The Battle of the Thames-- Part 1: Chasing Proctor

With all the writing about Richard M. Johnson at this battle and other references, here is the Thought Co.  account of the battle.

After the Battle of Lake Erie, the British withdrew from Fort Malden, Upper Canada (near Detroit).  William Henry Harrison reoccupied Detroit and Sandwich.  He left garrisons at each and took his 3,700 men in pursuit of Proctor's British forces, pressing hard after him.

Proctor reached the Christian Native American settlement of Moraviantown on October 4, 1813, and turned to fight.  He had with him 1,300 men.  He placed his regulars, mostly of the 41st Regiment of Foot and one cannon on the left along the Thames River.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 11: Honor For War Service

On April 4, 1818, by an Act of Congress, it was requested that the president of the United States present Richard Johnson with a sword in honor of his "daring and distinguished valor" at the Battle of the Thames.  This made him one of only 14 military officers presented a sword by Congress before the Civil War.

In August 1814, the British attacked, captured and burned down many buildings in Washington, D.C..  Congress formed a committee to investigate the circumstances and Richard Johnson became the chairman of it.  he delivered the committee's final report.

The Treaty of Ghent ended the war, even as Johnson was preparing to return to Kentucky to raise another military unit.

After the war, he turned his attention to issues like securing pensions for widows and orphans of the War of 1812 and funding internal improvements in the West.

I am only taking his story up to here, but it continues to be of interest after that.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 10: The Battle of the Thames Marked the End of the War in the Northwest

Richard Johnson fell unconscious after the duel with Tecumseh and was taken from the battlefield,  He had been wounded five times and twenty other bullet hit his horse and gear.

But, the War in the Northwest was over after that.

William Henry Harrison withdrew to Detroit instead of following Henry Proctor's British force.  Johnson recovered from his battle scars except for a crippled hand.

He was still suffering from his wounds when he returned to the U.S. House of Representatives in February 1814.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 9: Who Killed Tecumseh?

The Indians eventually broke and fled into the swamp.  During this time Tecumseh was killed.  Some say that Richard Johnson killed him, but others believe that someone else did.

Richard Johnson, though, was credited with killing Tecumseh and used that reputation to further his political career.  Indian reports after the battle had Tecumseh being killed by a man on horseback and Richard Johnson was one of the few men mounted in that part of the battlefield (he had his men dismount and Shelby's men were infantry.

Johnson had been wounded four times and had been shot in the shoulder by an Indian chief advancing toward him to tomahawk him (Tecumseh?).

But, Johnson then fired his pistol, killing the Indian instantly.  After the battle Tecumseh's body was found near Johnson's hat and scabbard and had been shot from above (from horseback) and hit by a round of what Johnson usually loaded into his pistol: 2 buckshot and a pistol ball.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 8: The Battle of the Thames

Johnson's force was the first to attack at the Battle of the Thames.  One battalion under Johnson's older brother, James Johnson, engaged the 800 British regulars.  At the same time, the rest of Richard Johnson's battalion attacked 1500 Indians led by Tecumseh.

James Johnson's attack was aided by a heavy tree cover which broke up the British volley.  Three-fourths of the British regulars were killed or captured.

The Indians put up a much harder fight.  Richard Johnson ordered a suicide squad attack by 20 men who were to ride forward, draw the Indian fire and then Johnson would attack with the rest of his force as they were reloading.  But the ground in front of the Indians was too swampy for a cavalry attack so he ordered his men to dismount and hold the Indians where they were until Shelby's infantry came up and attacked.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 7: Leading Up to the Battle of the Thames

The British, under General Henry Proctor withdrew to the northeast from Fort Malden.  Tecumseh and his warriors covered the British retreat.  Gen. Harrison's American troops stayed after him, with Richard Johnson's soldiers keeping the Indians occupied.

Johnson had been called back from a raid on the Kaskaskia Indians.  Johnson's cavalry defeated Tecumseh's main force on September 29 and captured the British supply trains on October 3 and this became one of the factors that caused Proctor to stop his retreat and make a stand and fight at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813.

One of Johnson's slaves, Daniel Chinn, accompanied him.  I can't find out much about him, but he might have been Johnson's common-law wife's brother.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 6: New Indian Fighting Tactics

He also developed a new tactical system for his troops.  Whenever a group of them encountered the enemy, they would dismount, take cover and hold the enemy in place.  All groups of his men not in contact with the enemy would then ride as quickly as possible to the sound of firing, dismount and surround the enemy.

