2012 marks the 200th anniversary of America's "Forgotten War," the War of 1812 that took place over three years, 1812 to 1815.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1813
** The Battle of Lake Erie
SEPTEMBER 11, 1814
** Battle of Lake Champlain, New York
SEPTEMBER 12,1814
** Battle of North Point, Maryland
SEPTEMBER 13, 1814
** Bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland
SEPTEMBER 14, 1814
** The flag was still there.
--Brock-Perry
From the June 12, 2022, Twisted Sifter.
You've heard the "Star-Spangled Banner" countless times in your life. It was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key as a poem after he witnessed the U.S. flag flying high and proud over Baltimore's Fort McHenry after a long night of bombardment in the War of 1812.
But, we only hear the first of three verses and some folks today have a real problem with one part of the third verse. Who was Key talking about when he wrote: "Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave from terror of flight or the gloom of the grave."?
According to the Library of Congress, Key could have been talking about how the British recruited escaped slaves to fight Americans in the war and Key could have seen them as enemies just like British soldiers.
It should be noted that Key was a lawyer and later in life helped slaves fight for their freedom. (He also owned slaves.)
--Brock-Perry
From "African American Historic Burial Grounds" by Glenn A. Knoblock.
Richard Hill (ca. 1792-1861) Born in Maine according to census records and living in Portland, Maine, by 1830. Served on Gunboat 47, part of the New York Flotilla during the War of 1812.
Gunboats such as he served on were small sloop or schooner rigged vessels about fifty feet long manned by a crew of about 40 and carried several guns. The gunboats of the New York Flotilla saw quite a bit of action in Long Island Sound, and some of them, possibly including Hill's vessel were present at the Battle of Baltimore and witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry.
After the war, his whereabouts were not known until 1830, but it seemed he served as a sailor. he was married by 1830 and had at least one child, a son named Richard, and worked as a laborer.
He was a widower when he was shot to death by his troubled son Richard on September 12, 1861.
--Brock-Perry
Richard Hill, according to his gravestone, served aboard Gunboat 47. I have not been able to find any mention of this ship anywhere. If someone knows about it, please let me know.
I do know that the Jeffersonian Gunboats were numbered as opposed to having names.
Also, I'm not sure that he would have been on that ship if it was in the New York Flotilla at the Battle of Baltimore and the attack on Fort McHenry. It would have had to sail in open water to get from New York to Baltimore and that stretch was controlled by the British navy and a gunboat would not do well against a British warship.
I'm thinking he did serve in the U.S. Navy, but perhaps the information we have on him is wrong.
So if anyone out there has any information on Gunboat No. 47, let me know.
So, Lots of Questions About His Service. --Brock-Perry
Historian Hern Adams of Portland, Maine, has found information on the life of Richard Hill, including newspaper accounts of his death.
Hill was born about 1792, but it is not clear if he was born in Portland or moved there later in life. records show that during the War of 1812, he served on the U.S. Gunboat 47 with the New York Flotilla.
"The U.S. Navy was not segregated then, and that might have been the first time in his life that Hill was on equal footing with his co-workers," Adams said. His gunboat was probably in Baltimore Harbor on September 14, 1814, when the British shelled Fort McHenry. "Both Hill and Key witnessed one of the iconic moments of U.S. history," according to Adams.
I have not been able to find if Gunboat 47 was at the battle.
After the war, he returned to Portland and worked as a common laborer. He was one of 400 Blacks who lived in neighborhoods at the foot of Munjoy Hill. At one point, he applied for and received 160 acres of government land in the Ohio hills as an 1812 veteran. Adams said Hill probably sold it for a fraction of what it was worth.
That was the only veterans benefit he ever received (well, now he has the government-issued headstone, even with the incorrect death date).
--Brock-Perry
From the September 15, 2002, Central Maine.com "War of 1812 veteran gets his due" by Beth Quimby, Portland Press Herald.
Taps was finally played for Richard Hill on Saturday, some 151 years after his death. He was a black War of 1812 sailor and these military honors were delivered at the so-called "Colored Ground" burial area at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery.
Hill is believed to have witnessed the British attack on Fort McHenry in 1814 which led to Francis Scott Key writing the words to what is today known as the "Star-Spangled Banner."
He and his grave site were forgotten after his death in 1861 at the hands of his son, who murdered him outside their home on Munjoy Hill. Unfortunately, all is not yet correct with him as his new stone is engraved with his death year as being 1881.
Military honors were provided by the Harold T. Andrews American Legion Post 17 of Portland and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6859 0f Portland.
His new stone was paid for by the federal government and stands beside Portland's black American Revolutionary War veterans at Congress and Mountfort streets.
--Brock-Perry
From the September 15, 2012, WMTW Channel 8, ABC, Portland (Maine) "War of 1812 veteran gets his due."
