Kearny's War Of 1812 Service

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Stephen Watts Kearny...was born in 1794, at Newark, N. J., and lived there some years. He was a student at King's College (now Columbia) in New York City. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Thirteenth United States Infantry, and served under Captain John E. Wool. Captured after the Battle of Queenstown, he was soon exchanged. He offered to serve at the head of a marine force in Chauncy's fleet on Lake Erie, but his offer was not accepted. He was made captain, April 1, 1813. After the war he was transferred to the Second Infantry, with headquarters first at Sackett's Harbor, and later at Plattsburg.

Aftermath Of The Fort Mims Massacre

Claiborne, knowing how imminent was the danger to the frontier settlements from the Indians, was determined to protect not only Mobile, but the entire Southern section. To all his appeals for immediate action against the destroyers of the garrison at Fort Mims, with his troops writhing under inaction and nursing with an implacable spirit their grievance against the Indians for the brutal massacre at Fort Mims, with the war already established and a certainty of Great Britain's and Spain's assistance thereto, he had received...[a]...reply from the commander at Mobile: [Source]

U.S.S. Essex

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Prizes of the Essex.

John Mayser, Administrator

Michigan, Probate Records, Wayne Probate packets 1815-1816...:

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Rampier, John

Wayne County, Michigan, Probate File# 141 1/2

Estate

1816

Mayser, John (Half-Brother) and Administrator)

A Private In Capt. John Biddle's Co.

U.S. Corps Of Artillery

Image 500

28 August 1816

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....acquainted with Montice Rompier, commonly called John Mason....
....John Rompier killed at the Siege Of Fort Erie in 1814....[Image 503]
[Montice Rompier claimed the land bounty...]


NARA records on Fold3.com [also here] [Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798-1914] stated that Rampier's birthplace was Saxony and he enlisted in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Unpopular In New England

Source (New England Landmark In Boston)

"Because the War of 1812 was unpopular in New England, the writers of that section wrote that which was not true, and that which has given our people, especially since the Civil War, a wrong notion of our soldiers in the War of 1812." [Source]

Determined To Attack Baltimore

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"The British now determined to attack Baltimore. After Gordon had rejoined the fleet, the vessels, under a great press of canvas, ran for the mouth of the Patapsco. Meanwhile the inhabitants of Baltimore, under the leadership of the mayor, had set to work vigorously to strengthen the defences of the city."

A British Slave, A British Soldier

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Source (Page 107)

Burning Washington

Psychological Warfare?

Source - View of White House Circa 1799

At 6 o'clock, after a rest of two hours, the British resumed their march and about dark, encamped a short distance east of the Capitol. Up to this time the raid had been conducted as an eminently proper military movement, but suddenly the British began to execute literally the orders given by Cochrane. The two wings of the Capitol were the only parts finished, but these were set afire and in the conflagration the Library of Congress and many valuable public documents were destroyed. Ross and Cockburn with about 200 men marched quietly along Pennsylvania Avenue to the President's house and set it afire...". [Source]

British Spy Near Niagara

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Lilly Library, Indiana University

Letter dated 1812 Aug. 10 

Hall, Amos, fl. 1813  Army Officer
Autographed letter signed. 3 p. 25 cm.

Head Quarters, Niagara Frontier. To William Wadsworth (1761 - 1833). Deals with the court martial trial of John Ryan [citizen of the United States] a British spy.

Directed that a court martial be held at the house of a Warren Sadler, Innkeeper at Schlosser...county of Niagara...

Frederick Richmond (last named above), Adjutant,

Apparent Even To The Enemy

Unknown Source

The New Nation Grows... included a section entitled, "A Cowardly Commander Surrenders Detroit."

"The day after the Fort Dearborn massacre General William Hull surrendered Detroit to General Brock, the British commander. Hull's incompetence and cowardice were apparent even to the enemy."

"...[an] account was written by Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville, a French Canadian serving in the British army."

Sir James Lucas Yeo

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Sir James Lucas Yeo

War Of 1912?! Ignore The Typo

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Return of killed and wounded on board the U. States frigate Constitution, Isaac Hull, Esq., Captain, in the action with H. M. S. Guerriere,  Jas. R. Dacres, Esq., Captain; on the 20th of August, 1812.

Lion In The Wilderness

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Lion in the wilderness...., commemorated the 200th anniversary of British rule in Detroit.

"Because of the military conflict, the growth of civilian population in Detroit was slower during the Revolutionary period.  But at the termination of their 36 year rule, the town was greatly expanded, the population nearly doubled, and prosperous farms stretched up and down the river."

"The British returned to Detroit briefly during the War of 1812....".

All Surrendered

The whole Michigan territory, Fort Detroit, a ship of war at Detroit, 33 pieces of cannon, many stores, the military chest, 2,500 troops, and one stand of colors surrendered to the British [by General Hull]. This surrender of Detroit electrified all Canada. [Source]

Where POW's Were Fed

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THE OLD CONANT HOMESTEAD AT PORT OSHAWA, BUILT IN 1811

Here United States prisoners from General Hull's army, which surrendered at Detroit, were fed while proceeding on their way by boats under guard to Quebec.  

Where The Fort Dearborn Massacre Occurred

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The Chicago Massacre

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The garrison at Fort Dearborn, at the mouth of the Chicago river, together with the few civilians of the neighborhood--men, women, and children--left the place for a long overland march of three hundred miles through the woods of Michigan, on August 15, 1812.  The ill-starred General Hull was in command at Detroit, expecting a battle with the British force, and he had sent orders by an Indian runner to the commander at Fort Dearborn, to move his command to Detroit, after disposing of the government stores and property as he thought fit.