Between May and September 1813, they raided throughout the Northwest, burning war supplies in Indian villages and surrounding Indian warriors and either killing and scattering them.

In September 1813, the Battle of Lake Erie took place and afterwards the Americans had control of Lake Erie.  The British Army was at Fort Malden (now Amherstville, Ontario) and out of supplies and cut off.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 5: His Mounted Riflemen

Johnson returned to Congress in late fall 1812, after his unit was disbanded.  With his military experience fresh in his mind, he proposed a plan to defeat  the British Indian allies with mounted riflemen.  They could move quickly, carry their own supplies and live off the land and woods.

He submitted these plans to President Madison and Secretary of War John Armstrong.  They approved the plan and referred it to General William Henry Harrison.

He left Washington, D.C., just before Congress adjourned, went to Kentucky and raised 1,000 men for his mounted force.  These men and Johnson were officially under control of Kentucky Governor Isaac Shelby, but essentially operated independently.

Johnson put his force through much training, drill and discipline.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 4: War Hawk and Colonel

The War of 1812 was a received a lot of support from the people of Kentucky who feared the British would stir up the Indians.  Richard Johnson became a War Hawk, along with Henry Clay.  These were men in Congress who were pushing for a war with Britain.

After the declaration of war in June 1812, Johnson returned to Kentucky to recruit volunteers.  He recruited 300 men and was elected their major.  Then his group merged with another one and he was elected colonel.

His command was supposed to join General Hull at Detroit, but Hull surrendered before they got there.  He then reported to General William Henry Harrison, the territorial Governor of Indiana, who ordered him to relieve Fort Wayne in the northeastern part of the state which was under attack by the Indians..  Johnson and his men reached the fort on September 18, 1812 and lifted the siege.

They then returned to Kentucky and disbanded, burning Potawatomi villages along the Elkhart River on their way.

--Brock-Perry

USS Niagara-- Part 6: More Reconstruction

The 1913 reconstruction, without the original plans, was not very accurate to the period.  The hull of the Niagara was launched in 1943, without its masts and then placed in a concrete cradle in 1951.

Dry rot was discovered throughout every part of the ship and it was determined that a complete reconstruction was needed.  Funds were given by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to make the USS Niagara presentable for the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1963, including rigging and cannons.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 3: Turning Political

Richard Johnson was born in Virginia, but his family moved to Kentucky when he was very young..  This still being frontier, he received no formal education until he was 15 and entered Transylvania University in Kentucky.  He was admitted to the bar in 1802, at age 22.

When his father died, he inherited an octoroon slave named Julia Chinn who became essentially his common-law wife.

In 1804, he entered politics and was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, even though he was just 23 (Kentucky law had minimum age at 24), but he was so popular, his age was overlooked.  In 1806, he was elected as a Democrat-Republican to the U,S, House of Representatives.  This, even though he had not yet attained the minimum age 25 (but he was that old when he took his seat).

Age Is Just a Numbers Thing for Richard.  --Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 2: Killed Tecumseh

Richard M. Johnson was the only vice president ever elected by the U.S. Senate under Amendment 12.  He was also U.S. Representative and Senator from Kentucky.  His political career began and ended in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, he allied with fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay as a member of the War hawks, those who supported having a war with Great Britain.

Commissioned as a colonel in the Kentucky Militia, he commanded a regiment of mounted volunteers from 1812-1813.  He and his brother James served with General William Henry Harrison in the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada and some reports had him killing the famed Shawnee Chief Tecumseh at this battle which he later used to his political advantage.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 1: Kentucky Politician, Vice President and Killed Tecumseh

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about Ann Bradford Stokes in my Running the Blockade Civil War Naval Blog.  She served on the hospital ship USS Red Rover during the Civil War, one of the first women to serve on a U.S. naval ship.  She also became the first woman to receive a pension based on her wartime service.  She was also a black woman and former slave.

She died in the town of Belknap, Illinois, in 1903, which is in Johnson County, named for this man.

I wrote about that today and am looking to see where her grave is and whether or not it is marked (but have been unsuccessful so far).

Richard Mintor Johnson was born October 17, 1788, apparently in Virginia, and died November 19, 1850.  He was a War of 1812 leader and the 9th vice president of the United States, serving under Martin Van Buren (1837-1841).