Yesterday, I included the name Richard Hill, a seaman on the Gunboat 47 in the New York Flotilla during the War of 1812, who is buried at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery.
Seaman Richard Hill, a black man who fought in the War of 1812, has finally received honors at Portland, Maine's Eastern Cemetery, 150 years after his death in 1861.
The honors were delivered Saturday by the local American Legion and veterans of Foreign Wars posts.
His new headstone, paid for by the federal government, stands beside the graves of Portland's Black American Revolution veterans who are buried in the historic cemetery.
The Portland Press-Herald newspaper said Larry Glatz of South Portland came across Hill's name while researching Portland residents who served in the country's federal forces during the War of 1812.
Richard Hill is believed to have witnessed the British attack on Fort McHenry which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner."
He was killed by his own son in 1861.
His gravestone says that he served on Gunboat 47 of the New York Flotilla. I can't find out anything about this gunboat.
--Brock-Perry
From the September 7, 2021, Albany (Georgia) Herald by Tom Seegmueller.
Sometimes referred to as America's Second War for Independence, the War of 1812 was fought against Britain and its Canadian and Indian allies. Many Americans know about the battles along the country's northern borders, the iconic naval battles, the burning of the White House, Battle of Fort McHenry and Andrew Jackson victory at the Battle of New Orleans (after the war was over).
One of the primary reasons often cited as a reason for the war was the impressment of American sailors into the British Navy, estimated to have been as high as 15,000.
There is also proof that the British were stirring up the Indians, who were increasingly fearful of American encroachment on their lands.
Florida was under Spanish control at the time and that too was a threat to the U.S., especially in the state of Georgia.
--Brock-Perry
From the September 2021 American Battlefield Trust calendar.
These events took place in September during America's "Forgotten War." I say it's not so forgotten.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1813
Battle of Lake Erie, Ohio "We have met the enemy...."
SEPTEMBER 11, 1814
Battle of Lake Champlain, New York
SEPTEMBER 12, 1814
Battle of North Point, Maryland
SEPTEMBER 13, 1814
Bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland
--Brock-Perry
From Jeanne Hargrave blog at Word Press.
Back on August 16, I wrote about the first four companies of Illinois Territory Rangers. One of them was commanded by William McHenry, whose name is now on McHenry County, Illinois, as well as the City of McHenry in that county. Before I started this blog, I believed my county's name came from the famous fort in Baltimore. You learn something new all the time.
Another company was commanded by Willis Hargrave, one of Jeanne's ancestors.
On July 20, 1810, 40-year-old Willis Hargrave (son of William and Elizabeth Miles Hargrave) was appointed Captain of the 3rd Regiment of Illinois Militia. The unit became known as Captain Hargrave's Company of Mounted Volunteers.
In mid-1810, the census found his wife, Jane Brown Hargrave, and their younger children alone in Randolph County, Illinois Territory. With Willis in the field were sons Seth (age 16) and Samuel (age 20).
In 1811, Willis Hargrave, age 41 by then, enlisted with a new military group and was appointed Major of the 4th Regiment of Illinois Militia on November 29, 1811.
--Brock-Perry
** The completion of the USS General Pike following the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor.
** President Madison receiving the news of the British invasion of Washington, D.C. after the Battle of Bladensburg.
** First Lady Dolley Madison, who saved several important papers as well as the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington before fleeing the White House.
** The burning of Washington, D.C., and its impact on American citizens.
** Mary Pinkersgill who was commissioned by George Armistead to create a flag "so large the British will have no difficulty seeing it from a distance", resulting in the "Star-Spangles Banner" flying over Fort McHenry.
** The Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814, witnessed by Francis Scott Key, and the presence of the flag following the battle, signaling that Fort McHenry had not been captured.
** "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem Francis Scott Key wrote following the Battle of Baltimore and later set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven", a popular drinking song of the time.
** The formal adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931.
These Girls Will have a Good Understanding of the War of 1812 After Reading This Book. --Brock-Perry
From the Jan. 24, 2021, Lexington (Ky) Herald-Ledger "UK's protest an action that dates back to national anthem's 'very origins' by Jerry Tipton.
It was a peaceful protest during the playing of the National Anthem at Florida earlier this month. The whole University of Kentucky basketball team, including coaches, kneeled during the National Anthem.
Mark Clague, an associate professor of musicology at the University of Michigan has written a book about the anthem "Singing Citizenship: A Political History of the Star-Spangled Banner" which is being published early next year.
He said the anthem was originally written as a poem, entitled "The Defence of Fort McHenry," written by Francis Scott Key who witnessed the famed battle.
"It's a political song from the get-go. Francis Scott Key's song is a call for unity. It's a call for a central government that can defend itself. Neither of those things were true of the United States in 1814."
--Brock-Perry
