Walking Through History…

"Attack on Fort Oswego, Lake Ontario, North America." May 6, 1814, Noon. By Captain John Hewett, 2nd Battalion Royal Marines. Etched by Robert Havell, London, England, 1 May 1815. From the Collection of the Public Archives of Canada.

This week marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Oswego in the War of 1812. Fort Ontario State Historic Site Superintendent Paul Lear helps us commemorate this historic event with the following passage:

Prelude…

During the War of 1812, Oswego, N.Y. was a crucial forwarding point on the waterborne supply route and for army campaigns along northern frontier. Fort Ontario, crumbling and un-garrisoned since 1804, was situated on a steep bluff on the Oswego River to guard warehouses, shipping and a small village of inhabitants. By 1814, the war had become a shipbuilding race with both sides vying for control of Lake Ontario. In April of that year, the Royal Navy was in command of the lake and Oswego was defenseless.

Lt. Colonel George Mitchell and five companies of the 3rd U.S. and Light Artillery Regiments arrived at the fort on April 30 after spies reported the threat of an imminent attack either on Oswego or Sackets Harbor. They were ordered to guard supplies and stores, send what they could upriver to safety and hide what couldn’t be transported in the woods.

It all started when…

Shortly after sunrise on May 5, lookouts at Fort Ontario spotted seven ships belonging to the Royal Navy. Although Mitchell had completed most of his orders and stood little chance of victory against overwhelming numbers, he and his officers resolved to resist an attack as long as possible. Mitchell would fight with 290 artillerymen armed with muskets, 200 militiamen and 5 light cannon. The British ships carried 1,000 Royal Marines and troops, 1,000 sailors and 222 heavy cannon. Villagers packed up what belongings they could and fled to the countryside as the fort sounded warnings and the militia came in from the sparsely settled countryside.

Around 1:30 p.m., the British reached Oswego. U.S. Navy Captain Melancthon Woolsey organized the militia to dump cannon and munitions in the river to avoid capture. The British moved in to draw American fire and determine the number and location of their cannons. Around 4 p.m., the weather changed and British troops were ordered back on board ship. As the last men returned aboard, a violent storm struck and the ships scrambled to get away from the treacherous shore. The weather cleared during the night and the fleet returned the next morning.

The battle resumes…

On the morning of May 6, three ships returned to the harbor. Despite the disadvantage in numbers, the Americans gave as good as they got. Around 10 a.m., the H.M.S. Prince Regent and Princess Charlotte moved in to cover the troop landings with their massive broadsides. Mitchell gave final orders to his men not to quit their posts until driven away at bayonet point. 

About 11 a.m., 200 seamen, 350 Royal Marines, 58 men of the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencible Regiment and 160 Swiss troops of the DeWatteville Regiment approached the shoreline. The naval bombardment that began hours earlier reached a crescendo, with acrid white smoke covering the fort and the sounds of ear-shattering rolling broadsides reaching Kingston, Sackets Harbor, and Syracuse.

As the main landing force grounded east of the fort by Flat Rock, near what is now known as the Fitzgibbons Boilerworks property, men jumped out of boats into cold lake water. When cannon fire from the ships and gunboats slackened as the marines and troops waded ashore, the American militia moved to the edge of the wooded shoreline to pepper them with musketry.

Once on shore, Lt. Colonel Victor Fischer ordered “Forward!” at 11:50 a.m. Outnumbered six to one, Mitchell’s blue line of soldiers and sailors was driven back and slowly retreated up the slope towards the fort, turning and firing as they went. Two British lines with fixed bayonets drove forward, cheering, yelling and firing ragged volleys with many wet and unreliable muskets. Soon, the slope between the fort and present post cemetery was filled with bleeding dead, dying, and wounded men of both sides. 

The Royal Marine column charged into the ditch and up the ramparts, taking withering musket fire from the Americans on top. Other marines swept across the parade grounds, driving Americans before them. When Mitchell received word that the enemy was in the fort, he ordered a retreat and his men reluctantly ran from the ditch with the enemy on their heels, escaping capture by mere seconds. As Mitchell halted south of the fort to re-organize, a bugle sounded and the Union Jack was run up the flagpole; it was 12:06 p.m. In exactly sixteen minutes nearly 40 Americans and 90 British officers and men lost their lives or were wounded.