I'd never heard of Him.  --Brock-Perry

USS Niagara-- Part 5: Efforts at Restoration

The City of Erie transferred ownership of the vessel to the newly formed USS Niagara Foundation in 1929.  They were set up to restore it and make it the centerpiece of a museum.

However, the Great Depression forced the State of Pennsylvania to take over.  Two years later the state gave $50,000 for another restoration in 1931.  In 1938, the state stopped funding the ship.  It was transferred to the Pennsylvania Historical Commission and it became a WPA project.

The commission contracted Howard I. Chapelle to restore the Niagara and he used plans for period ships built by Noah Brown like the USS Saratoga.

Very little of the original USS Niagara remained by this time.  What hadn't rotted had been sold off as souvenirs.

--Brock-Perry

Washington, D.C., Invaded 203 Years Ago Today

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded the United States' capital, Washington, D.C..

They set fire to the Capitol (which was still under construction) and the White House and other public buildings.

--Brock-Perry

USS Niagara-- Part 4: Raised Again in 1913 For Centennial of Battle of Lake Erie

For the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1913, the Niagara was again raised in April 1913.  It was found to be in good enough condition to be rebuilt.  But that was made difficult because of a lack of the original plans.

The restored USS Niagara was launched 7 June with a new bowsprit, rigging and reproduction cannons.

From mid-July to mid-September of that year, the Niagara was towed to various Great Lakes ports, including Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Buffalo and Cleveland.  The USS Wolverine, the Navy's first iron-hulled warship towed it.

Ownership of the ship was transferred to the City of Erie in 1917.

It was docked and allowed to deteriorate.

--Brock-Perry

USS Niagara-- Part 3: Sunk, Raised and Sunk Again

The USS Niagara was built by Daniel Dobbins, who also built the USS Porcupine.  In September 1812, he traveled to Washington, D.C. to warn the government about the vulnerability of the Great Lakes.  On 15 September he was authorized to build 4 gunboats for the protection of Lake Erie

The construction of these four ships was largely overseen by Noah Brown, a noted naval architect.

After the war, the Queen Charlotte, Detroit and Lawrence were sunk for their preservation in Misery Bay by Presque Isle.  The Niagara was kept afloat to be used as a receiving ship.  It was sunk in 1820 when the naval station at Presque Isle closed.

Benjamin H. Brown of Rochester, New York, bought all four ships in 1825 and then he sold them to George Miles of Erie, Pennsylvania who raised them to use as merchant ships, but he found the Niagara and Lawrence had holds that were too small and they were in such bad shape that he allowed them to sink again..

--Brock-Perry

USS Niagara-- Part 2: Mounted Twenty Guns

Ordered 31 December 1812.  Launched 4 June 1813.  Sunk 1820.  Raised March 6, 1913.  Restored 1913, 1931, 1943, 1963, 1988.  Homeport: Erie, Pennsylvania.

Class-type :  Niagara-class, snow-brig.

110 ' 8", beam 32', 9 feet draft.

1813:  492 tons burden, 155 crew

Armament:  Eighteen 32-pdr. carronades, two 12-pdr long guns.  (Long guns had more distance than carronades)

--Brock-Perry

USS Niagara (1813)-- Part 1: Second Flagship of Perry at the Battle

From Wikipedia.

Snow brig, square rigged vessel, wooden hulled, with two masts.  A snow-brig has a snow or try-sail mast located behind the main mast.

It was the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie after his USS Lawrence was too smashed to continue fighting.  It is certified for sail training by the U.S. Coast Guard and as such is the SSV Niagara.  It is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania.  It often travels the Great Lakes during summers.

It was constructed 1812-1813 to protect  the vulnerable American shore of Lake Erie and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Lake Erie.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy Ships at the Battle of Lake Erie-- Part 2: Long Guns and Carronades

Name--   classification---  armament--   fate

Long guns are regular cannons and good for long range firing.

CALEDONIA--  brig--   2 long guns, 1 carronade--  1830 either sank or was dismantled

NIAGARA--  brig--  2 long guns, 18 carronade--  present day used as a sailing school.  (Original ship?)

SOMERS--   schooner--   1 long gun, 1 carronade--   unknown

PORCUPINE--   schooner--  1 long gun--    1873 beached

TIGRESS--   schooner--  1 long gun--  1815 sunk

TRIPPE--  sloop--   1 long gun--  1813 burnt by British

Totals:  9 ships--  15 long guns, 39 carronades

--Brock-Perry