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Siege of Fort Meigs |
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The Siege of Fort Meigs took place during the War of 1812 in northwestern Ohio. A small British army with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently-constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, which the British had captured the previous year. An American sortie and relief attempt failed with heavy casualties, but the British failed to capture the fort and were forced to raise the siege.
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Major-General William Henry Harrison was placed in command of the Army of the Northwest, replacing Brigadier-General William Hull after his surrender at Detroit. Harrison's objective was the recapture of Detroit, but after the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Frenchtown, Harrison gave orders for the construction of several forts to protect the rivers and trails which his army would use in any renewed advance. Two of the most important were Fort Meigs (named for Return J. Meigs, Jr., the Governor of Ohio) on Maumee or Miami du Lac River, and Fort Stephenson on the Sandusky River.
Harrison advanced to the site of Fort Meigs with an army which ultimately numbered 4,000 men (mainly militia) and began construction of the fort on February 1, 1813. Harrison contemplated a hit-and-run attack across the frozen Lake Erie against the British position at Amherstburg, but found that the ice was breaking up and returned to the half-finished fort.1 He found that the officer he had left in charge, Joel B. Leftwich, had left with all his men because the term of the militia units assigned to the task had been expired. Construction had halted, and the wood which had been cut was being used as firewood.
As the terms of enlistment of Harrison's Ohio and Kentucky militia were due to expire shortly afterwards, Harrison disbanded his force and departed for Cincinnati, Ohio, to raise a fresh army. He left Engineer Major Eleazer D. Wood to complete the construction of the fort. The garrison consisted of a few hundred men from the 17th and 19th U.S. Infantry, who were inadequately clothed, and militia from Pennsylvania and Virginia whose own enlistments were due to expire.
The fort lay on the south bank of the Maumee, near the Miami Rapids. Across the river were the ruins of the old British Fort Miami and the site of the Battle of Fallen Timbers which had taken place in 1794. The fort occupied an area of eight acres, the largest to be constructed in North America to that date. The perimeter consisted of a fifteen-foot picket fence, linking eight blockhouses. The north face was protected by the Maumee, and the east and west faces by ravines. The south face was cleared of all timber to create an open glacis.2
The poor weather of early spring prevented the British attacking the position while it was vulnerable.3 The British commander on the Detroit frontier, Major General Henry Procter, had been urged to attack Presque Isle (present day Erie, Pennsylvania) where the Americans were constructing a flotilla which was intended to seize control of Lake Erie, but Procter refused to do this unless he received substantial reinforcements. Instead, he decided to attack Fort Meigs, to disrupt American preparations for a summer campaign and hopefully capture supplies.4 Harrison received intelligence of Procter's preparations, and hastened to the fort with 300 reinforcements, raising its total garrison to 1,100 men.2 Embankments were hastily thrown up within the fort as a protection against artillery fire. Harrison had persuaded Isaac Shelby, the Governor of Kentucky, to call up a brigade of 1,200 Kentucky militia under Brigadier General Green Clay, which followed Harrison down the Maumee but had not reached the fort before it was besieged.
Procter's force disembarked at the mouth of the Maumee on April 26. His force consisted of 423 men of the 41st Regiment of Foot, 63 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 31 men of the Royal Artillery, 16 men from other units, and 462 Canadian militia. He also had roughly 1,250 American Indian warriors led by Shawnee chief Tecumseh. His artillery consisted of two 24-pounder guns (which had been captured at Detroit), nine lighter guns and two gunboats mounting 9-pounder guns.2
It took several days for the British force to move up the Maumee and set up batteries. Most of these on the north side of the river, but one was set up on the south side. Most of the Indians also were on the south side of the river, loosely investing the fort. The British batteries opened fire on May 1. Most of the cannon shot fired sank harmlessly into the wet earth of the traverses and embankments.
On May 2, Harrison sent a courier to Clay's force, with orders for part of them to spike the British guns on the north bank and then withdraw into the fort, while a sortie from the fort attacked the battery on the south bank.
The Indians had seemingly not guarded the river properly2 and the Kentuckians gained complete surprise. Early on the morning of May 5, a regiment under Colonel Dudley Ward landed from boats, stormed the batteries on the north bank, and began to spike the guns. Ward then apparently lost control of his men. They began to pursue the Indians without orders, abandoning the captured batteries. Three companies of the 41st and some militia had stood firm, and recaptured the batteries.4 Procter summoned Tecumseh's Indians to the north bank of the river, and Ward's disorganised regiment was destroyed in confused fighting. One hundred and seventy fought their way back to the boats and escaped into the fort, but roughly two hundred were killed and five hundred taked prisoner. The British lost over fifty men killed or captured, Indian casualties are unknown.5
On the south bank, the American sortie against the British battery there was partially successful. Colonel John Miller captured the battery and took thirty prisoners, before two companies of the 41st intervened and drove him back to the fort. Meanwhile the rest of Clay's force reached the fort to reinforce the garrison.
Immediately after the battle, Indians snatched American prisoners from their British guards, and killed twenty or more, with clubs, tomahawks and musket fire. Procter did not intervene to prevent this massacre. The killings were eventually stopped by Tecumseh, who called Procter a woman for failing to act.5
Proctor's artillery resumed fire on May 7, but most of the Indians had abandoned the army and the militia were anxious to get back to their farms. The bombardment had had little effect, and the garrison of the fort now outnumbered the besiegers. Procter abandoned the siege on May 9. Harrison did not pursue.
Once the British had left, Harrison left Clay in command of the fort with some 100 militia. Tecumseh urged Procter to make a renewed effort to capture the fort in July. Tecumseh's warriors staged a mock battle in the woods to make it appear as if they were attacking a column of American reinforcements in attempts to lure Clay out of the fort, but since Clay knew that no reinforcements were coming, the ruse failed. Procter quickly abandoned the second siege.
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