William Caldwell, Member of Butler's Rangers, Had Own Ranger Group in War of 1812

The Wikipedia article on Butler's Rangers had a list of officers who served with John Butler.  One of them was William Caldwell who not only was in the American Revolution, but also served with his own company of rangers in the War of 1812.

WILLIAM CALDWELL

(1750 - 20 February 1822)

Irish-born,  military officer and colonial official who fought against the Americans in the Revolution as a member of Butler's Rangers and helped found the town of Amherstburg near the mouth of the Detroit River (near Detroit).

During the American Revolution he demonstrated a ruthlessness that Americans would not forget.  After the war, he settled in the Detroit region on land he was granted for his war experience.

--Brock-Perry

Amherstburg Royal Navy Dockyard-- Part 2: Heavily Defended

In 1796, Fort Amherstburg (Fort Malden) was selected for the site of a new  dockyard for the construction of vessels for the Provinvcial Marine after the former site in Detroit was ceded to the Americans.  It was the only British naval base west of Kingston and located on the Detroit River with easy access to Lake Erie and Lake Huron.

The dockyard comprised  a large storehouse, two blockhouses,  a timber yard, saw pit and a wharf.  The blockhouses flanked the Navy Yard with Fort Amherstburg (Fort Malden) and the town of Amherstburg on either side, with the dockyard overlooking the channel which ran between it and Bois Blanc Island.  The dockyard was further protected by defenses erected on the island which watched over the entrances to both ends of the channel.

Many of the town's residents worked at the dockyard.

Many of the British ships that participated in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie were built here.

--Brock-Perry

Amherstburg Royal Navy Dockyard-- Part 1: Served Both the Provincial Marine and Royal Navy

From Wikipedia.

I have recently been writing about Amherstburg and Fort Amherstburg (more commonly called Fort Malden) and I then came across the Navy Dockyard that was located there.

It was a Provincial Marine (built warships for the province) and the Royal Navy Yard from 1789 to 1813, in Amherstburg, Ontario, situated on the Detroit River.  The yard comprised of blockhouses, storehouses,  magazine, wood yard and wharf.

The yard was established in 1796 to support the Upper Canada Provincial Marine after Great Britain ceded a pre-existing navy yard on the Detroit River to the United States.  Amherstburg Royal Navy Dockyard constructed four warships  for the Lake Erie Detachment of the Provincial Marine before and during the War of 1812.

In 1813, the dockyard was abandoned and destroyed when the British retreated and never reopened.  In 1928, the site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Malden-- Part 11: The Fort's Roles After the Upper Canada Rebellion

After the Upper Canada Rebellion and Patriot War, the fort was abandoned, but the people of Amherstburg complained they had no defense, so British troops were again stationed and, since there was no defending to be done, they improved the fort.

From 1851-1859, Fort Malden was  occupied by army pensioners in what became known as the Pensioner Scheme which was a way for Britain to replace active military units with retired personnel.  This worked well and most pensioners stayed and with their pensions and hard work, helped Amherstburg's development.

Before the Civil; War, Amherstburg and Fort Malden  played major roles in the Underground Railroad, enabling runaway slaves to get to Canada for their freedom.

From  1859 to 1875, the province of Ontario had ownership of the fort and it was turned into the Malden Lunatic Asylum.

From 1876 to 1935, Fort Malden was surveyed and sold at public auction after being divided into eleven lots.  Then, from 1935 to the present, Fort Malden has been  a National Historic Site of Canada.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Malden-- Part 10: The End of the Upper Canada Rebellion

One attempt by the Hunters' Lodge Americans to defeat the British  took place on January 9, 1838, when they crossed the Detroit River on the schooner Anne (which I have written a whole lot about, click the Anne/Ann (schooner) label).  They attacked Amherstburg, which Fort Malden defended.

All three British regiments and a town militia and Native American warriors defended the town successfully and captured twenty Americans prisoner, including their commander Edward Alexander  Theller.

There were also two other battles fought in the vicinity.  One was at Fighting Island and the other at Pelee Island.

Once the fighting in the Upper Canada Rebellion was quelled, the fort was no longer needed for active military regiments.  The Royal Artillery left between June and July  1839 and the  32nd Regiment also withdrew.  The militia was disbanded a few months later.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Malden-- Part 8: American Occupation

After General Henry Proctor abandoned and burned Fort Malden in the fall of 1813, American forces occupied the towns of Sandwich (Windsor) and Amherstburg, including the land the fort had stood on.

During that time, the area was used to conduct raids on nearby Chatham-Kent and London, Upper Canada (Ontario) for supplies.  The Americans began reconstructing Fort Malden near the site of the original fort.

After the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent in February 1815, the border between the United States and British North America was restored to prewar status and the Americans returned the land and left.  The U.S. Army officially  withdrew from Fort Malden on July 1, 1815.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Malden-- Part 2: A History of the Fort and Amherstburg

From Wikipedia Amherstburg.

Amherstburg town is a Canadian town near the mouth of the Detroit River about 16 miles south of the city of Detroit.  It is part of the Windsor metropolitan area.

