Tuscarora Monument to Be Unveiled in New York-- Part 3

Nine days after the American attack, British troops and their Indian allies, mostly Mohawks, sailed their boats to the American shore, north of Buffalo with intentions of first capturing Fort Niagara and then attacking Lewiston.

At the enemy appearance, villagers fled through the snow and mud.  At that time, the 25 Tuscarora rushed down a hill, firing muskets and yelling, stopping the British assault not knowing how many Tuscarora they were facing.  This gave the villagers the chance to escape to safety.

Two days later, the invading force destroyed Niagara Falls, New York, and on December 30th, burned Buffaloto the ground.

There will be three pieces to the monument.  A bare-footed woman holding a baby is seen reaching toward Tuscarora men.

Little-Known History of a Nearly Forgotten War.  --Brock-Perry

Tuscarora Monument to Be Unveiled in New York-- Part 2

This story was of particular interest to me since several months ago I attended a presentation on the Tuscarora Indians in Goldsboro, NC, and wrote about them in my Cooter's History Thing Blog.  Back in the 1600s they had been concentrated in what became North Carolina until the Tuscorora War in the early 1700s.  After this, many moved north to what became New York which would have been this group who saved the people at Lewiston.

Some 1,000 Tuscorora now live in the local Niagara County Reservation in the area.

That day in December 1813, at least a dozen and perhaps as many as 46 men, women and children were killed in a Sunday morning attack in which most of the village was burned by British and Canadian troops.  A small group of perhaps as many as 25 Tuscarora braves fought against some 1,500 enemy soldiers.

This particular invasion was seen as revenge for an earlier American attack and the burning of the Canadian town of Newark, today known as Niagara-On-the-Lake, just across the Niagara River.

Revenge.  --Brock-Perry

Tuscarora Monument to Be Unveiled in New York-- Part 1

From the April 6, 2013, Times Colonist "Monument to thank Tuscarora Nation for Helping New York residents" by Carolyn Thompson, AP.

"Lewiston, N.Y.-- It could have become a forgotten moment in the 'forgotten war'"  Instead, a larger-than-life bronze monument will be dedicated this winter to remember that winter morning when the Tuscarora Indian Nation saved terrified families fleeing from an invading British-Canadian force.

The dedication is by the Tuscarora Heroes Project of the Lewiston Historical Association.  There will also be a re-enactment on the 200th anniversary of the event, December 19, 2013.

The statue is being made by artist Susan Geissler and is one of New York's largest War of 1812 projects, coming in at around $400,000.  The statue honors the friendly relations between the town and its Tuscarora Indian neighbors.

And, You Though All Indians Fought on the British-Canadian Side of the War.  --Brock-Perry

The Re-enactment of the 200th Anniversary of the Fall of Fort George

From the May 28, 2013, Niagara Advance.ca. by Melissa Mangelsen.

This was held May 25-27th at the Fort George Barracks.  This is a battle the Americans won and resulted in the surrender of the fort back in May 1813.  Some regarded it as one of the most fierce fighting during the war.

Kevin Merman of Clarkson, Michigan, was one of the several hundred re-enactors who participated.  He lamented, "There are four key battles in the War of 1812, and they're not even teaching it in our schools."  I wish the article had had the names of those four battles, but it is likely that this was one of them.

As far as not teaching about it, this is one teacher who would have taught the war and its key battles, but never got much past 1800 when I taught the subject (I was supposed to teach from the beginning to 1860).

Sorry, Kevin.  --Brock-Perry

Ohio's Hull Historical Trail

From Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trails System, Ohio's Historical Trail Route No. 11.

The Hull Trail follows State Route 53 from Urbana through West Liberty, Bellafontaine to Kenton.  Then it takes Route 31 to Findlay then Route 25 through to Van Buren, Bowling Green to Perrsburg past Fort Meigs.

It crossed the Maumee River at Turkey Foot Road then north on Detroit Avenue passing the site of old Fort Miami and then by Maumee City and Toledo.

After that, it was State Route 25 to the Michigan border where it connected with the southern end of the Michigan Division of the Tri-State Revolutionary War Memorial Trail to Detroit.

So, That's How to Get There?  --Brock-Perry

Hull's Trail

From HMdb.

