The Battle Timeline
In February
1812, sensing a British invasion into Ohio, General Harrison began construction
of Fort Meigs, a log walled fort
located on the south bank of the Maumee River.
April 9th
- Harrison and 300 troops
including 140 regulars loaded onto boats at Fort Amanda and started the journey
to reinforce troops at Meigs.
April 12th - Harrison and his men arrive at Fort Meigs.
April 28th -
British General Proctor’s 800 British regulars and 600 of their Indian
allies arrived at old Fort Miami, [3] on the north side of the river 1 ½ miles east
of Fort Meigs. Harrison immediately sent
word to the governor of Kentucky asking him to send him 1200 men to reinforce his
force at Meigs.
May 5th
- Around 8:00 in the morning 1200
Kentucky volunteers under the command of Gen. Clay arrived at short distance
west of Fort Meigs. Gen. Harrison ordered
him to send 800 of his men ashore and spike the British cannon batteries. The result was a complete disaster.
Those who weren't killed, escaped back across the river to the fort or disappeared
into the forest, were taken prisoner and marched to the old Fort Miami 1 ½ miles
to the east. Once there they where were
forced to run a gauntlet where Indians randomly clubbed, stabbed or shot
prisoners as they passed by.
May 6th - The day after the battle General Harrison sent a flag of truce to
Proctor asking him to allow some of his men to cross the river and recover
bodies of the slain. Proctor refused unless General Harrison would surrender
the fort and of course Harrison said no.
May 7th - The following day, under a white flag, Gen. Proctor, sent Harrison a list names of the 360 men he was holding as prisoners.
May 8th
- Harrison had 42 prisoners of his own,
captured May 5 when the Kentuckians stormed the cannon batteries. They were released on parole for 30 days.
May 9 - On May. 9, with supplies running low and their Indian allies returning to their villages, the British ended their siege.
Casualty Numbers
To determine the numbers of killed and survivors of the battle we must first determine how many people were involved. Harrison had ordered Clay to :
"detach about 800 men from your brigade who will land at a point I will show, about one or one and a half miles above the fort, and I will conduct them to the British batteries on the left bank of the river.
Most sources claim the
number who went ashore was 866. Another
source, Lt. Joseph R, Underwood, of Capt.
John Morrisons company wrote in his report, that "the
whole number of troops that landed amounted probably to 700 men." I will
use the 866 number as as I seriously doubt Gen. Glay would disobey Harrison and
send fewer than he was ordered to send. The
additional 66 were probably overzealous Kentuckians who, after traveling 200
miles to "kill injuns" would how get their chance.
.
How Many Men Were Killed in the Battle?
To determine
that, the key is to find out how many of the landing forces survived, Information
gathered from after battle reports of several officers[4] and
journal entries, indicate that the total number of survivors was 531,
170 Escaped back across the river to Fort Meigs
13 Likely deserted and are listed as jailed in Quebec
in December
33 Total number of soldiers paroled before May
7
315 Proctors prisoners minus 45 paroled after May
7
______
531 total
accounted for
Subtracting the number of survivors (531) from the original landing force (866) gives us the number of man killed on the battle and those murdered at Fort Miami, 335.
Collecting
the Dead
On May 9,
General Proctor lifted his siege on Fort Meigs, loaded his men, cannons and prisoners on ships and sailed for Fort Malden.[5] Left behind were broken cannon carriages,
weapons and the bodies of Kentuckians strewn over an area of nearly 100 football
fields for 6 days.
On May
11th, 6 days after the battle, Lt. Schafor and a group of volunteers went onto
the battlefield and brought 47 bodies back for burial.
Why Only 47 bodies?
Out of curiosity I asked AI what the condition of human bodies would be after 6 days exposed to the elements in May in Ohio. I didn't include all the graphic details of what I learned out of respect for the men who died. What I will say is the condition of the bodies made a quick burial very necessary as (according to Google)
"humans can become ill from exposure to decomposing human bodies. he
primary risks arise from direct contact with bodily fluids, which can transmit
infections like bloodborne viruses (HIV, Hepatitis B/C), TB, or
gastrointestinal diseases."
I included the
paragraph above as it helps support my proposal of where I think the 47 bodies
may have been buried.
Where Did They Bury the Others?
One long standing tradition suggests
the dead were returned to south side of the river and buried on a rise west of
Fort Meigs called "Kentucky Knoll". That is unlikely. The area has been scoured using metal detectors,
ground penetrating radar, even cadaver dogs and nothing has ever been
discovered there indicating human remains.
If Not the Kentucky Knoll, Where?
Bringing
almost 300 bodies back to the south side, up a grade to fort level would serve no real purpose. In addition to the time and labor of ferrying
the bodies back to the south side there was the issue of the dangers of making physical contact with the bodies. Also, digging
nearly 300 individual graves would have been an enormous task. More than
likely the bodies were buried in several mass graves throughout the battlefield.
What About the 47 They Brought Back?
One of the men sent to recover bodies wrote;
"The bodies of about forty-five heroes of Dudley's command were
recovered and buried on the brow of the hill about fifty yards
northeast of the east angle of the fort."[6]
The picture is a shot from Google Earth.
My Proposal
After a months spent researching this topic, I agree with other historians that approx. 866 Kentuckinas went ashore on May 5th to spike the British cannons shelling Fort Meigs.
Of the total number of men killed on May 5 only 47.bodies were returned to the south side of the Maumee river.
Because of the condition of the bodies, I propose the remaining 248 bodies were buried in a number of mass graves on the battlefield and 40 buried in the same manner at Ft. Miami.
General Proctor took 315 prisoners back to Ft. Malden (Detroit, Mi.) and more were paroled there. The 13 in jail in Quebec may have been part of the 315.
It is my proposal that the 47 bodies brought back to the southside of the river on May 11 were buried approx. 150 feet northeast of the east end of Ft. Meigs. See picture above.
Summary
The main battlefield is today ia on private developed property, therefore it would be very difficult locating any possible grave On the other hand, the area I propose is the burial site of the 47 men brought back to the south side of the river would be much easier to investigate. My hope is one day the site will investigated and if my proposal is correct, a historical marker will be erected there. Over 213 years ago, Kentuckians came to Ohio to save our state . The least we Ohioians can do is find ways to honor their sacrifices.
NOTE: Thank you to Larry Neson, Manager of the Fort Meigs site for 24 years for his expertise, support and help.
Thank you also to Bill Picard, retired historian at the Ohio History Connection for advice he gave me many years go when I worried about writing something that could be innacurate. His advice. "Go ahead and put it out there. Let them prove you wrong." That is my mantra.
[1] Perrysburg, Oh.
[3] For
Miami was an old abandoned British Fort.
[4] Kentucky
National Guard records. https://kynghistory.ky.gov/Our-History/History-of-the-Guard/1812%20Additional%20Resources/Dudleys_Defeatp1.pdf
[5] Detroit,
Michigan
[6] According to Lt. Shafor the number they brought back was 47.