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General Hull surrenders Detroit. The geographical position of Ohio and its nearness to Canada made it certain that much of the fighting would be within or near the borders of this state. When Governor Meigs called for 1200 militia, more men offered their services than could be accepted. Three Ohio regiments were assembled at Dayton under the command of General William Hull, an old Revolutionary veteran whose best fighting days were over. General Hull was ordered to occupy Detroit, so that this place might serve as a stronghold for the defense of our frontier and as a base for the invasion of Canada. The lack of good roads made the march a difficult one, but Hull's expedition worked its way northward to the present site of Toledo, then on to Detroit.
The Americans numbered 2000 men, a larger force than the combined British and Indian army by which Hull was soon besieged. The British commander now played upon the fears of the aged American leader. Hull was told that unless he surrendered before the attack began, the Indians could not
THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
43
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be controlled and would show no mercy to prisoners. The American troops were eagerly awaiting the oncoming British when Hull, without consulting his officers, ran up a white flag over the fort. By this shameful surrender all of Hull's army 0
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44
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
was lost, together with 2500 rifles and stores of ammunition. The surrender meant that all of Michigan Territory now passed under British control, and that our northwestern frontier was at the mercy of the enemy.
General Harrison takes command. To retrieve Hull's disgrace, General William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, was placed in command of the American forces in the Northwest.
BRITISH ENCAMPMENT.
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FIG. 28. Fort Meigs
This fort was situated on the east bank of the Maumee River, just above the present site of Perrysburg, Ohio. This position was successfully held by General William H. Harrison against a greatly superior force of British and Indians (April-May, 1813). (Illustration from Randall and Ryan's "History of Ohio")
Harrison sent one division of his army under General Win- chester to the Maumee Rapids, while he led the second division to Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Winchester reached his destination on the Maumee in January, 1813, but instead of remaining · there, advanced to the relief of Frenchtown on the Raisin River (now Monroe, Michigan). Here his force of nearly 1000 men was annihilated by the enemy. The British general, Proctor, permitted his Indian allies to massacre the wounded and prisoners. "Remember the Raisin" became the rallying cry of the American frontiersmen for the remainder of the war.
INDIANIG
45
THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
The defense of Fort Meigs. Harrison himself arrived at the Maumee River on the day following the disaster at Frenchtown. Just above the present village of Perrysburg he built Fort Meigs, named in honor of the governor of Ohio (Fig. 28). The British laid siege to this stronghold, but the Americans resisted every assault. General Clay with 1200 Kentuckians came to their aid, and a part of his command under Colonel Dudley was ordered to cross the river, capture the enemy's batteries, then retreat to Fort Meigs. Dudley's attack was successful, but his impetuous followers forgot their orders and pursued the Indians into the forest. They were soon surrounded by over- whelming numbers of Tecumseh's warriors, and of 800 Americans who crossed the river only 150 returned. A score of the captured prisoners were scalped before the gates of the British Fort Miami, while Proctor himself looked on. Even this bloodshed did not satisfy Proctor's savage allies, large numbers of whom were deserting. Proctor had promised them the body of General Harrison, but the Indians decided that he had promised more than he could perform. Meantime Harrison held Fort Meigs against every attack, and in May, 1813, Proctor abandoned the siege, retreating toward the north.
The victory at Fort Stephenson. About three months later came the attack on Fort Stephenson. This was a small fort on the Sandusky River, where Fremont now stands (Fig. 27). It was held by 160 Kentuckians under the command of Major George Croghan. On learning that Proctor and Tecumseh were on their way to attack Fort Stephenson, Harrison ordered Croghan to abandon the fort. The order came too late to be obeyed, for the little garrison was already surrounded by a force of 1200 British and Indians. Proctor sent a flag of truce demanding Croghan's immediate surrender, with the usual threat of an Indian massacre in case of failure to comply. Croghan sent back the message, "When this garrison sur- renders there will be none left to massacre, for it will not be given up while there is a man left to fight." Proctor immedi- ately opened fire with his six-pounders, while the garrison made the best reply it could with its single gun.
