Greenbush in the War of 1812-- Part 2

When General Dearborn took command of the Greenbush Cantonment, the cost overruns began.  He bought the land on behalf of the government for $9,000 and construction of the Cantonment began.  It wasn't until a year later that Dearborn discovered the government didn't have a clear title to the land.

So he had to pay an additional $1,250 to perfect the title.  Additionally, the government purchased a large field of standing rye nearby that was ready for harvest.  However, a cavalry unit arrived there and the hirses promptly devoured the whole crop.

The Cantonment consisted of  eight barracks for enlisted men, three units for officers, the general's house,  surgeon and physician's quarters, a hospital, horse stables, armory, arsenal  storehouse, guard house, kitchens and many latrines.

Jim Greenfield is not sure whether local units were stationed there.

--Brock-Perry

Greenbush in the War of 1812: The Cantonment-- Part 1

From Town of North Greenbush Notes:  Greenbush in the War of 1812" by Jim Greenfield.

No battles occurred in the old town of Greenbush, New York (Rensselaer,  East and North Greenbush) during the war, the area does have claim to fame because the U.S. Army constructed a large military post called the Greenbush Cantonment there.

The several hundred  acre cantonment was located near the present-day Red Mill School in East Greenbush.  During the war, over 5,000 troops trained there.

The Greenbush location was well located because it was near the action occurring at both the Niagara Frontier and Lake Champlain.

The commanding general of the cantonment was  Henry Dearborn, a veteran of the American Revolution.  One suspects he might have been well past his prime abilities.  Rather than a "fighting general" he was more of an administrative general" far from the battlefield.  Think General Halftrack from the "Beetle Bailey" comic strip.

--Brock-Perry

Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn-- Part 1: Son of Sec. of War Henry Dearborn

While I was researching John A. Winslow in my Civil War Navy blog, I found he was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.  (He sank the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama.  While looking at that cemetery's notable burials, I came across this man.

From Wikipedia.

March 3, 1783 to July 29, 1851.

Soldier, lawyer,  author and statesman.  First president of Massachusetts Horticultural Society, member of the Society of Cincinnati and author of many books.

I came across that he was a brigadier general.

He was the son of Secretary of War and Major General Henry Dearborn, studied law, admitted to the bar and practiced law in Salem, Mass. and Portland, Maine.

--Brock-Perry

Sylvanus Thayer, Father of West Point-- Part 5: War of 1812 Service

During the War of 1812, he was Chief Engineer of the Northern Army under command of Major General Dearborn in the campaign of 1812.

Then of the Right Division of the Northern Army under Major General Hampton, to whom he was Aide-de-Camp in the Campaign of 1813.

He fought in the Battle of Chateauguay River October 26, 1813, under the command of Brevet Brigadier General Porter in the Defense of Norfolk, Virginia, in 1814.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Winthrop, Boston Harbor-- Part 2: Originally Fort Warren

U.S. Secretary of War described the fort in December 1811 as masonry, 12 guns and brick barracks for 40 men.  On the western edge of the island was a circular battery mounting ten guns.

Fort Winthrop was originally named Fort Warren after Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren, but that name was transferred to the new  fortification constructed on George's Island.

In 1846, the United States government got the rest of the island then began construction of a Third System Fortification.  It was a three-story citadel, 16 gun battery star fort.

Today it is part of Boston's Logan Airport.

--Brock-Perry

Fortifying Governors Island, Boston Harbor-- Part 1: Fort Warren

From the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands.

Fort Warren,  a stone and brick star fort with brick barracks, officers' quarters, magazine and guard house, was built in 1808.  The fort was on the highest part of the island.

During the War of 1812 it was garrisoned and General Dearborn considered it to be the key to Boston's harbor defense.  He invited the men of Boston to come out and help strengthen the fortification.

The low battery on the southern part of the island was built several years before the war.  This battery was brick and stone with a brick guard house and magazine.  It mounted 15 cannons and could sweep the wide flats adjacent to the battery and fire point-blank into enemy ships passing through the channel.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Preble, Portland Maine-- Part 1

From WikipediaSouth Portland.  Built in 1808 by Henry A.S. Dearborn and modified through 1906.

Now on the campus of Southern Maine Community College.

U.S. Secretary of War Henry Dearborn authorized its construction in 1808 and placed his son, Henry A.S. Dearborn, in charge of it.

It was named for Commodore Edward Preble who led an American squadron during the First Barbary War.  he died in Portland in 1807 and is buried there.

Fort Preble was a Second National System Fortification.

--Brock-Perry

Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn

The man who built the original Fort Scammell in Portland Harbor.

From Wikipedia.

(1783-1851)

American lawyer, author, statesman and soldier.

He was the son of Secretary or War and major general Henry Dearborn and named for his father's friend Alexander Scammell (American revolution, died at Yorktown).

In 1808 he oversaw the construction of Fort Preble and Fort Scammell in Portland, Maine.

During the War of 1812, he commanded volunteers in the Boston Harbor defensive works.

He later replaced his father as as Collector at the Port of Boston and served in that capacity from 1813-1829.  promoted to brigadier general in the Massachusetts Militia in 1817.

--Brock-Perry

Zebulon Pike's 1813 Winter Encampment at Plattsburgh, NY

From the Feb. 21, 2013, Oswego County (NY) Today "Fascinating Tales of Bravery Will Highlight Oswego County 1812 Symposium.? //// News on the April 6-7, 2013 Symposium. //// Dr. Tim Abel will speak about Col. Zebulon Pike's brutal winter encampment of the 15th Regiment at Plattsburgh. He will also go into detail about the latest archaeological investigation at the site. //// After the 1812 campaign along Lake Champlain failed, General Henry Dearborn's 1st Brigade of 2,000 men under Col. Pike went into winter quarters at Plattsburgh for three months. Over 200 died of exposure in early spring 1813 when the troops marched out in three feet of snow and traveled 175 miles to Sachets Harbor to participate in the 1813 Niagara Offensive. //// That summer, the British occupied the Plattsburgh encampment and burned it to the ground where the site sat for two centuries, hidden in a wooded area near the Plattsburgh Air Force base. In 2011, Dr. Abel confirmed its location. //// Always Good to Find Lost History Like That. --Brock-Perry

Henry Dearborn

Like I said, I couldn't find out much about the Battle of St. Regis, but looked up General Dearborn, who had been in charge of the American forces poised for a possible attack on Montreal, which evidently had to do with the battle.

Using Wikipedia, it turns out that he was Jefferson's Secretary of War for whom Chicago's Fort Dearborn was named.  He was an officer in the Revolutionary War and at the beginning of the War of 1812, he was named senior major general of the U.S. Army.  In 1812, he planned a simultaneous assault on Montreal, Kingston, Fort Niagara and Amherstburg.  Evidently it never came to be.  However, in 1813, he captured the Canadian town of York (now Toronto) and Fort George.

Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of the capture of the HMS Macedonian by the USS United States.  I'll be writing about it.

A Little More Information on This Mystery Battle.  --Brock-Perry