About Private Samuel Helms-- Part 2

According to Bobbie Reno, the court-martial was illegal.  Helms should have been punished for going AWOL, not executed for desertion.

Modern scientific research tools have been deployed to locate Helms' possible burial spot.  Ground penetrating radar swept the elementary school's athletic field last year and identified several possible locations for graves.  Bobbie Reno is attempting to track down Helms' descendants for possible DNA matches.

In order to verify the possible locations, a subsurface investigation is needed and it is the Army policy not to disturb burials of the fallen when possible.

However, reno has noted that soldiers remains have been disturbed in other parts of New York.

On June 14 there will be a ceremony at the state's Lake George Battlefield Park for the reinterment of remains of Continental soldiers who died during the American Revolution.  These remains were uncovered during a construction project in 2019. 

They were believed to have been buried in a cemetery for soldiers who did at a nearby hospital.  The ceremony is sponsored by the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Courtland Street Reinterment Project.

--Brock-Perry

Jesse Elliott, USN-- Part 8: Last Years

Because of the allegations, Elliott was recalled to the United States in 1838, where he was politically unpopular at the time (possibly stemming back to his performance at the Battle of Lake Erie and subsequent feud with Perry), and was convicted of the charges.

Suspended from duty for four years until the remaining charges were dismissed by President John Tyler in October 1843.

Appointed commander of the Philadelpha Navy Yard in December 1844, he remained there until his death on 10 December 1845.

He is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia. After being overgrown for many years, his grave was reidentified in 2012.

--Brock-Perry

Roadtripping Through History: From a Civil War Sailor to the War of 1812's Naval Officer Jesse Elliott

I have been writing about Henry Schutes, a Civil War sailor who received the Medal of Honor and is buried in Philadelphia's Mount Moriah Cemetery.  So, I had to check out this cemetery and see if anyone else was buried there of interest and a lot of people were.

One of them was a War of 1812 naval officer of some repute named Jesse Elliott.  So I had to do sone research on him.

I have already written about Elliott in this blog in connection with John B. Montgomery having served under him at the Battle of Lake Erie.

It turns out that a big disagreement between Elliott and Oliver Hazard Perry grew out of the Battle of Lake Erie.

--Brock-Perry

Commodore David Conner, USN-- Part 2

In the decade following the War of 1812, Lieutenant Conner had shore duty at Philadelphia and commanded the schooner USS Dolphin.  Attaining the rank of Commander in March 1825, he was commanding officer of the sloops of war USS Erie and USS John Adams before receiving promotion to captain in 1835.

In 1841, he became a naval commissioner and was later Chief of Bureau of Construction, Equipment & Repair.  Late in 1843, he took command of the West Indian and Home squadrons.

He led U.S. naval forces in the Gulf of Mexico during the first months of the Mexican War 1846-1847.  During this time, he was responsible for amphibious operations against several coastal towns and for the successful landing of the U.S. Army at Vera Cruz in March 1847.

Leaving seagoing service soon afterwards, Conner subsequently  commanded the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  However, ill health kept him from seeing much other active employment.  Commodore Conner died in Philadelphia on 20 March 1856 and is buried at the Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Two destroyers have been named after him.

--Brock-Perry

Road Trippin' Through History: Notable War of 1812 Persons Buried at Laurel Hull Cemetery

Laurel Hill is a cemetery in Philadelphia.  This is a continuation of a Road Trip that started in my Running the Blockade blog with Richard Binder, USMC, who received a Medal of Honor for action at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher during the Civil War.  He is buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery which is a part of Laurel Hill Cemetery.

There are several War of 1812 notables buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

DAVID CONNER (1792-1856)--  Naval officer in War of 1812 and Mexican War.  Served on the USS Hornet.

ISAAC HULL  (1773-1843)--  Commanded USS Constitution in its battle with the HMS Guerriere.

ELIE AUGUSTUS F. LA VALLETTE  (1790-1862)--  War of 1812 American officer at Battle of Lake Champlain.  Also served in Mexican War.

--Brock-Perry

Mary Madden Henry-- Part 3

From Find-A-Grave.

BIRTH:  1770  County Antrim, Northern Ireland

DEATH:  1823  (Aged 52-53)

BURIAL:  St. Mark's Cemetery  Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

Her husband, Dominic Henry is also buried there, but his birth and death dates are not listed.

The wife of Dominic Henry is a well-known War of 1812 hero, Mary (Madden) Henry, who tended the wounded on the battlefield of Fort George while under fire.

--Brock-Perry

81st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Herbert Jacobson-- Part 5

Continued from my Down Da Road I Go blog.

Bert Jacobson's name was recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of then Pacific in Honolulu along with other military personnel listed as missing in action from World War II.  A rosette later was placed next to his name to indicate that his remains have been identified.

The identification process began in 2015 when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains of the unidentified USS Oklahoma crew members for additional analysis.  (They had been buried commingled in several graves in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.)

