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:

War Of 1812 (Second Part Of The 1812 Timeline)

Note: Outline Per Wikipedia (with revisions):

1812	Jul 17	Capture of Fort Mackinac*
1812	Jul 19	Attack at Sackets Harbor**
1812	Aug 5	Battle of Brownstown
1812	Aug 8	British General Isaac Brock embarks at Port Dover for the relief of Amherstburg***
1812	Aug 8	Battle of Maguaga
1812	Aug 15	Fort Dearborn massacre
1812	Aug 16	Surrender of Detroit
1812	Aug 19	Capture of HMS Guerriere****

* "That it should fare hard with the garrison of Fort Mackinac was, under the circumstances, a foregone conclusion. They [the British] were...stationed at St. Joseph's Island. Capt. Roberts received intelligence of the declaration of war on July 15 and was directed to attack Fort Mackinac immediately.  Among the force of a thousand and odd must have been many who knew Mackinac well; indeed, as a former British post, fort and island must have been familiar in every detail to the officers in command, and on this knowledge, no doubt, was based the plan of attack." [Source]

** Gunboats were in process of construction at Sackets Harbor... . One of these, the Oneida, was attacked July 19, 1812, by five British vessels... . [Source]

 *** General Brock told us that it was his intention to go up at once to the western district along the shore of Lake Erie in boats to embark at what is now Port Dover. [Source]

Maguaga Battle-Ground

**** To compensate our readers in some degree for the disappointment and mortification they cannot but feel at the misfortune of our little army under gen. Hull, it is with feelings of pride and pleasure that we refer them to the gallant exploit of capt. Hull, his nephew, in the frigate Constitution in capturing and destroying the British frigate Guerriere. [Source]

Attack On Fort Michilimackinac

Distant View Of Mackinac Island

Source

"Capt. Charles Roberts to Colonel Baynes: Fort Michilimackinac, 17th July, 1812. Sir,—On the 15th instant I received letters by Express from Major General Brock, with orders to adopt the most prudent measures either of offence or defence which circumstances might point out, and haying received intelligence from the best information that large reinforcements were daily expected to be thrown into this garrison, and finding that the Indians who had been collected would soon have abandoned me if I had not made the attempt, with the thorough conviction that my situation at St. Joseph's was totally indefensible, I determined to lose no time in making the meditated attack on this Fort."

Captain John Whistler In The Van Buren Papers

Calendar of the papers of Martin Van Buren ...,  By Library of Congress. Manuscript Division, Elizabeth Howard West:

Determined To Surrender

Depiction Of Frenchtown - River Raisin Battlefield National Park

Source

A Harrowing Experience For Rachel Knaggs

An excerpt from the History of the Knaggs family:

Source

FindAGrave memorial for Rachel Knaggs.

Massacre At Frenchtown

Picture From The River Raisin Battlefield National Park

Source

"....left wing of the Northwest army, was ordered to Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, where it was understood a large number of British had collected and were committing depredations on the inhabitants of that village."

Ordered Up To Michilmackinac

Title:War of 1812: Miscellaneous Records (Microform:H-1664):

Image 40 

"...and ordered up to Michilimackinac...marched to Point Clair...ordered to MacDonald's Point....officers were quartered at Smith's Inn about one mile from town."

Note: See Transcription at Image 131

Wood Splinter From Hull's Road

Two Fortified Posts

Fort On The Island Of Mackinac

"Although it was well understood for several years before the final declaration that war must sooner or later follow, the country was not prepared for the event when the time arrived. Within the limits of the present state of Michigan there were  the two fortified posts of importance--Detroit and Michillimackinac. The latter post was located on the island of Mackinac situated on the strait between the two peninsulas of Michigan... . Fort Lernoult was within the limits of the Detroit post.. ."

Fort Winchester

Information from Darnell's Journal:

[Oct.]19th. The fort was finished and christened "Fort Winchester" It is composed of four block-houses, a hospital and storehonse, and picketed between each block-house, containing about a quarter of an acre.

Fort Winchester is situated near the point between the Maumee and Auglaze rivers, and is a handsome place; it is predicted by some to become in a few years a populous city. The greater part of the land in the adjacent country is rich, and when improved will be equal, if not superior, to any in the western country. The Auglaze River empties into Great Miami, which runs a north course to Fort Winchester, and is navigable a considerable distance. [Source]

"We visited the site of Fort Winchester a little above Defiance on the bank of the Au Glaize and found the remains of many of the pickets protruding from the ground. Across a ravine just above the fort was the garrison burying ground."  "...obtained a comprehensive view of the two streams at their confluence the site of the fort and the village of Defiance." [Source - Also Source of Illustration Below]

"During the War of 1812 Gen Winchester built a picketed fort here on the hank of the Auglaize a short distance south of the other fort [Defiance] and called it Fort Winchester where he was encamped till he left for Michigan." [Source]

Roundhead, A Celebrated Chief

"Roundhead, a celebrated chief of the Wyandots, an Indian warror and strategist, captured Gen. Winchester at the battle of the Raisin. Proctor considered the death of Roundhead at the battle of the Thames a serious loss to the British cause. A proved warrior as this incident will show. At the capture of Detroit Gen. Brock took off his own rich crimson silk sash and fastened it around the waist of Tecumseh. Next day Tecumseh appearing without the much prized sash. Brock inquired the reason. Tecumseh answered: 'I do not want to wear such a mark of distinction when an older and abler warrior than myself is present.'  He had given the sash to Roundhead. [Source - Michigan Historical Collections, Volume 15]

