Captain Daniel Springer

Captain Daniel Springer was a soldier in Butler's Rangers.

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In the war of 1812 Captain Springer was at Detroit, and in command of a company of the First Middlesex. ... it appears, "that Captain Springer exerted himself in defending the Province by actively performing his duty on all occasions. He therefore became as usual extremely obnoxious to all the enemy and the disaffected, a party of whom seized him on the 1st February, 1814, and after binding him, took his own horses and sleigh, and placing him in it, carried him to Kentucky. Shortly after his departure, his family was obliged to move to the Grand River. He returned in time to share in the glory of the battle of the Falls." [Source]

From this website:

SPRINGER, Capt. Daniel.  This Company served July to December 1812, 25 April to 24 May 1814 and 25 June to 24 July 1814, received Land Claim Certificate Unit Flank Company 1st Regiment Middlesex Militia, Vol 24, File 79, pages 173-175.  Born September 1763 in Albany, New York; died June 15, 1826, in Delaware Township; buried in Tiffany Cemetery, Delaware; married Ruth Fairchild.  Was Captain of 1st Regiment Middlesex Militia, elevated to Lt. Col. In 1812.  Taken prisoner by an American raiding party under command of Andrew Westbrook, of Delaware, an old neighbour.  Prisoner at Chilcothe, Kentucky but returned to Canada to take part in battle of Lundy’s Lane.

Letter From Black Rock

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BLACK ROCK, June 28, 1812.

SIR,

THERE is every reason to believe that the British meditate an attack on Fort Niagara, and that it may be attempted within twenty-four hours from this time. If they once pass the river it is impossible to say how far they may proceed. Under these very urgent circumstances, I despatch an express to request that you will immediately march the men under your command to our assistance. Although you may not have received orders authorizing you to comply with this request, I am persuaded the occasion will justify you, as your men can be of no possible use at Canandaigua, or any other place along the south shore of the lake, and are undoubtedly intended, ultimately, for this place. Bring with you all the arms and ammunition in the Canandaigua arsenal.

In great haste, yours respectfully,

PETER B. PORTER, Q. M. G.

Maj. Mullany, commanding at Canandaigua.

[Major General Hall addressed Major Mullany by the same conveyance, and equally urgent, with an assurance that the people would bear him harmless in the event of his being censured by the government for marching for their protection, &c. &c] 

Commodore Elliott's Deeds

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Correspondence in relation to the capture of the ... . Elliott, Jesse D....:

"...a brave military character of our own country...and then his remarkable deeds: first, in the Mediterranean, second, on Lake Erie, thirdly, on the coast of Brazil, and lastly, on the seaboard of South Carolina...in all which it appears that Jesse D. Elliott conducted to the entire satisfaction of the Congress of the United States, and its President. His being selected to carry despatches to Mr. Pinckney, our Minister at the Court of Great Britain, is not worth mentioning, were it not to show that there was something about Mr. Elliott that elicited patronage; for he stood alone in the world, his father. Captain Robert Elliott, having been slain in battle with the Indians, when under the command of Gen. Wayne. He left a widow and nine children.

Fort Niagara Was Out Of Repair

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OLD FORT NIAGARA:

Fort Niagara's Southwest Blockhouse

The official declaration of the war, made June 18th, reached Fort Niagara June 26th, a day after the news had reached the Canadian Frontier by private messengers sent to his agents hereabouts by John Jacob Astor, who had vast commercial interests at stake. According to the commandant's private admission, the fortifications were out of repair, there was scarcely any arms or ammunition, and only one company of soldiers in the fort, showing great negligence on the part of the War department.

