General Taylor's Etat De Service

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The Hero Of Fort Harrison

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From Fort Harrison on the banks of the Wabash, 1812-1912, by Fort Harrison Centennial Association:

"...September 4, 1812, this Fort was commanded by Captain Zachary Taylor, who had about fifty men under his command, less than a score of whom were available for military duty, the others having been incapacitated by sickness."

"All facts go to show the attacking Indians were an adjunct to the British plan to exterminate Fort Harrison. Captain Taylor's conduct on that trying night was characteristic of his entire life--he superintended every detail of the defense. His heroic conduct won for him the rank and title of Major by brevet, an unusual thing in Indian warfare."

See A Sketch Of Fort Harrison and Fort Harrison.

Commandants At Fort Harrison

Commandants at Fort Harrison:

Lieutenant Colonel James Miller was in command from October 31 to November 14 while the army was on the Tippecanoe campaign.

Captain Josiah Snelling, of the Fourth Regiment of the United States Infantry. He was in command from November 14, 1811, to some time in June, 1812. He was promoted to Colonel of the Fifth Infantry,
June 2, 1819. Fort Snelling, Minn., is named for him.

Captain Zachary Taylor, of the Seventh Regiment of the United States Infantry. Captain Taylor was in command from some time in June, 1812, to September 16, but we find no date of appointment or
transfer. He defended Fort Harrison September 4 and 5, 1812. He afterward became General Taylor, "Old Rough and Ready," of the Mexican War, and later President of the United States.

It is known that Major Willoughby Morgan was in command of the Fort December, 1815. When he succeeded Captain Taylor or whether there was another officer between them is not known. In about May,
1816, he was ordered to other duty by General Jackson, then Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and left Major John T. Chunn in command of the Fort. It is said that he rebuilt the Fort.

Major John T. Chunn having reported to Major-General Arthur McComb. Commandant of the Department at Detroit, the departure of Major Morgan, General McComb issued an order May 10, 1816, transferring Major Chunn from Fort Knox, and placing him in command at Fort Harrison. This order instructed Major Chunn to remove government property from Fort Knox to Fort Harrison. This apparently was the end of Fort Knox as a government post. Major Chunn had helped to build the Fort at the time of the Harrison campaign to Tippecanoe.  He was then a Lieutenant in one of the companies of that army.  He
was appointed Captain of the Nineteenth Regiment of the U. S. Infantry, April 14. 1812. He was transferred to the Third Regiment on May 17, 1815. He resigned from the army June 12, 1821, after a long and honorable service. He returned to Terre Haute to spend the rest of his life, and leave a long list of descendants to honor his name.

Major Robert Sturgis. Appointed Ensign of the Second Infantry, September 28, 1812. Promoted to First Lieutenant March 9, 1814, and resigned February 10, 1818. He had served as a volunteer private in
Captain Benj. Parks' troop of light dragoons, in the Tippecanoe campaign, and so was a builder of Fort Harrison. From many legends, he was so interesting a character, 'tis a pity more is not known of his his-
tory. He never married. He died in Terre Haute about 1828.

Portrait Of Zachary Taylor

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Before he was President, Zachary Taylor was the commander of Fort Harrison.

A Sketch Of Fort Harrison

Near present day Terre Haute, Indiana.

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The Fort was to be a storehouse of supplies for the army and a protection in case of a defeat or disaster in the campaign. The site selected was the point nearest the Indian boundary that was suitable for a fort. It was on a sharp eastward bend of the river so that there was a good view both up and down stream. The gate was on the east. The fort was finished October 23, 1811. 

Josiah Snelling

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General Harrison left Snelling in charge of Fort Harrison (11 November 1811 to May 1812) as a reward for his actions at Tippecanoe.

He was recognized for his performance at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and was assigned to command Fort Harrison during the winter of 1811–12.[1] on the Wabash River at the present site of Terre Haute, Indiana. During the War of 1812, he received the rank of Captain and was sent to Fort Detroit, where he met and married Abigail Hunt.

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Snelling's activities before Hull surrendered Detroit.

A post about the Josiah Snelling papers here.

Indiana's Fort Harrison

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From The Magazine of American History

"An old well — a hundred yards back from the east bank of the Wabash river, three and a half miles north of the city of Terre Haute, Indiana, marks the site of old Fort Harrison... ."

In early times Fort Harrison was a place of considerable importance, being for many years the frontier garrison of the West — the old " Indian line " which defined the boundary of the Indian hunting grounds crossing the territory of Indiana just above the fort. The latter was erected during the fall of 1811, by General Harrison, who advanced up the Wabash with a strong force, for the purpose of subduing the Indian leader Tecumseh, and his brother... .

The necessity of establishing a fort was apparent....

The most important event in the history of Fort Harrison was its defense against the attack of a large body of Indians, by Zachary Taylor in September, 1812.

Private Duff Green's Experience Near Vincennes

Our regiment under the command Colonel Wilcox marched to Vincennes*... . ....[news] reached us that the Indians under Tecumseh had attacked Fort Harrison having defeated the Rangers.  [From Duff Green's auto-biographical information].

*An artist's rendering of Fort Knox located near Vincennes, Indiana:

Ft. Knox 1803 - 1813

In 1803 the federal government gave approval for the construction of a new fort near Vincennes.  Ft. Knox, named for Secretary of War Henry Knox, was eventually built on a bluff overlooking the Wabash river, three miles north of the village.  The outpost remained somewhat inactive until the increased tensions of 1811 brought about a heightened interest in improving the fortification.  Archaeological findings in the 1960's indicated that the fort's design may have resembled this artist's rendering.

Fort Harrison

Zachary Taylor remembered the author of Facts and suggestions, biographical, historical, financial and political: addressed to the people of the United States (Google eBook), Duff Green, at Fort Harrison.

When after his election as President, I called with a friend, who introduced me to General Taylor, he said:  "Oh sir I knew General Green long before you did."  I replied,  "I did not suppose that you would recollect me."  He said, "I will never forget that you volunteered your regiment to remain at Fort Harrison."

Another post about the book's author, Duff Green.

See the Battle of Fort Harrison here.