Living History at River Raisin National Battlefield Saturday

From the May 20, 2022, Monroe News.

The Friends of the River Raisin Battlefield Living History Encampment and  Demonstrations were held Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm on the grounds of the Visitor Center, 333 N. Dixie Highway.

Admission was free.

This year is the 210th anniversary of Captain  Herbert Lacroix's  Company of Michigan Volunteers.

"At the start of the War of 1812, Michigan was defended by small garrisons of U.S. troops, backed up by the  1st & 2nd  Michigan Militia Regiments and the Legionary Corps of Michigan Volunteers.  These forces were soon joined by General Hull's army of U.S. Regulars and Ohio militia volunteers.

At the River Raisin, Hubert Lacroix was elected captain of an 80-man company.  Mustered into service on May 18, 1812, Lacroix's company became a part of the Legionary Corps and were assigned to guard the settlement, escort the mails and help build Hull's Road to Detroit.

Lacroix's  men participated in Hull's opening campaign of the War of 1912, guiding the  army and participating in the  Battles of  Brownstown and Monguagon.  The surrender of General Hull at Detroit on August 16, 1812, ended Lacroix's Company's official term of service, although members continued to serve in an ad hoc manner through the  Battles of  the River Raisin in January of the following year.

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812-- Part 2: Who Was McCloskey?

Evidently, the route of this road/trace was originally laid out by someone named McCloskey who won a lottery in 1808 (to mark the route?)  and there is a map of it in the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library.

The article says that he must have traveled   the existing (Indian?) trail, taking compass readings as he traveled.  Somewhere around the Huron River, he may have deviated from the trail because Hubert Lacroix wrote in 1812 that he wasn't able to find the slashes on the trees  for the original route.

Hull's Trace ran close to Lake Erie and the Detroit River, making it vulnerable to British attacks by water.  As a matter of fact, the first land-based skirmish of the war, the Battle of Brownstown, was fought on a road just  north of this section.

The later battles of Maguaga and Frenchtown were also  fought along the trace. 

Hull's Trace has been considered Michigan's first road at the beginning of the settler era.

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812: 200 Miles Long from Ohio to Detroit

From the October 2, 2021, Thumbwind site (Having Fun in Michigan)  "Michigan's Shore Indian Trail-- Hull's Trace & the War of 1812" by Michael Hardy.

The Shore Indian Trail was one of five major routes of traveling by land out of Detroit and the best-known for early settlers.  The trail began at the rapids of the Maumee River in Ohio to Toledo then closely along the Lake Erie shore through Monroe and Brownstown to Detroit.

From Detroit, it went northward along the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, past Fort Joseph, Fort Gratoit, to the Thumb.

The Trail became a crucial tactical element during the War of 1812 when the United States became concerned about supplying Fort Detroit and the surrounding Michigan Territory area.  The British controlled Lake Erie, so overland supply was the only option.

Starting in June 1812, troops under the command of General William Hull constructed what became known as "Hull's Trace" (also called Hull's Trail), a military road running 200 miles from Urbana, Ohio, to Fort Detroit.

One hundred and fifty men under the command of Hubert Lacroix completed the "Corduroy Road" on July 4, 1812, with a bridge over the River Huron.   (A corduroy road uses logs to get across swampy, wet areas, in case you're wondering.)

--Brock-Perry

Penetanguishene Road Steeped in History-- Part 3

Impetus to the road really picked up with the War of 1812 and the fall of Detroit.  With supplies cit, Fort Michilmackinac began to starve.  Gordon Drummond saw the urgency of building the new road.

The planned road would be 30 miles long and it was estimated that it would take 200 men at least three weeks to build it.

In December 1814, William Dunlop was pl;aced in charge of the project.  When finished, it was not much of a road by today's standards.  It was uneven, stump-ridden and essentially impassable in heavy rain.

Even so, this road which was originally built for military purposes, promoted settlement in Huronia.

On the Lake Simcoe end of it, a village originally named Kempenfelt (now northeast Barrie) began in 1819.

The Story of a Road.  --Brock-Perry

Penetanguishene Road Steeped in History-- Part 2

Yonge Street became the first leg of the new road, but there is still debate as to the second leg.  Originally, John Simcoe intended to follow the Severn River to Matchedash Bay Lake Simcoe, but a combination of nine portages and the shallow Lake Couchiching with its rocks and shoals ruled against it.

In 1808, Samuel Wilmot, the deputy surveyor, was ordered to lay out a line for a road near the old Indian path from Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene Bay.  In addition, he was also told to lay out town lots at each end of this new road.  They eventually became today's towns of Barrie and Penetanguishene.

--Brock-Perry

Ontario's Highway 93: Penetanguishene Road

From Wikipedia.

King's Highway 93, provincially maintained in Ontario is located entirely in Simcoe County, all 14.9 miles of it.

It follows the Penetanguishene Road, an early colonization road built to connect Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay.  It provides an overland route from Lake Huron to Lake Ontario via Yonge Street.

Prior to 1993, it was nearly 15 kilometers longer.

The Penetanguishene Road was built between 1814 and 1815 to the naval station established at Penetahnguishene.  Prior to that this base had been called the Penetanguishene Military Post.

It was surveyed in 1808 by Samuel Wilmot.  After the British capture of Fort Michilimackinac in 1812, there was a need for supplies.  The decision to cut the road was made in November 1814 by General Gordon Drummond and completed the following spring, but too late for use during the war.

--Brock-Perry

Time Line November 1813-- Part 2

MONTH OF NOVEMBER--

** British begin construction of a road in Upper Canada from Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene on Georgia Bay in order to open a supply route to Fort Mackinack, Michigan Territory, and points west.

This was built as an alternate to using Lake Erie after the Battle of Lake Erie earlier in the fall. Since I am a bit of an old road fan, I may have to do some more research into this road.

NOVEMBER 3RD American forces attack the Muscogee (Creek) Nation village of Tallushatchee, Mississippi Territory.

NOVEMBER 4TH: Britain offers the U.S. direct peace negotiations.

--Brock-Perry

Ohio's Hull Historical Trail

From Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trails System, Ohio's Historical Trail Route No. 11.

The Hull Trail follows State Route 53 from Urbana through West Liberty, Bellafontaine to Kenton.  Then it takes Route 31 to Findlay then Route 25 through to Van Buren, Bowling Green to Perrsburg past Fort Meigs.

It crossed the Maumee River at Turkey Foot Road then north on Detroit Avenue passing the site of old Fort Miami and then by Maumee City and Toledo.

After that, it was State Route 25 to the Michigan border where it connected with the southern end of the Michigan Division of the Tri-State Revolutionary War Memorial Trail to Detroit.

So, That's How to Get There?  --Brock-Perry

Hull's Trail

From HMdb.

I have been writing about the War of 1812 in Ohio the last two weeks.  James Findlay was supposed to lay out a trail across Ohio to Detroit for General William Hull.  This route became known as Hull's Trail.  Of interest for you road folk out there.

A rough passageway through Ohio to Canada used by Hull's Army on their way to attack the English at Detroit.  Woodsmen cleared the trail to permit the Army and Ohio militia along with their artillery and baggage to travel through what was then a virtual wilderness.

The route through Hardin County, Ohio, is marked by stone columns from the old county courthouse.  Looking at the photos, there apppear to be about eight markers in the county.

General Hull was at Detroit when the war began and had gone to southern Ohio to raise troops.

A Roadway Through the Wilderness.  --Brock-Perry