Rendezvous At Georgetown

William B. Northcutt Journal

"Both [William Northcutt and probably Robert Harrison, his teacher] volunteered in the army and the school broke up, he volunteered in Maurice Langhorn's company of Rifle Men for six months and I volunteered in Capt. Garrard's troop of twelve months Light Dragoons, and was attached to Jas V. Ball's Squadron of United States Light Dragoons, on the 20th of August 1812 we rendezvoused at Georgetown Scot County Ky and took up our line of March for Malden Upper Canada.  There were three Ridgements [regiments] of.....".

Some Northcutt Family information was contained in William's Journal (ancestors here).

Col. Simrall's Letter To Major Speed

Source

A letter from Colonel James Simrall, Shelbyville, Kentucky, to Major Thomas Speed, Nelson County, Kentucky, dated 17 February 1813, was found at the Indiana Historical Society digital website.

A description from the site: "Simrall describes for Speed his recent journey through the western country, in particular the Mississinewa*River region and those he encountered there."

From the letter:  "...this part of the country* not being laid down in any of the maps."  "...we were informed by our prisoners that Tecumseth, with is party of (600) warriors...was rebuilding the towns...".  "From Fort Greenville...".

Source

Yankees Squint

From Pioneer Collections, Volume 4, by the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan (recollections of Aura P. Stewart of St. Clair County, Michigan):

"While the British held Detroit they sent two expeditions against Fort Mays, then called French Town, now the city of Monroe, where there was a little stockade defended by Ohio militia.  At the first attack the British troops were repulsed with considerable loss.  Some of the best marksmen in the little picket fort, when the British had placed their artillery to play upon the fort, were ordered by their commanding officer to pick off the men at the gun, a six-pounder, and, if possible, not to allow it to be fired; and I have been told that they did their work so thoroughly that the British had to abandon their gun, for the moment they attempted to load it every man fell.  On the return of this party, my father asked a Welsh soldier how they made out.  He shook
his head and said, "Very bad."  On asking the reason of the failure, he said, "Yankees squint; he never squint," meaning that our riflemen took aim when they fired, but he did not."

French Town (Jim's Photo Taken At The NPS)

"The next expedition the British sent to capture Fort Mays was more successful.  They not only took the little stockade, but they allowed the Indians to murder their prisoners and the inhabitants.  This affair is known in history as Winchester's defeat, and it was a cruel and sad affair."

Defence Of Craney Island

Note:  The 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Craney Island will be commemorated this weekend.

A critique of an historical account from the Virginia Historical Register, in an article entitled The Defence Of Craney Island:

"Mr. Editor, — In looking into Howison's History of Virginia, I have been surprised to see what a slight and incorrect account he has given of the Defence of Craney Island, which I have always regarded as a very brilliant affair, and highly honorable to our State; and I cannot help feeling it to be a duty which I owe to the Commonwealth, and to the memory of a gallant man who has been strangely overlooked by this narrative, to point out its errors and defects."

"Mr. H.'s account is in the following words:" 
" Craney Island lies near the mouth of Elizabeth river, and commands the approach from Hampton Roads to Norfolk, Its defence, therefore, became all important; and Commodore Cassin resolved that it should not be taken without a desperate conflict."

"Now it is really curious to see how many errors, both of omission and commission, Mr. H. has contrived to make in this short passage; and I will briefly indicate them for his correction in his next edition.

1. "Commodore Cassin resolved that it should not be taken without a desperate conflict."  "This implies that Com. C., was the commanding officer on the occasion, and the hero of the day; but the fact is, that General Robert B. Taylor, was the commander-in-chief of the military district in which the island was situated, and of all the land forces within it ; and of course ordered and directed the defence of the position on that day."

Did Canada Win The War Of 1812?

According to this article in the National Post, an U.S. historian admits that Canada won the War of 1812:

"Johns Hopkins University professor Eliot Cohen, a senior adviser to former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, writes in his just-published book Conquered Into Liberty that, “ultimately, Canada and Canadians won the War of 1812.”"

Hat tip: Olive Tree Genealogy Blog

James Fenimore Cooper's Book Of Naval History

A phrase at the James Fenimore Cooper Society website stated that "There can be no question about the importance of Cooper's place as a naval historian."

Mr. Cooper wrote History of the navy of the United States of America, Volume 1, "an imperfect record" which was "offered as a tribute of profound respect...".  

James Fenimore Cooper's work was mentioned by Theodore Roosevelt according to the blog Our Flag Was Still There:  "Roosevelt lashed out at Cooper, in a condemnation that carried through until recent years. He acknowledged his debt to Cooper, backhandedly."

Works Consulted for 1812, The War And Its Moral: A Canadian Chronicle

A list of works consulted for 1812, the war and its moral: a Canadian chronicle By William Foster Coffin:

A Canadian Historical Perspective Of The War Of 1812

1812, the war and its moral: a Canadian chronicle By William Foster Coffin, was written from the Canadian point of view and published in 1864.

"The management of the Ordnance Lands in this Province has thrown me upon the scenes of the most notable events of the late war. It has brought me in contact with many of the surviving actors. It has revived early recollections of my own."

"Canada in 1812 cared as little as at present for a war with her powerful neighbor but as at present cared not to evade it. The war of 1812 was no Canadian quarrel. It was forced upon the Canadian people and fought upon Canadian soil to gratify the antipathies of two nations too like to be loving."

"The war indeed was at the bottom no quarrel between governments. The governments of the day were but the instruments of the time. The real cause of strife was to be found in the temper of the people. It was a personal turn up between Jonathan and John Bull."