Exchange Of Paymaster

  

Image 242

Fort George

29 March 1813

...the exchange of Paymaster Brook of the 49th Regiment who was captured in the merchant vessel Elizabeth in Lake Ontario on the 11th of November last...

Cross-posted at Detour Through History

Capes Charles And Henry

The British Navy vessels were between Cape Charles and Cape Henry (September 1814?):

1814 Partial Map Showing Capes Charles And Henry (LOC)

"...than the sails were again hoisted; and the ships steering under the influence of a leading wind, between the Capes Charles and Henry, stood in gallant style up the Chesapeake. [Source]

Convey An Officer To Barataria

 

The object of that inconsiderable expedition appears to have been to sound the disposition of the in- habitants of the Floridas and Louisiana; to procure the information necessary for more important opera-tions, and to secure pilots to conduct the expedition on our coast and.in our waters, rather than to attemptany thing of importance. 

Colonel Nichols directed captain Lockyer of the brig Sophia, to convey an officer to Barataria with a packet for Mr. Lafitte, or whoever else might be at the head of the privateers on Grande Terre. 

Barataria Preserve

Bay Of Apalachicola

New Orleans To Apalachicola Bay (LOC)

Let us now see in what manner the British began to execute their hostile designs against Louisiana. In
the course of the summer of 1814, the brig Orpheus had landed arms and officers in the bay of Apalachicola, and entered into arrangements with the Creeks, to act against fort Bowyer at Mobile point, justly looked upon as a place the possession of which was of the greatest importance towards the execution of the grand operations projected against Louisiana.

Reinforced By Fusileers

On the 4th of June our little [British] army was reinforced by the arrival of the 21st Fusiliers, a fine battalion, mustering nine hundred bayonets, under the command of Colonel Paterson. [Source]

Modified War of 1812 Timeline

(Modified) Timeline - War of 1812 

Original by Martin Kelly, About.com Guide (no longer online?)

• 1803-1812 - British impress approximately 10,000 Americans forcing them to work on British ships.
• 1806 - The British blockade France; American ships are caught in the middle and the British seize approximately 1000 US ships.
• June 1807 - The American ship Chesapeake is fired on by the British ship Leopard after refusing to be boarded. This creates an international incident.
• 1811 - Battle of Tippecanoe - Tecumseh's brother (the Prophet) leads attack on William Henry Harrison's army of 1000 men.
• June 18, 1812 - America declares war against the British. 
• August 16, 1812 - U.S. loses Ft. Mackinac as the British invade American territory.
• 1812 - Three attempts are made by the U.S. to invade Canada. They all end in failure.
• 1812 - The USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") defeats the HMS Guerriere.
• January 1813 - Battle of Frenchtown. The American survivors are killed in the Raisin River Massacre.
• April 1813 - Battle of York (Toronto). 
• September 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie. 
• October 1813 - Battle of Thames (Ontario, Canada). Tecumseh is killed in a US victory.
• March 27, 1814 - Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Mississippi Territory). 
• 1814 - The British plan a 3-part invasion of US: Chesapeake Bay, Lake Champlain, and the mouth of Mississippi River. The British are eventually turned back at Baltimore harbor. 
• August 24-25, 1814 - The British burn Washington, D.C. and Madison flees the White House.
• September 1814 - Battle of Plattsburgh (Lake Champlain).
• December 24, 1814 - Treaty of Ghent. The British and American diplomats agree to return to the status quo from before the war.
• January 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Andrew Jackson scores a huge victory and paves the way to the White House.

Battle Of Lake Champlain

Source

Wikipedia explanation of the Battle of Lake Champlain (or Plattsburgh) here.

Two Gunboats Lost In The Weeds

Swamp Near New Orleans, Louisiana

Source

Major Daniel Carmick's memorial at FindAGrave.

The USS Essex Capturing The HMS Alert

Source
13 August 1812

Details from Wikipedia, including this quote:  With "so trifling a skirmish" Porter later said, Alert became the first American capture of the war.

