Cleveland, Ohio in 1831 as Described by a French Traveler

I picked up a collection of Alexis de Tocqueville's notebooks from his travels in America in the 1830s recently. De Tocqueville is famous for his Democracy in America, published 1835. Part of his travels led him to board a steamer from Buffalo to Detroit, and it stopped at the town of Cleveland along the way:

21st July

Quarrel with the captain. Arrival at Cleveland at 6 o'clock in the evening. Up to there the aspect of the lake had been uniform. Generally to the right the lake, like a sea, stretched its transparent  waters to the horizon. We hugged close to the shore of Pennsylvania and and Ohio on the left. That side, generally quite flat and sometimes a few feet high, was almost everywhere covered in primeval forest whose immense trees were reflected in the waters that bathed their roots. The very uniformity of the sight is impressive. One is tempted to think that the ship that bears one is the only one to trace a furrow in the waters of the lake and that the land one sees has not yet fallen under man's dominion. But that is all nothing. After coasting along for hours beside a dark forest that only ends where the lake begins, one suddenly sees a church tower, elegant houses, fine villages, with an appearance of wealth and industry. Nothing but nature is savage here; man fights against her everywhere armed with all the resources of civilization. One goes without transition from the wilds into a city street, from the most savage scenes to the most smiling pictures of civilized life. If you are not caught by nightfall and forced to lodge at the foot of a tree, you are sure to come to a place where you will find everything, even French fashions and Palais Royal caricatures.

At 7 o'clock we left Cleveland. Lovely night. The moon lighting the forest and reflected in the waters of the lake.

De Tocqueville often dwelled on Ohio in his notebooks, because it was conveniently juxtaposed against the slave state of Kentucky.  He and many of the people from both states whom he interviewed stated that Ohio was characterized by industriousness and growth, whereas in Kentucky and many of the other slave states life had a more languid character. This was on account of the free labor provided by slaves, which many contemporary writers believed made the slave owners lazy.

There was a dark side to the land north of the Ohio River, though. De Tocqueville noted the strict anti-Black laws in Ohio, which required all free blacks to put up a bond as a guarantee against their legitimacy.  Apparently, many white people in Ohio feared an influx of poor, unskilled former slaves or runaways who would become a burden on the state.

Mr. Walker, a young lawyer from Ohio, explained the laws to de Tocqueville:

Q. In Ohio you have made very severe laws against the blacks.

A. Yes. We try and discourage them in every possible way. Not only have we made laws allowing them to be expelled at will, but we hamper them in a thousand ways. A Negro has no political rights; he cannot be a juror; he cannot give evidence against a white. That last law sometimes leads to revolting injustices. The other day I was consulted by a Negro who had supplied a lot of victuals to the master of a steamboat. The white denied the debt. As the creditor was black, and as all his assistants were the same and so could not give evidence on his behalf as they could not appear in court, there was no way of even starting a case.

There are many such interesting notes and conversations recorded in the volume. De Tocqueville, as an outsider, uses a lot of generalizations to describe the American society he encounters, but we also get a valuable glimpse of a vanished world to which we, too, are outsiders.

The book is Alexis de Tocqueville: Journey to America (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1960).

Ads from 200 years ago in the Kentucky Gazette

This week I've been digging through old issues of the Kentucky Gazette, the first newspaper published in Lexington, Kentucky. The issues from 1813 offer an interesting look into life on the home front during the war for the northwest. The newspaper has been archived and is available to peruse at the Kentucky Digital Library.

 Newspaper publisher, Irish republican, and sometime Colonel of the Rifle Regiment William Duane won War Department recognition of his manuals for infantry and riflemen in 1813, and booksellers were quick to offer his books to Army officers.

 The Juvenile Library offered members a collection of 475 volumes, for a fee of 5 dollars up front and dues of 50 cents a year.

R Megowan & Co offered swords, epaulets, buttons and plumes for officers, who were expected to purchase their own uniforms. They also sold trimmings for ladies' hats.

Instructors were available for lessons on the use of the broadsword, as well as dancing, manner, and deportment.

Daniel Bradford advertised to purchase raw materials such as tobacco, wool, linen, sugar and saltpeter and in turn offered lots of imported goods, such as tea, sherry, rum, cigars, snuff, and mustard.