46 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
The following day the British troops advanced in two columns to storm the fort. They were met by a deadly fire from the rifles of Kentucky's best marksmen. The British fled in panic back to their boats, and sailed down the Sandusky for the safer waters of Lake Erie. This was the most brilliant en- gagement fought on Ohio soil during the entire war. With the
FIG. 29. The battle of Lake Erie
The original painting of this photograph hangs in the Capitol at Columbus
loss of one man killed and seven wounded, Croghan's heroic band had killed or wounded 150 of the enemy, who outnum- bered them seven to one. General Harrison said in his official report : "It will not be among the least of General Proctor's mortifications to find that he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, George Rogers Clark."
The battle of Lake Erie (1813). Although the victory at Fort Stephenson ended the British invasions of Ohio, the Ameri- cans could not hope to recapture Detroit while the enemy held
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47
THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
possession of Lake Erie. But one day in September, 1813, Gen- eral Harrison received a message which thrilled him with delight. It read: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." The message was sent by Oliver Hazard Perry; it announced his victory over the British fleet at the battle of Lake Erie. Perry had ten ships under his command, five of which he had built from green timber cut from the banks of Lake Erie. On the morning of September 10, his fleet sailed out from Put in Bay to meet the British squad- ron. Captain Barclay, who had fought under Nelson at Trafalgar, was his adversary.,
The battle raged fiercely for three hours. Leading the American line, Perry's flag- ship, the Lawrence, was at last FIG. 30. Tecumseh cut to pieces by the fire from Tecumseh, born near Springfield, Ohio, was one of the ablest Indian chiefs of whom we have any record. During the War of 1812, as an invaluable ally of the British, he formed a confederation of the Indian tribes against the white set- tlers. (Illustration from Randall and Ryan's "History of Ohio") the British ships. Of 103 men on board, all but 20 were shot down. Instead of striking his flag, Perry leaped into a row- boat, and with a few sea- men started for the Niagara (Fig. 29). Again and again the Detroit fired at this frail target, but the little party reached the Niagara's decks without injury. Above his new flagship Perry rehoisted the blue flag which bore Lawrence's dying words, "Don't give up the ship." He then gave the signal for his squadron to close in, and the broadsides from the American guns turned defeat into victory. By three o'clock in the afternoon all six of the British ships had struck their colors. Had it not been for Perry's valor, the Northwest Territory might have remained a British prize of war.
48
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
Perry's victory forced the British troops to abandon Detroit and retreat into Canada. They were closely pursued by Har- rison, who routed Proctor's army in the battle of the Thames (1813). Tecumseh (Fig. 30), who had proved such a valuable British ally, was killed, while many of Proctor's men were taken prisoners. This decisive victory put an end to the Indian Confederacy in the Northwest; it also won back Detroit and Michigan Territory, which Hull had lost.
Problem IV. How the War of 1812 promoted the westward movement
The westward movement after 1812. The War of 1812 prac- tically destroyed American commerce and caused a period of
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severe hard times in all the seaboard states. With the return of peace, a new westward movement began. Farmers in debt and laborers out of work sold out for what they could get, and set out to find new homes along the Great Lakes or on the eastern slope of the Mississippi Valley. Harrison's victory over the Indians at Tippecanoe, followed by the cession of their lands, opened up thousands of fertile acres in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to men who had been tilling the stony hillsides of New England. As a result of this tide of migration, Ohio's popula- tion increased from 45,000 in 1800 to 581,000 in 1820. In 1800 Ohio ranked eighteenth in population as compared with the other states in the Union; in 1820 she held fifth place, having outstripped in the race all except New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
49
THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
Routes leading to Ohio. Improved means of transportation helped to bring about this rapid development. The first Ohio settlers had to rely on the difficult route across the Alleghenies, thence by flatboat down the Ohio River. So difficult was the journey across the mountains that Congress in 1806 ordered the construction of the National Road, which became the favorite route for the "movers" (Fig. 31). Besides the National Road there were two other principal routes by which settlers moved into Ohio. One of these was the famous Wilder- ness Road through Tennessee and Kentucky to the Ohio River, where it connected with the trail northward to Lake Erie. A third route, the last to be developed, was the Mohawk Valley trail from New York to Lake Erie.