French colonists had originally settled in the area.  In 1796, after losing the American colonies and Fort Detroit (present-day Detroit), Britain established Fort Malden (Fort Amherstburg) as a military fort overlooking Lake Erie at the Detroit River's mouth.

This caused the region's population to grow as did the Crown granting land in Upper Canada to  Loyalists from the U.S. (now known as United Empire Loyalists) in compensation for losses in the former colonies or for payment for service in the American Revolution.

Amherstburg and the fort also played a role in the Underground Railroad to get runaway slaves to their freedom in the years leading up to the Civil War.  It was a major crossing point into Canada.  The town is even mentioned in the famous book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" as being where George and Eliza escaped slavery.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Malden-- Part 3: War of 1812

Aside from its military history, the fort  was the setting for the British Pensioner Scheme and later became the Ontario Provincial Asylum in 1859.    After that closed, it became privatized.and divided into lots for public sale and that lasted until the 1900s.

Fort Malden's War of 1812 involvement began on July 2, 1812,  when British forces at the fort captured the American schooner Cuyahoga.  The declaration of war was made by the U.S. on June 18, but the American General William Hull at Detroit still did not know about it.

He had chartered the Cuyahoga to transport goods and military records, officer wives and the ill from Toledo, Ohio, to Detroit.  But it had to pass Amherstburg and Fort Malden on the Detroit River and it was captured by the British brig  HMS General Hunter.

--Brock-Perry

The Patriot War-- Part 9: Schooner Ann/Anne

From the Cleveland Herald and Gazette
Wednesday, June 13, 1838

Some twenty of the State prisoners at Toronto, have been moved to Kingston, among them are Sutherland and Theller.  Spencer, Sutherland's aid, and five or six of the crew of the schooner ANN, captured at Malden, have been discharged.

**************************************

Western Herald
Tuesday,  October 30, 1838

Yesterday morning, the schooner BROCK brought up from Amherstburgh, and landed  at our wharf, the long nine-pounder, which was taken from the schooner ANN of Detroit, two smaller  guns, 200 stand of musket  and accoutrements, and 20,000 rounds of ball cartridge.

The BROCK left this,  the same day for Amherstburgh, and will return shortly  with more destructive  implements; we do not say what kind -- but  will leave our sympathising neighbors opposite to guess.

--Brock-Perry

William Moodie Bell, Master Shipbuilder-- Part 1

Yesterday I mentioned that one source I found said that the HMS St. Lawrence might also have been built by William Bell or possibly John Dennis.

From Geneaology

William Moodie Bell, master Shipbuilder, Born in Scotland, Amherstburg.

1777-1837.  Naval shipwright and farmer.

Born 9 January 1777 in Scotland.  Entered the employ of the Provincial Marine at Amherstburg, Upper Canada June 1799.  Designed and built ships for service on the Great Lakes.

Many of his ships were lost in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie, after which he evacuated Amherstburg at the time of the retreat following the battle.

--Brock-Perry

No Ontario Town Should Bear the Name of a Racist and Killer-- Part 2

A commemorative plaque to Jefferson Davis was removed from a Hudson's Bay Company building in downtown Montreal this past August.  Of course, Hudson Bay Company were not exactly righteous with Indians either.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that since 2015 to April 2017, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy have been removed.

This group keeps close tally on Confederate monuments, especially those that remain and wants all taken down.  Kind of a racist thing if you ask me.

Amherst not only alienated the Native Peoples, but also the French Dominicans, Cubans and people of Martinique.

In 1760, during the French and Indian War, he captured Montreal, ending French rule in North America,

The Purge Comes to Canada.  --Brock-Perry

No Ontario Town Should Bear the Name of a Racist and Killer-- Part 1: Confederate Hatred Hits Canadian History

From the October 2, 2017 Huff Post by James Winter.

So, the Confederate hatred has reached Canada.

Jeffrey Amherst, of England, wanted to use small pox-infected blankets to eradicate Native American people.

His name is on Amherstburg, Ontario.  Amherstburg with its Fort Malden was a major British base during the War of 1812.

"Towns in the southern United States recently have torn down statues of bigots who promoted slavery."  We kind of know where Mr. Winter stands on the issue.

It would appear that Mr. Winter is a purgemeister.

This History Purge Thing Just Keeps Spreading.  --Brock-Perry

A Frontier in Flames-- Part 9: Bad Luck William Hull

Before officially declaring war, President James Madison sent General William Hull with a 2,000-man army to Fort Detroit to be in position to invade Canada right away.  Hull's plan was to cross from Detroit and attack British Fort Malden near Anherstburg at the southern tip of the modern province of Ontario.  from there, he would move on to the provincial capital of Upper Canada, York (today's Toronto).

But, he moved slowly and, by luck, British forces at Fort Malden learned of his plans when they captured the Detroit-bound American ship, the Cayahoga, carrying Hull's personal baggage and his plans.

Led by one of the British Army's most outstanding generals, Isaac Brock, the British had time to prepare. Gen. Hull did cross over into Canada, but the British and Canadians cut Hull's supply lines and forced him to take refuge back in Detroit, where they demanded his surrender.

Isaac Brock is One of the Names Used In This Blog's Sign-Off.  --Brock-Perry