War Of 1812 (Second Part Of The 1812 Timeline)

Note: Outline Per Wikipedia (with revisions):

1812	Jul 17	Capture of Fort Mackinac*
1812	Jul 19	Attack at Sackets Harbor**
1812	Aug 5	Battle of Brownstown
1812	Aug 8	British General Isaac Brock embarks at Port Dover for the relief of Amherstburg***
1812	Aug 8	Battle of Maguaga
1812	Aug 15	Fort Dearborn massacre
1812	Aug 16	Surrender of Detroit
1812	Aug 19	Capture of HMS Guerriere****

* "That it should fare hard with the garrison of Fort Mackinac was, under the circumstances, a foregone conclusion. They [the British] were...stationed at St. Joseph's Island. Capt. Roberts received intelligence of the declaration of war on July 15 and was directed to attack Fort Mackinac immediately.  Among the force of a thousand and odd must have been many who knew Mackinac well; indeed, as a former British post, fort and island must have been familiar in every detail to the officers in command, and on this knowledge, no doubt, was based the plan of attack." [Source]

** Gunboats were in process of construction at Sackets Harbor... . One of these, the Oneida, was attacked July 19, 1812, by five British vessels... . [Source]

 *** General Brock told us that it was his intention to go up at once to the western district along the shore of Lake Erie in boats to embark at what is now Port Dover. [Source]

Maguaga Battle-Ground

**** To compensate our readers in some degree for the disappointment and mortification they cannot but feel at the misfortune of our little army under gen. Hull, it is with feelings of pride and pleasure that we refer them to the gallant exploit of capt. Hull, his nephew, in the frigate Constitution in capturing and destroying the British frigate Guerriere. [Source]

Fight Between The "Chesapeake" And The "Shannon"

Source

Captain Jacob Jones

Source

Captain Jones' memorial at FindAGrave.

Source

Bayonets Are Trumps

Source

Wikipedia account of the December 19, 1813, capture.

Charles Stewart "Old Ironsides"

Source

" Old Ironsides" was saved, repaired, and converted into a school-ship. When the Naval Academy was temporarily removed from Annapolis to Newport, Rhode Island, on account of the Rebellion, the Constitution took her place at the latter station. Her latest commander in the war of 1812- 15, Rear Admiral Charles Stewart, yet [1867] survives, at the age of ninety-one years. He is sometimes called Old Ironsides. [Source - The pictorial field-book of the war of 1812...] 

Stewart's memorial at FindAGrave.

Early Detroit

Source

Good Policy To Attack York

Source

"As a position of military strength, the place was not worthy of attack, but it was good policy on the part of the Americans to attempt the capture of the two vessels, the Prince Regent, 12 guns, and the Gloucester, which were known to be wintering in the harbour, and of the new 30-gunship which was almost completed, as their supremacy in the lake would thus be materially advanced." [Source]

Brave Garrison Of Fort Bowyer

Source

Source

First Lieutenant On The Constitution

The Charles Morris Papers are held at the University of Michigan's Clements Library:

"By the outbreak of the War of 1812, Morris was first lieutenant under Captain Isaac Hull on the Constitution. Morris famously aided in evading a British squadron by suggesting kedging and towing the Constitution; later he was badly wounded during the ship's battle with the HMS Guerriere, and received a promotion to captain for his efforts. After his recovery, he commanded the Adams in raiding expeditions against British merchant ships."

Gun From The Constitution On Display In Lexington, Missouri

For anyone with a penchant for early United States history, particularly that aspect which pertains to the Navy, the *autobiography of Commodore Charles Morris (1784-1856), a Connecticut native, cannot fail to be of engrossing interest. Only three of the prominent American naval commanders of the War of 1812 wrote memoirs: Morris, David Porter, and Thomas MacDonough. *Source

The "Prescription book of the U.S. Frigate Constitution ," within the Amos A. Evans collection, includes a description of Evans' treatment of Charles Morris' severe stomach wound. (Also at the Clements Library)

Memorial To Honor Sailors Lost In War Of 1812

Oak Hill Cemetery, Prattville, Alabama (Either Section I or J)

Excerpt from the Prattville [Alabama] Progress, published April 11, 1989:

They lay on the bottom of Lake Ontario.  Two American warships sunk in a ravaging storm during the War of 1812 on the Canadian side.

But Prattville military historial Warren McEachern is convinced the ships and the 220 men that went down with them won't be forgotten -- at least not in Prattville.

McEachern has received city approval to erect a bronze plaque to the U.S.S. Scourge and Hamilton in Prattsville in an effort to pay tribute to the sailors.

Without the 28-by-14 inch plaque, McEachen said there are few American ties to the two ships.  Even the ships themselves, although American, were turned over to the Canadian government because they were lying in Canadian waters.

The warships sunk on August 8, 1813

Blackhawk's View

Campbell's Island, Illinois

"The battle of Campbell's Island", July 19, 1814

Black Hawk says, "About half way up the rapids I had a full view of the boats, all sailing with a strong wind, I soon discovered one boat badly managed and was suffered to be driven ashore, by the wind, they landed by running hard aground, and lowered their sail, the others passed on."