In the aftermath…

Retreating south, burning bridges to impede the enemy, the Americans fell back to Oswego Falls, now known as Fulton, to join militia gathering there. The British did not follow and busied themselves raising scuttled schooners, salvaging sunken cannon, loading barrels of food, munitions, and other valuable supplies and stores onto their ships. Finally, they left and sailed for Kingston around 4 a.m. on Saturday, May 7.

For the British, the prize was not worth the cost but another victory helped strengthen their position at the bargaining table in treaty negotiations. In the end, neither side won the War of 1812, which was fought for different reasons by both sides, but the young United States earned worldwide respect as a nation; one that would stand up for its rights, even if it meant taking on the most powerful military in the world.

 

Fort Ontario State Historic Site, located at 1 E. 4th St. in Oswego, is preserved as a memorial to those who served and continue to serve our great nation, in times of war and of peace, from the French and Indian War to the War in Afghanistan. On Saturday, May 10, at 1:30 p.m., Paul Lear will lead a free walking tour of the site of the 1814 Battle of Oswego beginning in the fort’s tunnel entrance. For details, call Lear at (315) 343-4711 or visit www.fortontario.com.

Here are views from the historic site:

For more information about Oswego County’s fascinating heritage and events, visit our Web site at www.visitoswegocounty.com.

Cheers,

Kelly

Commemorating heroes of the War of 1812 (Vol. II)…

As we continue our series honoring the local heroes of the War of 1812, we would like to share the interesting tale of the brothers Meacham. Captain John Meacham and Colonel Thomas Standish Meacham were leaders in our communities and leave behind a wealth of history.

The eldest son of Isaac and Lucy, John was born in 1777 in Williamstown, Massachusetts and the younger Thomas was born in 1794 in Pawlet, Vermont. Both were great-great-great grandsons of Captain Myles Standish, a famous military captain who arrived on the Mayflower with the early Pilgrims to settle Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Meacham families were some of the early settlers of the Richland area. In 1810, John and his wife Polly moved their family to the village of Pulaski. He opened its first mercantile on the corner of Bridge and Jefferson Streets and was later joined in this enterprise by Polly’s brother, Silas.

John was one of the original nine members of the First Congregational Church of Pulaski and, together with another brother Simon, was among its first board of trustees. The founders organized the church in Pawlet, Vermont in anticipation of their relocation to Pulaski. Following his brothers, Thomas and his wife Sally soon left Vermont and settled into the Sandy Creek area.

By the start of the War of 1812, John had recruited many of his neighbors to form a military company. They were called upon to defend Sackets Harbor on two occasions and Oswego once. He died in Richland just after the war and now rests with his family in the Pulaski Village Cemetery.

Thomas was as colorful an addition to the community as John was a civic leader. He became a commandant and local military leader himself and, for many years, led the annual training on the village green in front of the courthouse – reportedly one of the best training grounds in the area. With Thomas’ flair for presentation, these lively events were as much for play as for drill and drew participants and spectators from near and far.

Despite the popularity of these events, Thomas may have been better-known for his adventures in cheese-making. In 1835, he devised a plan to create an enormous cheese round (1,400 pounds) as a gift to President Andrew Jackson. Thomas accompanied the cheese to Washington (D.C.) to make the formal presentation to the president from the “people of the State of New York.” The gift was met with cheers and ovations and, on February 22, 1836, President Jackson invited one and all to partake of the cheese in celebration of Washington’s Birthday.

Just ten years after this triumph, Thomas died and is now interred in the Pulaski Village Cemetery with his brother, John.

Yet another pair of brothers joined the Meacham’s …

The aforementioned Private Silas Harmon (sic) was also a veteran of the War of 1812. He was born in Pawlet, Vermont in 1776 to Joel Harmon Jr. and Chloe Sheldon. Along with the Meacham brothers, he was a founding trustee of the First Congregational Church of Pulaski. Silas relocated to Richland with the Meacham families and the church congregation. His first wife, Jemima Terrell, died in 1814 and he remarried to Lucy Wales of Norwich, Connecticut.

Silas joined John Meacham in the mercantile business, and the two passed the firm on to Silas’ nephew, Milton. Silas then went on to open a tavern where he orchestrated the famous 1823 Revolutionary War salute to the 32 surviving veterans in Richland. He died four years later and is buried in the Pulaski Village Cemetery.