'It's been a long process," Brad McDonald said.  "My mother, she kind of took up the torch for the whole family to figure out what's going on.  ...I have stacks and stacks of documents of all the agencies she contacted."

Continued in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

John Downes, USN-- Part 1

From Find-A-Grave

War of 1812 naval officer.

BIRTH:  December 1784, Canton, Massachusetts

DEATH:  11 August 1854, Charlestown, Massachusetts

BURIAL:  Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

*******************************

From U.S. Navy Officers 1798-1900.

Midshipman:  1 June 1802

Lieutenant:  6 March 1807

Master Commandant:  24 June 1813

Captain:  5 March 1817

Died 11 August 1854

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Soldiers Reburied in Vermont-- Part 2

Some more information on the story.

From the June 4, 2022, U.S. News & World Report "Vermont officials to rebury remains of War of 1812 veterans" by AP.

Thirty sets of remains were reburied Saturday, June 4, at a ceremony  in Vermont's largest city, Burlington.  They had been buried at different locations.  State and city officials will be attending the  ceremony which will take place at Lakeview Cemetery.

An estimated 500 American soldiers died in the Burlington area during the war between 1812 and 1815.  The area around Burlington's Battery Park was a military encampment overlooking Lake Champlain.  And, it was also the location of a major Army hospital.

No battles occurred in Burlington.

Military records indicate that more than 550 soldiers along with state militiamen, prisoners of war and civilian camp followers died in the Queen City.  All the burials were done on the then-undeveloped sandy plain to the north of the camp.

Over the last twenty years, the thirty that were found were located in the area known locally as the the Old North End.

Between 2002 and 2005, the remains of 23 were excavated in advance of a street improvement project.  In 2020, a housing construction project in the area recovered additional remains.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Soldiers Exhumed and Reburied in Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington, Vt.

From June 4, 2022, WCAX 3 News.

The remains of 30 War of 1812 soldiers were given a new resting place at  Burlington's Lakeview Cemetery.

Vermont's state records say that some  550 U.S. regulars died during the war.  "Because of its strategic location along Lake Champlain, which faciltated the movement of supplies and troops," said Laura Trieschmann, the State Historic Preservation Officer.

The veterans were unknown even back when they were originally buried, because they were moved from private properties in the Old North End.

In the past two decades,  30 became unearthed during various construction projects.

Now, a new columbarium and headstone added to the cemetery to mark the final resting place for them.  Some are from states all along the eastern seaboard.

--Brock-Perry

Red Brick Church Meeting House in Sodus, NY

From the Town of Sodus Historical Society.

This is where the Brick Church Cemetery is located.

The single American fatality from the Battle of Sodus Point in 1813, Asher Warner is laid to rest in the cemetery  along with over twenty soldiers of the American Revolution and the War of 1812.  And there are over 140 honored veterans of domestic and foreign conflicts also laid to rest.

Another person who was very influential  in the establishment of the meeting house was Elder Norton.  who initially was in charge of the volunteers who showed up to defend Sodus Point during the British attack in the War of 1812.

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From Wayne NY Gen Web.

Located about six miles north of Lyons village, in the town of Sodus.  In the restoration of this cemetery, the stones were taken up, the land cleared and leveled, the stones replaced with no regards to family.  It is a tragic sight.

--Brock-Perry

Asher Warner

ASHER WARNER

BIRTH:  1777

DEATH:  12 June 1813 (aged 35-36)

BURIAL:  Brick Church Cemetery, Sodus Center, New York

Inscription:  In memory of Asher Warner who fell in the Battle of Sodus Point while fighting in the  defence of his country.

(His wife preceded him in death almost three years earlier.)

Wife:  HANNAH FIELD WARNER

BIRTH:  7 January 1779, Deerfield, Massachusetts

DEATH:   August 1810, Sodus, New York

BURIAL:   Brick Church Cemetery

The Brick Church Cemetery is also known as Baptist Rural Cemetery.

--Brock-Perry

Overdue Honors for Soldier of Forgotten War-- Part 2: John P. Albaugh

The ceremony will begin at 1:30 pm will feature a War of 1812 medallion needs to be authorized by the Daughters of the War of 1812 and is about four inches wide and is being attached to the stone by Roger Clark of the Lyons Memorial Shop.

John P. Albaugh operated a tavern in the Lyons hamlet of  Alloway.

The Battle of Sodus Point took place on June 19, 1813, when British soldiers came ashore during the night for a raid and were met by a ragtag band of militia and citizens that included Albaugh.  Two Americans and two British were killed in the exchange of gunfire.

The British retreated to their boats, but came back the next day to burn the village.  But, the Americans had already removed anything of value.

Albaugh is not the only War of 1812 veteran buried in the South Lyons Cemetery.  Others include Dr. Cyrus Jackson, Thomas Dorsey, Joseph Goseline, Ananias Langdon, Edward Leach and George Sparks.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Marker Ceremony in Ponchatoula

From the May  4, 2022, Hammond (Louisiana)  Daily Star.

