Monday, December 31, 2018

Jacob Brown, The Fighting Quaker


Having secured his education and feeling himself able to establish a home of his own, Andrew Ellicott was married, December 31, 1775, at Newtown, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Sarah Brown, whose father was a prominent " Friend," and a cousin of Jacob Brown, the "Fighting Quaker" of the War of 1812. [Source]


Source: JSTOR

Because Jacob Brown had married a non-Quaker and because he promoted a lottery, he was disowned 4th month 4, 1804.



Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Almenia (Thomas) Champe



A War of 1812 Illustration (Not Mrs. Champe)

"When the wife of Nathaniel Champe was a young girl, during the War of 1812, she went through the British lines as a spy, where she gained a complete knowledge of the enemy's strength and position, scratching it on birch bark with a pin and hiding it in the hem of her skirts.  She was arrested, but on account of her extreme youth was allowed to return to her friends." [Source]


Also see Nathaniel Champe and Drum blog post



Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Fort Niagara, 1813


Source

"The burning of Newark was a wicked and cruel act and drove the British to take a swift and barbarous vengeance. During the night of December eighteenth [1813], five hundred and fifty regulars crossed the river, crept up unseen to Fort Niagara, surprised the sentinels, rushed through the main gate, and captured the fort and three hundred and fifty prisoners. No surprise was ever more complete." [Source]

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Zachary Taylor's Early Career



Source

Colonel Taylor destined his son William for the Army, while Zachary was to be a farmer. The former died soon after entering the service and Zachary, earnestly desiring a military career, received from President Jefferson a commission as first lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry. This commission was dated May 3, 1808, a few months before Zachary Taylor s relative, James Madison, was elected president of the United States.

The young officer reported to General Wilkinson at New Orleans, but was soon stricken with yellow fever and forced to return home to be nursed back to health. His marriage occurred about a year later and on November 30, 1810, he was promoted and became a captain. In 1811 his regiment, the Seventh, marched northward with the Fourth Infantry to serve under General Harrison, then governor of the Northwest territory, who was endeavoring to subdue the Indians.

The battle of Tippecanoe was fought November 7, 1811. The second war with Great Britain began in less than a year the act declaring war was dated June 18, 1812 and in September the young captain had his first real baptism of fire. In command of a single company of the Seventh, he was defending Fort Harrison when, on September 10, 1812, it was attacked by the Indians, who greatly outnumbered the little garrison, and there he displayed such bravery, skill, and resourcefulness in defense that he was warmly praised by his superior officers and was brevetted major by the President.

His service against the Indians of the North west continued until the close of the war, and on May 15, 1814, he received the full rank of major and was assigned to the Twenty-sixth Infantry. He then led
an expedition against the Indians and their British allies on Rock river and further distinguished himself. [Source]







Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Lewis G. De Russy (Officer And Graduate Of West Point)



There's a short biography of Lewis G. De Russy here that included the following:

" He was the oldest West Point graduate to serve as an officer in the Confederate Army, and he had three Confederate forts named after him. (He also had a brother and a nephew who were generals in the Union Army, and between the three of them there were five Fort DeRussys.)"
This blog post has a photo of De Russy here.