Silas’ brother Major Joel Harmon III was in the War of 1812 as well. A musician, Joel is perhaps more well-known for writing “The Columbian Sacred Minstrel”, a book of music and anthems published in 1809. The introduction of this new style was his opposition to the fugue style that was popular at the time. Joel was a music teacher in Richland before moving to York, Pennsylvania where he died in 1833.

As we continue our series commemorating local soldiers of the War of 1812, we look forward to including yours. Please e-mail me at kjordal@oswegocounty.com to share your stories.

If you would like more information about historical sites and genealogy in Oswego County, please visit our Web site at http://www.visitoswegocounty.com/.

Cheers,
Kelly

Commemorating heroes of the War of 1812 (Vol. I)…

It has been said that people are our greatest resource. With the coming 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812, let us take a moment to remember a few of those who took part in this bit of our nation’s history.

A special thanks goes out to Shawn Doyle, Richland Town Historian and president of the Half-Shire Historical Society for taking us on a cemetery tour to learn about these local heroes.

One of the oldest soldiers to serve in the War of 1812 was Lt. Colonel Hezekiah Cole. He was born in Rhode Island in 1765 and later moved to the town of Richland. Hezekiah served in the 13th Rhode Island Militia after the Revolutionary War and through the War of 1812. He and his wife Bethani Arnold brought up seven children: Arnold, Lucia, Tabitha (Samuel Cole), Sally (Samuel Fox), Anne, Richard, and Emery (Harriet). Hezekiah died in July 1844 and now rests in the Riverside Cemetery in Richland.

Ensign Samuel Dunlap joined his brother Captain Smith Dunlap in the War of 1812. Samuel was born in Fonda, New York in 1785 and later relocated to the town of Richland. He wed Sylvia Robbins of Keene, New Hampshire in September 1811, less than a year before the war began. Samuel’s adopted daughters, Polly Ann (George R.F. Campbell) and Mary Jane (Jewitt S. Ames) evenly inherited his lands upon his death in September 1853. Samuel operated a tavern on the old Ridge Road near where he is buried in the Ferguson-Blue Springs Cemetery in Richland.

Much is known about Lieutenant John Weed, who served in defense of Plattsburgh, New York during the War of 1812. After his birth in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1765, his family moved to Setauket, New York (Long Island). John tells his story in his pension papers:

“We lived there (Long Island) until I was 12-years-old, which was in April previous to the Declaration of Independence. And in 1776, I remember hearing the roaring of the cannon at Long Island, York Island, Flat Bush and also when the Phoenix and Rose went up the North River. I think my father, a Whig, and three sons (Charles, Ira and Jehiel) were then in the United States Army. In 1777, my father came home. Got his family off the island in 1778 and landed near Norwalk Connecticut, then went into South Salem where the family resided until 1782.

“In 1780, being liable to military duty, then 16-years-old belonging to Captain Joseph Benedict’s Company, we were called out and went on to the lines near White Plains, Mile Square, King Street, and Bedford near New Castle, I think between the 15th of October and 15th of November 1780. We found chestnuts and cider secreted among the Tories of which we made free use.”

John served four tours as a private between October 1780 and June 1783. After the Revolutionary War, he met his bride Mary Townsend of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts while residing in the lower Hudson River Valley. In 1790, the couple joined several family members and relocated to Rupert, Vermont. John purchased 100 acres and held several government posts, including: Tythingman, Surveyor of Highways, and Collector of Taxes. It was during this time that John was called back to service for the War of 1812.

John and Mary raised 13 children: Ira Charles (Thankful Phillips); William (Cynthia Phillips), (Freelove Thankful Parker); Lydia (Isaac Price), James (Ruth Nelson), (Betsey Flower); Joanna (Simeon Doane); Betsey (Reuben Peck); Rebecca (Ralph Price); Susan (Horace A. Phillips); Amanda (William Kilburn); Polly (Ralph Price); John (Emily Frary); Hoyt (Harriet Maltby); and Townsend (Almira Maltby).

In 1825, John and Mary moved to the town of Richland to join their children and neighbors. John died in 1834 and is buried in the Pulaski Village Cemetery.

Ferguson-Blue Spring Cemetery, Richland

Our ancestors have many fascinating tales to tell. Thus, we begin this series to commemorate our local heroes of the War of 1812. Please let me know if you have a story that you would like to share with the rest of the group. You'll find my contact information listed above on the right.

Cheers,
Kelly