War Of 1812 Initial Timeline

Note: Outline Per Wikipedia (with revisions)

1812	Jun	Baltimore riots (NPS)
1812	Jun 18	Declaration of war by the United States
1812	Jun 29	Schooners Sophia and Island Packet taken by the British in the St. Lawrence River
1812	Jul 1	United States doubles customs duties
1812	Jul 12	U.S. General William Hull's army invades Upper Canada at Sandwich
1812	Jul 16	Skirmish at River Canard

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."

Colonel Gideon Morgan

Source

"The character of Colonel Morgan is unimpeached." [Source]

"...Gideon Morgan, an adopted citizen, Colonel of the Cherokee regiment...greatly distinguished himself in the war of 1812...". [The life and times of Hon. William P. Ross]

August Near Horseshoe Bend

Encampment At Horseshoe Bend On The Tallapoosa River

Smith College Studies in History, Volumes 7-8, included Major Tatum's Journal:

August 11, 1814 

The Commanding General and suite having embarked on board of one of the boats, I was directed to accompany him and in the descent to ascertain the courses and distances of the Alabama River from the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, as well as I could under such circumstances.

Tybee

Lighthouse At Tybee Island

Source (Tybee Lighthouse East Of Fort Pulaski)

Per the NPS:

 During the War of 1812, the Tybee Island Lighthouse was used as a signal tower to warn Savannah of possible attack by the British (though no such attack took place...).

General Wilkinson's Last Call Of Duty

Portrait At The NPS Site

 With these movements [at the Battle of Lacolle Mills on March 30, 1814] Wilkinson disappears from the scene of active life. On March 24 orders were received relieving him from duty under the form of granting his request for a court of inquiry and he made over the army to General George Izard and departed.

Once more he passed the ordeal of investigation which in reality was a sham once more he was acquitted but he never again was permitted to assume his command in the army and passed the closing years of his life in Mexico. Source

The Enemy's Fleet Off Ship Island

Ship Island

The War of 1812:  A History.... included a letter from Lieutenant [Thomas Ap Catesby] Jones to Commodore Patterson, dated New Orleans, 12 March 1815 (excerpt below)...:

"On the 12th of December, 1814, the enemy's fleet off Ship Island increased.....".

Before The War - Governor John Graves Simcoe

Source

John Graves Simcoe (1752 - 1806) was the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada.

From Upper Canada History:

"He was Upper Canada's first lieutenant-governor and the most effective of all British officials dispatched from London to preside over a pioneer society. Simcoe was denied the opportunity to serve his country in a military capacity and became instead a stubborn, strong-willed autocrat presiding over a forested fiefdom deep in the heart of North America."

"In a letter to Joseph Brant in 1791, the Duke of Northumberland called Simcoe "brave, humane, sensible and honest." These qualities shine forth from the military journal Simcoe kept. About Simcoe's performance as lieutenant governor of Upper Canada there may be divided opinions, but as a military man there can be no doubt at all. His talents were surely wasted during a very tense and trying period of British history."

"...the sovereign's "trusty and well-beloved John Graves Simcoe" accepted the position as lieutenant governor of Upper Canada at a salary of 2000 pounds a year, the appointment to be effective on December 24th, 1791.

Simcoe's Military Journal recounts his service as commander of the Queen's Rangers in the American Revolution. While taking part in the siege of Boston, Simcoe purchased a captaincy. His subsequent promotions were all based on merit.

Per the United States NPS:

"Realizing the tension between the United States and Great Britain would only grow, Simcoe began preparations for war as early as 1794. He supplied Indian allies with weapons, fortified the fleet on the Great Lakes, and established a capital further inland at the Indian settlement of Toronto, renaming it York after King George III’s second son, the Duke of York."

Whale's Valor

Presented by J. Madison, President, of the U.S.
To Whale
The Reward of Signal Valor of Heroism
At the Battle of the Horseshoe  
March, 1814

Commemorating Horseshoe Bend

Poster At Horseshoe Bend N. P.

Commemorating The Bicentennial of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend

An Assist From Lafitte's Pirates

Several attempts were made to break up the band [of Lafitte's pirates] and the U.S. Grand Jury more than once indicted Lafitte, but the government could never arrest him. At the very time when a Federal force was being equipped to descend upon the settlement of Barataria, the pirates were able to do the United States a great service, which saved New Orleans from capture by the British, and won for Lafitte the title of the "pirate patriot." When the British were arranging their expedition against the city, they prepared to advance on it by way of Barataria, and sent a man-of-war to the island to make terms with Lafitte and secure the co- operation of the pirates in capturing New Orleans, offering as a bribe a large sum of money and to Lafitte personally a commission as captain in the British navy.

Lafitte affected acquiescence in these proposals, but at the same time warned Governor Claiborne of the approach of the British, and thus enabled the United States to take steps for the defence of the city and to send General Jackson there.

