Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wordless Wednesday - Here's Looking At You

From the Tippecanoe Battlefield Park Museum:

This soldier (and his gun!) appears to be looking right at you regardless of where you're standing.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Dr. Beanes And Francis Scott Key

From Relatively Fiction, Francis Scott Key was in position to see our "Star-Spangled Banner" because he was negotiating with the British on behalf of  Dr. William Beanes.  Dr. Beanes was accused by the British of being a spy and was being held on the HMS Tonnant of the coast of Maryland.  The good news was that Attorney Key and his fellow negotiator, Col. John Skinner, secured the release of Dr. Beanes.  The bad news was that the British were planning a military action and Key's party knew too much about British plans to be released before the British attack. 

There was a 1955 TV show in the "Cavalcade of America" series entitled "The Rescue of Dr. Beanes."

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Duff Green of Kentucky

The Duff Green Papers are part of the Southern History Collection at the Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  In a brief biography of Mr. Green, his service in the War of 1812 was included:

Duff Green was born on 15 August 1791 in Woodford County, Ky. At the age of seven, he was sent to a field school attended chiefly by children of his father's tenants. At fourteen, he entered Danville Academy, but returned home a year and a half later and remained until 1811 to educate his brothers and sisters. He was briefly a teacher at Elizabethtown Academy before he enlisted as a private in the War of 1812. Green served at Vincennes and Fort Harrison under General William Henry Harrison and later was made a captain. After the war, he married Lucretia Maria Edwards, sister of Governor Ninian Edwards of Illinois, with whom he had nine children.

From Facts and suggestions, biographical.....by Duff Green (regarding his War of 1812 era experiences):

Duff Green played a crucial role in the defense of Fort Harrison.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Artifact Photos - Military Buttons


 Pictures of military buttons, including items from the War of 1812, can be seen here.  

Friday, August 26, 2011

War of 1812 Volunteers Mentioned In Gallatin Co., Illinois

From Cemeteries of Gallatin Co., Illinois...:


Haynes, James b Greenbrier Co Va. 1790‑1841 Volunteer War of 1812 with Great Britain. Erected by sons Joseph & John T.


Jones, Isaac 2nd Ohio Vol. War of 1812 [Note:  There was an Isaac Jones who was a private in Capt. John Russell's Company]



Wilson, Harrison b Front Royal, VA 1788-1852 or 1864 To Ky. 1796 & to Ill. 1806. Officer War of 1812

"His [Alexander Wilson's] son Harrison Wilson was an ensign in the war of 1812 and a captain in the Black Hawk war. Harrison had two sons, Bluford who was adjutant general of volunteers during the Civil war and solicitor for the U. S. treasury in Grant’s administration. The other son, James H., was born in Shawneetown in 1837. Educated at West Point; held positions in the Engineer corps of several expeditions. Rose to the rank of major general and was detailed to pursue Jefferson Davis in his flight from Richmond, Va., and eventually captured that distinguished prisoner. He returned to private life. When the Spanish-American war broke out he served as Major General of Volunteers. He has written several books of travel and biography."

 [Cox] Wm. was vet. of War of 1812

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

August 24, 1814 - The British Set Fire To Washington

The burning of Washington, D.C.:




Washington was saved by bad weather!  A thunderstorm with an embedded tornado extinguished the fire that would have otherwise burned the city to the ground.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Pensions Are Us At Fold3 (Formerly Footnote)

 View the War of 1812 Pension Applications (a database in progress) here at Fold3.  A random example of what can be found:




Monday, August 22, 2011

Buried At Fort Meigs

At Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, Ohio:


Lieutenant John McCullough
Of Ohio
Aid To Gen. Harrison
Killed While Conferring
With The General

And

Lieutenant Robert Walker
Of Pennsylvania
Killed By Indians Near
Were Buried Here.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Is Fort Sandusky AKA Fort Stephenson?

A depiction of Fort Sandusky on the Sandusky River from Historical Collections of Ohio:

Was Fort Sandusky and Fort Stephenson the same?  This source stated that there were three fortifications along the Sandusky; Fort Seneca, Fort Stephenson and Fort Ball. Apparently so:  "Frustrated by their lack of progress, on July 28, 1813, they (British General Proctor and Tecumseh's warriors) moved southeast towards Fort Stephenson, or Fort Sandusky, located near the mouth of the Sandusky River."

 From The Line of Fire.....:

Saturday, August 20, 2011

A Photo Of General Custer Posing With War of 1812 Veterans

General George A. Custer posed for a picture with War of 1812 veterans who participated in the River Raisin battle (from the Archives of Michigan website).

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Samuel Huntington War of 1812 Collection

 From a tip at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay:



Repository:  State Library of Ohio

Creator:  Huntington, Samuel
Dates:  1811-1816
Bulk dates: 1812-1814
Quantity: 1 linear feet

Abstract:
Collection of pay rolls, receipt rolls, muster rolls, accounts, and payment abstracts overseen by Ohio Governor, Samuel Huntington, United States Army Paymaster during the war of 1812.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Battle Of Fort Dearborn (Massacre)

The Battle of Fort Dearborn took place on August 15, 1812.  It is also known as the Fort Dearborn Massacre.  The approximate site of the battle in present day Chicago, Illinois, can be found here.
 
 From The Fort Dearborn Massacre by Linai Taliaferro Helm


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Major Whipple In Command At Detroit Before The War

From Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volume 3:

 

In 1807, Major John Whipple was in command of the fort in Detroit.  The above paragraph described how the pickets were aligned around the old fort. "The main guard was posted at the Indian council house, where the new Fireman's Hall* now stands.... ". *Near the Renaissance Center and the tunnel entrance connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, under the Detroit River.

"The pickets remained around town when the War of 1812 began."

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Major John Whipple

From Bench and bar of Michigan: ....



WHIPPLE.  Charles Wiley Whipple was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1805.  He was the son of Major John Whipple, an officer of the War of 1812, who won some notoriety in being fined for contempt by Judge Woodward, of the First Territorial Court of Michigan.  The offense consisted in uncomplimentary remarks made on the street concerning that jurist.  It was about the time when the factional quarrel in this court as a legislature was most bitter.  Governor Hull remitted the fine, and at the instance of Judge Woodward was indicted by the grand jury for the exercise of such clemency.  Judge Whipple was a graduate of West Point and afterwards studied law.  He was secretary of the Constitutional Convention of 1835, and President Judge of a circuit in 1850, succeeding Judge Ransom as Chief Justice.  He died in 1855, and was succeeded by Nathaniel Bacon.  His service on the Bench was long and creditable.


See a trial where Judge Charles Whipple presided here.  It's not related to the War of 1812, but it was through the "Daum trial" research that I found the information above.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

War of 1812 National Archives Film

From All Things Michigan....History of the United States Navy -- War of 1812 -- a film made ca 1955:


War of 1812 Bicentennial Network On Facebook

The War of 1812 Bicentennial Network is on Facebook here.   There was a link to "Our Flag Was Still There" home page, commemorating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812..

Monday, August 8, 2011

My New Blog - War Of 1812 Chronicles

I kicked off my new blog, War of 1812 Chronicles, with a small donation to the War of 1812 pension digitization project.  The Indiana Genealogical Society matched my donation dollar for dollar, and then Ancestry.com matched the combined amount (and will do so through August 31st, 2011).



Detour Through History was my first blog; the other blogs I maintain are Relatively Fiction, Richmonds & Connected Lineages, Cameron Collections and In Deeds.