Captain Robert Charles Wilkins

Mr. Wilkins was appointed Captain of a flank company in Kingston. He was to obtain supplies for the army and to secure safe transportation for the troops.

Source

Stephen Foster's Father

Biography, songs and musical compositions of Stephen C. Foster, Authors: Foster, Stephen Collins, 1826-1864, Foster, Morrison, 1823-1904:

From Historic Pittsburgh

"My father [William Barclay Foster] was a man of great public spirit and unbounded patriotism.  During the War of 1812 he was appointed Quartermaster and Commissary of the U.S. Army."

University of Pittsburgh Archives and Manuscript Collections:

Subseries 10. William B. Foster Papers, 1814-1955
Scope and Content Notes:
This subseries includes the business papers of Stephen Foster's father, William B. Foster, Sr. It consists of correspondence, papers related to court cases, the War of 1812, the establishment of Lawrenceville, and materials general by Morrison Foster related to his attempts to settle his father's estate.

Section: 1. War of 1812 Correspondence and Transactions
Scope and Content Notes:
This section contains the correspondence of William B. Foster during his years as a commissary agent for the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. Most of these papers deal with supply and military sustenance issues; occasionally a letter emerges that tells of William’s amicable relationship with several of these military officers.

Lieutenant Otis Fisher

Source

"Lieutenant Otis Fisher...served in the war of 1812 and lost an arm in the battle of Bridgewater. Later he was stationed at Detroit as quartermaster of the Fifth Infantry. He was about to retire when engaging in a duel..(killed at Sandwich May 3, 1820). He owned a farm on the River Rouge.

Source

Letter from Otis Fisher, Quartermaster, Nov. 21, 1818 [Fold3]:

Needed From The Arsenal

Letter from Peter B. Porter, Q. M. G. of the State of New York
Black Rock, June 28, 1812

Source

"There is every reason to believe that the British meditate an attack on Fort Niagara...".

"Bring with you all the arms and ammunition in the Canandaigua arsenal."

Zebulon Pike's Military Career

Source

 He became the lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Infantry Dec. 31st, 1809. From Apr. 3d, 1812, to July 3d of that year, he was on duty as deputy quartermaster-general. He became the colonel of the 15th Infantry July 6th, 1812, and was appointed to be brigadier-general Mar. 12th, 1813. But before this appointment was confirmed General Pike had been killed at the head of the troops he led to the assault on York, Upper Canada, April 27th, 1813, aged 34 years, 3 months, 22 days.

General Wilkinson's Camp

Source

The camp was mentioned in David Kilbourn's petition:

"General Wilkinson,.....engaged to examine, secretly, the British posts in Canada, to procure accurate information of their numbers and position, and to communicate the result to the American commander; that he [David Kilbourn] executed this commission to the entire satisfaction of General Wilkinson...".

"...that the enemy, having been informed of the petitioner's employment and acts, apprehended him, confined him in prison, treated him harshly, and proposed putting him to death, when he made his escape [twice]."

"...after his escape, he repaired to General Wilkinson's camp at the French Mills, who renewed to him his former promises, furnished him with money to defray his expenses to Sackett's Harbour, and recommended him to the Quartermaster at that port...".

Deputy Quartermaster Duncan Reid

Frenchtown (Monroe, Michigan) Map

Reports from the Court of Claims...:

Quartermaster

Michigan (Frenchtown)

Duncan Reed was the half brother of John Anderson.

".....Duncan Reed [or Reid],  (late of Captain Hubert La Croix's company of Michigan militia) did act as assistant deputy quartermaster to the militia in the service of the United States in July and August, 1812, stationed at the River Raisin... ."     James Abbott

Captain Richard Alexander's Papers

The Alexander Family Papers are housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and are focused on Richard Alexander (ca.1786-ca. 1856), a Captain in the War of 1812, and...are composed of accounts, correspondence, military records for the War of 1812, deeds, land records... .  The military papers, largely requisitions for supplies, are the records of Richard Alexander, Quartermaster of the First Brigade of Tennessee Volunteers in the War of 1812.


There was an auction (now ended) that included Richard Alexander's papers (partial description below):

1st item: Partially printed document appointing Richard Alexander quartermaster with rank and grade of first lieutenant in a regiment of Infantry of the Tennessee Volunteers, commanded by Colonel W. Hall. Dated Nov. 21, 1812, Nashville, and signed by Governor Willie Blount.

