War of 1812 in Peoria-- Part 6: End of War, Illinois Statehood and Peoria's First American Settlers

The War of 1812 was finally settled by the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814.  However, this treaty did not stop the British from encouraging and supporting the Indians in their raids into the Illinois Territory.  The settlement at Lake Pimiteoui remained unoccupied, save for troops occasionally garrisoning the fort as did trappers and Indians when the troops weren't there.

Indians apparently set fire to the fort and burned most of the structure in 1818.

The first group of American settlers to come to the Fort Clark location after Illinois became a state in 1818 arrived in April 1819.  These settlers were Abner Eads, Josiah Fulton,  and his brother Seth Fulton from Virginia; Joseph Hersey of New York; and S. Daugherty, J. Davis, and T. Russell of Kentucky.

Eads and Hersey arrived with pack horses and the rest arrived on keel boats, apparently poled upriver.

Upon their arrival, they reportedly found the walls of two deserted cabins standing close to the river.  It is possible that the soldiers garrisoned here  when Fort Clark was built six years earlier had erected these cabins.  They were made suitable for use and became the first two residences of Peoria.

The settlers also found enough of the remains of Fort Clark to determine that it had indeed been a fort.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 in Peoria-- Part 5: Building Fort Clark

With over 1,000 men to assist, the construction of the new fort at what is today  Peoria was completed quickly by September 23, 1813.  A brass six-pound cannon was mounted in the fort and fired in celebration of the accomplishment.  The fort was named Fort Clark in honor of  General George Rogers Clark, the celebrated hero of the American Revolution who had victories against the British at  Vincennes and Kaskaskia.

General Howard sent a force in two boats under Major William Christy to pursue the Indians on the upper Illinois River.  Another force under  Major Nathan Boone (was this Garner's unit?), followed the course of the Spoon River for fifty miles.  

Upon their return to Fort Clark, both officers reported that their troops had been unable to overtake the fleeing Indians.  The rangers were relieved of their duty at Fort Clark in mid-October, and returned to their   home stations, leaving the regular U.S. troops to garrison the post.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 in Peoria, Illinois-- Part 4: Building a Fort and Attacking Indian Villages

A year later, in September 1813, Brigadier General Benjamin Howard led another expedition of about 1,400 men against the Indian villages around Lake Pimiteoui.  The first portion of the expedition, a detachment of about 150 troops of the first United States Infantry under the command of Lt. Colonel Robert Carter Nicholas arrived at Lake Pimiteoui on August 29.

 The troops came from St. Louis in reinforced keel boats and immediately began to build a stockade adjacent to the river at the site of the former French village.  Trees were cut on the eastern  shore of the lake and rafted across to the western shore.

While the first blockhouse was under construction, 150 Indians under the command of Black Partridge made an attack on the troops, but were driven off.

Eight hundred mounted rangers from the Illinois and Missouri militia reached the settlement three days after the arrival of the regulars.  The rangers marched to the two Indian villages at the head of Lake Pimiteoui; on the eastern shore was the village of  Black Partridge, and on the western shore was the Potawatomi village of Chief Gomo.

The rangers burned what was left of the villages and returned to the French village.

--Brock-Perry

Early History of Peoria Illinois-- Part 3: 'The Damned Rascals May Think Themselves Well Off That They Were Not Scalped'

After the raid, Captain Thomas E. Craig of Shawneetown and a company of troops boarded boats that were anchored just offshore of the French village.  Sometime during the evening, shots were fired at their vessels.  The troops stormed ashore to loot and burn the village.  Craig then arrested the inhabitants; forced 41 men, women and children to board the two vessels; and brought them to Savage's  Ferry, near present day Alton.

After the prisoners had been held for four days,  Governor Edwards ordered their release.  Captain Craig later reported to Edwards, "I burnt down about half the town.  The damned rascals may think themselves well off that they were not scalped."

This episode marked the end of the French settlement at Peoria.

--Brock-Perry

Early History of Peoria-- Part 2: The Coming of the War of 1812

During 1810, a series of raids were launched by Illinois Indians which resulted in a great deal of anxiety among the settlers.  Throughout the next year, British representatives from Canada; still upset  over their defeat in the American Revolution, continued to encourage the Indians to attack the white settlers throughout the Illinois Territory.

