Ohio History Journal

Editorialana.                       333

 

"And now, Mr. Speaker, having covered the points I think necessary,

I submit, for an immediate vote of the House, a bill which urges that

Groundhog Day be set back from February 2d to January 2d, so that we

may have an earlier spring."

 

 

 

 

 

THE HEROES OF FORT MEIGS.

We cheerfully publish the circular sent out by the "Wives and Daugh-

ters of the Boys in Blue," to the soldiers of the United States, and all

others interested, in behalf of the laudable purpose of purchasing and

preserving the remains of old Fort Meigs and the graves of the hundreds

of heroes who fell in its memorable seige. The circular is self-explanatory

and is as follows:

SOLDIERS OF THE UNITED STATES-The Wives and Daughters of the

Boys in Blue, a band of patriotic women of the Maumee Valley, are weld-

ing with loving hands a chain, with which to encircle round about, and

encompass as with a bulwark of safety, the neglected and unmarked graves

of 825 United States soldiers, who laid down their lives for the country

which has forgotten them. Every link in this chain of honor will be a sol-

dier's tribute.

Soldiers, if the history of the valor of the heroes of Fort Meigs, and

the recital of their wrongs, appeals to you, and you desire to assist in re-

claiming the historic battlefield, and in preserving the graves of the sol-

diers from the desecration which threatens them, send your name and ad-

dress, your regiment and company, together with 10 cents, to the Society

of the Wives and Daughters of the Boys in Blue, Perrysburg, Ohio, and

become a member of the Fort Meigs Protective League.

This membership fee, although small, will prove to be the nucleus of

a fund which will grow to mammoth proportions, and eventually result in

the purchase of the fort, and the erection of a monument to its heroes.

FORT MEIGS: - High above the river, it stands in solemn loneliness,

although the picturesque city of Maumee lies but a stone's throw beyond,

the beautiful village of Perrysburg a mile to the east, and prosperous To-

ledo scarce ten miles away. As far as the eye can see, in every direc-

tion, over hill, over dale, and along the winding river's course, reaches out

scenery of unparalleled magnificence, and from its breezy heights can be

discerned the battlefields of Fallen Timbers, Fort Miami, and Fort In-

dustry.

Adown the slope, and binding the brow of the hill, long lines of pit-

iful indentations mark the resting places of the patient sleepers, patient in

awaiting justice-the justice of honored recognition, and undisturbed re-

pose. The fort, through pitying nature, is a gem of beauty in rarest

setting; through inhuman ingratitude, cupidity, and neglect, it is a spot

over which to mourn.

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334    -    Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

THE HEROES OF FORT MEIGS - "On Fame's eternal camping ground

their silent tents are spread." The United States soldiers who lie in un-

marked and neglected graves on the battlefield of Fort Meigs, near Perrys-

burg, Ohio, served under the command of Gen. William Henry Harri-

son in the War of 1812-13. Many of them were volunteers from the States

of Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania, who, under the sting and

horror of Hull's surrender at Detroit, and the terrible massacre at the

River Raisin, rushed to the standard, and farmers, mechanics, clerks,

students of law and medicine, all fell into line and offered themselves to

the Government to serve under the banner of the brave Harrison.

"I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the

United States of America. That I will serve them honestly and faith-

fully against all their enemies whomsoever. That I will obey the orders

of the President of the United States, and of the officers appointed over

me according to the Rules and Articles of War. So help me God!"

With this oath of service fresh on their lips, without an hour's in-

struction in their new duties, they hurried away to place themselves

across the path of a mighty enemy which threatened the life of the

Maumee Valley. Truer men never lived.   Braver men never rallied to

the defense of home and country. They had courage, and fortitude, and

perseverance, beyond power of tongue to tell, or pen to portray. They left

wives and children, parents and home. They sundered every tie to march

hundreds of miles in the dead of winter, through dense and trackless for-

ests, through mud and ice and storm. They braved the horrors of the

Black Swamp; they forded swollen and icy streams; they camped on the

snow, and sank exhausted to slumber on the frozen ground. They awoke

to partake uncomplainingly of a ration of parched corn washed down with

a draught of swamp water, and still, with unwavering courage and silent

determination, they pushed onward - ever onward, to victory, but alas!

for many, to death.

History reveals the heart-rending sequel; how, decoyed into ambush

by the wily Tecumseh, 650 of the 800 men under command of the brave

Col. Dudley were surrounded by 2,800 enemies led on by the infamous

and bloodthirsty Proctor, and, under the very eyes of Gen. Harrison, all

powerless to aid them, and within range of his guns on the fort, were in-

humanly slaughtered. Subsequent events proved that this was a victory

for our soldiers, but a victory that was dearly bought.

THE GOVERNMENT SELLS FORT MEIGS - In 1817, four years after the

battle, and almost before the blood of the slain had dried on the bosom

of the hillside which had received their mangled forms, the Government,

all unaware of its terrible act of ingratitude, sold Fort Meigs - sold Fort

Meigs, with its battlefield, its fortified grounds, its scenes of valor, and

its soldiers' graves. Brave hearts lay stilled beneath the turf whose every

beat in life was for home, flag, and country -but they were sold.

