The Erskine (Non) Agreement

From the History of the U.S. State Department government site:

"[Secretary of State Robert] Smith’s major diplomatic mission to improve relations with Great Britain proved a failure. Advised by Madison, Smith entered negotiations with David M. Erskine, the British Minister at Washington. The two intended to stabilize relations between the United States and Britain by restoring neutral trading rights during the Napoleonic War."
"Unfortunately Erskine overstretched his authority, offering too many concessions, and failed to convey British Foreign Minister George Canning’s central requirement for an agreement: that the United States agree not to trade with the French for the duration of Britain’s war with France. This omission doomed the 1809 Smith-Erskine Agreement... ."
"Frustration over the agreement’s failure helped to propel the two countries into the War of 1812."

Commentary concerning Erskine's endeavors:

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David Erskine was also mentioned here. 

Detroit Residents' Letter To Judge Woodward

After General Hull surrendered Detroit the previous August, frightened Detroiters sent a letter to [American] Judge Augustus Woodward (excerpt below), who was planning to leave, asking him not to abandon them.  They had reason to be afraid; the letter was sent just prior to the nearby Battle of the River Raisin:

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It was a matter of quite as great importance that the civil affairs of the community should be attended to as that the military affairs should be properly conducted.  ...Woodward alone, remained in Detroit as the representative of the territory. [British] General Proctor, as civil governor under the terms of the capitulation, ordered the supreme court to convene at the council house in Detroit early in February 1813 and Woodward, as the only remaining judge, was expected to preside. Judge Woodward did not get along with General Proctor and did not think he could be an effective advocate for the citizens of Detroit because of it. [Source]  

From The Life Of General Combs

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"By selling a small piece of land (all he had on earth) devised to him by a deceased elder brother, he soon completed his outfit as a volunteer, and, armed with holsters and broadsword, with only fifteen dollars in his
pocket, he started for the north-western army, which was then marching with all possible speed towards the frontiers of Ohio, in order to re-enforce General Hull. Never having been forty miles from home before this time, young and inexperienced as he was, nothing but his burning zeal for the cause to which he had devoted himself could have sustained him against all the perils and hardships of his long journey. When he arrived at Piqua, beyond Dayton, he found crowds of Indians, men, women, and children, principally from the neighboring Shawanee villages, who were besieging the commissary's and quartermaster's apartments for food, blankets, and ammunition."  [Source]


More about General Combs here.

Isaac Baker

Because I research both Baker and Backus surnames in New York, the application of Isaac Baker at Fold3 caught my attention:

Julia Backus of Freetown, Cortland, New York, only living witness to marriage between Isaac Baker and Mary Swetland, 29 April 1813 at Granville, Washington County, New York.  That Ira Baker has known said parties (Isaac Baker and Mary Swetland Baker).....

On 30 December 1850, Isaac Baker, age 63, was an affiant for his pension application.  He stated that he was a private in a company commanded by Captain Jehial Dayton in an Artillery regiment commanded by Colonel Stephen Thorn.  Private Baker volunteered for war at Granville, Washington County, New York, about August 1, 1812, for 6 months.  His actual service lasted about 3 months and 20 days because of illness.  He recovered about January 1, 1813; by then the company disbanded was was sent home.  He applied for a discharge from Captain Dayton in the summer of 1813 as Baker was moving from Washington County to Cortland County, New York.  He received his discharge on July 9, 1813.  The purpose of the deposition was to obtain bounty land.

United States Census, 1850

Name: Isaac W Baker

Freetown, Cortland, New York, United States

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Isaac W Baker M 63 New York

Mary Baker F 39 Connecticut

1855 NY Census - Mary Baker Next To Swetland Family

Military Society Of The War Of 1812

The Military Society of the War of 1812 was formed by officers of the War of 1812 to press for pensions and bounty land legislation.

"On January 3, 1826, pursuant to notice published in the newspapers of the City of New York of December 31, 1825, a number of commissioned officers and ex-officers, who resided or were stationed in the vicinity, and who had served with reputation in the Army of the United States in the War of 1812, met at the Broadway House, corner of Broadway and Grand Streets. ...as a reward for their services, sufferings, and losses during the Second War of Independence." [Source]


From an earlier time: The Military Society of the War of 1812: annals, regulations, and roster (1895):

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After 1840, only annual meeting's were held, and on January 8, 1848, the Military Society of the War of 1812 consolidated with "The Veteran Corps of Artillery," in which many of its members were already enrolled, and was afterward generally known by the latter title.

An Unintended Sacrifice

1812 Working Replica Boat - YouTube

From Historic Pittsburgh:

"Mr. [Brintnall] Robbins was not only unfortunate in his ship building venture, but he also never recovered payment for the boats which he built to carry General Scott's troops across the Niagara into Canada, during the War of 1812.  He died at Greensburg, Pa., in 1837." [Source]

Colonel King's Court Martial

William King was also a Military Governor of West Florida.....

Fort King Was Named For Colonel William King

A list of officers in the army of the United States who hold brevet commissions for gallant conduct in battle, and for other causes, from American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and ..., Part 5, Volume 2, by United States. Congress:

In the matter of "the court-martial, in the trial of Colonel William King, of the fourth infantry...".

Major General Andrew Jackson was involved, too, sending an order from Headquarters Division of the South, Nashville, on September 2, 1819.  The court-martial was ordered to convene at Fort Charlotte, Mobile, Alabama Territory.  On October 5, 1819, it was learned that yellow fever "was then raging" according to an October 25th report, in Mobile.  The court-martial participants then removed to cantonment Montpelier (in Alabama) where they arrived on November 18th.

Captain Francis L. Dade was a supernumerary member of the court-martial board.....he had an unfortunate history with Florida, too.

A summary of William King's court-martial can be found here.

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