1-15-16

DID YOU KNOW? The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8,1815. In May, 1814, General Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson was named commander of Military District No. 7. This was the Mobile-New Orleans area. Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 1,1814, unaware that Sir Edward Pakenham with 7,500 soldiers was sailing to attack the city. The British objective was to control the Mississippi River.
General Jackson had established his main defenses at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Learning of the British movement, he ordered his forces to New Orleans on December 15, 1814, and proclaimed martial law. The British general spent a week landing his forces. His advanced guard was seven miles below New Orleans before being detected. Jackson immediately attacked the British. “Old Hickory” then withdrew two miles to a dry canal and built breastworks between a cypress swamp and the east bank of the Mississippi River. Pakenham waited for reinforcements and attacked with 5,300 troops. The Americans had 4,500 soldiers in their trenches. Within half an hour the British had made two direct attacks in close ranks. Three British generals, including Pakenham were killed. Over 2,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded. The Americans losses were eight killed, 13 wounded. The British withdrew and reembarked on January 27,1815. Do recall that the British soldiers had survived fighting in the Napoleonic Wars and then were sent here.
The battle had no affect on the war - the Peace of Ghent had been signed on December 24, 1814 - the same day that General Jackson had first attacked the British.
Fort Meigs is one of the largest reconstructed forts in the United States. It is a War of 1812 American fort built overlooking the Maumee River. If you would like to visit Fort Meigs, it is about five minutes from the Ohio Turnpike interchange with Interstate 75. Every spring since the fort was rebuilt I’d take 80 eighth graders to see the fort. We then went to Greenfield Village and Canada (in one day). The first few years it was as though you had returned to 1813: the fort cemetery, the woods, the Maumee River, and the ravines where the Indians attacked were just as they were during the war. A few years later, a developer bought the land containing the ravines. You can now see the fort cemetery, the woods, the Maumee River, and - a housing development. They no longer fire the cannon because they don’t want to disturb the neighbors.
The War of 1812 was fought because of violations of U.S. neutral rights and territory, impressment of American sailors (stopping American ships on the high seas and taking American sailors off American ships and putting them into the British navy), and refusal of the British to revoke the Orders of Council. As fate would have it, the British announced suspension of the Orders of Council on June 16, but the United States did not know this and proclaimed a state of war on June 19 - communications were too slow. Today we have the opposite problem: communications are too fast. We oniy have minutes to correctiy interpret the data.
Some American advantages: the British were fighting Napoleon, we were closer to the war, we had many more people than Canada, and we had 16 ships - a small but very good fieet.
Our disadvantages were that we had a small army - mostly volunteers and militias. Some of the militias would only fight in the States in which they had been formed. Under any circumstances, the troops were poorly equipped and supplied. The country was also not united. New England - especially New York - was against it. Major battles in the west were: Detroit (1812 - General Hull surrendered without any resistance), Raisin River (January 22, 1813), Fort Meigs (May 1-9,1813 - there would be two sieges of the fort during the war)), Fort Stephenson (Sandusky, Ohio, August 2,1813), Lake Erie (September 10,1813), and the Battle of the Thames (October 5,1813).
One of the greatest Indian chiefs in American history was the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. Tecumseh had a plan to unite all the Indian tribes in the east and try to stop the westward advance of the Americans. He went to each tribe and told them to wait until a sign would appear. Unfortunately for the Indians, while Tecumseh was uniting the tribes his brother, The Prophet, thought that if Tecumseh had such great power, then so must he. He was wrong. On November 7,1811, General William Henry Harrison defeated The Prophet at the Battle of Tippecanoe (there was no ‘Tyler too” then). The sign that Tecumseh had predicted occurred in 1811-1812 when a series of three great earthquakes occurred in the eastern United States : they were centered around Memphis,Tennessee. The February 7,1812, quake caused the mighty Mississippi River to flow backward and permanently change its course. The quake was so strong that it caused church bells to ring in Boston and Charleston, South Carolina.
Unlike the Ottawa Chief Pontiac ( Pontiac’s Conspiracy, 1763 - every British post in the west was destroyed except for Fort Niagara and Fort Pitt), Chief Tecumseh was not arrogant and not vindictive . At the battle of the Raisin River General Proctor, the British commander, let the Indians shoot the American troops taken prisoner. When Tecumseh arrived he was furious at the wanton killing and immediately stopped it. Tecumseh was later killed at the battle of the Thames (1813). The result of the War of 1812 was that there were no boundary changes but the British DID observe the boundary. The Rush Bagot Agreement was signed in 1818.    2.
