USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 76
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Three regiments of militia were now formed, First, Second and Third. These were the first troops ever organized by the State of Ohio. Duncan McArthur was chosen colonel and James Devenay and W. E. Trimble, majors of the First regiment ; James Findlay, colonel, and Thomas Moore and Thomas B. VanHorn, majors of the Second regiment; Lewis Cass, colonel, and Robert Morrison and Jeremiah Munson, majors of the Third regiment. The First regiment camped south of town, the others remained at the general camp in town. Capt. Wil- liam Van Cleve's company of riflemen of this county, offered their services to Gov. Meigs and were employed in the essential duty of guarding supply trains and in keeping open communication with the army to the north.
Shortly afterward, Gen. William Hull and staff, arrived and were com- fortably lodged at McCullum's tavern. Supplies of all kinds for the army were wagoned up from Cincinnati. The warlike preparations were prosecuted vigor- ously.
On May 25th, Gov. Meigs made the formal transfer of the leadership of the forces to the general. It was quite a military scene for those days. The troops were drawn up into line, and, after a review, addresses were made, full of patriotism and urgent appeals to duty. This ceremony included the First regiment, camping below town, and the two in town. Arms and accoutrements were inspected and the important day passed off without accident. The town was crowded with the people who came in from all the surrounding region to wit- ness the unusual spectacle. The review was held in the open ground between Second and Third streets, the locality of Cooper Park.
On the 26th of May, the general led the three regiments across Mad river, opposite the present Webster street, to a point some distance from town. Here a regular camp was pitched, tents set up and new restrictions as to the discipline enforced. The drills were prosecuted with new energy. The camp was called Camp Meigs, in honor of the governor.
The company of rangers in camp at the mouth of Hole's creek were ordered to march to the frontier, west of the Miami river. They were under the com- mand of Col. Jerome Holt. Patrols were also thrown out along the road to Piqua. A troop of horse soldiers arrived from Cincinnati under the com- mand of Col. Sloan of that city. These horse soldiers added a good deal to the appearance and efficiency of the little army, which, as yet, possessed no artillery. Wagon trains and pack horse brigades were organized and made ready for the forward movement toward the north, which was soon to come.
On May 31st, came the order to strike tents, pack up and move northward. There were about sixteen hundred men. As they marched from Camp Meigs on that bright morning, the sight was a striking one. The general and his staff, the colonels of regiments, and other mounted officers, wore plumes in their cocked hats, sabres at their sides, and a pair of hugh flintlock "horse pistols" in the saddle holsters. The soldiers were dressed in tow-linen hunting shirts and breeches, low crowned hats with cockade or brass plates placed on the side. The. arms for the troops of the line were flintlock muskets, with the sixteen-inch bay- onet of the period, cross belts, sustained cartridge box and bayonet scabbard. They also had the wooden canteens of the time, and a knapsack made of canvas tarred to keep out the wet. The blanket was carried in a roll on the top. Each
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man cooked his rations in his own fashion. The rations are given as flour, or corn meal, fat bacon, parched corn, salt and occasionally a ration of beef. Cat- tle were driven along, to be killed as needed. Whiskey was issued in wet weather or when extra duty was exacted. This army was designated as the Northwes- tern army by the government. The column was formed by placing the cavalry on the right. Next in line was the Second regiment, then the Third regiment and on the left the First regiment. These were followed by the wagon trains and pack horses.
The route taken was that now known as the Old Troy pike, at that time a mere surface road through the woods, and then called the Staunton road. A point one mile east of Troy was reached as the result of the first day's march. It was the stated intention of Gen. Hull to proceed up the east bank of the Miami to Fort Loramie then cross over into Auglaize county, and keep on down to the rapids of the Maumee river. Some attempt was made to use flat boats in transporting supplies up the river, but owing to low water, this had to be aban- doned and caused some delay, for the army remained in camp near Troy, until June 6th. The army, changing its route, marched across country to Urbana, arriv- ing on the 7th and going into camp. It appears that Gov. Meigs had already proceeded to Urbana ostensibly to meet some Indian chiefs in council. The arrival of the army served to impress the savages with respect for the strength of the Americans. A review of the troops was held on the eighth, the governor and the chiefs looking on.
