On The Road

Originally posted at Detour Through History on April 13, 2011:

On The Road In The War Of 1812

"Downriver War of 1812 trail gets its due...".

"As far as (Daniel) Harrison was able to learn, the section of more than 600 logs was the only surviving remnant of Hull's Trace, a 200-mile road named for Gen. William Hull, who oversaw 2,300 U.S. troops who built the rudimentary road to supply food, weapons and other goods to Michigan. An inland route was crucial because the British military controlled Great Lakes shipping, Harrison said."  (Source: Detroit Free Press published April 11, 2001)

A portion of "Hull's Trace" (North Huron River Corduroy Segment) was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Mr. Harrison's efforts were largely responsible for the recognition it has now received, according to the Free Press article.

 Jim's Photo Of An Historic Plaque In Ohio

 Major troop movements in the War of 1812 are shown on the plaque above, including those who marched on "Hull's Trace."

From a State of Michigan news release dated January 3, 201, celebrating the National Register of Historic Places:

Hull’s Trace North Huron River Corduroy Segment, W. Jefferson Ave. just north of Huron River, Brownstown Township, Wayne County Hull’s Trace is a corduroy road segment beneath Jefferson Avenue just north of the Huron River. The road segment is a remnant – the only one thus far identified – of “Hull’s Trace” or Road, a 200-mile long military road hastily built during the summer of 1812 by troops under the command of American General William Hull to convey his army with its military supplies from southwestern Ohio north to Detroit. The segment of road, built by Hull’s forces in late June or early July 1812, played a role in major events in the War of 1812 in the Old Northwest. It carried Hull’s supply wagons on their way to Detroit on July 4, 1812. It likely carried the British force that defeated the Americans in the second Battle of Frenchtown on January 22, 1813, from and back to Fort Malden. The road also likely carried Lt. Col. James Johnson’s force of mounted Kentucky riflemen, with their baggage wagons and artillery, on their way from Fort Meigs in Ohio to Detroit in late September 1813 to support Gen. William Henry Harrison’s attack on the British in western Ontario in the wake of Commodore Oliver H. Perry’s defeat of the British fleet controlling Lake Erie on September 10.