Tablet Marking Site Of Old Fort Dearborn

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William Sanford Eveleth

A dictionary of all officers: who have been commissioned, or have been ...:

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A random entry:


Wm. Sanford Eveleth (D.C.) Cadet July '13; bvt Sec Lt. Engrs 4 Mar '15; Am Prof. Engrg. M.A. fm Jan. '15 to Sept. '16; drowned 4 Oct '18 in Lake Michigan. 

More about the circumstances of Lieutenant Eveleth's death in an Inland Seas article.

"As the double-masted craft Hercules was leaving port for the evening voyage to Detroit, Eveleth [who had been inspecting military sites near Chicago] hitched a ride on the sailboat as its only passenger besides a crew of five.  "...the Hercules was the “first decked vessel to operate on a regular basis on the lake” west of the Mackinac Straits. Within a day of the time the boat departed Chicago, it also became the “first documented vessel to be destroyed on” Lake Michigan."

Lieutenant Eveleth was a cadet at West Point during the War of 1812.  His grave is noted here in a John Farmer map.


See a portion of Eveleth's map here at the University of Michigan Clements Library Chronicles, Fort Mackinac Captured By The British.

Prisoners' Fate

From Transactions of the Illinois State.....

"The following which treats of the fate of more of the prisoners may be of interest:"

"....James VanHorn, Joseph Knowles, Paul Grommow, Elias Mills, Joseph Bowen, Nathan Edson, Dyson Dyer, James Corbin and Phelim Corbin, of the First regiment of U.S. Infantry, who survived the massacre at Fort Dearborn...".

The Chicago Massacre

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The garrison at Fort Dearborn, at the mouth of the Chicago river, together with the few civilians of the neighborhood--men, women, and children--left the place for a long overland march of three hundred miles through the woods of Michigan, on August 15, 1812.  The ill-starred General Hull was in command at Detroit, expecting a battle with the British force, and he had sent orders by an Indian runner to the commander at Fort Dearborn, to move his command to Detroit, after disposing of the government stores and property as he thought fit.

From The story of old Fort Dearborn:

At the time that Fort Dearborn was built, the site of Chicago had been known to the civilized world for a hundred and thirty years.

Stories about the Fort Dearborn massacre (War of 1812 era) here and here.

The Fate Of The Simmons Family

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On the 14th of March 1810, John Simmons enlisted in Captain Whistler's Company, First Regiment, United States Infantry, afterward commanded by Captain Nathan Heald, and was assigned to duty at Fort Dearborn on the site of the city of Chicago.

Such was the [vulnerable] condition of Fort Dearborn on the seventh day of August, 1812, when Captain Heald received the order from Gen. Hull [to evacuate], who had reported to the war department on July 29th that he would send "at once."  Why, therefore, Captain Heald faltered for seven days is a serious question. The inexplicable delay gave the Indians an opportunity to collect their warriors from the Pottawatomie villages in the vicinity.

When the attack was made, Corporal John Simmons, from his position near the great cottonwood known as the Massacre Tree, loaded and fired as rapidly as possible... .  Finally covered with wounds he fell to rise no more. 

 No sooner had Mrs Simmons seen her husband fall...[when the enemy] struck his bloody weapon into the heads of every child within killing them instantly [including young David Simmons].

Mrs. Simmons discovered that the delight...of the [enemy] was much enhanced by tormenting their prisoners... . She therefore summoned all her marvelous fortitude to prevent any expression of the anguish which was crushing her great soul [and continued her stoicism during her entire captivity of eight months].

The story of other survivors here and another victim here.

General Hull's Fatal Letter To Captain Heald

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Carrot Top In 1812?

"And Then There was Carrot Top," was one in a series of posts on the Not So Forgotten: The War of 1812 blog.

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