During the War of 1812, thirty-one year-old William Schillinger of Plainville, Ohio was called to active duty. He served as ensign in Captain Daniel Hosbrook's company from Hamilton County, Ohio. Schillinger reported for duty at the Courthouse in Cincinnati on February 5, 1813. While there Schillinger recorded the men as they reported for duty, prepared payrolls and took part in the daily drills. On February 14th, the 76 man company left Cincinnati bound for their duty station; Fort Amanda on the Auglaize. Fourteed days and 126 miles later the company arrived at the gates of Fort Amanda. While there Schillinger kept a meticulously detailed journal of his daily activities, I transcribed the journal and published it in 2019[1].
Fast Forward to July 1813
Schillinger’s tour of duty ended on August 3rd, the date Captain Brier and his militia company from Montgomery County was scheduled to assumed command of the post. The latter part of July Schillinger began making preparations for going home. His final days at Fort Amanda and his trip home were going to be anything but routine.
“They Have No Idea of What a Garden Is”
July 23, 1813 - Friday. With few military duties to tend to, and not really feeling well, Schillinger and Lieutenant Davis decided to tour the Indian village at Wapakoneta.Schillinger had never been to the village and the first thing that caught his eyes was the disarray of what the Indians referred to as their “gardens.” The pumpkins, water and musk melons, cucumbers, beans of various kinds were growing among the corn which seemed to be planted without any kind of order. Another thing he noticed was that all the work was done “squaws.” When the two men returned to Amanda later that day, they received the alarming news that the British were shelling Fort Meigs.[2]
The British At Fort Amanda’s Gate
July 24, 1813 - Saturday. Either the flu or measles, or possibly both were still ravaging the posts along the Auglaize. There was a continual flow of sick soldiers from forts to the north being sent home early and the route home passed by Fort Amanda. Captain George Benaugh, forage master[3] for Fort Amanda was deemed so ill, they sent a man to St. Marys to bring Doctor Jacob back to Amanda. .
Later
that afternoon, men at the fort were stunned to see a British soldier walking across the
field northwest toward the fort. Turns
out the man was part of the British force attacking Fort Meigs. Apparently,
he tired of military life he decided to desert. Of particular interest is the fact that the only
reference Schillinger made in his journal regarding the incident was “One of the Brittish Deserters came to fort
this evening.”
July 25, 1813 Sunday. Twenty-one-year-old Jonathan Markland, Ensign from McHenry’s Company at Fort Jennings came to Amanda. He was very ill and had been discharged and given permission to go home. Since Sunday's at Amanda were considered "days of rest" Schillinger spent the rest of his day writing letters, one to his wife, Alasanna, and one to his father-in-law, Nathaniel Armstrong.
Sick Again
July 26, 1813 - Monday. For Schillinger, history was repeating itself.
When he went home on furlough in May he
had been ill for several days prior. Now
with his duty about to end, and he would be going home in a few days, ill again. He wrote in his journal that
he had a “very severe turn of the face & headache.”. He was probably suffering from a case of the flu, measles or possibly even malaria.
Shortly after noon, Privates Joseph Abbott and Thomas
Patterson, left Amanda with a wagon load of personal belongings headed for Clermont County. Instead of taking the regular trail southwest
to St. Marys, the men went south by way of Ft. Logan as it was, the most
direct route to Piqua, 36 miles south.
July 27, 1813 - Tuesday. Ensign Tweed of Capt Seaton Comp along with 5 or 6 men on their way home arrived
at Amanda late that afternoon, Schillinger noted that the
Ensign was very sick.
July 28, 1813 - Wednesday. The
following day, Wednesday July the 28th, Ensign Tweed,, still very ill
left Amanda and started for St. Marys. Schillinger
spent his day doing company paperwork
July 29, 1813 - Thursday. Schillinger noted in hjs journal that he was
feeling better and wrote “miss,d my ague & fever to day.” (Ague was a term used to describe chills and
shaking).
July 30, 1813 - Friday Three of the men in the company were sent to senton to St. Marys. Apparently too weak to walk or ride, two of the men were loaded onto a wagon and the other a cart. While things were relatively calm at Amanda, things were quite different 45 miles to the north at Fort Defiance. Capt. Isaac Gray of the Kentucky militia was shot by Indians a short distance from Fort Defiance. The wound later caused him to lose total use of it.
A Non-Stop
Parade of Sick Soldiers
July 31,1813 - Saturday. Several men passed through Amandaon their way north to Fort Defiance that day
with horses and wagons to bring some of the sick men home.
August 1, 1813 - Sunday. Another from Fort Amanda was sent home via
St. Marys. Another man was sent along to
care for him. Francis Duchouquet, am
Indian Interpter arrived at the fort to draw provisions for the Shawnee tribe
in Wapakonta.
