The Kentucky troops under Pogue, Barbee and Jennings had been on active duty since Aug. 28, 1812. Their 6 month term of enlistment was due to expire on Feb. 28, 1813. The problem was, most of the men didn't want to go home yet. They'd traveled nearly170 miles to fight the enemy and most hadn't even seen one yet.
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Headquarters, Miami Rapids
21st January 1813
Sir:
Understanding that your regiment is desirous to come on
to headquarters to participate in the glory which their comrades are about to
acquire by restoring the credit of the American arms, I must that you request
to them the following proposition.
They shall nor or upon the conditions of their agreeing to serve for
one month after their period of service expires. If they agree to this proposal, you can
with all but one company proceed to join the army as soon as you can obtain
the necessary transportation. The
company you leave must be placed in the Fort built by you. Should your men agree to this proposition
you will be pleased to make each company sign an agreement to that
affect. If a battalion or even a
single company only can be brought to submit to this extension of their
service, the battalion company or companies so agreeing, may be sent on. The company which remains in garrison at
Fort Jennings will be discharged at the end of six months. Should no whole company agree to serve in
the manner proposed, you will assemble the officers and give them permission
to engage men from the companies indiscriminately formed into your companies
and sent on. In short sit your
patriotism is appreciated to upon this occasion to furnish me with as many
men as possible from your regiment for an additional month service. Employ the most popular officers to insure
the men to engage do everything in your power to forward the business.
I am
respectfully your Humble servant
William
Henry Harrison
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Regimental Order From Pogue To Botts
Feb. 28, 1813 |
Pogue's Letter to His Regimental Paymaster
Feb. 28, 1813
Col. Pogue was at Fort Meigs on this date.
Mar 13, 1813
Saturday
Pogue had returned to Cincinnati by
this date and while there he wrote the following letter to his Paymaster
George Botts giving him instructions on
how to pay the men in his regiment the money due them.
Sir, General Harrison
in his order discharging the Regiment under my command directed that in
case you should not be able to procure from the district paymaster the sums
necessary to pay off the regiment before its “dissolution” the payments will be
made by you at the Court Houses of the several counties of which due notice
must be given, and it appearing that a sum sufficient in_______can’t be got for
that purpose.
You are therefore
ordered to proceed on to Washington, in Mason County Kentucky With the six thousand
dollars you have got and there pay Captain Dowden and company, the payments due them up to the
30th [of November] and then to the end of the service, and as soon [as the balance] balance of the money can be obtained to pay off the
Regiment. You will after given notice, attend at the Court House in
Bourbon County and pay Captain
Kennedy and company,
and at the Court House in Fleming County and pay Captains Belt and Matthews and companies and at the most suitable places in Mason County and
there pay Captain McKee’s and Baker and companies. Also you are not to consider
yourself discharged until the whole Regiment is fully paid off.
Captain Thompson Wards company received
their pay at the courthouse in Paris (known then as Hopewell) Kentucky.
At the time, the old courthouse sat on the same site as the modern day
courthouse at 310 Main st. Paris, Ky.
Last Order of Business, Turning in His Expense Account
Pogue was doing what most “managers” do
when they return from a “business trip,” preparing an expense
account. His involved request for re-imbursement for money he spent
for his servant David’s services while on active duty. Pogue was paid
approximately 22 cents a day for David’s services and the total amount due him
was $44.90. His expense account form read:
“Robert Pogue Lt.
Col. Comm.4th Regiment Ky. Vol. Militia
For:
The pay of David, a private servant not of the line or militia from the 27th day
of August, 1812 to the 18th March 1813, being 6 months and twenty
three days at $6.66 per month. ($44.90).I certify on honor that the
above account is accurate and just, and that I employed and kept in
service, a servant not of the line of the army or militia for the
term above charged, and that I didn’t during the time herein charge,
keep or employ as a waiter or servant any soldier from the line of the army or
militia
Robert Pogue, Comm. 4th Rgt.
Ky M. Vol”.
Mar. 18, 1813 Thursday
Weather
still warm, & rainy
Thursday was a warm windy day with an
intermittent rain. While one group of men continued digging the trench
for the stockade walls, another went into the woods to cut down trees for
pickets. The bark was sometimes stripped off the logs to make it more difficult
to set fire to them. Another group began dismantling some of the unused
cabins along the northwest wall and cutting the logs into 15 foot
lengths. When placed in the 3 foot trench, the wall height would have
been approximately 12 feet high.
Mar. 19, 1813 Friday
This morning
Snowing
The fluctuation in the weather was taking its toll on the men. At
morning muster two men reported too sick to work. The other men in the
company continued working on the trench while the others went back into the
woods to garrison to gather firewood for the
garrison.
Mar. 20, 1813 Saturday
Weather
moderate, but cloudy
The men worked on the wall that day. While one group dug the trench,
another followed behind, setting logs in place, backfilling then tamping the
dirt around the base to secure it in place.