When the British threatened New Orleans in January 1814, Louisiana men rallied to defend their city.  Among the militia men was Antoine Lavigne.  His and others effort led to the British defeat at  Chalmette on January 8.

A monument marking his grave will be unveiled at a ceremony  on May 7 at 10 a.m. at Collins Cemetery in Ponchatoula.

An honor guard from American Legion Post  47 in Ponchatoula as well as re-enactors in War of 1812 uniforms will also be there.  The public is invited to attend.

Antoine Lavigne has many ancestors in the area bearing names like Lavigne,   Hoover, Mitchell,  Perrin, Wells, Poche, Radford,  Raiford and Tucker.

Antoine Lavigne married Marie  Rousseau Lavigne and later settled on the east bank of the Tangipahoa River.  After the death of his wife, he remarried  Mary Elizabeth Hoover (Ouvre) Denelle,  widow of  Jean Baptiste  Denelle.

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble-- Part 4: Service in the War of 1812 and Death

Thomas Gamble later fought and was seriously wounded in the first naval engagement of the War of 1812 while serving as second lieutenant on the frigate USS  President.  This was the fight with the British frigate HMS Belvidera. This took place just a few days after war was declared in June 1812.

Upon his recovery, Gamble returned to active duty and was eventually promoted to master commandant..  His first independent command was the  USS Spark in the Mediterranean.

After his death, Gamble's fellow officers arranged  for the transport of his body from Pisa to Leghorn (English Cemetery in Livorno, Italy).  he was transported there in his last command, the USS Erie. Furthermore, $3,000 was raised to provide a marble monument at the grave

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas Gamble

He was one of the four sons of  American Revolution Marine William Gamble who joined the Navy.  One, John Marshall Gamble became a Marine officer.

From Find-A-Grave.

CAPTAIN THOMAS GAMBLE

BORN: 24 December 1783, Chesterfield, New Jersey

DIED:  9 October 1818, Pisa, Italy

BURIED:  English Cemetery,  Livorno, Italy

--Brock-Perry

Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

From Find-A-Grave.

In the last post, I mentioned that William Gamble was buried in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.  Some other notables buried there:

John Quincy Adams--  President

Matthew Brady--  Photographer Civil War

Preston Smith Brooks--  Attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor.

David Herold--  Lincoln conspirator 

J. Edgar Hoover--  FBI

Owen Lovejoy--  Abolitionist

Thomas "Tip" O'Neill--  House of Representatives

John Philip Sousa--  Marches

And, lots of members of Congress.

--Brock-Perry

The Gamble Family in the USN and USMC: Major William Gamble, the Father

In the last post, I wrote about William Gamble being a Marine veteran of the American Revolution and having four sons who followed him into service, building a bit of a Gamble dynasty.

What about this patriarch?

From Find-A-Grave

MAJOR WILLIAM GAMBLE

BIRTH:  Unknown

DEATH:  15 January 1833

BURIAL:  Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

From the Congressional

In this city, on Tuesday morning, the 15th instant, Major William Gamble, an officer of the Revolutionary war, aged 78 years.  The funeral will proceed from Mrs. Arguelles', Pennsylvania avenue, at one o'clock this afternoon.

The friends of the deceased, and those of his son,  Col. Gamble,  of the U.S. Marine Corps, are respectively invited to attend without further invitation.

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This would explain why John M. Gamble became a Marine after initially being a midshipman in the Navy.

--Brock-Perry

Peter Gamble, USN-- Part 1

The destroyer USS Gamble (DD-123) was named after two Gamble brothers.  Peter Gamble lost his life at the Battle of Lake Champlain.

From Find-A-Grave.

BIRTH:  Unknown

DEATH:  11 September 1814

BURIAL:  Riverside Cemetery, Plattsburgh, New York.

His gravestone is now almost illegible.  There is another stone on the ground which is readable:

Lieutenant

Peter Gamble

U.S.N.

Sept. 11, 1814

Battle of

Plattsburgh

--Brock-Perry

Richard Hill Gets His Due-- Part 2: Most Maine Men Served in War as Massachusetts Militia

Richard Hill's story very likely wouldn't have been told had it not been for the diligence of Larry Glatz of South Portland, Maine,  who rediscovered Hill during research on Mainers who fought as federal troops against the British in the War of 1812.

According to him, some 20,000 men served in the state militia when called upon to defeat Portland when it was thought a British attack was imminent.  (And, these men were fighting as Massachusetts militia.)

Another 5,000 Mainers fought as federal troops during the three-year war.  "Most of the federal troops were buried in unmarked graves," according to Mr. Glatz.  A desire to mark the War of 1812 graves sparked his research.  Several other 1812 graves have been found in Eastern Cemetery.

--Brock-Perry