stocking Boys" and were part of the 5th regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia.  The unit left for the Northwest in August 1812 and became a part of the Army of the Northwest under General James Winchester.

In January 1813, they were sent to Frenchtown , Michigan Territory, as part of the American attempt to recapture Detroit from the British.  At the First Battle of Frenchtown on January 18, 1813, the Americans drove the small British force away.  On January 22, the British counter-attacked and the result was an American defeat with 397 killed.

Nathaniel Hart was wounded and one of the 547 Americans who surrendered.  he was shot and scalped by Indians the following day.