A Suspicious Sail Off Sandusky

Source (Not The Boats Referenced Below)

From A history of the United States...:

"On the 13th of August off Sandusky a suspicious sail was descried and the Scorpion was sent in chase. The stranger proved to be a British spy boat...".

Capture Of The Alert

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AT SEA, August 17, 1812.

SIR,

"I have the honour to inform you that upon the 13th, his Britannic majesty's sloop of war Alert, Captain T. L. P. Langhorne, ran down on our weather quarter, gave three cheers and commenced an action...".

D. PORTER. [See David Porter's portrait below]

Source

In Search Of The Enemy

[Partial] Scene Of The Naval Operations - Great Lakes

Map and information taken from A history of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1893; ...:


After equipping their vessels the Americans cruised several days between Erie and the Canadian shore in search of the enemy, but Commander Barclay had put into Malden to await the completion of the 19-gun ship Detroit. On the 9th of August Master-Commandant Jesse D. Elliott arrived at Erie with one hundred men and was assigned to the Niagara, and three days later the American squadron put to sea in a double line of battle.

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.

An Excerpt From Anderson's Journal

According to the Canadian Captain Thomas Gummersall Anderson:

Source

Thursday, August 11th.-- Gave out some few articles of goods to the Michigan Volunteers...Gave out twelve carrots of tobacco to be distributed among the troops in general....as a preventive to sickness.

The want of provisions obliges me to give every assistance to the farmers to get in their grain as fast as possible. I, therefore, allow all the Volunteers that are not on duty, to go and work for them in the day time. Employed the Sergt. of artillery men with some of the Michigans, in making leaden three pound balls.

Anderson's memorial at FindAGrave.

More Rentless And Destructive

An excerpt from the Life and letters of Judge Thomas J. Anderson...:

His [Thomas Anderson's] sons William, Joseph and Abner, took up arms against Great Britain in 1812. Under Col. Sanderson they went from Fairfield county, Ohio, and William and Joseph are mentioned in Sanderson's report now on file in the office of the Adjutant General of Ohio.

Joseph, under Gen. W.H. Harrison, died in the service at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, of camp fever.

Battle Of Lake Erie

William was in the battle of Lake Erie, (Perry's Victory,) lay sick a while at Put-in-Bay and after the invasion of Canada died at Malden or Fort Malden. They were good soldiers and true men, but were swept away by an enemy more relentless and destructive than the British and Indians--the poisonous malaria of the vast swamps of Northern Ohio.

George Sanderson's Ohio soldiers: 

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Commodore Perry Visited Long Point

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The battle of Lake Erie: a collection of documents, chiefly by Commodore Perry...:

Shortly after reaching the open lake, Perry visited Long Point, the enemy's naval station opposite Erie. Of this visit he wrote thus to the secretary on August 8: I have the honor to inform you I have returned from Long Point without having seen the enemy; we are now busily employed in getting in ballast, provisions, and pro curing volunteers from the militia. I propose sailing this evening in pursuit of the enemy.

Signed By Susannah Butler

Butler Johnson Major  (1804);  Lieut.-Col.

(16 May 1806)

Died  of disease, 1 Dec 1812   4th Lincoln

[Per the Niagara Historical Museum]

Image 545

...amount of pay for the late Johnson Butler, Esquire....4th Regiment Lincoln Militia

Signed by Susannah Butler, widow of the late Lt.-Col. Butler

When McCullough Was Killed

Map From The Lucas Journal

See Firsts blog:

The first United States soldier to be killed in the War of 1812 was Captain McCullough, killed in this battle of Brownstown, and he was scalped by an Indian before he was dead.[Source]

A short period previous to the battle [of Brownstown] one McCullough had sought and obtained the assent of the commander-in-chief that Lucas, himself, Fowler, and Stockton should accompany Major Vanhorn in the expedition upon the enemy.

The march was commenced on the following morning. Lucas and McCullough proceeded together. Near the big apple tree McCullough alighted from his horse. Capt. Barrier accompanying Lucas, they moved immediately forward. The road here forked, one leading to the right of an Indian cornfield, a little in advance, and the other to the left of it.

They took the right hand path. McCullough, on coming up, fortunately took the left hand road, in company with a servant of Major Vanhorn. They were fired upon by a party of a dozen ambushed Indians, and McCullough and another of the detachment were killed, scalped and tomahawked before relief could reach them.

This was in the rear of the main engagement. Lucas paid the last sad duties to the unfortunate travelling companion, by conveying it a short distance, placing it upon a plank, and covering it with bark all the funeral rites which the darkness and dangers of the hour would permit... . [Source]

This account characterized the group as "spies."

The Third Great Blunder

[General] Hull directed Captain Van Horn to cross to Detroit with two hundred men and go to Brush's relief.  This was the third great blunder of the campaign; the loss of the Cuyahoga being the first and the failure to capture Malden the second.

 If Brush's two hundred men were in peril would not Van Horn's two hundred men be in equal peril in going to their relief? [Source - links added]

Map -- Fort Erie -- 1812-13

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Root Of All Present Distress

Creeks Had Been Armed By British At Pensacola

"I do not wish you to engage in any rash enterprise. You must act on the defensive." Compare such a diffident spirit with the martial one that called forth such fervid utterances as "Seize Pensacola and you disarm the Indians. It is the real heart of the Creek Confederacy;" "At all hazards, I wish you would enter the Creek Nation;"


"I would advise a stroke at the root of all present distress — Pensacola." Such confidence of speech not only reveals the military ardor of the Mississippi soldier, but conclusively proves that he had a clear understanding of the situation. [Source]

Attack On Fort Stephenson

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Battle Of Fort Stephenson

Honoring Sequoyah (George Guess)

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War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files [NARA] for George Guess (Sequoyah):

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