No armed vessels would be allowed on the Great Lakes without the consent of the other nation. This is why the USS COD (now a museum) had her torpedo tubes welded shut and every time an American or Canadian warship sails the Great Lakes for a good will visit, the other country gives its permission first - think of the American navy ships which visit Cleveland. Speaking of which! When I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade history, we corresponded with two ships that had the same number as our room (5A): USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CG-5), Captain Paul D. Butcher, and USS CLAUDE V. RICKETTS (DDG-5), Commander Robert C. Powers. To make a long story short, Captain Butcher was transferred from USS OKLAHOMA CITY to Washington, D.C. He flew up to visit the classes that had been corresponding with his ship. He tried to arrange for us to visit Norfolk Naval Base to see the U.S. 6th (Atlantic) Fleet but logistics and expenses for the students were quite a bit ( plus imagine being responsible for 120 students for a few days -1 did, and it wasn’t exactly always serene thoughts!). The Captain (later Admiral) solved the diiemma : he initiated the program where the United States Navy ships came to Cleveland. The kids could actually see and get to go on some of the ships . So the next time you read about Navy ships sailing the Great Lakes, just remember three words: Rush Bagot Agreement.
If you are interested in this time period you might, with due warning, read books by Allan W. Eckert: for example, THE CONQUERORS (Pontiac’s Conspiracy). They are very good books but are quite descriptive.    WME
NEWS you may wish you had known, and now do!
THE MUSIC BOX STORE, 8062 Columbia Road, Olmsted Falls, has given a check to the Historical Society of Olmsted Falls. They have done this for a number of years. They share the proceeds from the sale of some vinyl records. We thank them for their help and interest. If you get a chance, stop in and say “Hello” to the owner. It is an interesting, unique store.
DECEMBER 14, 2015
Our Christmas party was held at TONY K’S, 841 Bagley Road. The room was nicely decorated for Christmas and the employees were most cordial. The food was delicious. People were able to visit and chat with each other. We thank Tony K’s for help making the evening a success.
The officers for 2016 are:
Vice President, Eljorie Mason Vice President, Lois Rowland Secretary, Jean Johnson Treasurer, Barb Wehe Membership, Bruce Johnson Editor, Bev Smith.
MARCH
Our meeting will be March 14, 2016, the second Monday of the month, at the Olmsted Falls branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. The topic they will have is “The Fab 50’s”. The talk will begin at 7:00 p.m.2016 WE ARE TEN YEARS OLD! Any suggestions for a special activity? Let me know - the earlier the better so we can discuss the ideas and pian. A special lunch or dinner? A remembrance for the members no longer with us?
WME
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY
You may wish to attend the Monday, February 1, meeting at 7:00 p.m. The topic is The History of Valentines. A representative of the Lorain County Historical Society will give the presentation. Antique valentines will be displayed.
MILK GLASS submitted by JEAN JOHNSON I’ll bet many of us have a piece of old milk glass on display on a shelf or have a piece tucked in a cupboard. I found this article in “Country Living” and found it interesting.
Opaque glass originated in 16th century in Venice, and came in a number of colors. The white variety, beloved today, rose in prominence during the Victorian era when it was coveted as a dead ringer for porcelain. The Victorians also get credit for coming up with the term “milk glass”. The production and popularity waned during the great depression, but saw a resurgence after World War II. There was a frenzy of mass production in the 1950’s and the 1960’s by companies such as Anchor Hocking, Fenton, and Westmoreland.
To verify your piece is a genuine antique (1960’s and prior), took for the “Ring of Fire’ by holding it up to a natural light source. Older milk glass was made of iridized salts and therefore should produce a halo of iridescent reds, blues, and greens in tire sun.
WEST OF THE REVOLUTION An Uncommon History of 1776 by Claudio Saunt, c. 2014 Most Americans know that in 1776 Thomas Paine published COMMON SENSE, the Continental Congress declared independence from Britain, and Washington crossed the Delaware. Eariy America recedes rapidly from our historical consciousness as we look west, vanishing at a horizon only a few hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The 13 colonies were just under 4% of North America in 1776, however, formative events were occurring not just along the Eastern Seaboard but across the entire continent Two nations were born in 1776 - but the native one would not win its final military victory until the Battle of the Little Bighorn 100 years later.
How many Americans know that in 1776 the Spanish established the first European colony in San Francisco and set off a cataclysm for the region’s native residents? Or that the Russians pushed into Alaska in search of valuable sea otters they considered “soft gokf, destroying local Aleut communities? That Britain extended their fur trade from Hudson Bay deep into tiie continent, sparking an environmental revolution that transformed North America’s boreal forests? That the Creek Indians navigated the Caribbean to explore trade with Cuba? That the Osage Indians expanded their domination west of the Mississippi River, overwhelming the small Spanish outposts in the area? That the Sioux Indians advanced across the Dakotas to occupy the Black Hills, now considered their sacred homeland? /
Saunt tells stories that are pertinent to the 21st Century ds the better-known history of the American Revolution, imperial wars halfway around the world upended regional economies as administrators plotted far-flung colonies on maps that contained more fiction than fact. North Americans across the continent found themselves deeply entangled in a web of environmental, political, and economic relationships. Saunt believes we are perhaps better prepared than ever before to understand and relate to the experience of the 18th Century North Americans.
He invites readers to discover the continent in 1776 that was west of the Revolution.
Submitted by LOIS ROWLAND