Major General Alexander Macomb

Macomb's background from Wikipedia:

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The subject of this memoir was born at Detroit, on the 3d of April, 1782. Though not, like one of the heroes of antiquity, born on tapestry representing the scenes of the Iliad, he may yet almost literally be said to have been nursed in field and fortress, and rocked by the storms of war. Detroit, at this time, was a military post. [Source]

Ohio's State Militia Established Pre-War

Boundary - Ohio River

"...[in the] legislature at Chillicothe in 1803-4, specific laws were passed providing for a state militia. The state was organized with four divisions and John S. Gano, of Cincinnati, was elected major general of the first; Nathaniel Massie, of Chillicothe, of the second; Joseph Blall, of Marietta, of the third; and Elijah Wadsworth, of Canfield, of the fourth. The last named division covered the whole northern half of Ohio, including the counties of Columbiana, Jefferson, and Trumbull--the latter at that time embracing the whole Western Reserve." [Source]

Mr. Madison's War

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None of the 39 Federalists in Congress voted in favor of the war; critics of war subsequently referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War."

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Statement Regarding Craney Island

The Earl Gregg Swem Library at William and Mary included the Statement by Theo Wallauven about attack on Craney Island by the British on June 22, 1813, in its online collection. See excerpted portion below:

See earlier blog posts, Battle Of Craney Island, Fortifications On Craney Island, Report On Craney Island and Defence Of Craney Island.

William Henry Harrison

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Course Toward Eventual Nationhood

Pearson At Chippawa

From this site:

"Battles in Upper Canada (modern Ontario)...arguably set Canada on its course toward eventual nationhood." In the region bordered by Lake Ontario to the north, Lake Erie to the south, and the Niagara River to the east, and along the St. Lawrence, professional soldiers like Thomas Pearson repelled American forces, refusing to yield British Canada.

Thomas Pearson of the Royal Welch Fusiliers is mentioned in this book review.

Another View Of Fort Mississauga

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One Of The Select Few

From the Life of Sir John Beverly Robinson: BART., C.B., D.C.L., chief-justice of .., by Charles Walker Robinson:

John Stewart Of The 21st

Michigan, Probate Records, Wayne Probate packets:

Image 412  File 138 1/2

John Stewart, late soldier in the 21st U.S. Regiment of Infantry

Stewart, Rebecca, wife
Image 416 Rebecca declined admin; signed in Burlington, Vermont, 5 Sept. 1815

Day, Sylvester [Doctor] (Administrator), Surgeon, U.S. 5th Regiment of Infantry


From the Army Regist…, Registers of Enlistments 1798-1815, Page 441 [viewed at Fold3]:   "Killed April 24/15."

Giles Hall's Petition

Title: Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865)

Microform: c-2043

June 16, 1816

H, Bundle 2

Petition 98

Stamford
"This may Certify that Giles Hall has resided within the limits of the 2d Reg't of Lincoln Militia during the late war..... ."

Gile Hall's Oath of Allegiance

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Leavenworth Portrait

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Henry Leavenworth

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Duncan McArthur

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Colonel Duncan McArthur

Ezra Younglove

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From Michigan, Probate Records, Wayne Probate packets (Francois La Fontaine's estate):

Image 595 

Wayne County Probate File  #143 [Image 551]

Francois La Fontaine's widow, Catherine de Joncaire de Chabert, 

married Ezra Younglove, a War of 1812 veteran.

Captain Daniel Buell

From Metcalf Hatch's biography at Rootsweb:

Metcalf Bradley Hatch was born in Genesee County, New York, March 5, 1835. His father, Timothy Hatch, died March 27, 1844, and his mother, Lucretia Buell, died in 1865. Daniel Buell, an uncle, was a captain of the infantry in the War of 1812, and was killed in the battle of Chippewa. His remains were never found.

More from the life of Rufus Hatch:

Abraham Butterfield was in Captain Buell's unit according to his pension file.

Fort Malden And Amherstburg

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Fort Malden and Amherstburg in 1812

From The Original Painting By Catherine Reynolds

From The Journal Of Major Isaac Roach

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Isaac Roach's Journal was published in The Pennsylvania magazine..., Volume 17:

 The 23rd regiment, to which I belonged, arrived in a few days, and I began to regret my promotion when I began to make comparisons with officers and men; for I sincerely think there could not be a nobler collection of warm hearts and willing hands than the officers of the 2nd Artillery then at headquarters,say...Spotswood Henry....Davis--Hook and Stewart--not one individual of whom but is borne on the reports as having been distinguished;--Scott, Towson, Biddle and McDonough in every battle that was fought, and McDonough only was killed. I believe all the others were wounded, except Hindman.