Problem V. Why canals and railroads were necessary to Ohio's development
Ohio's need for markets. In spite of her rapid increase in population and the growth in commerce brought about by the steamboat, Ohio was still a poor state in 1820. The entire revenue from taxation was only $130,000; the value of all the taxable property in the state was only $50,000,000. Most of the people were engaged in farming, and their products sold at prices which yielded a poor return. Wheat sold at 25 cents a bushel, corn at 12 cents, potatoes at 18 cents; pork brought 2 cents a pound, beef 3 cents, butter 6 cents. The reason for this situation was the lack of a good market for farm produce. Since manufactures were undeveloped, there was no industrial population to purchase farm products. Hence these products had to be shipped to a market outside the state, and lack of transportation facilities made this next to impossible.
Canals and railroads. New York solved this same problem by constructing the Erie Canal from Albany to Buffalo. The example of New York was followed by Ohio, which began to construct canals in the same year that the Erie Canal was completed. Two inland waterways were authorized by the Ohio legislature : the Ohio Canal (Fig. 32 ) from Portsmouth on
50
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
the Ohio River to Cleveland on Lake Erie, and the Miami and Erie Canal from Cincinnati to Toledo. Alfred Kelley of Cleveland was the master spirit in the work of planning and constructing these canals, and he gave more than ten years of his life to this important service. For the next thirty years the canals aided the growth of the state, attracting thousands of
FIG. 32. The Ohio Canal near Lockville, Fairfield County
In the background of this picture is a lock or water-tight inclosure of masonry. When a boat arrives at a lock, the upper gates are first closed, then the lower gates are opened to allow the boat to enter, and are closed behind it. Water is then allowed to enter through the sluices of the upper gates until the water in the lock rises to the level of the upper reach; whereupon the upper gates are opened, and the boat passes out of the lock on the higher level
settlers and providing a market for the products of Ohio's farms. These newly found markets increased the value of farm prod- ucts nearly 50 per cent, thus bringing prosperity to agriculture and aiding in the development of manufactures. During the first thirty-five years of their existence, the canals earned good revenues, receipts exceeding expenditures by $7,073,000. The canals fully justified their construction, but they could not compete with a later rival, the railroads. The era of railroad- construction began about 1840 and soon a network of lines gave Ohio a railway system unsurpassed by any other state.
5I
THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
Problem VI. How Michigan attempted to annex Toledo and Maumee Bay
Ohio-Michigan boundary dispute. In 1835 a dispute arose over the question of Ohio's northern boundary. The constitu- tion of Ohio drew a line which included the most northern cape of Maumee Bay, but the act of Congress authorizing Ohio to form a constitution drew a boundary line due east from the southern shore of Lake Michigan. A line drawn as directed by Congress would pass several miles south of Lake Erie, although Congress really intended to make that lake the northern boundary of Ohio. In 1817 a government surveyor named Harris ran the northern boundary in accordance with the provision in Ohio's constitution, but soon afterwards another surveyor, Fulton, ran it on the east-and-west line. Between the two lines was a strip of land five miles wide at the Indiana end, and eight miles wide at the eastern end.
The territory of Michigan claimed that the Fulton line was the correct one, while the state of Ohio insisted upon the north- ern or Harris line. The ownership of Toledo and of Maumee Bay was involved in this dispute. Toledo had been formed in 1832 from the settlements of Vistula and Port Lawrence on the Maumee River. Its favorable location at the junction of the Miami and Erie Canal with the Maumee River made it certain to become a center for canal shipping and lake transportation. The people of the young town were anxious to belong to Ohio, and in 1835 the state legislature extended the adjoining counties so as to include the disputed area. The quarrel became so bitter that Governor Lucas called out the Ohio militia to support the claims of his state, while Governor Mason of Michigan took similar action. Before any blood was shed, two messengers sent by President Jackson arrived at Toledo. They persuaded the rival forces to disband and submit the question to Congress. Ohio won the victory at Washington, and so Toledo remained within the Buckeye State. Michigan was compensated in 1837 by the gift of the Upper Peninsula, until then regarded as a part of Wisconsin.
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HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
Problem VII. How Ohio helped elect the first Ohio President
Nomination of General Harrison. In the year 1840 occurred one of the most remarkable political contests of our history, the famous "Log-Cabin Campaign." In that year President Martin Van Buren was seeking reelection as the Democratic candidate ; his Whig opponent was William Henry Harrison of Ohio. At
The Eagle of Liberty, Strangling the Serpent of CORRUPTION.
True American Ticket. For President. WM. HENRY HARRISON.
FIG. 33. Two of the emblems used in the Log-Cabin Campaign
the time of his nomination, General Harrison was living quietly on his farm at North Bend, Ohio, a few miles below Cincinnati. His life had been largely spent in the service of his country ; he had been governor of Indiana Territory, had crushed the Indian Confederacy at Tippecanoe, and defeated the British at the battle of the Thames. Although Harrison held no such place in the Whig party as its great leaders, Clay and Webster, he was highly regarded throughout the entire West.
The Log-Cabin Campaign (1840). Unfortunately for the Democrats, one of their papers undertook to ridicule Harrison's poverty and his humble surroundings. "Give him a barrel of hard cider," said the Baltimore American, "and settle a pension of two thousand a year upon him, and, our word for it, he will
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THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
sit the remainder of his days content in a log cabin." The Whigs caught up the sneer and turned the taunt into an emblem of victory. "Old Tippecanoe" became the log-cabin candidate. The Whigs made much of the fact that Harrison was a man of the people, of simple tastes and homely virtues. Whig orators said that while the country was suffering from the terrible panic, Van Buren was living in splen- dor at the White House, eating from plates of gold and drinking choice wines. The Whigs adopted the log cabin as their campaign emblem (Fig. 33), and hard cider was the beverage on tap at political meetings all over the land.
Campaign rallies and songs. Never before had the people shown so much en- thusiasm over a presiden- tial campaign. For the FIG. 34. Thomas Corwin first time immense outdoor Thomas Corwin was the most famous stump- speaker of his time. He was reared on a farm near Lebanon, Ohio, and practiced law in Cincinnati. He served in both houses of Congress and from 1840 to 1842 was gover- nor of Ohio. He was Secretary of the Treas- ury under President Fillmore, and Minister to Mexico from 1861 to 1864 meetings or campaign ral- lies were held, a prominent feature of which was a log cabin, wheeled along amid enthusiastic shouts for "Tippecanoe and Tyler too!" In Ohio immense mass meetings were held at Colum- bus, Lancaster, Chillicothe, and Cincinnati. On June 10-II, a throng said to number 40,000 persons attended the celebration held on the site of old Fort Meigs. In order to make the celebra- tion more realistic, a sham attack on the fort was made at midnight by a band of two hundred Indians, some of whom had
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HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
participated in the real event twenty-seven years before. The rally at Dayton was held on September 10, the anniversary of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. By this time the campaign had become a crusade, and the multitude present covered ten acres, by actual measurement.
The two most famous songs of the campaign were by Ohio writers. Otway Curry of Marysville wrote "The Buckeye Cabin Song," and Alexander C. Ross of Zanesville wrote "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!" This was the real rollicking song of the cam- paign ; it was sung everywhere, and Senator Benton complained that the steamboats and hotels were crowded with men singing this "Whig doggerel," to the annoyance of decent Democrats. It had a swing to it and could be lengthened at will to meet all occasions. After each verse was sung the chorus, so insulting to the supporters of Martin Van Buren :
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too-Tippecanoe and Tyler, too ; And with them we'll beat little Van, Van, Van.
