War of 1812 comes alive

By Bob Downing

Akron Beacon Journal

PERRYSBURG, Ohio

Fort Meigs was and still is huge. The War of 1812 garrison, commanded by Gen. William Henry Harrison, rebuffed two attacks in 1813 by British troops and their Native American allies.

It played a key role in the young United States winning the war in the Northwest Territories.

Some time after the war, Gen. Harrison would go on to be elected president of the United States.

The log-and-earth fortification, on a bluff above the Maumee River near Toledo, was big enough to contain 71/2 football fields.

Today, the structure at Fort Meigs State Memorial is hailed as the largest restored stockade fortification in North America.

The fort, rebuilt atop the original footprint, covers 10 acres.

It includes seven two-story blockhouses with walls 2-feet thick, five artillery batteries and emplacements, two underground powder magazines, parade grounds and various work and storage buildings.

Outside the stockade were a boat harbor, artisan yards and a bakehouse.

The National Historic Landmark looks much like it did in 1813, although an 82-foot granite monument was built in the center in 1908.

The fort, owned by the Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society), housed from 900 to 2,000 American troops under Harrison’s command.

It was established Feb. 2, 1813, as a temporary supply depot and a staging area for an American invasion of Canada.

The Americans were not faring well in the early days of the War of 1812. They had lost Detroit and Fort Mackinac in the Michigan Territory and Fort Dearborn (Chicago) in the Illinois Territory.

The British and Canadian soldiers and Tecumseh’s warriors defeated the Americans on the River Raisin at what is now Monroe, Mich. The U.S. was successful at what is now Fort Wayne, Ind.

Harrison, the new commander of the Northwest Army for the United States, decided to make his stand in Ohio.

The 2,000 American troops built Fort Meigs over three months. It was named for the then-Ohio governor, Return Jonathan Meigs Jr.

A square mile of trees, estimated at 3,500 in number, was cleared to build Fort Meigs. That also opened up sight lines for American troops inside.

The fort was located on the south side of the river above the strategically important Maumee Rapids on the river. The site was chosen to protect American settlements by securing the prime invasion route in northwest Ohio.

It was located at the edge of the Great Black Swamp at the end of American supply lines.

American officers described Fort Meigs as being “the most-disagreeable encampment” they had ever seen, the Ohio History Connection reports.

The fort was manned by U.S. Army regulars, militia from Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia and several companies of independent volunteers.

The American troops largely lived in tents inside the fort that was actually more of an armed camp. Living conditions were horrible with knee-deep mud and exposure contributing to a high death rate.

The siege of Fort Meigs gave the Americans their first victory in the War of 1812 and shifted the direction of the war on the Great Lakes.