4th through 7th items: ... receipts and supply requisitions, all related to Richard Alexander, quartermaster.... .

8th item: ... refers to Jackson's efforts to retain tents for his men which had been ordered back by the Secretary of War John Armstrong, as part of Armstrong's Feb. 6 letter ordering the dismissal of the detachment under Jackson's command. 

Couche Should Be Hanged

"Edward Couche, deputy commissary general.  The "means" was a local currency to pay 4,000 militia ordered out by Brock.  He needed 1,500 pounds and couldn't get the funds.  Hence we find, December 12, 1813, Col. Nichol writing to Talbot, remarking: "Couche should be hanged."  He made good in many other ways later on." [Source]

Source

"On the sixth of August the deputy-commissary at Amherstburg wrote as follows to Edward Couche, the commissary-general for the province of Upper Canada: 'If the Indians remain and continue their wanton and extensive depredations on cattle, a short period will put an end to our supplies.'"
"'I could easily have supplied provisions for 2,000 troops in conformity with your letter of the 18th of July. Since then I have been feeding 15,000 troops Indians &c I find such difficulty in procuring flour corn etc to feed such hordes...'" [Source]

 

Letter From Black Rock

Source

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] 

Robert Nichol's Brilliant Career And Untimely Demise

Robert Nichol (c. 1774 - 1824) plaque for "The Man Who Would Be Quartermaster."

Source

"His death was caused by falling over the precipitous bank of the Niagara river between Niagara Falls and Queenston one stormy night at at the beginning of May, 1824, his funeral to Stamford cemetery taking place on the 6th.  He was married to [Mrs.] Theresa Wright on December 21, 1811."

Letters From The Swearingens

James Swearingen of Ohio; Captain of Artillerists and a letter, dated 6 August 1811,  from Chillocothe to Major Nicoll:

More from Chillocothe:
A letter dated 1 July 1811 from James Swearingen, Capt. of Artillery, and one dated 29 November 1811.

An 1813 letter from Mrs. Nancy Bedinger Swearingen, written when she and her husband, James, were stationed in Pittsburgh, was incorporated in this article.  He was then the quartermaster for the Western District.


From the NARA, War of 1812 Discharge Certificates, Appendix I: List of Units and Subunits:

1st Artillery

Capt. Addison Bowles Armistead's Co. 

Capt. Stephen Conover's Co.

Bvt. Maj. Ichabod Bennet Crane's Co. 

Capt. Samuel T. Dyson's Co.

Capt. William Gates's Co. 

Capt. Nathaniel Leonard's Co.

Capt. Benjamin Kendrick Pierce's Co. (Note 6)

Lt. Samuel Rockwell's Detachment 

Capt. James T.B. Romayne's Co.

Capt. James Strode Swearingen's Co. 

Capt. John De Barth Walbach's Co. 

Company not indicated

Source

James Strode Swearingen's memorial at FindAGrave and his place in the Family Register of Gerret Van Swearingen.

Swearingen's journal entries from 1803 here.

General Alexander Macomb, Samuel Champlain's Surety

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AT THE SECOND SESSION ...

...Major General Macomb became one of the sureties of Samuel Champlain, lieutenant of artillery, in a bond to the United States as a paymaster of the army;...a suit has been instituted against the memorialist and is now pending against him in the name of the United Stales for the recovery of the sum of $10,000. 

A character reference:

Source

1812 Letter Written At Fort Harrison

From Indiana History:

Zachary Taylor, Fort Harrison, Indiana Territory, to General James Taylor, Newport, Kentucky

General James Taylor and Zachary Taylor were cousins.  Per Wikipedia:
"Gen. James Taylor Jr. was Quartermaster General and paymaster of the Northwestern Army during the War of 1812, thus Newport became a vital center for war supplies."

Papers of General James Taylor are held at the Kentucky Historical Society.

The Man Who Would Be Quartermaster For Canada

The life of Robert Nichol (1774 - 1824) from the Ontario [Canada] Historical Society:

"The first record I have found of his life in Canada, is contained in a certificate over his signature, dated at Amherstburg on January 21, 1798, in which he states that he had been employed by Mr. Askin, a British merchant of Detroit and had transacted all his mercantile 'business at Amherstburg...".  

Was it his business acumen learned from working with Mr. Askin and elsewhere that proved invaluable in the eyes of Sir Isaac Brock?

