The War of 1812 in Illinois-- Part 1

From Free Pages Roots Web."

Upon the declaration of war  in June 1812, the Potawatomies and most other Indian tribes in the Illinois Territory strongly sympathized with the British, whom they saw as valuable allies in keeping the intruding American settlers from taking their land.ar of 1812."

They had been  hostile and restless for some time previous and blockhouses and small family forts were the order of the day for American settlers who were mostly in the southern part of the future state. There were often Indian  attacks on them.

Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards, becoming apprehensive of an outbreak of Indian hostility as the situation between the United States and Britain worsened, constructed Fort Russel a few miles from the present-day city of Edwardsville (named for him).  Sadly, the exact location of this fort is not known today (probably north of the city).

Taking the field in person, he made Fort Russell his personal headquarters and collected a force of 250  mounted volunteers who were later reinforced by two companies of rangers, under  Col. William Russell, numbering about 100 men.

--Brock-Perry

About That Captain Thomas E. Craig and What Happened to the French Village and Indians in What Is Today's PeoriaAbout That Captain

I couldn't help but believe that the Captain Thomas, who commanded a company of Illinois Territory Rangers might have been a bit too rough on the French settlers at what would one day be Peoria, Illinois.

Taking them prisoner and burning down their town as well as saying they were "damn lucky" not to have been scalped would not indicate a peace-maker in the situation.

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From the February 26, 2012, Peoria(Illinois) Journal Star  "Central Illinois home to several encounters during the War of 1812" by  Steve Tarter.

From a talk given by Gillum Ferguson, author of "Illinois in the War of 1812" gave a free program at Bradley University's  Cullom Davis Library.

The War of 1812 pitted Illinois Territory militiamen against various Indian tribes in the frontier territory of the United States.  One of the key areas of struggle in the territory revolved around the French village at what is now the site of downtown Peoria.

It was called La Ville de Maillet, New Village.  The French here lived on friendly terms with the local Indians, even intermarrying with them.  Indian villages surrounded them.

But, unfortunately for the French, American frontiersmen viewed the town as "the seditious village, a nursery of hostile Indians and traitorous British Indian traders."

It wasn't that the Indians were staunch allies of the British back then, but more focused on fending off the constant incursions from the Americans onto their land.

--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

About That Fort Wayne in Detroit-- Part 4: Built 1843-1851

After Congress appropriated monies to build a series of forts  stretching from the east coast to the Minnesota Territory, construction started on Fort Wayne at Detroit under the supervision of Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs.  He bought riverfront property farm property three miles south of Detroit and work began in 1843 and was completed by 1851 at the cost of $150,000.

The new fort was named after American Revolution hero General  "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who had taken possession of Detroit from the British in 11796.

Before any cannons could be installed at the new fort, the United States and Britain worked out their differences and the fort went unused except for a single watchmen.  With the coming of the Civil War, there was fear of an attack from Canada by the British and the fort was occupied by Union forces.  It served as a mustering in area for Michigan regiments as well as an area for wounded soldiers to recover.

During the Spanish-American War, troops left for service overseas from there.

--Brock-Perry

The Last Time U.S. Capitol Was Breached Was Over 200 Years Ago

From the January 6, 2021, Guardian "U.S. Capitol's last breach was more than 200 years ago" by Amanda Holpuch.

That horrible scene of idiots running amuck in the Capitol last weekend is still in my mind and it will join the Twin Towers burning on 9/11 and the pictures of the burning and sunken USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

And the fact that their intent was to disrupt a government function.  Well, just too much.

Not since 1814 has the building been breached like it was Wednesday.

Then, it was by British troops  who set fire to it and other public buildings in Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812.  City residents were aware of the British approach and most had fled by the arrival of those troops.

The Capitol was under construction at the time and while a considerable portion was destroyed by the fire, use of many fireproof materials allowed for the preservation of the exterior and many of the interior rooms.  Still the fire was bad enough that many documents were destroyed, glass lights melted and statues destroyed.

I've written a lot of posts about the burning of Washington, D,C..  Click on the Burning of Washington DC label.

