A Suspicious Sail Off Sandusky

Source (Not The Boats Referenced Below)

From A history of the United States...:

"On the 13th of August off Sandusky a suspicious sail was descried and the Scorpion was sent in chase. The stranger proved to be a British spy boat...".

British Graves Near Fort Stephenson

From the Ohio archæological and historical quarterly:

In the plan of the environs of the Fort, it will be noted that the spot where the British officers, Lieut. Colonel Shortt and Lieut. Gordon were buried, is marked.  The new High School building now covers this spot, and in 1891, while excavating for its foundations portions of the graves were uncovered and metallic buttons with the number of the regiment, 41, stamped on them were found, which have been placed in Birchard Library by Mr. H. S. Dorr, their owner.  Mr. Dorr, soon after finding these buttons showed them to President Hayes who stated that in reading an autobiography of a Scotch Bishop Gordon, he found the following: "The great sorrow of my life was the loss of a son in an unimportant battle in an obscure place in North America--called Fort Sandusky."

The blog, Ohio's Yesterdays, has a post about "Lt. Col. William Charles Shortt and His Descendants by Mike Hedges."  An excerpt:

"...Lt Col William Charles Shortt, served in the 41st Regiment of Foot in the British Army and died a heroic death at the Battle of Fort Stephenson, Lower Sandusky, Ohio (Fremont, Ohio), on 2nd August 1813."

Heroics In Ohio

 "When the Fort is taken there will be none left alive to massacre."*

Obedience to his superior in all matters of duty is no degradation, but rather an honor, to the true soldier but history furnishes a few examples of a patriotism that rises above all other considerations. Such was Croghan's action at Fort Sandusky during the war of 1812.

General Harrison had ordered Croghan to destroy the supplies, then abandon and destroy Fort Sandusky. The soldiers were to then join General Harrison. Croghan disobeyed Harrison's orders, replying (see below):

*Ensign Edmund Shipp on behalf of Croghan to a landing party of British soldiers threatening a massacre of the American troops at Fort Sandusky if it was not surrendered to the British force

The British were not leaving without a battle, and marched forward towards the fort with an order to give no quarter to the besieged within the fort.  The approaching British were mowed down by the one strategically placed artillery piece in the fort.  The British under General Proctor and their Indian allies, under Tecumseh,  scattered and retreated.

Even though no quarter was expected by the Americans from the British, the defenders of the fort risked their own lives to aid wounded British soldiers who were left behind.

 From The line of fire, or, The advance guard of civilization in America.

Is Fort Sandusky AKA Fort Stephenson?

A depiction of Fort Sandusky on the Sandusky River from Historical Collections of Ohio:

Was Fort Sandusky and Fort Stephenson the same?  This source stated that there were three fortifications along the Sandusky; Fort Seneca, Fort Stephenson and Fort Ball. Apparently so:  "Frustrated by their lack of progress, on July 28, 1813, they (British General Proctor and Tecumseh's warriors) moved southeast towards Fort Stephenson, or Fort Sandusky, located near the mouth of the Sandusky River."

 From The Line of Fire.....: