Capt. Leslie Combs Report to Gen. Clay on Dudley's Defeat

Book title:  "Colonel William Dudley's Defeat Opposite Fort Meigs, May 5, 1813:  Official Report From Captain Leslie Combs To general Green Clay."  Originally printed 1869.

Amazon selling it for $12.76 paperback.

"This scarce antiquarian  book is a facsimile reprint of the original.  Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

"Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work."

Since I have written about all three of these men in this blog, this should be an interesting read.  It is 16 pages long.

--Brock-Perry

Col. William Dudley-- Part 1: Commanded the 13th Kentucky Militia

Col. Dudley was under the command of Gen. Green Clay of Kentucky in the relief of Fort Meigs in Ohio in 1813.  Leslie Combs accompanied Dudley and was captured.

From Wikipedia.

Born 1766  Died May 5, 1813.

Colonel of the 13th Kentucky Militia during the War of 1812.  Born in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  As a young man, he sought his fortune west of the Appalachians, eventually settling in Fayette County, Kentucky.  He served as the local magistrate for several years.

In the spring of 1813, Dudley was under the command of General Green Clay of Kentucky, whose force numbered around 1200.  The force moved from Maumee River, Ohio, to Fort Meigs.  They arrived May 4 in the midst of the Siege of Fort Meigs.

--Brock-Perry

George Trotter-- Part 1: With Campbell and At Battle of the Thames

Same source as previous two posts.

Margaret Trotter was the wife of General Leslie Combs.  Sge was the youngest daughter of George Trotter and she writes about her father.

George Trotter was born in Virginia in 1779 and died in Lexington, Kentucky, October  13, 1815.  He was the son of Lt. Col. James Trotter, a soldier in the American Revolution.

George Trotter entered the Army in 1812 during the War of 1812 as the captain of a volunteer company of  dragoons and was wounded in action with the Indians under Col. John B. Campbell on December 18 of that year.

He became a lieutenant colonel  of Kentucky  Volunteers in 1813 and led a brigade of the state with rank of brigadier general at the Battle of the Thames October 1813.

--Brock-Perry

Leslie Combs War of 1812 Service-- Part 1: At River Raisin and Relief of Fort Meigs

Same Source as previous post.

During the War of 1812, Leslie Combs, age 19 "distinguished himself by his courage and gallantry.

In the campaign that ended  at the Raisin, he was sent by General Winchester with a dispatch to General Harrison and went through the wilderness through snow and water for 100 miles under conditions that almost cost him his life.

In 1813 he was commissioned as a Captain of Scouts and was attached to the force of General Green Clay, which had been ordered to the  relief of Fort Meigs.  Captain Combs "volunteered with the aid of an Indian guide and four men to carry news  of Clay's approach to General Harrison."

"He succeeded in threading his perilous way through the swamps of hostile savages and had arrived in sight  of the closely invested Fort, where he was attacked by Indians, one of his men killed , another wounded, he and the rest escaped back to Fort Defiance."

--Brock-Perry

Leslie Combs War of 1812 Pension

From Combs Families Organization

On or About the  21 day of November 1865  The State House in Frankfort and the Clerks Office of the Court of Appeals was Consumed  by fire with all its Contents including said Pension  Certificate and other  papers of said Leslie Combs.

Combs was in the Kentucky Militia in the regiment commanded by Colonel William Dudley.in the service of the United States and his name placed on the Pension Roll of Kentucky.

--Brock-Perry

Leslie Combs of Kentucky-- Part 3: Wounded Again and Captured

After two days, he returned to Fort Defiance to tell Green Clay that Fort Meigs needed his help.  But, he found General Clay already beginning preparations for Fort Meigs' relief.

Leslie Combs had been badly wounded in the ambush, though, and was ordered to bed by medical personnel.  However, he found there were two  small companies of spies  ready to operate under his command.

He left his sick bed and took command and joined Clay's march.

He was wounded and taken prisoner on May 5, 1813.

After his release and parole, he discontinued his military career and became a lawyer and politician.  He was a strong Unionist during the Civil War.

--Brock-Perry

Leslie Combs of Kentucky-- Part 2: Fort Meigs Besieged

He was born in Clark County, Kentucky in 1793, the youngest of 12 children of Benjamin Combs and officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Combs enlisted in the First Regiment Kentucky Volunteers under general William Henry Harrison, but was soon transferred to the command of Green Clay.  By April 1813, he was the captain of a scouting group.

On the evening of May 1, 1813,  Combs and a six-man detachment was  dispatched by Colonel William Dudley from Fort Defiance (present-day Defiance, Ohio)  to the besieged Fort Meigs.  As they canoed down the Maumee River, they were ambushed by Potawatomi, and two of Combs' men were killed.

The remaining men of Combs' force returned to Fort Defiance to say that Fort Meigs  was under siege and in need of aid.

--Brock-Perry

Leslie Combs of Kentucky-- Part 1: Politician and Soldier

Another man who was at the 1872 Reunion of War of 1812 veterans in Kentucky was Leslie Combs.  He was 78 at the time.

From Wikipedia.

LESLIE COMBS

November 28, 1793 to August 22, 1881

Was a lawyer and politician from Kentucky.  He served under General William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812 and was captured in 1813.  After his release, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1818.  He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives for many different terms.

--Brock-Perry

1872 Reunion-- Part 6: More Attendees Burns to Davis

Burns, Andrew, 77
Carrick, Eobert, 77
Clapper, John, 77

Clusin, Jas., 85
Conseign, A.O., 82
Combs, Leslie, 78

Correy, Jas., 75
Craddock, J.G., 84
Crawford, Alex, 81

Crawford, A.B., 82
Curtis, Alva, 71
Curtis, Dr., 78

Davis, Henry, 82
Davis, H.M., 79
Davis, Thos. A., 83

--Brock-Perry