--Brock-Perry

New York City's Blockhouse in Central Park-- Part 2: Originally Built By the British in the American Revolution

The Blockhouse was likely built on the foundation of a structure dating back to a much earlier date.  In 1776, during the American Revolution, British and Hessian troops  sealed off lower Manhattan from colonial armies by controlling the pass and defending it through a series of fortifications.

From trial excavations performed in 1995, it has been determined that the foundation of Blockhouse No. 1 date back to this time of British occupation of New York.

The current fort was constructed in three phases.

In the first phase, under the direction of General Joseph Gardner Swift, the fort was hastily constructed by New Yorkers during the War of 1812 in anticipation of a British invasion.  It was assembled by volunteers who brought the building materials with them, hence the red sandstone blocks included with the Manhattan schist.

--Brock-Perry

About That Uncle Sam-- Part 2: Uncle Sam Poster Based On a British Poster

James Montgomery Flagg was a creator of cartoons, illustrations, and drawings of publications of all sorts.    He worked for advertisers, magazines, newspapers, book publishers and was commissioned by  Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in  in 1916.  It was a weekly publication  that pioneered in the use of early photography (and illustrations especially during the Civil War) during its 70+ year run and he used himself as a model.

The headline of that week's issue was "What Are You Doing For Preparedness?" At this time, the U.S. was drawing closer to entering the war raging in Europe.   He decided to make a poster of the then-famous recruiting poster of the British Army depicting the famous  Field Marshal Lord Kitchener pointing his finger and looking directly at the viewer and  telling them they're wanted in the British Army.  But he was going to use the likeness of Uncle Sam instead.

Okay, then, so who was this Uncle Sam?

Well that harkens back to our war, the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

George Ronan-- Part 4: Setting the Stage for the Fort Dearborn Massacre

One of the most threatened American forts on the Frontier  was a small stockaded fort associated with a fur-trading post near the southern tip of Lake Michigan.  Although the Chicago River and the area is flowed through was officially a part of the United States, the Fort Dearborn soldiers and fur traders were tremendously outnumbered by adjacent bands of Indians.

The predominant Indian group in the area was the Potawatomi nation, who remained allied with the British though their land had been ceded to the United States at the end of the American Revolution at the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

On the Great Lakes, the years before the War of 1812 saw increasingly embittered competition between British-Canadian fur traders and American merchants and fur traders, many of whom were in alliance with the interests of the powerful John Jacob Astor and his American Fur Company.

--Brock-Perry

Benjamin Hawkins (The Hawkins Line)-- Part 3: Another Red Stick Threat

After the war, Benjamin Hawkins organized peaceful Creek Indians to oppose a British force on the Apalachicola River in Florida.  They were threatening to rally the Red Sticks and reignite a war versus the settlers on the Georgia frontier.

He was buried at his Creek Agency near Flint River and Roberta, Georgia.

Find-A-Grave lists his final resting place at the Hawkins Family Cemetery.  It is the only grave in that cemetery.

His inscription reads "Col. Benjamin Hawkins/  General Washington's Staff Revolutionary War/ Aug. 15, 1754  Jun 6, 1816."

Born in Granville County, North Carolina.  Died in Crawford County, Georgia.

I would have thought the inscriptions would have mentioned something of his dealings with the Creek Indians.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Knox I and II at Vincennes, Indiana-- Part 1

I had also never heard of a Fort Knox at Vincennes, Indiana.  I thought they might be referring to Fort Knox in Kentucky where the gold is stores, but thought that might be far for the survivors of the Attack at the Narrows to go.

I was already familiar with the George Rogers Clark Memorial at the site of Fort Sackville in Vincinnes, but not Fort Knox.

From Wikipedia.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the French, British and United States built several forts at Vincennes overlooking the Wabash River.

TRADING POST, 1702, France

FORT VINCENNES,  1731, France

FORT SACKVILLE, Replaced Fort Vincennes in 1761 and named after Lord George Sackville, the site was at the intersection of First and Main streets.  It fell into disrepair after the French and Indian War.

U.S. forces seized it in 1778, but the British retook it.  U.S. Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark captured it in February 1779 and renamed it Fort Patrick Henry.  It was abandoned in 1787.

Fort Knox Up next.  --Brock-Perry