The War of 1812 began in June of that year and that caused the French settlers in Peoria to be at war with the British and their Indian allies, including the Potawatomi.  Because the French settlers at Peoria had a close relationship with the Potawatomi, their position was extremely difficult.

In August of 1812,  the American post at Chicago, Fort Dearborn, was taken by the Potawatomi, and many of the soldiers and residents  were killed or taken prisoner. Thomas Forsyth of Peoria, half brother and  partner of Chicago trader John Kinzie, went north to negotiate with the Indians for the return of the prisoners.

In the meantime, Governor Ninian Edwards had been receiving reports that Peoria was a hotbed of Indian troubles.  In October, 1812, just a few months after Fort Dearborn, the governor led an attack  of mounted troops across the prairies from Fort Russell near Edwardsville (no one is sure where this fort's actual location was), and destroyed the Potawatomi village of Chief Black Partridge at the upper end of Lake Peoria, on the east side of the river.

Although the soldiers found the village deserted, they plundered and burned it.  In clashes with nearby Indians, 25 to 30 were killed.

--Brock-Perry

Early History of Peoria-- Part 1: Becoming the Illinois Territory

From the January 2011 Peoria Magazine "Fort Clark constructed in 1813" by Mark L. Johnson.

Just over 200 years ago, the small village of Lake  Pimiteoui, which would grow into today's City of Peoria, was gradually adjusting to life  as part of the new nation of the United States. 

On February 3, 1809, the U.S. Congress had established the territory of Illinois,  which included all of modern day Illinois, Wisconsin and the upper western peninsula of Michigan and northeastern Minnesota.  Ninian Edwards, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, was appointed  by President James Madison as the governor of the new territory, and he served in that position until Illinois was granted statehood eight years later.

In the 1810 federal census, just 12,181 white settlers lived in the Illinois Territory.  At that time, the village of Peoria was attached to St. Clair County, and the census put its population at 93.  Most of these early Peorians were of French descent, having arrived from Canada and were primarily trappers and traders.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Clark, Peoria in 1831

Charles Ballance described Fort Clark when he arrived at Peoria in 1831:

"When I came to the country in November 1831, there was no vestige of it remaining.  In fact, at that time there was so little to show that there had ever been a fortification there, except some burnt posts along the west side, and a square of some  10 or 12 feet at the south corner, and a ditch nearly filled up, on two sides of the square and  on the west side of the fort.

"The fort had been burnt down to the embankment of this square and on the west side,  after which the embankments had been mostly worn away by the rains and other means, until that part of the logs that was underground had become charred posts.

"Some of them, however, had become  entirely decayed and were gone.  On the other sides there was but little to be seen of logs and embankment"

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Today, the site of Fort Clark, at the foot of Liberty Street on the shore of the Illinois River in downtown Peoria, is commemorated by a pavilion in Liberty Park.

But It Was Home Safe Home for Awhile.  --Brock-Perry

A Description of Fort Clark in Peoria, Illinois

From January 2011 Peoria Magazine  "Fort Clark constructed in Peoria in 1813" by Mark L. Johnson.

Charles Ballance, in his 1870 book "The History of Peoria" described the fort as :

"This fort was a simple stockade, constructed by planting two rows of logs firmly in the ground, near each other and filling the space in between with earth.  This, of course, was nit intended as a defense against artillery, of which the Indians had none.

This fort was about a hundred feet square, with a ditch along each side.  It did not stand with a side to the lake, but with a corner toward it.  The corner farthest from the lake was on the upper side of Water Street, near the intersection of the upper side of Water and Liberty streets, at the lower corner of Liberty and Water streets.

What was at this corner was what I suppose military men call a bastion; that is, there was a projecting corner made in the same manner as the side walls, and so constructed, as I imagine,  as to accommodate a small cannon to command the ditches.

And the same had no doubt been at the opposite corner."

Well, now that you and I are completely baffled, but there you go.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Clark in Peoria-- Part 2

In October 1812, Ninian Edwards, Illinois Territory governor, launched a three-pronged attack on Indian villages at Peoria Lake (where Peoria is now located and a wide place in the Illinois River).  He believed the villages harbored warriors who had attacked American settlements.  Edwards led a horse-mounted force and destroyed Black  Partidge's village on the east side of the lake.