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Editorialana.                       335

 

This most lamentable act of ingratitude and injustice on the part of

the Government, unconsciously and unknowingly committed, evoked

neither comment nor objection from those who were cognizant of the

error, and who should have at once presented the matter to the Govern-

ment in its true light and protested vigorously against the sacrilege.

Nothing was done, and the years sped on. The rains of summer and the

snows of winter have fallen on the lonely graves on the hillside for ninety

years. Inherited indifference still obtains and those of the heroes whose

graves have escaped the ploughshare occupy their narrow beds through

toleration only. For them there is no Memorial Day, neither flowers nor

tears, neither music nor song; but above them flourishes the fragrant (?)

skunk cabbage and the aromatic dogfennel, and the hoof-beats of the fes-

tive bovine keep time to the cackle and squawk of fowls, and the somnolent

grunt of the unwieldy porker, which, in company with the wily politician,

fattens above their graves.

At the present time Fort Meigs, with its burial ground, is in imminent

danger of destruction, and were it not for the timely intervention of Pres-

ident Roosevelt, the fortifications would have been razed and the graves

ploughed up many months ago. In this connection, the Society avers, in

a sense of justice, and with the eternal fitness of according honor to

whom honor is due, that of the 23 presidents who have administered since

the battle of Fort Meigs the present president alone has investigated the

condition of the soldiers' burial ground at the fort, expressed stern dis-

approval of the neglect apparent there, brought the matter to the atten-

tion of the Secretary of War, and caused those interested to be officially

notified to either render due respect to their soldier dead, or submit to

the alternative of having the bodies removed to a national cemetery.

In view of the fact that after nearly a century of interment, the re-

moval of the 825 soldiers would be well nigh impossible, and would in-

volve many sad and heart-rending scenes, the society appeals to the boys

in blue to rally around the lonely graves on the Fort Meigs hillside, to

the end that their silent tenants may, through the medium of comrades, be

accorded the right so long denied them--the right of recognition and

honored repose.

To the soldier, ever responsive to the call of duty or the cry of dis-

tress, the society comes, in full confidence that he who endured the hard-

ships and hunger, the want and the wounds of a harassing campaign, wilt

be in full sympathy with their efforts, and will not turn coldly from the

silent appeal of the lonely and desolate graves of the heroes of Fort

Meigs.

Soldiers, the long, dark night of oblivion which has enveloped the

heroes of Fort Meigs will roll away, and "joy cometh with the morn-

ing." Over the hills and down the valley from the fort will soon re-

echo in clarion tones the sentinel call of "All is well." The soldiers in

the silent tents will heed it not; they sleep their last sleep; but their mem-

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336         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ory will endure. The myrtle and the ivy will entwine above their resting

place, and there will children gather to strew sweet flowers, and place the

laurel wreath.

This appeal to the soldiers of the United States is wending its

way from Ohio to Maine, from California to the Gulf. The "Wives and

Daughters of the Boys in Blue" desire that every United States soldier be

accorded the privilege of contributing to the fund for the protection of

the graves of the heroes, and thereby of becoming a member of the Fort

Meigs Protective League, from which all other than soldiers are barred.

Fifteen thousand dollars only will be required with which to purchase

and beautify Fort Meigs and erect thereon a monument to the memory of

the soldier dead; hence the contribution of each member of the League is

limited to one dollar, and in no instance will a soldier be accredited with

the donation of a greater amount. The Fort Meigs Protective League

knows neither rank nor title; the Commander-in-Chief of the United

States Army, the noble veteran in his faded coat of blue, the soldier fresh

from the field of battle, from China or the far-off Philippines, and the

"Drummer Boy of Missionary Ridge," will all stand shoulder to shoulder,

and, in harmonious endeavor, seek to accord to the heroes of Fort Meigs

the right which so long has been denied them--the right of recogni-

tion and honored repose.

Every soldier joining the League will receive honorable mention in

Toledo's prominent paper, The Toledo Daily Bee, a copy of which, con-

taining name and contribution, will be mailed to each address. The

Fort Meigs Reveille, a paper to be published in the interests of the fort,

will contain the names of members of the League, also the names of the

Wives and Daughters of the Boys in Blue, who, with the assistance of

soldiers, are endeavoring to "hold the fort."

When the soldiers of the United States become cognizant of the neg-

lect and indignities which have ever been the portion of the men who

fought and died at Fort Meigs - whose graves are menaced with the ever

present threat of the ploughshare, and above whose silent forms, with

ceaseless tread, stalks the horrid spectre of eviction, -when, with awak-

ened sympathies, they respond to the call of the reveille and rally to do

honor to their comrades dead - then and not until then can be inscribed

above the heroes:

"Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er,

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking;

Dream of battlefields no more,

Days of danger, nights of waking."

The officers of this League are: Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, Honorary

President; Mrs. M. R. Evans, Vice-President; Mrs. Ellen McMahon

Caspers, Secretary; Mrs. Anna M. Labadie, Treasurer.

Subscriptions should be sent to Mrs. Ellen M. Caspers, Perrysburg

Wood Co., Ohio.

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