In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

[ 3 ] Through the Wilderness to Detroit, May 23–July 9 On April 8, 1812, Congress approved the appointment of Governor William Hull as a brigadier general in what would become the North Western Army of the United States. The formation of the army already was under way. A call had gone out from the president to Governor Return Jonathan Meigs of Ohio two days previously to recruit 1,200 volunteers from his state for duty in Detroit. Simultaneously, orders had been issued to the Fourth Regiment of regulars stationed at Vincennes to augment the Ohio volunteers with their trained military force. When possible the volunteers were to be recruited from those men not attached to the Ohio state militia . Meigs designated Dayton, Ohio, as the assembly point for all those who desired to enlist and selected the end of April as the date of rendezvous . Meigs’s call was met with enthusiasm across the state. Those from the poorer class, unaware of what they were expected to bring to army camp life, were lacking arms and proper clothing, which created a problem Ohio was not prepared to meet. It would not be until the middle of May that the state acquired a sufficient number of blankets and tents to house the volunteers after they arrived.1 Despite their discomforts, the new volunteers kept themselves busy. Once the allotted number of volunteers was reached, they were divided into three regiments. The men in each regiment selected their own commanding officer, who received the rank of colonel regardless of what office he may have had in the Ohio volunteers . The First Regiment, for example, chose Duncan McArthur, with James Denny and William Trimble as majors. McArthur, then 40 years of age, was a logical choice. He was a self-made man, quite wealthy through Through the Wilderness to Detroit 41 Ohio land speculation, and had served as a scout with General Harmar’s expedition against the Indians when he was 18. Later, as a surveyor, he helped lay out the town of Chillicothe, Ohio. Elected to the Ohio Senate in 1809, he became its speaker shortly thereafter. Although a major general in the Ohio volunteers, he left that rank behind when he chose to enlist as a volunteer in the North Western Army.2 The men of the Second Regiment selected James Findlay as their colonel, with Thomas Moore and Thomas Van Horne serving as majors. Findlay, 42, was a career politician. A member of the territorial legislature , he was able to secure such federal appointments as the U.S. receiver of public monies and U.S. marshal (1802). In 1803 he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, and was mayor of Cincinnati in 1805 and in 1810. He too was a major general in the Ohio volunteers prior to joining the new force.3 The men in the Third Regiment appointed Lewis Cass as their colonel , with Robert Morrison as major. Cass, 33 years of age, was the youngest of three brigade leaders. A successful lawyer and federal marshal, Cass also had been serving as a major general in the Ohio volunteers before joining the new volunteers. Extremely ambitious, he was always looking for opportunities to advance his name and his fortune.4 Of the three new colonels, only Duncan McArthur had had any previous military experience, and that was minimal. What military expertise Lewis Cass could claim he acquired through discussions with his father, Jonathan. The elder Cass had fought in the Revolutionary War and remained in the regular army at the war’s end as a captain in the Second Infantry . Promoted to major, he then served under General Anthony Wayne in the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, after which he resigned as commandant of Fort Hamilton in the Northwest Territory in 1801 to take up homesteading in Ohio’s Muskingum County.5 Since the North Western Army had been recruited too hastily for Ohio to be able to supply it with proper uniforms, the state resolved the issue in the most practical fashion: volunteers were to wear homespun shirts and pants and low-crowned felt hats. Lewis Cass proved to be an exception. Unlike his peers, he reported for duty wearing a full uniform topped off “by the highest plume of any officer in the army” with his father ’s military sword banging at his side.6 Guns were at a premium. Many volunteers reported without arms, including the riflemen...

Share