How the Horrors of the River Raisin Became a Rallying Call-- Part 3: Efforts to Recapture Detroit

The British and their Native allies were able to secure firm control over much of the Old Northwest as they pushed the frontier back to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Upon liberating Fort Wayne, Major General William Henry Harrison soon turned his sights on coordinating efforts to recapture Detroit.  He established a base at the Maumee Rapids, south of present-day Toledo, Ohio.

In January 1813, these American forces were assembling for a winter campaign to retake Detroit.  American Revolution war veteran Brigadier General James Winchester, an early arrival, received a request from River Raisin settlers to lift British control of their community.

Winchester dispatched more than 550 men from the 1st and 5th Kentucky Volunteer Regiments, under the command of Colonels William Lewis and John Allen to the River Raisin.

Once there, American efforts to outflank allied Canadian militiamen and Confederacy warriors proved unsuccessful, and the fighting dissolved into a series of fierce skirmishes through the dense woods to the north.

--Brock-Perry

George Ronan-- Part 5: Ronan and His Commander Did Not Get Along

Although he didn't know it at the time, George Ronan had been posted to one of the hottest spots on the frontier.

Ronan was described by survivors of the massacre as a high-spirited young man who did not get along well with the fort's commander, Captain Nathaniel Heald.  It is thought this was the reason Heald kept assigning Ronan increasingly dangerous operations outside the fort's walls.

One of the things Ronan was to do was to try to knit the diverse inhabitants of the area into a group, but some were French-speaking, others English-speaking and still others  were Indians.

When war broke out, Nathaniel Heald received orders to evacuate the post and move to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  News of this evacuation, scheduled for August 15, 1812,  emboldened the Chicago "British" band of Potawatomi who took a position two miles south of the fort along the shore of Lake Michigan where they planned to attack  the Americans.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 4: War Hawk and Colonel

The War of 1812 was a received a lot of support from the people of Kentucky who feared the British would stir up the Indians.  Richard Johnson became a War Hawk, along with Henry Clay.  These were men in Congress who were pushing for a war with Britain.

After the declaration of war in June 1812, Johnson returned to Kentucky to recruit volunteers.  He recruited 300 men and was elected their major.  Then his group merged with another one and he was elected colonel.

His command was supposed to join General Hull at Detroit, but Hull surrendered before they got there.  He then reported to General William Henry Harrison, the territorial Governor of Indiana, who ordered him to relieve Fort Wayne in the northeastern part of the state which was under attack by the Indians..  Johnson and his men reached the fort on September 18, 1812 and lifted the siege.

They then returned to Kentucky and disbanded, burning Potawatomi villages along the Elkhart River on their way.

--Brock-Perry

John B. Campbell and the War of 1812 on the Frontier-- Part 1: Attacks on Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison

From Mississinewa. 1812.  America's Most Exciting Living History Weekend-- At Mississinewa Battlefield, Marion, Indiana, October 13-15, 2017.

TIMELINE

SEPTEMBER 3, 1812--  Shawnees led by Missilimeta attacked Pigeon Roost settlement in southern Indiana and killed 20 whites.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1812--  Indians attack Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison  (Terre Haute) in Indiana. The Americans repulse them and then attack Indian villages north of the Wabash River.

--Brock-Perry

George Washington Whistler's Grave

From Find-A-Grave.

I wonder whi he might have been named after?

Born May 19, 1800 in Allen County, Indiana,. where his father, John Whistler, was commandant of Fort Wayne.  Died April 7, 1849, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Stonington, Connecticut, New London County.

--Brock-Perry

George Washingtom Whistler-- Part 3: U.S. Military Career

He was born in 1800 at the military outpost at Fort Wayne (Indiana) where his father, John Whistler, was commandant.

Appointed to the USMA at West Point, he graduated in 1819 and was commissioned second lieutenant in the Corps of Artillery.

He served at topographical engineer at Fort Columbus in New York City from 1819-1821.  This fort was originally called Fort Jay but the name was changed to Fort Columbus in 1806.  During the Civil War, Confederate Major General W.H.C. Whiting died here, the highest Confederate officer to die in a northern prison.  I have written about him a lot in my Civil War Naval Blog, Running the Blockade.

When the U.S. Army reorganized in 1821, he became second lieutenant in the First Artillery.

--Brock-Perry

John Whistler-- Part 3: War of 1812

He was recalled to Detroit in 1810 from Fort Dearborn and was evidently in command before William Hull.

During the War of 1812, he was brevetted to major and served with his company until 1815.

I was unable to find out anything more about his War of 1812 service other than this.  It would be interesting to know if he was surrendered by William Hull at Detroit.  His previous British military service would have made for an interesting case.

After the war, he became military storekeeper at Newport, Kentucky.  In 1816, he was sent to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he built the third fort there (he had also been involved in the construction of the first two forts there as well).

--Brock-Perry

Fort Wayne's "Old Fort"

This past Monday and Saturday, I wrote about a re-enactment in that Indiana town being held at a place called "Old Fort."  I hadn't heard of it before so went to the town's parks and recreation site.  And it wasn't NBC's Pawnee, Indiana.

