Gen. Winchester And Whitmore Knaggs Surrender

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General Winchester and Whitmore Knaggs Surrender To Blue Jacket

Prospect Of Winter Clothing

A journal ... (Elias Darnell's Journal):

"[Oct.] 27th. In consequence of Gen. Winchester's receiving information, he issued an order respecting clothing, which will show a flattering prospect of being supplied, an extract of which is as follows:—'General Orders.—Fort Winchester, Oct. 27,1812. With great pleasure the General announces to the army the prospect of an early supply of winter clothing, amongst which are the following articles exported from Philadelphia on the 9th of September last, viz. 10,000 pairs of shoes, 5,000 blankets, 5,000 round jackets, 5,000 pairs of pantaloons, woollen cloth, to be made and forwarded to the westward immediately; besides the winter clothing for Col. Wells's regiment some days before; 1,000 watch-coats, ordered from Philadelphia the 7th of October, 1812. September 24th, 5,000 blankets and 1,000 yards of flannel. 25th, 10,000 pairs of shoes. 29th, 10,000 pairs of woollen hose, 10,000 do. socks. Yet a few days and the General consoles himself with the idea of seeing those whom he has the honor to command clad in warm woollen, capable of resisting the northern blasts of Canada.'

J. Winchester,

"Brigadier-Gen. Commanding Left Wing N. W. Army."

Tupper Court Martial

...charges against Brigadier-General Edward White Tupper...Ohio militia.....:

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The Entire Want Of Preparation

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Mr. Henry Adams in his second volume of the " History of the United States" devotes two chapters to the events connected with the surrender of Detroit in 1812, in which he shows the entire want of preparation with which President and congress, under the influence of Henry Clay and others, rushed into a conflict with the veterans of England on land, and her thousand war-ships on the ocean; and the imbecility of the war
department, of its chief Dr. Eustis, and the poor organization of the small army which was scattered over an immense territory on garrison duty, while new regiments not yet raised were relied upon for the conquest of Canada. He says, " The senior major-general and commander-in-chief was Henry Dearborn, the other major-general was Thomas Pinckney. The brigadiers were James Wilkinson, Wade Hampton, Joseph Bloomfield, James Winchester, and William Hull."

Charles Gratiot Delivers

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The beginning of Gratiot's War of 1812 experiences:

The day after his hearing of the Declaration of War against Great Britain, Captain Gratiot, being then at St. Louis visiting his parents during his leave of absence, immediately proceeded to Washington to ask for active service; and was at once appointed Chief Engineer of the North Western Army, with orders to stop en route at Pittsburg to aid in the preparation of ordnance and ordnance stores for General Harrison's forces then in the field. Not till November 1812, could Captain Gratiot and his escort of 300 men move, with the heavy train of twelve pieces of artillery and two hundred loaded vehicles, to Lower Sandusky through an almost trackless wilderness where a wheel had never rolled. After persistently overcoming winter's cold bad roads want of forage and numerous other difficulties, he delivered, January 5, 1813, his whole charge without even the loss of a bullet, to the Commander-in-Chief, who, soon after Winchester's defeat, directed Gratiot to join him without delay at Maumee Rapids. 

Details about the Gratiot family tree can be found here.

Portrait And Papers Of General Winchester

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General Winchester [and his Headquarters at the River Raisin].

See a description of the General James Winchester papers held at the Tennessee archives here.

Survived The Battle Of River Raisin

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20 February 1813

Buffalo, New York

Richard Hightower

Prisoner Of War On Parole With About 46 Regular Soldiers

17th Regiment

And Part Of The 19th Regiment

...Surrendered By General Winchester

At Frenchtown (Battle of River Raisin)

January 22, 1813

Ashton Garrett mentioned

Another letter postmarked Nicholasville, Kentucky

General Winchester Conceded Command

Historical details:

"...I was at Lexington, Kentucky, superintending a recruiting district, and occasionally at Newport and Cincinnati, for the purpose of expediting the equipment... . Whilst engaged in this service, information was received of the fall of Detroit, and the capture of general Hull. This change in the aspect of the war on the north-western frontier, induced me to assume the command of the detachment... .

"About this period general Harrison arrived, and intimated a right to the command, predicated on a commission of major general, then recently received from the governor of Kentucky. Objections to the intended procedure of general Harrison were made. They were unavailing. Two or three notes passed between us; and when finally an interview took place, it was agreed, that general Harrison might assume the command, but on his own responsibility."

The American Army's Three Divisions

In the beginning of 1813, the American Army was organized in three divisions.  

First, the Army of the North under General Wade Hampton, which was to act in the country around Lake Champlain; second the Army of the Center, under General Henry Dearborn, which was to conduct operations on Lake Ontario and the Niagara frontier; third, the Army of the West commanded by General Winchester for a short time, and subsequently by General Harrison.  [Source]

Siege From Darnell's Journal

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Darnell's Journal, A journal containing an accurate and interesting ... included the entry below that referred to the Siege of Fort Wayne:

[About 12 September 1812]

Winchester's campaign. seemed to shake the boasted valor of some of our bravest heroes.

This day's march was twenty miles to Fort Wayne... . 

Our arrival at this fort gave great joy to the inhabitants, who were one company of regular troops and a few families. The Indians had closely invested the fort for several days, and burned the United States factory and all the other valuable houses which were not inside of the stockading. Three of our men who were caught out of the fort were killed by the Indians. 

The Indians encamped about the fort two weeks before they made the attack on it, and were admitted in by Captain Rhea, the commanding officer of the garrison, who would have surrendered to the savages, had it not been for his lieutenant, who defended the fort with great bravery. Three Indians were killed and a few wounded. Captain [James] Rhea was arrested and would have been broken had he not resigned.

See a previous post from Darnell's Journal here.

Chief Roundhead's Letter And Signature

Upon this site stood Chief Roundhead's Wyandot Indian village. Roundhead, or Stiahta, was celebrated for his capture of American General James Winchester during the War of 1812. 

[On January 22, 1813] The British force under General Proctor was led against the upper camp...and the Indians commanded by the Chiefs Round Head and Split Log were led against the lower camp... . Source: Historical collections, Volume 35

A letter written by Chiefs Roundhead and Walk-In-The-Water:

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Raisin Massacre Of 1813 Plaque

Kentucky and Ohio recruits under General James Winchester were the victims of a surprise attack by the British and their Indian allies Jan. 22, 1813,... .

General Winchester's Headquarters

Warnings and inactivity at General Winchester's headquarters in January of 1813:

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On the afternoon of the 20th [of January], General Winchester came with Colonel Madison and three hundred whose forces were united with Lewis and Allen at the upper camp, while General Winchester took up his headquarters in the house of Colonel Navarre on the south side of the river, about three fourths of a mile from his army.

Again and again settlers brought word to Winchester and tried to impress on his mind the enemy would soon attack. Winchester dismissed them with a laugh, and made no preparations to meet them.

Late at night word was brought to Colonel Lewis that a large force of Canadians and Indians were at Stony Creek, only four miles away. Again Winchester was warned. Even this did not disturb his slumber.

Colonel Lewis...was startled...by a sharp crack of the sentinel's guns... .  This was the morning of January 22nd.  [Source]

General Winchester's rebuttal "concerning charges of neglect and military incompetency during the course of the Raisin campaign (directly mainly by Robert McAfee in his book published in 1816)" can be found here.

Read About Feeding An Army

From Seeking Michigan at the Archives of Michigan site, there's an interesting blog post entitled, "Feeding An Army (War of 1812)."  The first sentence of the article:

"Getting supplies to the army on the western frontier of Indiana, Ohio and Michigan in 1812 was a difficult business."

Richardson Letter From Amherstburg Of 4 February 1813

From the Richardson War of 1812 book (see transcript below):

Letter from John Richardson to his Uncle, Captain Charles Askin.