Van is a used-up man ;
And with them we'll beat little Van.
The campaign ended with the triumphant election of General Harrison, but in the day of victory came a bitter disappoint- ment. Just one month after the inauguration, the brave, up- right, kindly Harrison passed away, the first of our presidents to die in office.
Problem VIII. How Ohio aided in the Mexican War
Ohio in the Mexican War. War with Mexico was declared May 13, 1846. Many northern Whigs, including Senator Corwin of Ohio (Fig. 34), opposed the war on the ground that its real object was to secure more territory for slavery. Al- though there was little enthusiasm in Ohio over the war, there was no lack of courage or patriotism on the part of her citizens. Ohio's volunteers were organized into five infantry regiments, besides fifteen independent companies and five companies who enlisted in a regiment of regulars. In all, 7000 officers and men
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THE MAKING OF A GREAT STATE
from Ohio served in the army, or about one eighth of all the land forces, besides those serving in the navy.
Prominent among Ohio's volunteer officers was Brigadier- General Thomas L. Hamer, who lost his life at Monterey. Other Ohio officers who won the rank of brigadier-general were Captain Ferdinand Van Derveer of the First Ohio Volunteers, Colonel George W. Morgan and Robert B. Mitchell of the Second, Lieutenant Samuel Beatty and Lieutenant Colonel George W. McCook of the Third, and Lieutenant August Moor of the Fourth.
In the regular army there were also several young Ohio officers who distinguished themselves in the Mexican cam- paigns. Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant won his captaincy at the storming of Chapultepec, the strong fortress which guarded the City of Mexico. Lieutenants William T. Sherman, Don Carlos Buell, Charles C. Gilbert, and John S. Mason also won promo- tion and received a training which fitted them for high com- mands in the Civil War. A number of officers appointed from Ohio served with distinction in the United States Navy in its operations against Mexico. Among these were Reed Werden, L. C. Rowan, George M. Ransom, and Henry Walker.
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL REPORTS
I. Ohio's Struggle for Statehood. RANDALL and RYAN, History of Ohio, III, pp. 69-110.
2. The Louisiana Purchase. BRUCE, H. A., Romance of American Expan- sion, ch. II ; DRAKE, S. A., Making of the Great West, pp. 171-183 ; FARIS, J. T., Real Stories from Our History, ch. XVI ; HALSEY, F. W., Great Epochs in American History, IV, pp. 14-154 ; SPARKS, E. E., Expansion of the Ameri- can People, chs. XVI-XVII ; WRIGHT, H. C., American Progress, ch. III.
3. The Conspiracy of Aaron Burr. ELSON, H. W., Side Lights on Ameri- can History, ch. VII ; HALSEY, F. W., Great Epochs in American History, IV, pp. 180-185; HART, A. B., Formation of the Union, pp. 189-191 ; NICOLAY, HELEN, Our Nation in the Building, ch. IV ; RANDALL and RYAN, History of Ohio, III, pp. 193-256 ; SPARKS, E. E., Expansion of the American People, pp. 211-215.
4. Ohio and the War of 1812. CHANNING and LANSING, Story of the Great Lakes, ch. XIII ; GRIFFIS, W. E., The Romance of Conquest, ch. XI ; RANDALL and RYAN, History of Ohio, III, pp. 257-310.
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HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF OHIO
5. Life on the Western Frontier. HALSEY, F. W., Great Epochs in Ameri- can History, V, pp. 154-157 ; GRIFFIS, W. E., The Romance of Conquest, ch. VII ; RANDALL and RYAN, History of Ohio, III, pp. 3-34; WRIGHT, H. C., American Progress, ch. I.
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