The fourth regiment of the United States infantry and several militia com- panies arrived as reinforcements, thus raising the army to the figure of two thousand five hundred men. A hospital was established at Urbana and it was also designated as a base of supplies. The first regiment was sent forward to cut a road through the woods to the Scioto river. The march was begun on the 11th and on the 16th the river, which was twenty-four miles from Urbana, was reached. They then began to connect the two block-houses by a stockade. These fortifications were given the name of Fort McArthur. On the 15th the army left Urbana and advanced on a line leading through the present counties of Logan. Hardin, Hancock, and Wood, and at the foot of the rapids crossed over and marched to Fort Detroit.
On the march other block-houses had been built and given names. Among these were Fort Necessity, Fort Findlay, and so forth. A part of the advance led through a swamp now known as Hull's Prairie. Arrangements were made to keep open the communications to the several block-houses and forts, and to Dayton and Greenville.
After the departure of the army, and after Gen. Munger had brought up his command from Hole's creek and occupied the camp, he had charge of the stores still being collected here and at Urbana. Commissary and ordinance stores were forwarded from Dayton to the front. Capt. Perry's company of rangers were kept busy scouting through the country and keeping open the communications. It was the governor's plan to keep a force at Camp Meigs as a nucleus for a second army in case of emergency.
It is stated on good authority that Mr. Cooper, proprietor of Dayton, em- ployed the militia encamped here to dig the raceway from the old mill-race
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on First street through to Fifth street. He then built a saw-mill which stood until 1847. Lieut. Gwynne, of the United States army, opened a recruiting office in Dayton offering sixteen dollars per month for recruits. July 10th Gov. Meigs directed Gen. Munger to disband his company, there being no prospect of further troops being needed.
Dayton, being a base of supplies, was a source of great profit to the people who had flour, grain and other supplies to sell. Excellent prices were realized and no one deprecated the war. At one time contractors advertised for three thousand barrels of flour, six hundred head of cattle and four hundred horses. In addition to regular supplies, whiskey was wanted for the army, and the product of this item encouraged its manufacture far beyond ordinary times.
On the 22nd of August, on Saturday, about noon, came the awful news of Hull's surrender. This disgraceful act, the culmination of all the heroic sacri- fices, and vigorous preparations, created the greatest disgust, and withal a serious consternation all along the wide frontier, for this frontier was now exposed to Indian forays, slaughterings and destruction. It was a gloomy situation. The surrender had occurred on the 16th. Every soldier and officer except the general had been ready for battle. To be thus given over as prisoners without a shot fired was humiliating beyond degree-a well appointed army of over two thousand five hundred men, thirty-eight pieces of artillery and munitions of all kinds. Surely it was a great triumph to Gen. Brock of the British army, this success so easily obtained. Were these men different from those who afterward faced the general and cost him his life at Queenstown? Brock had only a small force- three hundred and thirty regular British infantry, four hundred militia, six hun- dred Indians and five pieces of cannon. Hull was tried and convicted of cow- ardice and treason and sentenced to be shot, but was subsequently pardoned by the president. It was some reprieve of the name when his son, gallant Capt. Hull, led the charge at Lundy's Lane and fell like a hero, not wishing to survive the battle.
Great as the disaster was, the people of Ohio and Kentucky set about stem- ming the danger. A call was immediately made for every able-bodied man to turn out for defense and meet in Dayton. By Sunday morning Capt. Steele had a company of seventy men fully armed and equipped, and with these he marched to Piqua to protect the government stores there. The Olno Sentinel, published at Dayton, issued extras advising the people of the need of preparation. Every- one worked like a hero to get men ready for active work. Five more companies were quickly assembled, and two more of drafted men were prepared. Capt. Caldwell with a troop of horse came up from Warren county and rode on toward Piqua. Capt. Johnson with a rifle company also from Warren, reported at Camp Meigs. On Monday morning six of the infantry companies were organized into a battalion by electing Maj. George Adams as their commander. Music of the fife and drum took on a new meaning, for it was the call of danger. The two companies of drafted men remained at Camp Meigs subject to the order of the governor, while Adams with his battalion of three hundred and forty men marched to Piqua. More troops from below came in, also Maj. Jenkinson with three hundred and fifty men raised for the army before the surrender, also came
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on and halted at Camp Meigs on their way to the front. A Greene county brigade under Gen. Benjamin Whiteman, marched to join.
Capt. Steele's Dayton company was ordered to St. Marys, where the captain became commander of the post. Private Joseph H. Crane was made sergeant- major. The muster roll of this volunteer company contains many names after- ward to be familiar ones in the history of Dayton.
The military roads through Montgomery county ran, one from Cincinnati through Lebanon and Centreville, and another through Franklin and Miamis- burg to Dayton, then up Main street to First and out First street to the fording place before referred to, thence to Camp Meigs; from the camp the military road led across the bottoms to Staunton, where the roads forked to Piqua and Urbana. Under the orders of the governor the responsibility of the position rested with Gen. Munger.
The general marched his brigade to Piqua and caused the removal of the stores to Dayton, and directed Capt. Steele's company to build block-houses for the defense of St. Marys. Additional block-houses were also built in Mont- gomery and Preble counties. No news could be had from the front. All the outlying country was in the possession of the Indians. Gen. William Henry Harrison, then governor of the Indian Territory, had been appointed by Gov. Scott of Kentucky, a major-general of the Kentucky volunteers. The general started from Frankfort with an escort of cavalry and overtook the militia then on the march, at their camp below Centreville in this county. On August 31st Col. Samuel Wells of the United States army, with three hundred of the Seven- teenth infantry and Capt. William Garrard with a troop of horse from Bourbon county, Kentucky, passed through Dayton, halting over night at Camp Meigs. Tuesday morning Gen. Harrison accompanied by his staff, arrived in Dayton and halted for a few hours. The citizens gave him a salute of eighteen guns. The small iron specimen of artillery was set under an oak tree that stood on the east side of Main street north of the alley between Second and Third streets, the back end of lot numbered 108. While the salute was being fired Brig .- Gen. John Payne with one thousand eight hundred Kentuckians marched up Main street, and halted near Second street. In firing the salute an accident occurred by which one gunner had a hand mangled and another was badly wounded. In the afternoon the troops marched out to Camp Meigs. The Kentuckians were greatly pleased over their reception in Dayton. Two regiments of Montgomery county troops were held at Piqua, and a battalion under Maj. Adams was sent to St. Marys. Col. Jerome Holt with his command was ordered to Greenville and instructed to build a block-house. The station at Loramie was strengthened. The works at Fort McArthur were enlarged. The Indians htreatened an attack on Fort Wayne and Gen. Harrison directed a large force sent there for its proper defense. For this purpose the governor issued an order for troops to assemble at Dayton on September 15, 1812. Gen. Harrison from his headquarters at Piqua issued a call for volunteers. This was soon followed by a still more urgent call for volunteers and for horses to be delivered at Dayton.
On Sunday, September 6th, Maj. Richard Johnson arrived in Dayton with three hundred mounted Kentucky infantry. They bivouacked on Main street for the night and rode on to Piqua in the morning.
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The general issued another stirring address before starting, dated on the 7th. It was an appeal for horses. Jesse Hunt and Payton Short were to receive and receipt for the horses at the house of Maj. David Reid in Dayton on the 15th of the month.
On the 9th Gen. Harrison with four thousand men marched from St. Marys toward Fort Wayne-a distance of fifty-five miles. He was four days on the way. The situation was relieved, some Indian villages were destroyed and the general returned to St. Marys. Maj. Adams' battalion, composed of Mont- gomery county men who had so promptly responded to the call, were discharged and returned home.
The remainder of the War of 1812 as it relates to this locality is quickly told. Gen. Harrison was created the commander of the Army of the Northwest and directed to re-take Detroit.
On Sunday, September 13th, Brig .- Gen. James Winchester and staff stopped in Dayton on their way to the headquarters of Gen. Harrison. On Wednesday, the 16th, Col. Payne's regiment of Kentucky volunteers and several companies of Indiana militia camped on the commons awaiting orders. Two Kentucky regiments were out at Camp Meigs. On the 17th the general received his com -. mission and began at once to organize for the campaign.