I have been writing about the War of 1812 in Ohio the last two weeks.  James Findlay was supposed to lay out a trail across Ohio to Detroit for General William Hull.  This route became known as Hull's Trail.  Of interest for you road folk out there.

A rough passageway through Ohio to Canada used by Hull's Army on their way to attack the English at Detroit.  Woodsmen cleared the trail to permit the Army and Ohio militia along with their artillery and baggage to travel through what was then a virtual wilderness.

The route through Hardin County, Ohio, is marked by stone columns from the old county courthouse.  Looking at the photos, there apppear to be about eight markers in the county.

General Hull was at Detroit when the war began and had gone to southern Ohio to raise troops.

A Roadway Through the Wilderness.  --Brock-Perry

Ohio's Thomas Corvin

From Wikipedia.

(July 29, 1794-Dec. 18, 1865)  Ohio politician, he was also Secretary of the Treasury as well as US ambassador to Mexico.  Born in Bourbon County, Kentucky and moved with family to Lebanon, Ohio in 1798.  In the War of 1812 he served ably as a wagon boy for General William Henry Harrison.


From Historic Lebanon, Ohio, site.

"Arguably the most influential figure in Lebanon history."  His formal education was very short due to his family's poverty, but acquired the skill of eloquent public speaking which served him well in later life.

By the age 18, he drove wagon loads of supplies for William Henry Harrison's Army.  He was so good at it, he got the name "Wagon Boy" or "Wagoner Boy."


Find-A-Grave--  He is buried at Lebanon Cemetery in Warren County, Ohio.

A Noted Ohio Native.  --Brock-Perry

Ohio's James Findlay

From Wikipedia.

(1770-1835)  Born in Pennsylvania and family moved to the Northwest Territory in 1793 after his father suffered financial setbacks.  Findlay took an active role in Ohio's militia and was its brigadier general.  From 1806-1807, he helped put down the Burr Conspiracy (something else I don't know).

He served as Cincinnati's mayor from 1805-1806.

At the onset of the War of 1812, he was appoined colonel in the U.S. Army and commanded the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  He went to Detroit and strongly opposed his superior, Gen. William Hull's decision to surrender the fort there.  After his return to duty, he became major general of the Ohio militia.

He is buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.  Findlay Market in the city is built on land donated by his estate.

Now I Know.  --Brock-Perry

Fort Findlay, Ohio

I had never heard of James Findlay, the fort or the "Wagon Boy," Tom Corvin, so further research was needed.

From the HMdb

Early  in the War of 1812, General William Hull ordered Col. James Findlay (former mayor of Cincinnati) to open a road from Fort McArthur on the Scioto River to Blanchard's Fork (where he was to build a fort which was named after him). 

Captain Arthur Thomas commanded the fort until it wasd abandoned after the war.  Then several Wyandot Indian families occupied it until settlers laid out the the village of Findlay in 1821, near the site of the former fort and on the Blanchard River, named after French tailor Jean Jacques Blanchaed who had settled in the area in the 1770s.

Fort McArthur was near present-day Kenton, Ohio.  Another fort in this area was Fort Necessity which was built between Kenton and Findlay

Just to the south of the Fort Findlay metal marker is a rock ionscribed "Hull's Trail", part of general Hull's path from Urbana, Ohio to Detroit.

A Fort, A Man, A War.  --Brock-Perry

Southwest Ohio Played Role in War of 1812-- Part 2

Continued from May 16th.

William Henry Harrison's Army of the Northwest marched from Cincinnati and built Fort Meigs in what is now Perrysburg, Ohio, and spent the winter there.  In the spring and summer of 1813, the fort withstood Indian and British attacks.

Perry's victory at the Battle of Lake Erie cleared the way for Harrison to retake Detroit.  He pursued retreating Indian and British forces into Ontario and on October 5, 1813, the British surrendered and the Indians fought until Tecumseh was killed on the Thames River.


FORT FINDLAY

James Findlay was Cincinnati's mayor from 1805-1811 and had been a colonel under General William Hull.  When Hull was marching toward Detroit in 1812, he ordered Findlay to build a fort along Blanchard River for use as a supply depot.  That became Fort Findlay.  It was fifty yards square with a blockhouse at each corner.  The town of Findlay is there now.