It is called "Historic Old Fort" and is a recreation of the original fort, primarily used as a living history museum these days.  Visitors get a first-person interpretation of life in the western 1816s.

Many events are held there each year.  Some upcoming ones in 1813:

January--  French garrison 1753

June 8-9 Siege of Fort Wayne, 1812

July 13th and 14th:  Revolutionary War, the Western Front.

So, Who Knew?  --Brock-Perry

Re-Enactment at Fort Wayne-- Part 2

The War of 1812 opened very badly for the United States.  First, Fort Michilimackinack, in upper Michigan fell in July.  Then came the fall of Fort Detroit and Fort Dearborn, leaving Fort Wayne as the only American fort in the upper Northwest Territory.

Fort Wayne's commander told his junior officers to evacuate the fort and then spent the rest of the time drunk in his quarters.  There were soon surrounded by Indians led by Tecumseh.  Two lieutenants put the commander under arrest and ordered the fifty soldiers to hold the post.

Indian attacks began in September and some of the soldiers were killed, but the fort remained in American hands.  The British commander in the Great Lakes area, Gen. Henry Proctor sent a force of 200 British, 400 Canadian troops and 800 Indians to take it, but U.S. Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison sent militia to reinforce Fort Wayne and the two armies met near Defiance, Ohio, and the British were forced to retreat.

Fort Wayne Held.  --Brock-Perry

Re-Enactment at Indiana's Fort Wayne-- Part 1

From the Sept. 3, 2012, Fort Wayne (Ind) News-Sentinel "Ear of 1812's Siege of Fort Wayne comes to life in re-enactment this weekend at Old Fort" by Kevin Kilbane.

Back on Labor Day weekend, there were nearly 200 re-enactors at Old Fort at 1201 Spy Run Avenue in Fort Wayne.  (Must be an interesting story as to how that road got its name.)

Fort Wayne was named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne and used to stand where Fire Station No. 1 is today at the intersection of Main and Lafayette streets.

It was one of a series of American frontier forts built to keep the British out of the Northwest territory, distribute treaty payments to the Indians and encourage settlement by people of European descent.


THE TREATY OF FORT WAYNE

This treaty contributed to the start of the War of 1812 as it transferred 3 million acres of Indian land in what is now Indiana and Illinois to the U.S. government.  A lot of Indians refused to go along with, especially one from the Shawnee Nation called The Prophet who said that the recent New Madrid earthquake and a comet seen in the skies were a sign for the Indians to rise up against the U.S. soldiers and settlers.

Early War.  --Brock-Perry

Fort Wayne Today

The Fort Wayne site in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is at Clay and Berry streets and has a historical marker.  Another marker in town shows the location of Fort Miami, a French fort on the east bank of the St. Joseph River at Delaware Avenue and St. Joseph Boulevard.

AnotherPlace to Check Out.  --Brock-Perry

The Siege of Fort Wayne-- Part 2

The fort's commander, James Rhea, a habitual drunk, then became completely so and took to his quarters for the duration of the attack and siege.  Indian Agent Benjamin Stickney took command.  That night, the Indians tried to set the fort's walls afire and the 70-man garrison spent the hours fighting both the fires and enemy.  This fight lasted until 3 PM the next day

William Henry Harrison had been appointed major general of the Kentucky militia and was ordered to relieve Fort Wayne with his 2,200 troops.  Word was received that Tecumseh had a force on its way to the fort so Harrison quickly set off.

The fighting had continued off and on and on the 11th, the Indians had made one last attack and then withdrew.  Harrison's approach to the fort was completely uncontested.  He immediately relieved Rhea from command and later had him stand trial but allowed him to resign.

On September 14th, Harrison sent out punitive expeditions and destroyed two Indian villages.

Total Indian force was estimated at 500.  The fort's garrison consisted of 100 and there were 2,200 in the relief force.  Indian losses were about 25 and American unknowm.

Another Fort Saved.  --Brock-Perry

The Siege of Fort Wayne-- Part 1

This past September 6th marked the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Fort Wayne, Indiana.  It was part of a highly successful British and Indian campaign to push Americans out of the Northwest Territory which led to the capture of Fort Mackinac and Detroit in Michigan, Fort Dearborn in Illinois and attack on Fort Madison in Iowa.

From Wikipedia.

The Siege of Fort Wayne lasted from September 5th to September 12th, 1812.

Since the loss at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Indians tribes in the Northwest Territory had been bitter at the increasing presence of Americans.

Fort Wayne, in northeast Indiana had fallen in disrepair, troop morale was low and apparently, the commander, Captain James Rhea, was a drunk.

The fort learned at the fall of Fort Dearborn August 28th when Corporal Jordan arrived after escaping the massacre.  On the 28th, Stephen Johnston, assistant fur trader at the fort, was killed by Indians about a mile away from the fort.  The fort's women and children were evacuated.

In early September, Pottawatomi and Miami tribes began gathering around the fort.

Negotiations were carried out but to no avail.

On the morning of September 5th, two soldiers were attacked returning from an outhouse and then the Indians began an assault on the fort's east side.  Nearby houses were burned.  The Indians constructed two wooden cannons and tricked the garrison into believing they were real.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry