Whale's Valor

Presented by J. Madison, President, of the U.S.
To Whale
The Reward of Signal Valor of Heroism
At the Battle of the Horseshoe  
March, 1814

Battle Of Lacolle Mills

Source

Pending the reply to his request for a court martial, [General] Wilkinson determined to strike a blow at Montreal as a last proof of his military ability. The road to the city was barred by small garrisons at St Johns and Isle Aux Noix and by outposts at Lacadie and Lacolle.

On March 30, Wilkinson crossed the boundary and made his way through the deep snow to the mill.

While the Americans were making this assault, two companies of British troops arrived from Isle Aux Noix whereupon the British commander made a vigorous sortie against Bissel and Smith, but after several desperate charges the British were repulsed.

General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley

A biography of the General:  Eleazar Wheelock Ripley of the War of 1812..."  Also here.

Source

After protracted and severe suffering. General Ripley so far recovered as to be able to travel, and started for Albany, where he arrived in January, 1815. During his long prostration, he received the constant and unremitted attention of his wife to whom he was married in 1811, and who was the daughter of the Reverend Thomas Allen, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a distinguished Revolutionary patriot.

The announcement of peace, which soon followed, rendered his presence unnecessary upon the frontier, and as soon as returning health permitted, he demanded and put in motion a Court of Inquiry as to his military conduct, which had been missrepresented and traduced.

The current of public opinion flowed strongly in his favor. Congress voted him a gold medal, for his gallant conduct at Chippewa, Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie, testimonials of esteem on every hand reminded him that his countrymen appreciated his services and at last, even Brown himself, whatever may have been his mental reservations and secret animosity, felt constrained to contribute the following letter to his vindication:

Upon the return of peace, the army was reduced to a peace establishment and was re-organized. Two Major Generals, Jackson and Brown, and four Major Generals by brevet, Macomb, Gaines, Scott and Ripley were retained in the service. 

The Genealogy of the Ripley Family here.

Harris Hampden Hickman

A letter with a dateline, Detroit, April 5, 1812, from Harris H. Hickman who married Gen Hull's daughter, Ann Hull, acknowledging his appointment as Captain of Infantry in the Army of the United States.

 

A deed transaction involving Harris Hickman:

Source

"...George Hoffman...grant, bargain, and sell...unto Harris Hampden Hickman, Esq....tract of land lying on the south side of river Rouge in the land district called Detroit...23 March 1808"

Commemorating Horseshoe Bend

Poster At Horseshoe Bend N. P.

Commemorating The Bicentennial of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend

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.

Brisbane's Memoirs And Papers

...is a collection held at the Clements Library (University of Michigan):

Title: Thomas M. Brisbane papers
Creator: Brisbane, Thomas Makdougall, Sir, bart., 1773-1860.
Inclusive dates: 1813-1815
Extent: 57 items
"The papers contain plans to advance on Plattsburg...and a detailed plan, with maps, which Brisbane designed for the destruction of the American fleet at Whitehall, New York, in the winter of 1814."

"Of special interest is a batch of letters from General Prevost that includes a confidential letter from Cadwallader Colden, a member of the American militia and Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1760-1762. The forward is a transcription of a letter written in invisible ink that details three ways of destroying the American Fleet at Whitehall."

Source

Thomas M. Brisbane's also wrote his memoirs (excerpted below):

"It having been resolved by the British Government to send four brigades to America, I was appointed to the command of one of them. Accordingly on June 14th we proceeded down the Garonne to Bordeaux, and embarked on board line-of-battle ships, and after a pleasant voyage, we reached Quebec about the end of July, and proceeded from thence to Montreal. On receiving my instructions from Sir George Prevost, the governor and commander-in-chief, I proceeded to take the command of the advance of the army close upon the enemy's frontier."