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

Jackson Ordered To St. Louis

Andrew Jackson Statue In New Orleans

"Over in Missouri, however, Illinois Indians continued a constant warfare well into the year 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed and promulgated... .  They continued until the war department assigned Andrew Jackson to this department, with orders to report to St. Louis there to attach himself to the head of the troops he would find awaiting him and march against the Rock River Sacs... .  Duncan Graham, head of the British intriguers at that point, had formed a profound respect for Andrew Jackson, by reason of the New Orleans affair and other events, and without ceremony at once fled to Canada." [Source]

Before Satisfactory And Lasting Peace

Source

"As war went on, American disasters decreased; and the year 1814...with severer trials, better fortunes, and admirable exploits will bring us before it ends to satisfactory and lasting peace."

Interactive Timeline

The timeline at Ohio History

Battle Of The Sink Hole

Photo From An Adjacent County Of The Sink Hole Site

From Wikipedia:

The Battle of the Sink Hole was fought on May 24, 1815, after the official end of the War of 1812, between Missouri Rangers and Sauk Indians led by Black Hawk. The Sauk were unaware, or did not care, that their British patrons had signed the Treaty of Ghent with the U.S.

The most famous of these expeditions was that made in 1814 by a company of mounted rangers raised by Peter Craig of Cape Girardeau county. Many of the members of the company had served under Captain Ramsay in 1813; they were now enlisted for a period of one year to serve on the frontiers of Missouri and Illinois, and they became a part of a regiment commanded by Colonel William Russell.

After the company was organized...it was sent to North Missouri and while there fought the battle of the Sink Hole (Lincoln County, near Cape au Gris). [Source]

Source

1815 Letter Written Near Cat Island

Ship Island (Adjacent To Cat Island)

LETTER OF A BRITISH OFFICER 

[C. J. Forbes]

On Board H. M. S. Alceste
Off Cat Island, 28th Jan., 1815

Source [ Excerpted Letter]

A summary of Charles Forbes and his letter (Trent University Library):

While in the British Army, Charles Forbes was present for the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Our donation contains a letter written 29 Jan. 1815 on board H.M.S. Alceste, off Cat Island (near New Orleans), and sent to James Cobb, Secretary, East India Company (a cousin). In the letter Charles says that the information given to the Admiral was “fallacious” and that unlike what they had been led to believe, no “settlers of Louisiana and the Floridas” flocked to join the British cause and hence they had insufficient troops for the encounter with the Americans. It’s interesting to note that even by the end of January, Charles did not know that a treaty to end the War had been signed.

The Treaty And John Quincy Adams

Source

A little sarcasm?:

"WHO has not heard of the triumphant result of the negotiations at Ghent? Who does not know that the glory of the triumph is claimed by John Quincy Adams? He is the intellectual giant who prostrated with ease the sophistry and the arguments the arts schemes and stratagems of a superannuated Admiral and two mere diplomatic machines."

John Quincy Adams diary* entry, October 30, 1814, mentioned the subject of fisheries:
Oct. 30.—...Mr. Gallatin proposes to renew the two articles of the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the stipulation for our right to fish, and dry and cure fish, within the waters of the British jurisdiction, and the right of the British to navigate the Mississippi. To this last article, however, Mr. Clay makes strong objections. He is willing to leave the matter of the fisheries as a nest-egg for another war, but to make the peace without saying anything about it; which, after the notice the British have given us, will be in fact an abandonment of our right. Mr. Clay considers this fishery as an object of trifling amount; and that a renewal of the right of the British to navigate the Mississippi would be giving them a privilege far more important than that we should secure in return.  [Source]

*Available online at the Massachusetts Historical Society website

Where Colonel Holmes Bivouaced

From the Kent County, Ontario, Canada's Historical Society's Papers:

A name [Goulet] that first established itself along the Kent Lake Erie shore... .  The family traditions generally fix the arrival of Francais Xavier Goulet there and the beginning of his settlement duties on his allotment of lot 154 from Col. Talbot about...1817 or 1818. As the surveyor of the district, Mahlon Burwell had only reached the last lot now in Tilbury on this road and encamped on this spot where the American Colonel Holmes bivouaced in the war of 1812... .