"He [Brock] sent for Nichol...and offered him the important and responsible office of Quartermaster-General of the Militia. This would involve the entire organization of a new department, charged with all the duties of supply and transport for a considerable body of men suddenly called into service, for whose equipment, subsistence, quarters, and movements, no previous arrangements of any kind had yet been made. Everything must be improvised. Nichol said that at first he refused to accept this appointment on the ground that his private business would be neglected and ruined... . Brock insisted on his acceptance, saying that Nichol was the only person in the province whom he considered fit for the office... ."

General Thomas Sydney Beckwith

Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith (1772 - January 15, 1831); married Mary, eldest daughter of Sir William Douglas, sister to Charles, Marquis of Queensbury; Governor of Bombay.

From the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online:

 In January 1813...Beckwith was named an assistant quartermaster general in North America.

Source at Hampton, Virginia

At the same time he was given command of the landing forces in an amphibious operation intended to harry the Chesapeake Bay area and reduce American pressure on the Canadas. The expedition was troubled by a command that was shared among Beckwith and admirals Warren and George Cockburn. Captain Charles James Napier, Beckwith’s second in command, blamed this “republic of commanders” for a failed attack on Craney Island, Va. Napier felt that Beckwith had “wanted neither head, nor heart, nor hand for his business; but he was not free to do what he thought wise, and run sulky when required to do what he deemed silly. . . . He is certainly a very clever fellow, but a very odd fish.” The expedition went to Halifax in September 1813.

Gunboat Inventory At Quebec, Pre-War

Title: British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, C Series) - DOCUMENTS

Microform: c-2932

Page 23

Source

Return of Six Gun Boats With Their Materials, 

In Charge Of The Quartermaster General's Department At Quebec

Quebec, June 1811

Captain James Rhea In Fold3

Letters Received By The Office Of The Adjutant General, 1805-1821

Page One of a letter written on behalf of (former) Captain James Rhea by B. Van Cleve from Dayton, Ohio, on May 20, 1815 to the Honorable Secretary of War in Washington, City.:

Source

Some of the information in the letter included:

--General David Forman was a friend of James Rhea's when young
--Brother of Jonathan Rhea, Esq., dec'd, late Chancellor of NJ
--He fought under St. Clair and "I think" under Wayne
--He is now about 50 years old [bapt 28 Sept 1760]
--He was charged with intoxication and the letter writer believed the charge to be true - "like too many of our old military character..."
--He is a man of honor, of integrity, as honest I believe as any man living

"...his savings from a life spent in the services of his country has supported him and his family til now
Without employment, without money, with but few acquaintances, he is about to encounter poverty with all its mortifying attendants -- A party of his officers had combined against him at Fort Wayne perhaps blame might attach both to him and them.  He resigned, perhaps he would have been broke -- ...".

Mr. Van Cleve asked the Secretary of War if some employment could be found for James Rhea at "some of the outposts...a quartermaster, keeper of an arsenal, or conductor of military stores or anything that would earn bread for his family."

Captain LeBreton

From Robert Randall and the Le Breton flats...:

In 1811 [Captain John LeBreton] was stationed as a Lieutenant in the QuarterMaster Generals Department at Quebec. In this office he seems to have been active and zealous in the performance of his duties. On the outbreak of the war in 1812, between Great Britain and the United States, he was attached to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Fencible Infantry, a regiment which earned an enviable record during the war. He accompanied the regiment on General Brock's expedition to Detroit in 1812 and was present at the capture of the city.

See John LeBreton's biography here.

General Edmund Munger

FROM BLACKSMITH TO GENERAL

General Munger Re-Fits An Army

His election to the rank of Brigadier General was contested.  On February 15, 1810, it was determined that he had been elected fairly.

"General Munger, whose title was earned by right of his command of Ohio troops during the War of 1812 and to which command he was succeeded by General Hull, who led his troops to disaster at Detroit spent one summer after coming to Ohio in the wilds near Belpre, in Washington county... ." [Source]

From Blacksmith to General:

"With the departure of General Hull and the Army of the Northwest, General Munger’s command of militia was ordered into Dayton to garrison the town, protect stores and public property and keep open a line of communication and supplies with the army at the front. This was a service of utmost importance, as the quartermaster’s ordnance and commissary supplies were to be forwarded through Dayton."

General Edmund Munger was born September 30, 1763 and died April 14, 1850.