Notwithstanding Lafitte's services, an expedition was fitted up against the pirates and the settlement captured. The Baratarians were ironed and committed to the Calaboose at New Orleans, and their spoils, consisting of an immense amount of valuable goods, money, etc., seized and conveyed to the city.

At the battle of New Orleans, General Jackson being short of gunners, appointed several of Lafitte's men to the artillery, where they did good service. [Source]

Resolved To Aid The British

Jim's Photo Of The Creek, Menawa, From Horseshoe Bend NP

From The removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia, Volume 1  by Wilson Lumpkin:

We spent one day at the great Indian Council held at Tuckabatchee in the Creek Nation, when not only all the tribes of the different nations of the Indians of the Southern States were represented, but a delegation of the Northern tribes headed by the distinguished Chief Tecumseh were in attendance. We now know that at that very council it was resolved by the Creek Indians to unite with Tecumseh and his Northern hordes in aiding the British in their anticipated war with the United States.

Fort St. Philip

Source

Fort St. Philip on YouTube (actually a Travel Channel video) and a blurb from the NPS.  We could see Fort St. Philip on our visit to Fort Jackson on the opposite side of the river.

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."

Landing On Cumberland Island

As seen at the Cumberland NPS Museum exhibit:

A battery on Point Peter was established in 1796 to protect the mouth of the St. Mary's River and the adjacent islands from unwelcome ships.  Cumberland Island was an attractive landing spot, offering easy access from the ocean, and the nearby town of St. Mary's had amenities such as fresh food and supplies.  After a period of vacancy, a blockhouse was built and the battery was garrisoned for protection during the War of 1812.

It was not until [January 10] 1815 that Point Peter was tested.  Official military correspondence tells the story of Rear Admiral George Cockburn and the British fleet landing on Cumberland Island soon after their attacks on Washington and Baltimore.

The Entrance At Fort McHenry

Source

Fort McHenry is part of the National Park Service.

See Friends of Fort McHenry on Facebook here.

Bladensburg Archaeology....

...on a site found here (affiliated with the University of Maryland).

Source Of Bladensburg, Maryland, Battle Map

From the Bladensburg Archaeology blog:

"At the moment there are no excavations being conducted in Bladensburg. The analysis and results from the 2008-2010 excavations are nearly complete."

From one of my earlier posts, Excavation At Bladensburg.

More at the National Park Service:

"...Bladensburg, Maryland...a seemingly ordinary suburban community located approximately two miles to the northeast of the Washington, DC border, has a rich and varied history that stretches back 250 years."

Photos.

PBS has a Digging into the War of 1812 at Bladensburg, MD, here.

Words Of William Weatherford To General Andrew Jackson

Jim's Photo of William Weatherford's Grave North Of Mobile, Alabama

*Survival Strategies from the Digital History website, Digital History ID 653, included a speech by William Weatherford as he surrendered to Andrew Jackson:

Jim's Photo From A Sign At Horseshoe Bend Battlefield, Alabama

*"Annotation: The Creek defeat at the battle of Horseshoe Bend not only stripped the Creeks of half their land, it also dramatically weakened their capacity to resist white encroachments into what would become the Old South's richest cotton growing regions."

Source

John Ellis Wool

Source

From the National Park Service:

His [John Ellis Wool's] military career spanned more than 50 years, beginning when he organized a volunteer brigade in 1812 and became the Captain of the Thirteenth United States Infantry


There are John Ellis Wool Papers at the New York State Library.  A bio was also provided:

"When the War of 1812 broke out, he raised and headed a company of volunteers in Troy, and on 14 April 1812, he was commissioned a captain in the 13th Infantry. His troops were engaged in action at the battles of Queenstown and Plattsburgh. In between the battles he was promoted to a major in the 29th Infantry on 13 April 1813, and, afterwards, was brevetted a lieutenant colonel on 11 September 1814. He was made colonel and inspector general of the Army on 29 April 1816 and maintained this grade for more than a quarter of a century."

Major General Wool was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.  He died 10 November 1869.

Hillabees

From A Map At Horseshoe Bend NP

A day or two later [after the Battle of Talladega] the people of Hillabee town about the site of the present village of that name in Clay county, Alabama, sent messengers to Jackson's camp to ask for peace which that commander immediately granted. In the meantime, even while the peace messengers were on their way home with the good news, an army of one thousand men from east Tennessee under General White, who claimed to be independent of Jackson's authority, together with four hundred Cherokee under Colonel Gideon Morgan and John Lowrey, surrounded the town on November 18, 1813, taking it by surprise, the inhabitants having trusted so confidently to the success of their peace embassy that they had made no preparation for defense. Sixty warriors were killed and over two hundred and fifty prisoners taken with no loss to the Americans, as there was practically no resistance.   [Source]