Governor Hull, A New England Man

General Hull in an article regarding New England Men In Michigan History as noted in Michigan History, Volume 5:

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)

Nathan Chappell, Aged Soldier

Collections - State Historical Society Of Wisconsin, 1880, 1881, 1882

Nathan Chappel's memorial at FindAGrave (details are a bit off; the date of death listed is January 12, 1880, and age listed as 92).

Nathan Chappel

Event Type Death

Event Date 1880

Event Place Springfield, Walworth, Wisconsin

Gender Male

Age 96

Birth Year (Estimated) 1784

Diah Manning's Family

Source

"Diah Manning's son, Asa (b. 1795) was also a drummer in the war of 1812 [Diah was a drummer in the Revolutionary War], and from the history of Norwich, we quote his own account of the battle of Lundy's Lane. 'There were some 45 of us Norwich boys who fought at Lundy's Lane, some of whom laid down their lives on that bloody field and all fought with courageous gallantry. We brought off our flag, though it was shot from the staff and riddled with 30 or 40 bullet holes.'"


There's a Haitian connection to this family:

Source

"The family of Diah Manning were extremely kind in their attentions to a young Haytien mulatto who had been taken prisoner in 1800 by an American ship during the Haytien war and brought with several others of his countrymen to Norwich. This young mulatto, Jean Pierre Boyer, afterward became the President of the Republic of Hayti, and nearly twenty years afterward, sent a present of $400 each to the widows of Consider Sterry and Diah Manning in return for their kindness to him in his captivity." [Source]

Commodore Decatur At The Close Of 1813

Source

"Decatur remained with his squadron in the harbor of New London in the same state of hopeless inactivity until the close of 1813."

General Ebenezer Huntington

Source

"After the war, in 1792, he was appointed Major-General of the State militia, which office he held for thirty years. In 1799, when a war with France was anticipated, he received from President Adams the appointment of Brigadier-General in the U. S. army. He served also in the war of 1812. In 1810, and in 1817, he was elected a member of Congress. He died in 1834. Mrs. Sigourney describes him as having 'a fine figure,with military carriage, and a countenance, which was considered a model of manly beauty.' She speaks of the 'elegant manners,' and 'decision of character,' which 'were conspicuous in him, and unimpaired by age.'"  [Source]



Letters Received By The Office Of The Adjutant General, 1805-1821, including a letter written by Ebenezer Huntington:

Source

General Huntington played a more prominent role in the Revolutionary War, although the bio above stated that he also served in the War of 1812.

Per Wikipedia:

Ebenezer was born on December 26, 1754 in Norwich, Connecticut to Jabez and Elizabeth (Backus) Huntington. The Backus family was a prominent family from the area who's heirs would found Backus Hospital. His brothers Jedediah, Andrew, and Joshua also served during the revolution.[1]

Note:  He was a Backus descendant, as am I.

Veterans' Grandson Was Affiliated With John Brown

Source

Abolitionist John Brown's aide was Aaron Dwight Stevens.  He had ancestors in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  He served in the Mexican War.

From John Brown, Volumes 1-2

The notification that Aaron Dwight Stevens' court martial sentence was commuted was written by then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.

Source: Fold3

A Pre-Dawn Sneak Attack

Source

"On April 7, 1814, a body of 200 sailors and marines ascended the Connecticut landed at Pettipaug (or Pautopaug Point) about six miles above Saybrook, and destroyed the shipping found there, as they did also at Brockway's Ferry, in spite of a body of militia. On this marauding expedition about $200,000 worth of shipping was destroyed." [Source]

A Connecticut newspaper published an article entitled, "Sneak attack was Essex's undoing."

"...the bare facts of the British raid on Essex [village, then known as Pettipaug] in 1814 are cinematic enough. A pre-dawn sneak attack. Ships ablaze. Scrambled militias. A daring escape."

Mystic Experiences

Mariner Ca 1817 [Not Mystic Mariners]

An account of The Battle of Groton Long Point:

"In the summer of 1859, stories about the experiences of mariners living along the Mystic River during the War of 1812, were published in Mystic’s weekly newspaper, The Mystic Pioneer. The accounts were authenticated by eyewitnesses to the events who were still alive."

More War of 1812 information in Connecticut; Maritime Museum Opens Exhibit on War of 1812.

More from the Connecticut Magazine:

Source

Support Divided By Religious Denominations

From 1763-1814,  By Elisha Benjamin Andrews:

Wartime Letters

The Archives of the Florence Griswold Museum holds the letters to Phebe Griffin Lord from her brother in New York written during the war:

A view of the war from Connecticut's perspective:

"The second war with Britain, which crippled New England’s maritime trade, was so unpopular in Connecticut that Governor Roger Griswold from Lyme refused to allow the state’s militia to serve. Already ill, Governor Griswold died in office in October 1812."

An excerpt of a letter from George Griffin to Phoebe Lord, dated 27 November 1813:

"This dreadful war is injuring this city deeply, & prostrating my profession. If the times become much worse, there will be literally nothing doing here."

Some background on the Lord and Griffin families via a brief bio of Phoebe Griffin Lord Noyes:

War-Weary New London

Source

The Day newspaper published an online edition article entitled "War-weary New London suffered through blockade and standoff."

"The last thing New London needed in 1812 was another war."

"Three decades after the city was burned by Benedict Arnold during the Revolution, it was a primitive backwater...rebuilding from its destruction...hopeful the new industry of whaling would bring better days."