His troops were new levies and in need of all kinds of supplies. To furnislı the men with clothing and blankets he addressed an appeal to the people of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana asking for contributions. To the ladies of Dayton he addressed the following special appeal :
Headquarters St. Marys, September 29, 1812.
Gen. Harrison presents his compliments to the ladies of Dayton and its vicinity, and solicits their assistance in making shirts for their brave defenders who compose his army ; many of whom are almost destitute of the article, which is so necessary to their health and comfort. The materials will be furnished by the quartermaster's department. and the general confidently hopes that this opportunity for the display of female patriotism and industry will be eagerly embraced by his fair countrywomen.
WILLIAM H. HARRISON.
The ladies did respond and by the 14th of October, eighteen hundred shirts were forwarded to the general's camp. The shirts were made up of calico fur- nished by the Indian department from supplies withheld from the tribes warring against the government. Later in the month a large quantity of clothing was taken through Dayton from Paris, Kentucky, for the Kentucky troops under Gen. Winchester.
About this time another company of mounted riflemen was raised in Dayton. These were placed under the command of Maj. George Adams and sent to Fort Greenville for duty at a stockade seven miles north of New Paris as an outpost of Fort Greenville.
Notice was given that the horses, saddles, and so forth, taken at Dayton would be retained as government property and the owners were paid for them at an agreed valuation.
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DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Dayton still remained the great post on the line of supply for the North- western Army. Over the roads leading through here wagons and pack trains continued to pass; when the roads were not available, owing to a good stage of water, flat boats could be poled up the Miami to Loramie. The militia of this locality were used to guard these boats on their voyages up the river.
On into the next year of 1813, government agents were stationed in Dayton to buy up and forward supplies for the army. The government storehouse placed at the upper end of Main street was under charge of Col. Robert Patterson. It stood near the old Grimes tavern. A detachment of the Nineteenth United States infantry passed through Dayton, under command of Lieut-Col. John B. Campbell. They drew ammunition and supplies from the storehouse here. On Sunday, December 27, 1813, this detachment returned through Dayton after a campaign of great hardship along the frontier toward Greenville. The Indians had fared badly in this locality and were often suffering for supplies. In January. 1814, thirty Miami Indians were brought to Dayton and held as hostages for the good behavior of the tribe. The movement of army trains still kept up, and it is stated that some days as high as one hundred wagons would start northward. In January, 1814, Capt. A. Edwards of Dayton, who had served as a physician in the medical staff of the army raised a company here and marched north. Also in January occurred the massacre of the River Raisin, where four hundred and seventy-four troops were killed.
In February, 1814. Ohio and Kentucky militia whose terms of enlistment had expired began to drift back to Dayton on their way to their homes. The com- panies would generally camp on Main street over night and thus keep the town lively for the time being.
The army required recruiting and all through the early spring and up to April of 1814 bodies of troops continued to come through Dayton on their way to the front. In April, Gen. Green Clay, with a brigade of Kentucky troops halted over night in Dayton, on the march to join the army. Lieut. James Flinn of the Second Company of United States Rangers opened a recruiting office in Dayton to enlist men for one year's service. This was in May. Later Perry's great victory on Lake Erie and Harrison's pursuit of Proctor ending in the vic- tory of the Thames practically ended the war on the northwestern frontier. for all the territory lost by Hull's surrender was recovered and the spirit of the In- dians completely broken. The news of these stirring events occasioned great re- joicing. The Ohio troops were to come home. The town was crowded every day by families looking for their folks to arrive.
When a company arrived a cannon would be fired as an evidence of the wel- come given the weary soldiers. This small gun had quite a history. It had been captured by the Indians in one of their battles with Wayne, and after that war was traded in by one of Sutherland and Brown's agents. It was usually kept in Brown's stable, and fired with powder obtained from the government warehouse. It was used by the citizens for some years on the Fourth of July in firing salutes. The returning soldiers were fed with an open air dinner and the rejoicing kept up all the rest of the day of arrival. Many of the Montgomery county men had perished in the struggle and many others had died from wounds and exposure. Some of the Ohio militia were retained in the service in the year 1814, and others
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were called out to garrison forts and block-houses at various points. A company from German township, under Maj. Gunckel, with one other company were called out in 1814 for a period of six months.