Amherstburg, 4th February, 1813. My Dear Uncle,—

You have doubtless heard ere this of the engagement at the River Raisin on Friday, the 22nd inst. (ult.)f however, you may probably not have heard the particulars of the business, which are simply these: On Monday, the 18th, we received information that the Americans, under the command of General Winchester, after an obstinate resistance, had driven from the River Raisin a detachment of Militia under Major Reynolds (also a party of Indians) which had been stationed there some time. That they had sustained great loss from the fire of our Indians, and from a 3-pounder, which was most ably served by Bombardier Kitson (since dead), of the R.A.

On Tuesday part of our men moved over the river to Brownstown, consisting of a Detachment of R. Artillery, with 3 3-pounders and 3 small howitzers, Capt. Tallon's Company (41st Regt.), a few Militia, and the sailors attached to the Guns. An alarm was given that the enemy were at hand. The Guns were unlimbered and everything prepared for action, when the alarm was found to be false.

On Wednesday the remainder of the army joined us at Brownstown, where (including Regulars, Militia, Artillery, Sailors and Indians) we mustered near 1,000 men. We lay, this night, at Brownstown. Next day the army commenced its march towards the River Raisin and encamped, this night, at Rocky River, which (you know) is about 12 miles beyond Brownstown and 6 on this side the River Raisin. About two hours before day we resumed our march. On Friday at daybreak we perceived the enemy's fires very distinctly—all silent in their camp. The army drew up and formed the line of battle in 2 adjoining fields, and moved down towards the enemy, the Guns advanced 20 or 30 paces in front and the Indians on our flanks. We had got tolerably near their Camp when we heard their Reveille drum beat (so completely lulled into security were they that they had not the most distant idea of an enemy being near), and soon after we heard a shot or two from the Centinels, who had by this time discovered us. Their Camp was immediately in motion. The Guns began to play away upon them at a fine rate, keeping up a constant fire. The Americans drew up and formed behind a thick picketing, from whence they kept up a most galling fire upon our men, who, from the darkness of the morning, supposed the pickets to be the Americans; however, as it grew lighter, they discovered their mistake, and advanced within 70 or 80 paces of the pickets, but finding that scarce one of their shots took effect, as they almost all lodged in the fence. Being thus protected from the fire of our men they took a cool and deliberate aim at our Troops, who fell very fast, and the most of the men at the Guns being either killed or wounded, it was thought expedient to retire towards the enemy's left under cover of some houses. I was a witness of a most barbarous act of inhumanity on the part of the Americans, who fired upon our poor wounded, helpless soldiers, who were endeavouring to crawl away on their hands and feet from the scene of action, and were thus tumbled over like so many hogs. However, the deaths of those brave men were avenged by the slaughter of 300 of the flower of Winchester's army, which had been ordered to turn our flanks, but wh.o, having divided into two parties, were met, driven back, pursued, tomakawked and scalped by our Indians, (very few escaping) to carry the news of their defeat. The General himself was taken prisoner by the Indians, with his son, aide, and several other officers. He immediately dispatched a messenger to Colonel Procter, desiring him to acquaint him with the circumstance of his being a prisoner, and to intimate that if the Colonel would send an officer to his Camp to summons the remainder of his army to surrender, he would send an order by him to his officer then commanding to surrender the Troops. Colonel Procter objected to sending one of his own officers, but permitted the General to send his aide (with a flag). The firing instantly ceased on both sides, and about 2 hours afterwards the enemy (460 in number) laid down their arms and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. A good many of our officers were wounded in the engagement, but none of them killed. The following is a list of them: R.A., Lt. Troughton (slightly); Seamen attached to the Guns, Capt. Rolette, Lt. Irvine, Midshipman Richardson (severely); 41st Regt., Capt. Tallon, Lieut. Clemow (severely); Militia, Inspecting F. Officer Lt.-Col. St George, Capt. Mills, Lt. McCormick, Paymaster Gordon (severely), Ensign Gouin (slightly), R. N. F. Regt, Ensign Kerr (dangerously); Indian Depart., Capt. Caldwell, Mr. Wilson (severely). This is as accurate an account as I can give you of the Engagement. I will now give you an account of my feelings on the occasion. When we first drew up in the field I was ready to fall down with fatigue from marching and carrying a heavy musquet. Even when the balls were flying about my