From Burwell's Journal:

"I passed the place in Front of Lot No. 177 (Tilbury East) where Major Holmes of the United States Army had encamped a Day or two, when on their intended expedition against Port Talbot in time of the late War. I find here...when they have remained all night in our Woods, they have felled large Trees flat to the Ground all round their Encampment, to serve as a Breast Work in the event of an attack. Two Field Pieces and ammunition Waggons were left here by Major [Andrew Hunter] Holmes, which were destroyed by the Loyal Essex Rangers. The Carriages were burnt, and the Guns and ammunition were carried back and deposited in a Black Ash Swamp where they remained until the Treaty of Peace." 

Difficulty In Reducing The Debt

Albert Gallatin Statue

From the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission:

Once in office, he [Albert Gallatin] vigorously attacked the public debt, and through careful management of the country's finances he was able to reduce the debt materially until the War of 1812 made this policy impossible.

After 1811, it became increasingly unpleasant for him to remain as secretary of the treasury. It was with a feeling of great relief that in May, 1813, at the request of President Madison, he went to Russia to study the details of a Russian offer to mediate Anglo-American differences. He stayed in Russia several months, but nothing came of the Russian offer. In 1814, he was one of the five American commissioners who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war. It was now that he was officially replaced as secretary of the treasury.

The War Was Over; The Hornet And The Penguin Hadn't Heard The News

One of the holdings of the University of Michigan's Clements Library:


Title: HM Sloop Penguin collection
"Abstract: The HM Sloop Penguin collection contains watercolor illustrations, photographs, a crew member's letter, and a journal...".

"The USS Hornet captured the 20-gun cruiser on March 23, 1815, near the island Tristan da Cunha, over a month after Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war. The Penguin and the Hornet were, however, stationed in one of the most remote areas of the Atlantic Ocean and had not yet heard the news."


From Description of American Medals:

Source

The Treaty Of Peace Arrived In NY

"On February 11, 1815, the British sloop of War, Favorite, arrived in New York harbor with the Treaty of Peace concluded at Ghent, and ratified by the Prince Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland." [Source]

A Christmas Eve Signing

Source

The Our Documents website included the Treaty of Ghent:

"In 1814, both sides were working to come to a resolution and agreed to discuss peace terms. A meeting in Belgium of American delegates and British commissioners ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814." 

Battery On Bois Blanc

Source

"During last war, a small battery was erected on the lower point of Bois Blanc, which is now deserted, and the island now serves as a camping ground for the [Native Americans] who visit Amherstburg. This island will be one of he most important points which the commissioners, under the treaty of Ghent, will have to determine." [Source]

A Summary Of The War In 1814

Excerpts from a sign at the Cumberland Island NPS Museum:

CRISIS, CLIMAX, AND PEACE - 1814

As Britain and her allies ended their war against Napoleon, thousands of battle-hardened British regulars boarded ships for America.  In July, they captured 100 miles of coastline in Maine.  In late July they turned back the last American attempt to invade Canada.  In August, British forces marched on Washington, the American capital.

In mid-September, on Lake Champlain, at Plattsburgh Bay, New York, Lieutenant Thomas McDonough's under gunned American squadron defeated a superior British fleet.  The tide of war changed and peace talks began in Ghent, Belgium.

Not knowing the war had ended, the Battle of New Orleans saw troops under General Andrew Jackson first slow then defeat a British advance on January 8th, 1815.

Note: The Battle of the Ice Mound, Battle at Point Peter and the Battle of Bowyer occurred after the Battle of New Orleans.

Which Country Owned Bois Blanc?

"After the War of 1812 the question was again raised...".

From The Northwest under three flags, 1635-1796:

Entering the Detroit River on the 11th of July, 1796, they discovered first a few widely scattered houses set along the low lying shores, but as they progressed they found clustered about the new British post some twenty houses in all stages of completion. The region [in Canada] was known as the district of Malden, but as yet the name of Amherstburg had not been given to the town, and for months it was known simply as the new British post and town near the island of Bois Blanc, an island by the way that was claimed to be within the United States, greatly to the disturbance of Governor Simcoe (3).

(3) The ownership of the island was not settled until after the treaty of Ghent in 1817.  After the War of 1812 the question was again raised.--War Department MSS.:  Protest of Colonel Anthony Butler, July 1, 1815; and Andrew J. Dallas to Colonel Butler, May 31, 1815.

Which country owned Bois Blanc after 1817?  Canada.