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)

Surgeon Sylvester Day

From the Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, a finding aid for the Sylvester Day Collection, 1813-1920, Creator: Day, Sylvester, 1778-1851:

Biography
Sylvester Day was born in 1778, the son of Elkanah Day and Lavinia Merrill. He worked as garrison surgeon's mate in the United States Army in 1807, and was at Fort Michilimackinac from 1810 to July 17, 1812, when British forces took the fort during the War of 1812. After his parole by British forces, he travelled to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked as a surgeon until General William Hull surrendered the city to the British in August 1812. He remained in Detroit in order to help care for sick and wounded soldiers who were unable to leave with the rest of the American troops. On October 16, 1812, he left Detroit with American prisoners of war on the British Brig Adams, headed for Fort Erie. However, the United States Navy captured the Adams while en route to its destination, and forced Day to disembark before burning the ship and all of his personal effects. Following this incident, Day began a legal suit against the U.S. government in an attempt to gain reparations for the property he lost in the burning, especially his extensive medical library. The U.S. Army appointed Day a surgeon of the 4th Regiment of Infantry on March 13, 1813. He transferred to the 5th Infantry on May 17, 1815, and was on duty in Detroit, Michigan, until 1818. He worked as post surgeon at Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania, from 1818 to 1820, and later became post surgeon for the Allegheny Arsenal. Day worked at other locations before his death at Allegheny Arsenal, Pennsylvania, in 1851.

Fort At Mackinac Island

226 Dr. Sylvester Day went to Michilimackinac as surgeon's mate at the garrison as early as 1810. He and his family resided on Astor Street at the time of the surrender of the fort. He had one son named Hannibal, who later became Gen. Hannibal Day. U. S. A. After leaving Michilimackinac they resided at Detroit. Dr. Day was a Mason and master of Zion Lodge, No. 62, in 1817. The same year he subscribed $350 toward the University Fund. {Michigan Pioneer Collections; Annals of Fort Mackinaw by Kelton, p. 46.)  [Source]

Almenia (Thomas) Champe

A War of 1812 Illustration (Not Mrs. Champe)

"When the wife of Nathaniel Champe was a young girl, during the War of 1812, she went through the British lines as a spy, where she gained a complete knowledge of the enemy's strength and position, scratching it on birch bark with a pin and hiding it in the hem of her skirts.  She was arrested, but on account of her extreme youth was allowed to return to her friends." [Source]


Also see Nathaniel Champe and Drum blog post

Straits Of Mackinac

Source

Also see Military History of the Upper Great Lakes website

Talbot Chambers Ordered To Detroit

Enclosed a copy of an order to repair to Detroit dated July 11, 1815....

Fold3 Source

See another blog post concerning Talbot Chambers here.

Michigan Once More Fell To The Ownership Of The United States

Fort Michilimackinac (On The Shore Of The Straits Of Mackinac)

Michigan History, Volume 5:

"The War for American Independence brought this area in name only under the control of the new American Government since it was not until 1798 that the British soldiers relinquished the military posts on the American side of the international boundary and the feebleness of the American hold upon all this region is well illustrated by the ease with which it was reconquered by the English in the War of 1812. The treaty of peace which terminated this war restored the easternmost of the Great Lakes as a part of the international boundary and Michigan once more fell to the ownership of the United States."

Dow Gardens In Midland, Michigan

Captain Blake Killed Megish

Source

From Pioneer Collections (recollections of Aura P. Stewart of St. Clair County, Michigan):


"At the breaking out of the war there resided a family of Indians on the Big Bear Creek, on the Canada side, who were known as the Sha-na-wa family; in this family there were five brothers, all warriors.  One of them...Me-gish, who followed the British army, and was at the Battle of Lundy's Lane, where he was killed.  I [Aura P. Stewart] got the particulars of his death from his mother and sister, who have often repeated the story of Me-gish's death in my hearing while a boy.  They say that he got between two armies as they were approaching, and a little before the battle commenced he was fired on and killed by the Americans.  This circumstance would not be worth relating were it not for the statement of Capt. Chesley Blake, one of the old pioneer captains of our lakes."

"In 1840 Capt. Blake came to Harsen's Island...and during his stay lodged with my brother, Capt. John H. Stewart.  My father called to see the captain one evening to have a chat, and the conversation turned on the late war with England, and the part each had taken.  Blake here stated that he was at the Battle of Lundy's Lane; that as the two armies were approaching, and a little while before the action, an Indian attempted to pass between the armies, running for dear life."

Blake was the American who killed Me-gish.

Fencibles At Prairie du Chien Surrender

Source

"Early in June an American force took possession of the Indian post at Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi, almost 500 miles from Mackinac, and Col. M'Douall, who was now in command at the latter place, resolved to dislodge them. Accordingly, Colonel M'Kay, of the Michigan Fencibles, was sent to Prairie du Chien with a detachment consisting of his own corps and of Canadian Volunteers, 150 men in all, with a 3 pounder. He also was accompanied by about 500 Indians."

"The detachment reached its destination on the 17th July and found that the Americans had erected a small fort... ."

""...M'Kay advanced his men against the fort, upon which a white flag was immediately displayed and the place surrendered with its garrison of 65 men and its cannon and stores. Not one man of M'Kay's white troops was even wounded in this brilliant affair...". [Source]