"But the war did not reach New London for nearly a year. When it did, it was brought not by the enemy, but by an American hero [Commodore Stephen Decatur]."

"...Decatur set out from New York with his three-ship squadron. Near the eastern end of Long Island Sound, they encountered British warships and retreated into the nearest harbor, New London.  The British had managed to trap what amounted to a sizable chunk of the tiny U.S. Navy and quickly established a blockade."

A synopsis of Decatur's actions at New London, Connecticut:

"Commodore Decatur, in 1814, command of a squadron, with the Macedonian equipped as an American frigate, and was blockaded at New London by a far superior British naval force. He challenged the British commander to meet him with any two of his ships, with two American frigates, but the British admiral declined. In January, 1815, he fell in with a British squadron of four ships and was captured, as his vessel had been injured in passing a bar, and retarded in her sailing--before he surrendered however, he silenced one of the British ships, with which had a running fight of two hours."

Leavenworth Portrait

Source

Henry Leavenworth

Source

Chauncey At The Clements Library

A brief biography of Commodore Chauncey here.

"Isaac Chauncey was born 20 February 1772 in Black Rock, Fairfield County, Connecticut. A citizen of and appointed from the state of New York."

From the Clements Library:

Creator: Chauncey, Isaac, 1772-1840

Abstract: This collection holds official letters, letterbooks, and documents of the American naval commander Isaac Chauncey, who served during the Franco-American War, the War of 1812, and both Barbary Wars. The material largely concerns naval administration during Chauncey's command of the American navy in Lake Ontario and naval operations in the Mediterranean during the Second Barbary War.


See the Portrait of Commodore Chauncey and also Perry and Chauncey.

Seat Of War Map

From John Hopkins University (Sheridan Libraries):

Source

The Library of Congress calls this "A correct map of the seat of war."

Daniel Sheldon's Eyewitness Account Of The Burning Of Washington

From the Magazine Of American History, a letter dated August 26, 1814, from Fredericktown, Maryland:

More about the Sheldon family here.

Peter B. Porter Papers

A description of the Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the PETER B. PORTER PAPERS in the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society:

The manuscripts reproduced in the thirteen rolls of this microfilm publication comprise the papers of Peter B. Porter (1773-1844) and of his grandson, Peter A. Porter (1853-1925). The bulk of the collection is the papers of Peter B. Porter covering the period from 1810 to 1844.

Source

Source

CT Letters By Smith And Griswold

The letter from Lieut.-Gov. John Cotton Smith is a valuable missing link in the correspondence between State-authorities and the General Government, on the subject of Secretary of War Dearborn's requisition for troops of the militia of Connecticut, to be ordered into the service of the United States, on the breaking out of the War of 1812.

But more important and interesting, in the same connection, is the following draft of a letter written by Gov. Griswold, on the 4th of Aug., 1812, to Secretary Dearborn, which, it is believed, has never appeared in print, and was, perhaps, never sent.  Being found among the family-papers, it is put on record here as an additional tribute to his memory.

Source

I have Griswolds in my family tree (the Governor is not in my direct line).

Salmon Steele's Family

From the Memorial. Genealogy, and ecclesiastical history [of First church, New Britain, Conn.] To which is added an appendix, with explanatory notes, and a full index ...

SALMON STEELE, to church Jan. 26th, 1817, and baptized same time; was son of Ebenezer, jun., and his wife Lucy (Wright,) born April 7th, 1780; was a brass founder by trade, learned of Barton, of Wintonbury; married Nov. 29th, 1803, Nelly Williams, of West Brookfield, Mass., daughter of Samuel, and his wife Nelly (Wright,) born Sept. 12th, 1786. They lived in various localities, raised a large family on small means. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was in the battle of Lundy's Lane. He fell under censure of the church, and, April 12th, 1824, they, after much labor and delay, passed sentence of excommunication. He was a skillful mechanic, with an active and inventive mind. He died June 22d, 1836, aged 55. His widow lives now, 1863, in Almont, Lapeer county, Mich., with her son.



THEIR CHILDREN. 
1. Samuel Williams
 2. Mary Darling, married Sept. 1st, 1836, Philip Recor
 3. Ebenezer
4. William Moloneaux, at North Port, Mich.
6. Marinda, died unmarried, aged 25, at Hartford.
7. Jason
8. Emri, married Laura Judd, resides at Imlay, Mich.
9. Martha, married William Wilson, lives in Iowa.
10. Amzi Hart
11. Albert Lewis is a cabinet maker and lives in Almont

United States Census, 1850

Event Place: Coldwater, Branch, Michigan, United States

Household Gender Age Birthplace

William Wilson M 33 Pennsylvania

Martha Wilson F 28 Connecticut

Ellen E Wilson F 7 Connecticut

Sarah A Wilson F 2 Michigan

Mary I Wilson F 2 Michigan

Etellia M Wilson F 0 Michigan

Nella Steel F 64 Massachusetts

In 1860, Nellie Steele was still living in Coldwater, but was with her son, Albert, and his family.

A Palmer At Dartmoor Prison

From The diary of Benjamin F. Palmer, privateersman: while a prisoner on board ...

"He was a descendant of Walter Palmer, one of the founders of Stonington, Connecticut.  Stonington was the first place to offer serious resistance to the British.... ."

Benjamin Franklin Palmer was "engaged to serve on the privateer Rolla...which was captured by His Majesty's frigate Loire... ."

The Massacre of April 6, 1815, at Dartmoor was mentioned: