War of 1812
The War of 1812 has ties
to Ohio County , Kentucky , in that some of our first settlers
were directly involved in the fighting and some land grants resulted from
service in the War.
It is a great understatement to
say that the War of 1812 is difficult to understand and it is dangerous to try to explain it in a few words, but I’ll try to give a short
explanation:
• Basically, the war was
between the USA and Great Britain (including allies of Great Britain ).
• The war started in June
1812 and ended February 1815.
• The war was fought at
sea and in the United States
– partly in the US & Canadian border area and partly in the southern United States.
• Prior to the war, Great
Britain was locked in a long and bitter conflict with
Napoleon Bonaparte’s France .
In an attempt to cut off supplies from reaching the enemy, both sides attempted
to block the United States
from trading with the other.
• Prior to the war, the British Navy outraged Americans by
its practice of impressment, or
removing seamen from U.S.
merchant vessels and forcing them to serve on behalf of the British.
• Also, the British were
encouraging the Native American Indians to resist American expansion in the
West. This factor had been going on since 1811 and was largely related to the
attempted expansion of the Indiana Territory and the battle of Tippecanoe .
• Although the USA had almost no Navy or Army (still recovering
from the Revolutionary War) the US
government finally decided to stand up against the British and declared war in
June 1812.
• The US forces attacked Canada (British colony) and
suffered a humiliating defeat in August 1812.
• Other battles in the
Northwest Territory (Lake Erie, Detroit ,
etc.) continued over 1812 and 1813. After Britain
finally defeated Napoleon in April 1814 it gave its full attention to the war
effort in North America .
• On August 24, 1814 the
British captured and burned Washington ,
DC , including the Capitol and the
White House. There is a wonderful book about this that everyone should read: Through the Perilous Fight: From the Burning of Washington to the Star-Spangled Banner: The Six Weeks That Saved the Nation, by Vogel,
Steve
• Peace talks were ongoing
at Ghent (modern Belgium ) in late 1814 and a treaty was signed
December 24, 1814. But unaware of the
treaty British forces attacked New Orleans
January 8, 1815 and were soundly defeated by the US Army led by future president Andrew
Jackson.
With
the impending onset of hostilities, the governor of the Indiana Territory, future President William Henry Harrison sought military assistance from
neighboring Kentucky.
After being appointed brigadier general of the Kentucky militia on August 22, Harrison went to attain
the force in order to defend the Indiana
territorial government at Vincennes, Indiana. Harrison had resigned his military
commission in December 1811, but with the help of Kentucky
governor Charles Scott, he was able to recruit Kentucky citizens to help defend Indiana ;
citizens in Ohio and Indiana had heard of the lack of camp
provisions and chose not to be burdened by such hardships. As a result, most of Kentucky 's
militia during the war fought in what was the old Northwest territory.
A
total of 25,010 Kentuckians fought in war, with five out of six men of military
age fighting the British and/or the Indians; they were in 36 regiments,
four battalions,
and twelve independent companies.
Note: There is a
chapter about the War of 1812 in Ohio County , Kentucky in the Olden Days, by Harrison . Here is a partial quote from the book: “The people of Ohio
County held mass meetings at which
speeches were made and resolutions were adopted teeming with devotion to Kentucky and their
country, no matter what the cost in self-sacrifice. It was resolved that the
people should wear nothing but homespun, and even recommended that the ladies
should use thorns as a substitute for pins, and otherwise abstain from every article
of English manufacture. The ladies of
every neighborhood were ready to join together and knie socks and gloves and
make hunting shirts and other garments for every new recruit. Certain
individuals would go around and collect such articles to send off to supply
their friends and other soldiers in the army. Thus, by the patriotism of the
people, especially the women, Kentucky
soldiers were equipped and sent to the field without a dollar’s expense to the
government. Few, if any, of these
soldiers received a dollar of pay until after the close of the war, and then it
was at the pitiful rate of eight dollars a month.” “Besides several small parties and companies
who joined the cavalry expeditions into the Indian territory, Ohio County
raised three companies during the war. One accompanied General Samuel Hopkins
up the Wabash River ,
the other Governor Isaac Shelby to the Battle of
the Thames , and another was under General
Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.”
It is not known to me the names of those from Ohio County
who served. Perhaps we can find those names and publish them in the future. We
do know (from Harrison ’s book) that James
Tyler, Philip Thompson and Reuben Bennett served with honor and as leaders.
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Added: Source - Kentucky, Soldiers of the War of 1812; published by The Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky 1891.
This book is indexed by name of soldier but not by city or county, so I am unable to determine the names of those soldiers from Ohio County; however, I did find a page that included the two names from the Harrison book, i.e. James Tyler and Philip Thompson, so I think we can conclude that the soldiers on this list are from Ohio County. The page follows:
We can also conclude that the above list is only the one "Company" from Ohio County and we know (from the Harrison book) that there were two other companies.
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Added: In 1840 there was a census of Pensioners for Revolutionary War or (Other) Military Services. This census most likely included those soldiers, or their widows, that were injured during the War of 1812. Here is the list for Ohio County, KY (there is no way to distinguish which war the soldier served in except to interpret by age and all of these gentlemen would have been about 20 years old for the Revolutionary War and 45 - 50 years old for the War of 1812; so they probably served in the Revolutionary War):
Name of Soldier Age Head of family (with whom residing)
Ohio County
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Added: Source - Kentucky, Soldiers of the War of 1812; published by The Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky 1891.
This book is indexed by name of soldier but not by city or county, so I am unable to determine the names of those soldiers from Ohio County; however, I did find a page that included the two names from the Harrison book, i.e. James Tyler and Philip Thompson, so I think we can conclude that the soldiers on this list are from Ohio County. The page follows:
We can also conclude that the above list is only the one "Company" from Ohio County and we know (from the Harrison book) that there were two other companies.
_______________________________________________________
Added: In 1840 there was a census of Pensioners for Revolutionary War or (Other) Military Services. This census most likely included those soldiers, or their widows, that were injured during the War of 1812. Here is the list for Ohio County, KY (there is no way to distinguish which war the soldier served in except to interpret by age and all of these gentlemen would have been about 20 years old for the Revolutionary War and 45 - 50 years old for the War of 1812; so they probably served in the Revolutionary War):
Name of Soldier Age Head of family (with whom residing)
Ohio County
Zebra Arnold 83 Bayliss Axton William L. Barnard 81 William L. Barnard William Campbell 87 William Campbell William Carter, sen. 80 William Carter, sen. John Maddox, sen. 78 John Maddox, sen. Francis Petty 87 Pinkney Petty Peter Parks 81 Peter Parks Diadama Shutts 78 Joseph Shutts Chesley Calloway 81 William Simmons