THOMAS CORWIN "THE WAGON BOY"

He was a state representative, U.S. Congressman, Ohio governor and in the U.S. Senate.

Not So Out of It.  --Brock-Perry

Fort Stephenson, Ohio

From the March 23, 2013, Fremont (Oh) News-Messenger "Fort Stephenson ramps up for events marking War of 1812."

And this is five months before the actual bicentennial of the battle.  This is one of the regions most celebrated battles and the committee to observe it has already held some events.

A speech was given by Donald R. Hicks, a War of 1812 historian who has written seven books and hundreds of articles on the subject.

The fort is long gone, but there is a replica of it and some thought of reconstructing a blockhouse.

The bicentennial commemoration will be August 3-4.

Brock-Perry

Southwest Ohio Played Role in War of 1812-- Part 1

From the August 18, 2012, Cincinnati.com by John Johnson.

The Cincinnati area was not a battleground during the war, but there was fighting in Ohio and several significant figures had ties to southwest Ohio.

William Henry Harrison and Tecumseh.  In November 1861, Harrison defeated warriors led by Tecumseh's brother, The Prophet, and burned him.  This led Tecumseh to turn to the British.

Harrison was later passed over for command on the frontier for Isaac Hull, who later surrendered Detroit without much of a defense.

After the fall of Detroit and Hull's disgrace, Harrison was named the commander of the Army of the Northwest in September 1812 with orders to recapture Detroit and invade Canada.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

When the War Came to North Carolina's Albemarle Region-- Part 2

In 1814, the British attacked Knott's Island with 300 men, capturing three ships, burning three others.  In addition they killed 12 head of cattle and "destroyed" Thomas Walker's furniture.

In July 1813, British Rear Admiral George Cockburn feared that US ships might capture Norfolk, Virginia, by a rear attack using the Dismal Swamp Canal and use Ocracoke Inlet to escape.  On July 12th, he landed a force on Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands.

The federal revenue cutter there escaped, but the British captured two ships, 200 cattle, 400 sheep and 1,160 fowl, but paid $1600.

This attack led to a panic in the Albemarle region.  Militias were called out.  Chowan County's militia went to New Bern.  Elizabeth City mustered 507 men, but only could arm 150.

North Carolina in the War.  --Brock-Perry

When the War Came to North Carolina's Albemarle Region-- Part 1

From the May 11, 2013, Elizabeth City (NC) Daily Advance "Leonard Lanier: When the War of 1812 came to the Albemarle region" by Leonard Lanier.

The U.S. Navy had only four small ships to defend all of the North Carolina coast during the war.  They were so small, they only had numbers for identification. (Well, all but one.)

For most of the war, a shortage of funds and able seamen kept these ships tied up at Wilmington.

The British Navy went to Currituck County first.  At the time, Currituck Inlet allowed easy access to the interior waters and sounds.

In June 1813, a British raiding party landed near Indian Town and demanded supplies.  The townspeople refused and the British burned two windmills in retaliation.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

Bits of War: Olympics Money-- USS Constitution Stamp-- Savannah and the War

Bits of News About the War.


1.  OLYMPICS MONEY--  It was estimated that the Canadian government spent $1.65 million on the War of 1812 commercials it ran during the Olympics.


2.  USS CONSTITUTION STAMP--  Some 25 million stamps of the famous ship went on sale last August.  People could get First-Day-of-Issue Stamp at the Charleston Navy Yard next to the "Old Ironsides."


3.  SAVANNAH AND THE WAR--  From the August 20, 2012, Savannah Morning News--  Hull Street is named for the captain of the USS Constitution.  The live oak that gave the ship its strength along the hull was cut and milled near St. Simons, Georgia.

In 1815, Savannah named through streets after U.S. Navy captains:  Hull, Perry, Mcdonough and two squares, Orleans and Chippewa, were named after key battles.

Now, You Know.  --Brock-Perry

Fort Dearborn: Battle or Massacre?-- Part 2

On July 17, 1812, 600 British regulars, Canadian militia and Indians took Fort Mackinac on the strategic Lake Huron and Michigan.  The American garrison surrendered without firing a shot.