On November 5, 1812,  Captain Thomas Craig arrived by  boat at Peoria.  Unknown to Craig, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs (yes, that William Clark as in Lewis & Clark Expedition) and Ninian Edwards had retained the services of Thomas Forsyth to monitor Indian movements at Peoria Lake.  

Despite Forsyth's protest that the community was not involved, Craig arrested a few dozen of the village's inhabitants, burned part f the community, and transported those he detained downriver to Alton.

To assert American authority over the Peoria Lake area, in 1813, a force of about 1,400 men under  the command of Brigadier General  Benjamin Howard returned to The area to erect Fort Clark.  In addition they destroyed  what remained of Gomo's and Black Partridge's  abandoned villages.  William Garner Sr. was a member of this force.

In retaliation, Indians under Black Partridge attacked Fort Clark, but were repulsed and later signed a treaty of peace.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Clark Constructed in Peoria in 1813-- Part 1: Peoria a Largely French Settlement At the Time

In my July 12 post, I wrote that William Garner was a member of the Illinois Territory Rangers and that he had gone to Peoria to build forts.  I could only find one War of 1812 fort built in Peoria, and that was Fort Clark.  So, this must have been the fort he helped build.

From the Illinois River Road site.

In 1813,  a force of about 1,400 men  under the command of Brigadier General Benjamin Howard constructed Fort Clark   on the river front of the largely French community in Peoria.

No remains are left and its approximate site is in Liberty Park on the Illinois River.

--Brock-Perry

Captain William Boon's Company, Mounted Volunteers

From Publications of Illinois Historical Society, Vol. 9

Capt. William Boon's Company  (This man might also be William Boone.)

William Garner Sr. was in this company.

Muster roll of a company of mounted volunteers from Randolph county, Illinois  territory, commanded by Capt. William Boon, and called into service by His Excellency, Ninian Edwards, Governor of said territory, from  the 6th day of March, 1813, to the 5th day of June, 1813.

Captain William Boon

First Lieutenant John Lacey

Second Lieutenant William Bilderback

Ensign John Bilderback

Four sergeants, Four corporals, Sixty-nine privates.

There were two Bilderbacks listed as privates:

Charles Bilderback

Daniel Bilderback

And, there were three Garners in it listed as privates:

Charles Garner

Francis Garner

William Garner

--Brock-Perry

William Garner, Sr.-- Part 3: Service

Genealogy Trails of Illinois has a list of War of 1812 veterans.  The two buried at Hebron Cemetery in Hebron, Illinois, are not listed.  Four of the five buried at Hebron Cemetery in Adams County, Illinois, are not listed, but William Garner is.

He is listed as  a Private and his company as being Boone and place of enlistment Randolph County.

There are three other Garners listed:

Charles Garner, Private, Boon Company, enlisted Randolph County

Charles Garner, Private, McDiney Company

Francis Garner, Private. Boon Company, enlisted Randolph County

It is likely that William Garner, Sr. was related to Charles Garner and Francis Garner.

There ae a whole lot of Garners buried at this cemetery.

Maybe.  --Brock-Perry

William Garner, Sr.-- Part 2: Ranger in the War and Helped Fortify Peoria

The Carthage Gazette says that the most amazing man living in Hancock County is William Garner, who is he age of 94 years,  now residing with his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Overman at West Point.

Mr. Garner was born in North Carolina in 1794 removed to Kentucky with his parents in 1796, and went to Indiana in 1808, and thence to Morgan County, Illinois, in 1831, remaining there  two years, and from thence to Adams County, where he remained about ten years, since which he has lived in  Hancock.

He was a ranger  in the volunteer service in the War of 1812, stationed on the frontier.  He afterwards went to Peoria, and there, in the company of 1,000 men, helped to build forts.

He now draws a pension for his services in that war.  Mr. Garner has voted in eighteen presidential elections, and, if he lives until 6 November will vote for Gen. Harrison, having voted for his grandfather in 1836 and 1840.

The Quincy Daily Whig, October 21, 1888, page 12.