ears as thick as hail I felt quite drowsy and sleepy, and, indeed, I was altogether in a very disagreeable dilemma. The night before at Rocky River, some one or other of the men took my firelock and left his own in the place. It being quite dark when we set out from that place, I could not distinguish one from another. Enquiry was vain, so I was obliged to take the other (without thinking that anything was the matter with it). When we came to the firing part of the business I could not get my gun off. It flashed in the pan, and I procured a wire and worked away at it with that. I tried it again, and again it flashed. I never was so vexed—to think that I was exposed to the torrent of fire from the enemy without having the power to return a single shot quite disconcerted the economy of my pericranium; though if I had fired fifty rounds not one of them would have had any effect, except upon the pickets, which I was not at all ambitious of assailing like another Don Quixote. Our men had fired 4 or 5 rounds when I was called to assist my brother Robert, who was wounded, and who fell immediately, and which led me to suppose that he was mortally wounded. However, when he was carried to the doctors I found the poor fellow had escaped with a broken leg, which torments him very much, and it will be some time before he gets over it. I think it is highly probable we shall have a brush with the valiant Harrison, who is said to be at the Rapids of the Miami River, or near them. If so, I think we shall have tight work, as we have lost in killed and wounded in the action of the 22nd 180 men (exclusive of Indians). Pray remember me to my cousins, and, Believe me,

My Dear Uncle,

Yours affectionately,

John Richardson. Mr. Chas. Askin, ) Queenston.

The transcribed letter can also be seen here.

Veterans Buried In Monroe County, MI

One (partial) example on the list of War of 1812 veterans buried in Monroe County, Michigan, from the Monroe Library website:

James Bentley . Born Nov. 5, 1784 in England, he died Aug. 13, 1864. He married Amanda Barker, born Dec. 12, 1800, on Jan. 31, 1816. She died Apr. 18, 1889, in Monroe. They are buried in St. Paul's Cemetery in Monroetown. Mr. Bentley served as a non-commissioned officer under Gen. James Winchester and his wife was a witness to the war. As a British soldier at the ill-famed Battle of Copenhagen, Mr. Bentley deserted, as did many of his comrades, and in 1803 came to the River Raisin.

Some War of 1812 Papers Listed At The State Historical Society of Wisconsin

From the Descriptive List of Manuscript Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin:

Chief Roundhead's Village

CHIEF ROUNDHEAD'S VILLAGE

Upon this site, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, stood Chief Roundhead's Wyandot Indian village.  This flourishing agricultural community later gave way to white settlement and Hardin County's first town was laid out here in 1832.  

Roundhead, or Stiahta, was celebrated for his capture of General James Winchester during the War of 1812.  Roundhead is believed to be buried in this vicinity.

See Roundhead, Ohio.

Fort Barbee

From History of Mercer County, Ohio,....: 

Fort Barbee was erected by Colonel Barbee near the west bank of the St. Mary's River, on the site of what afterwards became a Lutheran cemetary [sic], in the town of St. Marys.

From The Ohio Country....

The necessity for additional roads and places for the protection of food and other military supplies being urgent, General Harrison returned to St. Marys, where he found the expected Kentucky troops. Colonel Joshua Barbee was instructed to build there an ample fortification, and storehouse within the stockades, which was named Fort Barbee.

Winchester's report of the enemy was received by Harrison at Fort Barbee September 30th, as was also a report from Governor Meigs of a strong force of the enemy opposing Winchester. The three thousand men then at Fort Barbee were at once started direct for Defiance, Harrison commanding in person.