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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
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 Posted - October 10 2014 : 3:22:19 PM
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Monument dedicated to Gen. Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers.
I recently for the first time visited in northern Ohio and southern Michigan and had the opportunity to see several sites relating to the Old Northwest and the War of 1812, the sesquicentennial of which is currently ongoing. A short distance west of Toledo, Ohio, near the town of Perrysburg, named in honor of the victor in the Battle of lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry, are these three sites pertaining to that era. Most famous of these is that of the Battle of Fallen Timbers where, after suffering numerous defeats, U. S. troops led by Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne finally defeated the Miami tribe and its allies led by Chief Little Turtle.
The actual site of the battle was in an area that had been struck by high winds or a tornado ( what frontiersmen like Daniel Boone called a "harricane" ), hence the name, and had been lost to memory. When the imposing monument was erected, it was placed on the ridge overlooking the Maumee ( Miami ) River and its wooded floodplain where the battle was believed to have been fought. More recently, the actual site has been identified slightly west and north of this location; though the land is now a National Historical Site, it remains undeveloped at this time but there are plans in the works for its development as a park.
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With the resulting treaty with Little Turtle, the Indian threat was largely removed in the Northwest Territory, especially after Territorial Governor and General William Henry Harrison again defeated the hostiles in 1811 at the Battle of Tippecanoe in what is now Indiana. The War of 1812 saw a resumption of hostilities, however, especially following Gen. William Hull's craven surrender of Detroit without a struggle and the subsequent Battle of the River Raisin and a massacre of wounded Americans redolent of that at Fort William Henry!
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Gen. Harrison led a force to attempt the recovery of Detroit in Feb., 1813, the month after the River Raisin affair, stopping short of what is now the present Ohio-Michigan border to establish Fort Miegs near the old Fallen Timbers battlefield. Work proceeded slowly on the irregularly-shaped stockade and its blockhouses and magazines, all of which had to be hacked into the frozen earth by the men, who possessed few tools for the purpose. Eventually, a stockade encompassing nearly ten acres had been erected, as seen reconstructed in the photos above and below.
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View of the interior of the reconstructed fort above; and one of the five blockhouses, below. Following the action here, the size of the stockade was reduced to about a fourth, with the eastern and southern walls being moved inwards and resulting in a more rectangular shape. This remained visible for years up until the twentieth century when agricultural use finally destroyed all but one of the earthen traverses that divided the interior of the stockade; it remains today as the only original part of the fort.
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Meanwhile, the British in Detroit had noticed the incursion and Col. Henry Proctor moved with a force of Regulars, Canadian militia, and the Indian Confederacy of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh to destroy Harrison and his fort on the south side of the Maumee. This turned out to be more difficult than at first imagined, and devolved largely into desultory artillery firing from across the river towards the fort while Tecumseh's Indians sniped at anyone foolhardy enough to appear outside the stockade.
The "siege", if such it could be called, was largely broken when reenforcements of some 800 Kentucky militia arrived, though about 400 of them were foolishly caught in an ambush and many killed or taken prisoner. Eventually Proctor gave up and raised the unsuccessful siege when his Canadian and Indian allies began to leave. From here, Harrison sallied forth in better weather and eventually recaptured Detroit, chasing the British and Indians into Canada where Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames River.
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The British had erected their own stockaded Fort Miamis on the north bank of the Maumee River a mile or two east of Fort Meigs. The fort was the scene of another Indian tragedy, this time in reverse, when its commander refused to open it to his Indian allies once Harrison's men emerged; they happily slaughtered as many of them as they could in retaliation for their actions; "Remember the Raisin" was their battle cry. According to the park brochure, "Before the engagement [ at Fort Meigs ], the Americans had never won an important battle in the Northwest. After the siege, they never lost."
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Today, Fort Miegs and Fort Miamis are units of the Ohio State Park system. Miegs boasts a beautiful new visitor center and museum, above, adjacent to the reconstructed stockade, and despite the forbidding climate here is open year-round. This would be a good p-lace to begin a visit to this area. There is little remaining at Fort Miamis other than a pile of remains of the earthworks, but it's a worthwhile stop.
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Monadnock Guide
Council of Elders
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
March 14 2005
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Posted - October 10 2014 : 7:41:05 PM
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| As always James - some really great pics & excellent reading ... Thx. Unfortunately the War Of 1812 is almost a secret today & it had a profound impact on "who we are today" ... |
you can keep "The Change" |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - October 11 2014 : 11:18:23 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Monadnock Guide
As always James - some really great pics & excellent reading ... Thx. Unfortunately the War Of 1812 is almost a secret today & it had a profound impact on "who we are today" ...
Thanks, MG; I was pleasantly surprised by the extent of the reconstruction and the quality of the museum here at Fort Meigs. There are also Living History programs - two women were setting up for a demonstration of hearth cooking in one of the later non-period buildings. Sorry for the tiny size of the accompanying photographs, but for some reason the software REFUSED to allow anything bigger, even the size I've posted before!
I even more recently returned ( in August ) from another trip, this time in the opposite direction to Baltimore. Though I didn't make it to Ft. McHenry for the Bicentennial of the Star Spangled Banner, there were a lot of other places promoting their War of 1812 connections, including Bladensburg, scene of the notable American defeat that led to the capture of Washington and burning of the White House! |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
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Posted - October 19 2014 : 1:17:56 PM
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| I fully agree with MG ... you are the King of posts these days, James. Excellent stuff of great interest! |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - February 25 2015 : 2:43:27 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by richfed
I fully agree with MG ... you are the King of posts these days, James. Excellent stuff of great interest!
Thank you, Rich! I'd post even more, but have grown disgusted with the software here on the Forum - WHY am I unable to post any but these ridiculously tiny thumbnails?? I wanted very much to add to the thread I began on the San Antonio Spanish Colonial Missions, but just LOOK at that photo of the Alamo there! ( Or these here, for that matter. ) This is something new, because though they've always been too small for my tastes, now almost all detail is lost in photographs. |
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Monadnock Guide
Council of Elders
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
March 14 2005
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Posted - February 25 2015 : 6:40:26 PM
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| Another good one James, good reading indeed - thanks. |
you can keep "The Change" |
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Fitzhugh Williams
Mohicanland Statesman
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
July 17 2005
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Posted - February 26 2015 : 08:40:39 AM
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| I think you can post larger pics. It seems that the software will allow a certain size before it shrinks it down to keep it withing the size of the page. If it does shrink it, you can click on the image and it will be enlarged. |
"Les deux pieds contre la muraille et la tete sous le robinet" |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - February 26 2015 : 12:29:32 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Fitzhugh Williams
I think you can post larger pics. It seems that the software will allow a certain size before it shrinks it down to keep it withing the size of the page. If it does shrink it, you can click on the image and it will be enlarged.
Not so, Fitz! Every time I attempt to post a picture, the damn thing repeatedly says the image is too big, until it's the size of these, and then they're so small clicking on them does no good. |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
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Posted - February 26 2015 : 3:11:26 PM
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| I don't get it, James. No changes have been made on my end. Will look into it. |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
Status: offline
Administrator |
Posted - February 27 2015 : 03:14:44 AM
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| Try again, James ... anything 2 MB or less ought to work. I just tested and it was going fine! Good luck! |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - February 27 2015 : 3:50:52 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by richfed
Try again, James ... anything 2 MB or less ought to work. I just tested and it was going fine! Good luck!
*TEST*
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I don't know what happened, but this time it seemed to work! |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
Status: offline
Administrator |
Posted - February 28 2015 : 2:22:01 PM
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| I know what happened ... I changed the variable in the code to allow larger images. What I don't know is how it got set so low. I hadn't changed a thing since I implemented the photo upload option years ago. Very strange! |
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Monadnock Guide
Council of Elders
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
March 14 2005
Status: offline
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Posted - February 28 2015 : 3:35:29 PM
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| Sounds like my computer - things "just happen", ... damn thing has a mind of its own. |
you can keep "The Change" |
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Fallen Timbers, Fort Meigs, and Fort Miamis, Ohio