Map Of The Detroit Front

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Young Isaac Brock

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Canceled Pension

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By the Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada:

Of Artemas Cushman, of the Township of Camden, in the Midland District, setting forth that he volunteered in His Majesty's service during the late war and served as a private in Captain Christopher Fralick's company of Addington Dragoons during which service he had his thigh broken and was otherwise injured by a fall from his horse in the night when conveying a despatch from Kingston to Colonel Johnston's in the fall of 1812, in consequence of which he has been ever since unable to earn his livelihood;--he is often put to much expense for medical attendance; that he was examined before the medical board after the war, and received a certificate and obtained a pension 'till about 1822; that he underwent another examination before Doctors Powell and Macaulay when he had every reason to expect his pension would be continued, but was subsequently informed that there was no money in the treasury, and has lately been given to understand that his name is struck off the pension list, as the commissioners had reported unfavorably on his case and praying relief in the premises.

Pope's Tavern

"In the early 19th century, taverns were the center of community life and served as meeting places for business, entertainment, and political activities.  Pope's Tavern's convenient location [Florence, Alabama] on the vital Military Road (Hermitage Drive), the most direct route from Nashville to New Orleans, made it an ideal center of commerce."

"Local legend recounts that General Andrew Jackson stopped here on his way to battle the British at New Orleans in 1814."

Billy Green, The Scout

"...Abraham Gorman [or Corman], of Stoney Creek,...told the story of the capture of his father, Isaac Gorman, by the Americans, June 5, 1813, how he obtained his release, also the countersign which he told to Billy Green, the scout, who, in turn, gave it to General Vincent, the memorable night of the battle [Stoney Creek]. Source


A map of the Stoney Creek battlefield here (also a portrait of Billy Green).


...talked of the battle [Stoney Creek] and its great power in saving Canada for the British Crown.  [Source]

Colonel, H.R.H., The Duke Of Kent

Source H.R.H The Duke Of Kent

1st Bat. 1st Foot, (or Royals.)

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Colonel, H. R. H., the Duke of Kent

Lt. Col. Archibald Stewart

Major John Gordon

Major Thomas Deane

H.R.H., the Duke of Kent was at Kensington Palace, not in Canada, on 8 August 1813.  He lived in Canada before the war started.

John Tapson's Journal

A holding in the University of Michigan's Clements Library:

Title: John Tapson journal

Inclusive dates: 1806-1814

Extent: 211 pages

Abstract: The John Tapson journal is a detailed record of a junior officer's service in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War and the War of 1812.

"In August, 1811, Tapson rejoined the Africaine for a tour in the South Seas. Making a circuitous route from Sri Lanka to India and Indonesia, then back to India, the Africaine arrived in Bombay on January 1, 1813, just in time to receive word that war had been declared between the United States and Britain. The Africaine was immediately charged with intercepting a small fleet of American merchantmen (valued at £300,000 each) from Canton and set sail once again for the East Indies."

Coveting Florida

"There were other sources of friction (other than the Indians). On the continent of Europe, Great Britain was engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Napoleon, and neither the British nor the French paid much attention to the rights of neutrals. The United States had legitimate grievances against both nations, but hostility toward Great Britain was intensified by her practice of seizing American seamen and forcing them to serve in the royal navy. Many Americans, moreover, coveted a chance to take the Floridas from Spain, Britain's ally in her was against France."

From The New Nation Grows... ,

James Madison's Address To Congress And The Declaration Of War

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James Madison was President of the United States when war was declared.


From the Montpelier Organization:

When James Madison addressed his war message to Congress on June 1, 1812, he listed “a series of acts hostile to the United States as an independent and neutral nation.”

Madison concluded by reminding Congress that under the Constitution, it was their decision to declare war. After a 79-49 vote in favor of war in the House of Representatives and a 19-13 vote in the Senate, war was declared against Great Britain on June 18.

See Mr. Madison's War.