George Ronan-- Part 8: Did He Insult Captain Heald?

From the Together We Served Site.

From the book "Checagou:  From Indian Wigwam to Modern City 1673-1835.

In March 1811, George Ronan, a young cadet direct from West Point, was given the rank of ensign and ordered to repair at once to Fort Dearborn.  Practically our only estimate of him  is one recorded by Mr. Kinzie.

At the height of the panic over the murders at the Lee farm, Ronan volunteered to lead a squad of soldiers to the rescue of the Burns family, which was believed to be in imminent danger of slaughter.

On the fateful day of the evacuation [from Fort Dearborn] four months later, Ronan is pictured as uttering an impudent taunt to Captain Heald.  If he actually committed this fault, he offered the best possible atonement a little later, when "mortally wounded and nearly down"  he continued to fight desperately to the end.

--Brock-Perry