Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-02-02
THE NORTHWES
THE GENTENlIlL HISTORY OF OHIO.
BY w.FARRAND FRLcH.
Copyrighted. all rights reserved.
CHAPTER III.--THE WAR OF 1872.

CHAPTER IIT.--THE WAR OF 1872.
In former chapter we have adverteG
to the war of 1912, while treating O
Gen. Macarthur. 1t will be well, how
ever, to give in outline the part taker
by Ohio troops in this war with Great
Britain. Says Atwater: "Thougll
peace had been made on parchment
between the United States and Eng
land, in 1888, yet that peace could
hardly be said 10 have extended to this
Northwestern Territory. The war with
the Indians continued from the 9th OF
April, IVA, until the peace of Green.
Vile, August Sd, 1795. The British,
constantly occupied their Indian posts
within the limits of our territory until
the first of June, 1896. The Canadian
Indian Department continued to pay
who lived within the limits of this
Union, up to very recent period; per
haps they do up to the moment when
this is written" (1S3S.)
We have alluded to the surrender of
Gen. Hull, at Detroit, and il is proper
to give the circumstances leading up to
this act as the forces under his COM
mand were mainly Ohio men. The
battle of Tippecanoe, in November,
1911, was an initial step toward the
open declaration of war with Great
Britain, by Congress, in June, 1912.
To harrass the enemy and punish the
British for plundering us, the Madison
administration took steps to raise an
army, during the session of Congress
from December, 1911, to the summer of
1872. During that "long Parliament, y
Congress increased the regular army TO
$4,000 men, and)authorized the raising
of IA large Volunteer force.
Early in the spring of 1912, Governor
VIM. Hull, of Michigan, was ordered
into Ohio, to raise troops with which it
would seem he intended to cross over
into Conada, opposite Detroit, and
march towards Quebec. 1t was the
intention to attack all the weak British
settlements along the north side of
Lake Erie, and march downwards to
Fort Niagara.
Governor Hull had served in the
Revolutionary war, as an aide, and in
some minor appointments; but, says
Atwater, TAT the time Of his appoint
ment, on this frontier, he was too old
to belong to an army under any situa-
ton. All the little military Knowledge
he ever had wasantiquated and useless,
and even worse than useless, because
he relied upon it. The higher appoint
ments made by Mr.. Madison, in the
war of 1872, were mostly of the same
stamp, such as Hull, Pinkney, Dear
born, Winchester, etc. They were too
old, and they had not kept pace with
the age in which they had lived.
Hence. all they did was useless. They
were directed by DIR. Eustis, another
worn-out Revolutionary. subaltern Of
ficer.n Perhaps Mr.. Atwater is not as
impartial as he might be in regard to
these gentlemen.
Under the aforesaid act of Congress,
Gov. Meigs, of Ohio, raised three regi-
ments of Volunteers for twelve months,
in April and May, 1872. They rendez-
voused at Dayton, and were command
ed by Col. Duncan Macarthur, Col.
James Findlay, and Col. Lewis Cass.
They marched in June to Stauntion,
where they were paid off, then to
Urhana, where they were joined by
Boyd's, Tor the 4th) Regiment ofregular
troops, which had been engaged at
TippeeanOe, now commanded by Col.
Miller. This little army of $500 men
left Urbana the middle of June; twenty
five miles northward they erected
block-house called McArthur's Block
House. The next stopping place was
in a swamp, where they erected block
house called Necessity The Second
t1o1 tnrAonoIoI oh Il ii
erected block-house, calling it 'Fort
Findlay" after the Colonel command
ing. The town of Findlay, Hancock
county, stands on the site of this fort.
These block-housesw were stations where
provisions could be stored in case of
necessity. From Fort Findlay the
army marched through ''The Black
Swamp to Perrysburgh, followed by
106 heavy wagOns,s 13 Of which stuck
fast i'm the mud and were abandoned.
The army reached the Maumee, June
80, fifteen days after they had left Day
ton. DIR. Eustis, then Secretary of
War, had by this time despatched a
messenger to Gen. Hull, conveying a
letter which he forgot to mention, as a
tritling circumstance, that war had been
declared with Great Britain, but lie
hinted that something of the kind
might occur. Four days later Gen.
Hull sent a lake vessel to carry his most
valuable effects and papers from the
Maumee to Detroit, past Maiden, the
British station. This vessel, guarded
by30 men under q Lieutenant, fell into
the hands of the British, and revealed
the strength of the American army.
arrived at Detroit on the 5th of July
and rested several days. On the End,
Gen. Hull received letter from DIR.
Eustis, informing him that war had
another letter directing him II consis-
tent, to take Maiden. But Hull replied
that his force was insufficient. The re-
maining events of the Hull surrender
TO the British are matter of history and