Replacements
Arrive
A
few days earlier, Schillinger wrote a letter to his wife. Notice the difference in the size
and flair of the dates of Figure 1 and Figure 2. Figure 1 was written in March, shortly after
arriving at Amanda. Figure 2 was written
one week before Schillinger was scheduled to return home, which could explain
the bold, and more flamboyant writing style, perhaps an expression of his
excitement at going home.
Figure 1 Figure 2
Journal Entry – March Journal Entry – July
August 2, 1813 - Monday. At 2 o’clock that afternoon, Capt. Samuel Brier and his company of approximately 60 men from
Montgomery County arrived at Fort Amanda. Schillinger
spent the remainder of the day working with Ensign Daniel Heaston, his
counterpart in Briers Company. In the evening, Schillinger finished packing and
making final arrangements for going home the following day.
Expletives
(A staunch Presbyterian, Schillinger didn’t swear)
August 3, 1813 - Tuesday. Schillinger, Davis and Hosbrook
had originally planned to travel home together but to their unpleasant surprise,
they found that the horses they had planned to use were missing. Apparently,
Schillinger was very angry when he wrote, “some
evil disposed persons having drove them off and we could not find them.” It
must have been especially frustrating for him, as he was still not feeling
well. They asked the quartermaster for another horse but were told that only
one was available so it was agreed that Schillinger would take the horse loaded
with their baggage and meet them at the home of Christopher Statler near Piqua..[4]
Hosbrook and Davis took the more direct route via Fort Logan to Piqua. Schillinger went via the St. Marys route arriving there shortly after 2 o’clock. He stayed the night there.
August 4, 1813 - Wednesday. Anxious to get an early start, Schillinger awoke early and left St. Marys around 5:30 that morning. He arrived at Loramie’s store around 9 o’clock and after feeding his horse, proceeded on to the rendezvous point with Davis and Hosbrook at the home of 26-year-old Christopher Statler, two miles north of Piqua. Schillinger arrived at the Statler home at 4:30 and a short time later, his brother-in-law Capt. Armstrong arrived with a horse for him. It was getting late so the two men decided to stay the night at the Statler home - a very good idea. While the British were no longer an immediate threat to them, another threat, just as deadly, was literally just around the corner - renegade Indians
Two weeks after Schillinger
passed through Piqua on his way home, a renegade Indian named Mingo George and
a teenage accomplice murdered a man named Ross a few miles southeast of the
Statler home. The same day, the murderers found Henry and Barbara Dilbone and
their three children working in the fields about five miles east of Piqua. They
shot and mortally wounded Henry, then chased down and tomahawked Mrs. Dilbone
to death. Luckily, the children escaped unharmed. Neighbors found Henry the
following day, still alive; however, he died later that day.
Frontier justice was not long in coming. Gardner Bobo, formerly a militia captain in the Revolutionary War and a friend of the Dilbone family, secured the services of William Richardson, the brother-in-law of Barbara Dilbone. Together they lay in wait for Mingo George where the present Miami-Shelby county line crosses the Miami River. He appeared at dusk as he was returning from the gristmill on the Miami River. They shot and killed Mingo George and using a long pole, pushed his body down into the quagmire near the riverbank.
Oh No Not Again
August 5, 1813 - Thursday. Once again, the morning did not start well for Schillinger. When he went out to feed his horses, he found that the bars of the corral had been pulled down and the horse he had brought from Fort Amanda, as well as the horse his brother-in-law had brought for him, were both gone. Schillinger and Captain Armstrong, is brother-in-law decided not to wait for Hosbrook and Davis as originally planned, choosing instead to leave as soon as possible to try to find the horses. He wrote a quick letter of apology to Hosbrook and Davis then he and Armstrong started south. They eventually found the missing horses about a mile from the Statler home.
A Kind Gesture
A short time later, Schillinger met two men from his company walking along the road, both of whom were sick. He gave them one of the horses and continued on his journey home. He rode through Piqua and continued on to Staunton arriving there around 9 o’clock that morning. He ate breakfast, fed his horse and then continued on to Dayton where he ate dinner (probably at Stains tavern). After dinner, he rode another 12 miles to Mr. Tibbal’s home on Yankee Road where he stayed the night
August 6, 1813 - Friday. Schillinger arose early that morning, said goodbye to the Tibbal family, mounted his horse then rode south 12 mile passing by the Shaker Town.[5] He arrived a short time later at the home of his wife’s uncle, James Norris. After breakfast the two men talked for about an hour then around 11 o’clock, Schillinger fed his horse, said his goodbyes and started toward home. He rode 5 miles and stopped at the White Horse Tavern[6] in Mason for a few minutes, then on to the town of Montgomery where he stopped at the home of Mr. Weller. He unloaded Hosbrook and Davis’ baggage and after freshening up, started on home arriving there shortly after sundown[7]. He had been in the saddle 14 hours that day. He wrote in his journal that when he arrived home he “found all well.” His six-month active-duty service to country was over.