William Garner Sr., War of 1812 Veteran-- Part 1

Back on July 9, I wrote about five War of 1812 veterans buried at Hebron Cemetery near Camp Point in Adams County, Illinois.

One of those men was William Garner Sr.

From Find a Grave.

WILLIAM GARNER SR.

BIRTH:   13 February 1794,  North Carolina

DEATH:  5 March 1889 (aged 89) Adams County, Illinois

BURIAL:  Hebron Cemetery, Camp Point Township, Adams County, Illinois.

His marker says he was a Soldier War 1812.

--Brock-Perry

July Happenings During the War of 1812

From the American Battlefield Trust War of 12812 Timeline.

JULY 12, 1812

General William Hull invades Canada.

JULY  17, 1812

Fort Michilimackinac surrenders to British-Canadian forces

JULY 5, 1814

Battle of Chippawa

JULY 22, 1814

Treaty of Greenville

JULY 25, 1814

Battle of Lundy's Lane, one of the fiercest battles of the war.

--Brock-Perry

July Happenings in the American Revolution

From the American Battlefield Trust July 2021 calendar.  The Trust now saves acres in not just Civil War battlefields as it once did, but also battlefield from the American Revolution and War of 1812, since these two wars were both fought on U.S. soil.

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

JULY 3, 1775

George Washington assumes command of the Continental Army outside of Boston.

JULY 5, 1775

Congress approves the Olive Branch Petition, a final attempt to avoid war with Britain.

JULY 4, 1776

Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.  However it wasn't signed this day.

JULY 5, 1777

British capture Fort Ticonderoga, New York.

--Brock-Perry

Somewhat Off Subject, But Allan Nevins and Rick Reuschel

I have to include this as these are two people of interest to me.  I came across their names while trying to figure out the previous post.  What about this place also called Hebron Cemetery in Camp Point, Illinois, but not in Hebron, Illinois, where there is also a Hebron Cemetery.  Confusing.

Going to the Wikipedia Camp Point, Illinois, site, they have a listing of notable people from there.

Two names jumped right off the page to me: Allan Nevins and Rick Reuschel, combining two things I really like, the Civil War and baseball.

Allan Nevins was born in Camp Point. (1890-1971).  A noted historian and journalist.  Probably best-known for his Civil War 8 volume series "Ordeal of the Union."  I have this set, but, alas, haven't read any of them.

Rick Reuschel was born in Quincy, Illinois, but grew up in Camp Point and was a major league pitcher compiling 214 wins over many seasons from 1972 to 1991.  Many of those were for one of my favorite teams, the Chicago Cubs (second favorite behind the Chicago White Sox).

He also has a brother named Paul Reuschel who also pitched for a few years in the majors.  They were even both on the Cubs at one time.

Arthur S. Nevins, Allan's brother, who was a general in the Army and a close personal friend of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

You Never Know What You're Going to Find When You Go Roadtripping Through History Like I Do.  --Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Veterans Buried in Hebron Cemetery, Camp Point, Illinois

This took me awhile before I figured out that this Hebron Cemetery was not in Hebron, Illinois, but near Camp Point, Illinois, which is in the far western part of the state near the Mississippi River and it is in Adams County.

But, they have five War of 1812 veterans buried there.  Since I am doing War of 1812 veteran burials, I am going to list their names:

William A. Beckett

William Garner, Sr.

Andrew Hughes,  Indiana Militia

John Arthur McFarland

John W. McFarland

There are also one Mexican War veteran and twenty Civil War veterans buried there, many from the 78th Illinois Infantry.

--Brock-Perry

Two More War of 1812 Veterans Buried in McHenry County

Earlier this month I wrote about going by the grave and marker of Major Watson at the Linn-Hebron Cemetery in Hebron, Illinois, on a Firebird Cruise.  He is a War of 1812 veteran and also believed to be the only veteran of the American Revolution buried in McHenry County, Illinois.

I  got to wondering if there were any more War of 1812 veterans buried in McHenry County besides Major Watson.

I did a search under War of 1812 veterans buried in McHenry County, Illinois and found that Sandie had created a virtual McHenry County, Illinois, War of 1812 veteran site in the Find-A-Grave site.

