Fort Mississauga

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".....Fort Mississauga at the mouth of the Niagara River...".

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Thomas Pearson, A Forgotten Hero

Per Wikipedia:

Pearson attached part of his garrison to the pursuing British force under Lieutenant Colonel Morrison and led them at the decisive Battle of Crysler's Farm.
In 1814, Pearson led a detachment of light troops in the Niagara peninsula, and fought at the battles of Chippawa and Lundy's Lane, and in the Siege of Fort Erie, where he was wounded again.

Source: Battle Of Chippawa

From this site:

"...Pearson, a decorated and veteran light infantry officer, would prove to be one of the most troublesome opponents the United States faced during the War of 1812."

"The troops under his command slept clothed, with their muskets beside them; he permitted no boat traffic on the river in summer and no sleigh traffic in winter without a license signed by him. Although he did not attack the American bank of the St. Lawrence, he did organize an intelligence network of paid informers."


More from this site:

"Moving towards the British position, Scott was slowed by an advance guard led by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pearson. In the resulting Battle of Chippawa, Scott's men soundly defeated the British. The battle made Scott a hero and provided a badly needed morale boost (Map)."

What To Do With The British Soldiers In Canada?

After the war of 1812, the Government had the problem on its hands of disposing of the Regiments of British soldiers which had been sent to this Country to resist the invasion. [Source]

Trooper Of The 19Th Light Dragoons

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Commandants At Fort Harrison

Commandants at Fort Harrison:

Lieutenant Colonel James Miller was in command from October 31 to November 14 while the army was on the Tippecanoe campaign.

Captain Josiah Snelling, of the Fourth Regiment of the United States Infantry. He was in command from November 14, 1811, to some time in June, 1812. He was promoted to Colonel of the Fifth Infantry,
June 2, 1819. Fort Snelling, Minn., is named for him.

Captain Zachary Taylor, of the Seventh Regiment of the United States Infantry. Captain Taylor was in command from some time in June, 1812, to September 16, but we find no date of appointment or
transfer. He defended Fort Harrison September 4 and 5, 1812. He afterward became General Taylor, "Old Rough and Ready," of the Mexican War, and later President of the United States.

It is known that Major Willoughby Morgan was in command of the Fort December, 1815. When he succeeded Captain Taylor or whether there was another officer between them is not known. In about May,
1816, he was ordered to other duty by General Jackson, then Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and left Major John T. Chunn in command of the Fort. It is said that he rebuilt the Fort.

Major John T. Chunn having reported to Major-General Arthur McComb. Commandant of the Department at Detroit, the departure of Major Morgan, General McComb issued an order May 10, 1816, transferring Major Chunn from Fort Knox, and placing him in command at Fort Harrison. This order instructed Major Chunn to remove government property from Fort Knox to Fort Harrison. This apparently was the end of Fort Knox as a government post. Major Chunn had helped to build the Fort at the time of the Harrison campaign to Tippecanoe.  He was then a Lieutenant in one of the companies of that army.  He
was appointed Captain of the Nineteenth Regiment of the U. S. Infantry, April 14. 1812. He was transferred to the Third Regiment on May 17, 1815. He resigned from the army June 12, 1821, after a long and honorable service. He returned to Terre Haute to spend the rest of his life, and leave a long list of descendants to honor his name.

Major Robert Sturgis. Appointed Ensign of the Second Infantry, September 28, 1812. Promoted to First Lieutenant March 9, 1814, and resigned February 10, 1818. He had served as a volunteer private in
Captain Benj. Parks' troop of light dragoons, in the Tippecanoe campaign, and so was a builder of Fort Harrison. From many legends, he was so interesting a character, 'tis a pity more is not known of his his-
tory. He never married. He died in Terre Haute about 1828.

Portrait Of Commodore Rodgers

Portrait from Commodore John Rodgers: captain, commodore, and senior officer of the ..., by Charles Oscar Paullin

Captain James Gordon's Raid

"In 1812 Gordon, now with a wooden leg, was again afloat, captain of the Sea Horse; and in 1814 was under Cochrane on the American station."

"In August, Cochrane and Ross resolved on the raid on Washington; and Gordon, with a small squadron, was ordered to sail up the Potomac, in support of the land forces.  He started on the 17th, and struggled up to Fort Washington in ten days.  "We were without pilots," he writes, "to assist us through that difficult part of the river called Kettles Bottoms, consequently each of the ships was aground twenty times, and the crews were employed in warping five whole days."

"On the 27th he took Fort Washington, and on the next day appeared off Alexandria, and offered terms of capitulation to the town which our cousins found hard of digestion. Washington city had been abandoned by Ross on the 25th, after the public buildings were burnt.  The whole country was rising and here was this impudent one-legged captain insisting that the merchant ships which had been sunk on his approach should be delivered to him, "with all merchandise on board or---."  The army was already back at the coast, there was not the slightest chance of support, and his difficulties were increasing every hour; but the Alexandrians soon found that nothing but his own terms would get rid of this one-legged man." 

"No stranger feat of daring was ever performed than this, now nearly forgotten." [Source]