End of Life
As life became more and more difficult for William to live alone, he moved into his daughter's home at 178 Auburn Avenue in Cincinnati. He lived there until his death
at 2 o’clock in the afternoon of March 17, 1871. He died peacefully at the age
of 89.
The coroner’s report listed his cause of death as old age. He had outlived seven of his eight children, Frances being his only surviving child. William’s obituary read:
“On yesterday afternoon at the residence of his
son-in-law A. H. Hinkle, Esq., on Mount Auburn, one of our oldest citizens – Col. Wm. SCHILLINGER –
departed this life at the advanced age of 89 years. Col. SCHILLINGER was born on Cape Island, New Jersey in 1782 and emigrated to
the West in 1802, having walked the whole
distance from Philadelphia to this city. Shortly after locating
here, he removed to the settlement at Plainville, and while there married to
Miss Alasanna Armstrong, of that place. In 1812 he again took up his residence
in Cincinnati, and remained here until the hour of his death. During the whole of his residence in
Cincinnati, Col. Schillinger has been closely identified with its history. In
his early manhood, and for beyond his middle life, he was “part and parcel” of
the municipal government of the city, and was a member of the first City
Council convened. In the very early times, when it was necessary to look after the Indians on our immediate borders, Col. Schillinger volunteered as a
member of Capt. D. Hosbrook’s company, of Gen. Wm. H. Harrison’s command and
performed a tour of duty against the Indians of the Maumee river. On the return
of this expedition on the formation
of the militia (which in those days meant active duty), Col. Schillinger was
elected successively, Ensign, Captain, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, and
commissioned by Governors Huntington, Worthington and Ethan Allen Brown. Most
of our old citizens will recollect a society
identified with our Fire Department called “Protection Society No. 1,” whose members comprised
the very best of our citizens. Of this Col. Schillinger was for years
Chief. Of this trust he was very proud. The duty of the
company was to protect property at fires. They wore white badges on their hats, inscribed “Protection,” and usually took possession of the
immediate vicinity of the fire, keeping the
people from crowding the
firemen at their work. Among the colonel’s papers, carefully
preserved, was found a list of members of this
early organization. As a reminder of those
days, we give the names (Names are listed in the original obit) Col. Schillinger was early identified with the church, and was an Elder
for many years of the Rev. Joshua Wilson’s
First Presbyterian Church, and was one of the corporators of
Lane Seminary. He was ever a consistent
Christian, and was rewarded by a long life. He passed away peacefully and without pain and has, without doubt,
gone to the reward promised to those who are
“faithful unto the end.”
Funeral on Monday, March 20th at 2 P.M.,
residence of his son-in-law, A.H.Hinkle, Mt.
Auburn. Friends of the deceased and members of the Pioneer Association are
invited to attend. Carriages will leave the office of the Undertaker, Mr.
Estep, corner of Seventh and Central Avenue, at half-past 1
o’clock.”
Epilogue
There could have been no more
fitting end to the man who had served his country so valiantly in wartime, and
his church and community so faithfully in peacetime. Even in death, this
soldier, who once selflessly gave up his horse to a sick comrade, continues to
give. His journal entries tell us what daily life was like at Fort Amanda, as
well as sharing with us the names of many of the men and women of the Fort
Amanda story whose names were lost to history. Thanks to him, their names and a short bio of over 100 men are in my book "Fort Amanda - A Historical Redres." Also included are GPS coordinates of their grave site.
In April 1871, one month
after Williams’ death, the body of Alasanna, William’s first wife and mother of
his 8 children, was exhumed and reburied with her husband in Spring Grove
Cemetery in Cincinnati. The couple rests
in peace in Section 52, lot 196 of the Spring Grove Cemetery. From I-75, exit onto
West Mitchell Ave. Turn left onto Spring Grove Ave. and continue ½ mile. Cemetery entrance will be on your right.
(N39°10'27.59”,W84°31'29.99”)
[1] Fort
Amanda - The Schillinger Journal: February 5 - August 6, 1813
[2] Fort
Meigs is located near Perrysburg, Ohio
[3] Forage
Master a military officer responsible for procuring and distributing supplies,
particularly food, forage (animal feed), and other necessities for a military
[4] The Statler home was located in the
vicinity of the intersection of St. Rt. 66 and North Hardin Road, 2 miles north
of Piqua.
[5] The old Shaker Village was located
near the intersection of St. Rts. 63 and 741 west of Lebanon
[6] The White Horse Tavern was probably
located near the intersection of N. Mason Montgomery RD. and SR 42.
[7] Around 7:45 that evening.