She has two men listed:

David Walker Hyde (1795 - 1880)

John Stewart  (1777 - 6 November  1869)

Both are buried in the same cemetery named Hebron Cemetery, also located in Hebron where Major Watson was buried.

Looks Like I'll Have to Check This Cemetery Out in the Future.  --Brock-Perry

National Society United States Daughters 1812

From previous post.

Founded in 1892 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, women's service organization for descendants of patriots who aided the American cause during the War of 1812.

Membership is available to women who are age 18 or older and who can offer satisfactory proof that they are lineal descendants of any ancestor who, during the period 1784-1815 inclusive, rendered  civil, military or naval service to our country, rendered material aide to the U.S. Army or Navy, or who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

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There are currently four active chapters of the organization in Arkansas.

Baseline-Meridian (Little Rock) Organized 1995

Simon Bradford (Pine Bluff) Organized 1911

Thomas H. Flippin  (Bella Vista) Organized 2014

President George Washington (Texarkana)   Organized 2015

--Brock-Perry

Arkansas U.S.D. 1812 Elects New Officers

From the July 4, 2021, Sentinel-Record.

The Arkansas Society United States Daughters 1812 held it first virtual  State Council and elected new state officers to serve for the next three years.

New officers:

President: Jerrie Townsend

Vice-President:  Katherine "Kate"  Schindler

Chaplain:  Patricia McLemore

Secretary:  Judith  Robbins

Treasurer:  Charline Manning

Registrar:  Arvetta Swift

Historian:  Frances "Frankie" Ochsner

These officers represent three of the four state  chapters.

--Brock-Perry

A Mountain and a River Named After Patrick Gas and Charles Floyd

Two members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition have topographical features named after them.  I wrote about Patrick Gass in this blog most of last month because he also fought in the War of 1812.  I also wrote about Charles Floyd in this blog and in my Cooter's History Thing blog this month.

Patrick Gass replaced Charles Floyd as the expedition's sergeant on Floyd's death in August 1804.

To honor Charles Floyd, Lewis and Clark named a river by where Floyd died by present-day Sioux City, Iowa, the Floyd River.   The Floyd River is a 112-mile long tributary of the Missouri River.

Mount Patrick Gass is in Montana and is quite out in the wilderness and only approachable by some serious hiking.

--Brock-Perry

Patrick Gass and War of 1812-- Part 2: The Battle of Lundy's Lane

This was the first actual army on army action that Patrick Gass participated in.

He was a sergeant and qualified  in artillery, being used to firing 6 and 12 pound guns that could easily outdistance the British guns.

As the battle wore on, Sergeant Gass was one of 300 men  who charged and captured a British company after fierce hand-to-hand fighting all night.

Gass was wounded in the fighting and lost the sight in his right eye as a result.

Later that year, he rejoined the Army  and fought around Pittsburgh and Niagara to fight against any British attempt to invade from Canada.

Sergeant Gass was  discharged in the spring of 1815 in Sackets Harbor, New York.

--Brock-Perry

Patrick Gass and the War of 1812-- Part 1

From "Sergeant Patyrick Gass" by SGM Teddy L. Bridgman.

When the War of 1812 broke out, Patrick Gass was in the Army and stationed at Fort Kaskaskia in the Illinois Territory working as a commissary assistant.  From the start of the war and through 1813, he remained on the Illinois frontier to hold the Indians in check in that area.

But in the spring of 1814, Gass and his men were ordered to the Niagara Frontier to fight the British.  They didn't arrive until July and were too late to participate in the Battle of Chippewa.  However, they did not miss the next battle, which was Lundy's Lane.

Here Gass got to hear and see roar of the "Big Guns" in action.

--Brock-Perry

I Went By a War of 1812 Veteran's Grave Today

I took the newly refurbished 1985 Firebird out for a cruise today out to Hebron, Illinois, where I went by the Linn-Hebron Cemetery where I knew a War of 1812 veteran named Major Watson was buried.  Major was not his rank, but his first name.

Not only was he a veteran of the War of 1812, but also the American Revolution.  As  such, he is believed to be the only American Revolution soldier buried in McHenry County, Illinois.

There is a historical marker at the cemetery entrance about him.

You can find out more about him by clicking on the Major Watson label below.

--Brock-Perry