Loss of this post made it impossible to supply Fort Dearborn.  The ranking American commander in the region, General William Hull, at Detroit, ordered the fort abandoned.  Arms and ammunition that couldn't be carried were to be destroyed.

As far as being a massacre, detractors say that only a small number of women and children were killed, perhaps just one.  It is reported that one Potawatomi, Black Partridge saved one of the women.

In retaliation, American troops raided a Potawatomi villages and burned several to the ground, including that of Black Partridge.  This caused him to cease being a part-time friend of the Americans to a full-time British ally.

Simon Pokagon, a Potawatomi several generations removed from the event said, "When whites are killed, it is a massacre, but when Indians are killed, it is a fight."

Still Calling a Massacre.  --Brock-Perry

Fort Dearborn: Battle or Massacre?-- Part 1

From the August 15, 2012, Carolina (NC) Journal "A Battle or a Massacre?" by John Hood.

On August 15, 1812, the garrison surrendered and left Fort Dearborn, on the shore of Lake Michigan (current-day Chicago).  There were 55 soldiers, 12 militiamen, 27 women and children and 30 Miami Indian allies.  They were ordered to Fort Wayne, Indiana territory and had been granted safe passage by the Potawatomi Indians.

A short distance from the fort, they were attacked by 400-500 Potawatomi Indians.  The Miami Indians fled.  What took place next is a matter of debate.

The Potawatomi refer to it as the Battle of Fort Dearborn, a victory in their continuing war against encroachment and treaty violations by the United States.  Americans call it the Fort Dearborn Massacre.  Women and children were bludgeoned to death.  Some American soldiers were tortured, executed and mutilated.  Captain William Wells was killed and had his heart ripped out and eaten.

I Call It a Massacre.  --Brock-Perry

The War of 1812 in Maryland-- Part 2

The exhibit focuses on individual stories that happened.

Some of the Maryland/Chesapeake Bay stories:

**  Gabriel Hall, a slave from Calvert County.  He and two others escaped to the British fleet in the Patuxent River and eventually moved to Halifax, Canada.

**  Four slaves escaped to a British ship, probably the HMS Menelaus, off Poole's Island in Kent County in 1814 and led the British attack at Caulk's Field where the British were ambushed and soundly defeated resulting in the death of  Captain Peter Parker (whom I have written a lot about).  It is believed that the slaves lied and deliberately led the British into the attack.

**  Mrs. Dawson was a young Quaker mother.  She and her two small children were captured by the British while on a small commercial sloop traveling between Easton Point and Baltimore.  They were taken to Tangier Island for a dew days and entertained lavishly.

One night, she was feeding her infant and an admiring British officer gave her a silver spoon on which he had her name engraved.  That spoon is now a cherished family heirloom.

Little Stories Like These Make History So Much More Interesting.  --Brock-Perry

The War of 1812 in Maryland-- Part 1

From the May 11, 2013, Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Maritime museum exhibit tells War of 1812 story" by Chris Polte, AP.

St. Michaels, Maryland.  "Runaway slaves, captured women and children, British officers bestowing suspicious gifts and turncoat plantation owners trading with the enemy under a white flag-- it all happened in Maryland on the Chesapeake."

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland, has a new exhibit "Navigating Freedom: The War of 1812 on the Chesapeake" opened this past weekend.

The war put St. Michaels on the map at the Battle of St. Michaels, fought August 10, 1813.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry

The War of 1812 in Ohio-- Part 2

The War of 1812 is Don Hickey's field of study and he has written several books and articles on it.  His talk was entitled "Ten Things You Should Know About the War of 1812 In the West (But probably Don't)."

The war was effectively two wars.  The first is "where a slightly disinterested England fought the United States to an effective stalemate, and the other was in the west, where U.S. forces fought American Indians with British assistance."

The Indians were already being pushed west.  The War of 1812 was a High Water Mark for them with the charismatic Tecumseh.  The British dropped their support of the Indians and started welcoming American movement into Indian lands so they wouldn't be targeting Canada.

One other thing most Americans don't know is that the widely-held belief that the Battle of New Orleans took place after the war was over is untrue.  The Treaty of Ghent had been signed by U.S. and English commissioners, but had not yet been ratified by Congress, so, technically the war was still on.

Stuff You Might Not Know.  --Brock-Perry