Mar. 21, 1813 Sunday
Clear and pleasant
At morning roll call,
Schillinger read another section of the Articles of War[2] to
the men. After breakfast they practiced a few military maneuvers and then
were dismissed for the rest of the day. Sgt. Broadwell who had gone to
Ft. Meigs two weeks earlier returned that day with the welcome news that all
was well at Meigs.
Mar 22, 1813 Monday
Weather moderate,
but Cloudy
Around 1 o’clock that afternoon Col.
Mills, Commandant of the First Regiment of Ohio Militia and Col. Orr, Deputy
Commissary General arrived at the fort. It was a routine visit for Col.
Mills but Orr’s visit was to insure that the garrison was receiving all
the supplies it needed for its operations.
The Fifth Blockhouse
Mar 23, 1813 Tuesday
Morning hours were pleasant but rain in the afternoon
A work party assigned to dismantle
another cabin on the northwest wall and cut up the logs for use in the
wall. By this date the wall on the southwest side of the fort had
been extended 132 feet. Attentions now turned to building a new
blockhouse at the extreme northwest point of the new wall. This would be
the sentry blockhouse or as Schillinger referred to it, the “picket
blockhouse.” The new blockhouse would be the smallest of the five, 2
stories high but only 13 feet square.
Mar 24, 1813 Wednesday
Weather cold
& cloudy
It was cold and cloudy that day and
despite the miserable weather and the mud, men continued digging trench for the
new stockade wall on the riverside of the fort. Another cabin was
dismantled and the logs were cut to thirteen foot lengths and notched so they
could start being stacked upon each other to form the walls of the new
blockhouse.
The Fort Amanda “Hospital”
Mar. 25, 1813 Thursday
Cold freezing weather
& cloudy
March 25th was a very cold and cloudy
day. At roll call, two men reported sick, no surprise since the men had
been working for days in the cold weather wearing sweat soaked clothing.
If a soldier’s illness was considered contagious, he could either be confined
to the forts “hospital” or if he suffered from a more serious illness or injury
sent to St. Marys for treatment, sent home to recuperate, or even discharged
from service.
For years it’s been assumed the
“hospital” was a large building located in the center of the fort. That
thought probably stemmed from fact that there are a large number of graves of
unknown soldiers across the ravine northwest of the fort. I propose that
the “hospital” was nothing more than a cabin dedicated specifically to house men
who were ill. As for the large number of graves of soldiers, I believe
those to be symbolic only and not actual gravesites. I will cover that
later on.
That was quick
The new picket blockhouse was almost
completed. While one group worked on cutting the holes in the walls, another
cut rib poles and shingles for the roof. The roofs of the cabins and
blockhouses were made of wooden shingles. Shingles were made by sawing
trees two to three feet into diameter into four foot lengths and squaring off
on the ends. Saw cuts were made across the top of the log and a
wedge driven down into the slits and struck with a mallet. If done
correctly, the wood would split the length of the log making a four foot long
shingle which were then put into place and held in place by smaller logs called
weight poles.
When finished, the new picket
blockhouse was a two story structure thirteen feet square and twenty feet high.
The interior of both the upper and lower rooms was approximately twelve feet by
twelve feet. Because the logs for the structure were only 13 feet long,
it is unlikely there was any overhang and the structure was simply a square 2
story tower.
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| A 1 story blockhouse (Ft. Western) Augusts, Maine |
Ceiling Height? Ramrod Clearance
The lower section of the blockhouse,
like the cabins probably had a dirt floor. While hewn wood floors wasn’t
uncommon, there was always the problem of splinters. The most important
measurement in the blockhouse was the distance from the floor to the ceiling
which would have been at least 9 feet. Nine feet was the amount of height
needed for a man to stand upright load his musket by inserting and retrieve his
ramrod and not have to bend over which could have created problems especially
if there was an accidently firing of his weapon. The same held true
for the second level with nine feet between the floor and the roof.
Mar. 26, 1813 Friday
Cold & Cloudy
The weather remained cold and
overcast that day. Capt. Hosbrook was ill again so he spent most of the
day in his cabin. With work on the smokehouse completed, the next order
of business was to build sheds to store supplies. The With work finished
on the new blockhouse, the men were set to work building sheds for the flour
and other materials so those cabins could be used for quarters.
Sheds were very crude, sturdy
structures resembling stalls. They were generally three sided structures
for easy access. Several of these were built along the new southwest wall
extension of the fort.
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| Open Sheds Lined the Walls |
[1] The old courthouse in Washington, Mason
County was built in 1793 by master stonemason and Baptist minister Lewis
Craig. It was built out of native limestone and was 50 feet long by 23
feet wide; 2 ft. thick walls; cupola for a bell sat atop a 25 ft. octagonal
tower topped by a weathervane and gilded ball.
It was stuck by lightening in 1909 and burned to its foundations.
[2] Articles of War were a body of laws and legal
proceedings governing the United States Army. Similar to today’s Code of
Conduct.