The coming of peace was gladly hailed by the people on every hand and Friday, March 3Ist, was appointed by the governor as a day of thanksgiving therefor.
From all the sources of account now available, it abundantly appears that Montgomery county and its county seat of Dayton bore an important part in the military preparations and supplies of men and material for the war. The loca- tion of the chief camp for the Army of the Northwest at this point, as being suit- able for the purpose, gave this region a well deserved prominence in the struggle, and deserves an important page in any history of those trying and fateful times in the history of the nation.
WAR WITH MEXICO.
Following the stress of the War of 1812 military matters in the county re- mained in abeyance until the year 1817, when the interest in soldier doings revived. A pioneer writer designates this revival as occasioned by the organization of three companies of mounted men familiarly called "Critter Companies," but as this is peculiarly a southern cognomen it will be better to term them dragoon or cavalry companies. They carried the broad-bladed long sabres of the 1812 period and also had heavy flint-lock pistols and a few muskets, the residue of the arms used in the war just over. The uniform of these holiday companies was, of necessity, home-made and varied somewhat in style. A squirrel tail was attached to the hat by way of plume, while the officers were to be distinguished by a more elabor- ate ornament of turkey feathers, and they wore also a pair of very large spurs. The musters were held on February 22nd, Fourth of July and on the 10th of Sep- tember.
The militia system remained unchanged until the year 1830. In July. 1825, Gov. Morrow of Ohio visited' Dayton, bringing with him Gov. De Witt Clinton of New York. Both governors had their suites with them. They were met east of town near Fairfield by the "Dayton Horse troop" and escorted to town. A ceremony of reception was held at Compton's tavern which stood on the corner of Main and Second streets. There were welcoming addresses and a big dinner, the latter having been in preparation by the ladies for fully a week before hand. The next event in which the military formed a part was the arrival of the first canal boat on January 25, 1829. In the year 1832, a great barbecue was held at the Cooper park, in honor of Gen. Jackson's second election to the presidency of the United States.
Some time in the year 1833 the militia of the state was reorganized. Officers were appointed by state authorities and regular musters and battalion drills were held in the spring and fall. Owing to a deficiency of muskets the men were allowed to bring to the muster any sort of gun they could get, even broomsticks and fork handles being pressed into use to simulate a gun in the drill. This non- descript outfit gave origin to the phrase "corn-stalk militia."
The population in Dayton in 1840 was about six thousand. On the 10th of September, that year, the great Harrison convention was held in Dayton and
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this afforded a grand time for the display of military companies, which came from all parts of the state. It is estimated that very near one hundred thousand people came here, and that the procession was a mile long.
Military matters remained about the same until the year 1845 when a better footing was arrived at. Maj. Hiram Bell, of Greenville, commanded the Tenth Division, while Brig .- Gen. Adam Speice, of Dayton, had command of the First Brigade with headquarters in Dayton. Mordecai Bartley was then governor of Ohio. Samuel R. Curtis, adjutant general and E. N. Slocum, quarter-master general. On the announcement being made in May, 1846, that the President of the United States had made a requisition on all of the state for troops, a meeting of citizens was held in the city hall of Dayton on the evening of the twenty-first. Militiamen in large numbers were in attendance and the citizens evinced great interest. Gen. Speice was made chairman and Thomas B. Tilton, his brigade major was made secretary. The object of the meeting was stated by the chairman, speeches were made by Capt. Luther Giddings of the company of Dayton dra- goons, Capt. Moses B. Walker of the Germantown cavalry company, Maj. Tilton, Capt. Lewis Hormell of the Dayton national guards, a German company, Lieut. Atlas Stut of the Dayton gun squad, and Lieut. John Love of the United States army. In addition to the military companies represented by these speakers there were also a company of Dayton cavalry, and two infantry com- panies, the Dayton Greys and the Montgomery Blues. There were also four other companies in the townships.
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