A War of 1812 "Gatling Gun"

The age of modern firepower was heralded by the introduction of the Gatling Gun, a multi-barrelled repeating gun. During the American race to produce arms for its smaller army and navy for the war with Great Britain, many inventors came up with new experimental weapons for the war. One of the most obscure but perhaps most powerful of these was the multi-barrelled Chambers Gun, patented by its creator gunsmith Joseph Chambers in 1814.

Before the key components of modern repeating firearms were developed (the percussion primer and the all-metal cartridge, although these were combined to make a modern gun as early as 1812!), many inventors attempted to build multiple shot firearms. They mainly used two methods: multiple barrels and multiple charges in the same barrel. The first method is self-explanatory, but the first requires some explanation.

When you load a muzzleloader, it's usually bad news to have more than one round in the barrel. Most explosions or failures in the gun barrel result from the difference in pressure created by having another object in the bore. Double charging is thus a recipe for making your gun into a handheld pipe bomb. Gunmakers from the 14th century on, though, sought to turn this tragic mistake into a useful weapon. They learned how to carefully load powder charges and bullets on top of each other. With a tightly-fitting round ball, the explosive energy of the top charge behaves as if the second ball were the breech. Then, either a second priming pan and touch hole are activated or the second charge is set off with delayed effect, kind of like a roman candle.

That these kind of weapons were never popular is a sign of how dangerous and inconvenient to use they must have been. There was simply no advantage of having a repeating firearm that made the laborious loading procedures and expensively crafted mechanisms worthwhile. A small bore artillery piece charged with grapeshot or canister could get the same effect, and could be reloaded much faster and with less care.

Joseph Chambers' inventions were developed for the US Navy during the War of 1812. His centerpiece was the powerful swivel gun, a seven-barreled .75 caliber gun that could fire 224 shots. The shots came out of the seven barrels in sequence, so that the infernal machine could be mounted on a frigate's fighting top and swept along the decks.

What was the secret of the Chambers gun? Basically, the seven barrels were fixed together like a Gatling gun. Each barrel was loaded with multiple charges of powder and round balls. These balls are much closer to the actual size of the bore than musket balls, and are also patched with an animal membrane. Each has a hole bored through the center containing a small amount of priming. No wonder Chambers sent his sons along with to the US Navy to act as technical advisors-- any misloading of these guns would certainly have resulted in disaster!

The first charge is set off by a flintlock set about halfway down the gun, connected to a trigger by a long wire. When it fires, the first charge sets off the priming leading through the second ball in the bore, and so on. It also communicates through a vent to a second barrel, to start off it's sequence of charges, and so on. The genius of this firearm is that it takes advantage of the natural delay between the priming and charge going off in a flintlock weapon. However, because of the precision demanded by the narrow windage and tolerances, this was a single-use weapon in a battle. The idea was that after several of these guns fired, there wouldn't be anyone left on deck to shoot at. As a bonus, they could be loaded and stored in advance during a long cruise, and unpacked for quick service. By the war's end, many frigates carried several Chambers guns in each fighting top. Although there is no direct historical accounts of them being used in a close action, some sources claim that a large number were produced during the War of 1812. As a specialized but powerful weapon, it is small wonder few if any of them saw combat service.

The swivel gun, middle. From D.R. Baxter, "Superimposed Load Firearms, 1360-1860".

Two types of repeating rifles.

Repeating pistols.

Secret Weapons of the War of 1812: IEDs

HMS Bellerophon, a 75-gun ship similar to the Ramilles, which was repeatedly targeted by American IEDs during the War of 1812. Nickname: "Billy Ruffian."

The United States and its patriotic citizens, set upon by the vast forces of the British Royal Navy in the War of 1812, came up with many "infernal devices" to even the playing field. These improvised explosive devices seem--eerily-- to echo the tactics of asymmetrical warfare faced by US troops abroad today...

The British navy had a total of 1017 vessels--258 ships-of-the-line, 240 frigates, 64 sloops of war, 12 bomb and fire ships, 191 brigs, 42 cutters, and 65 schooners and luggers...In March, 1813, Congress passed a law allowing the payment of the value of any English vessel blown up or destroyed in any manner by persons not in the actual service of the United States. Thus the whole British blockading squadron on our coast was a subject for private enterprise. The game was too big and tempting to let go without many efforts.

 The torpedoes in use were those invented by Robert Fulton for blowing up ships...These torpedoes consisted of a copper case which contained from fifty to one hundred pounds or more of powder. To this was fixed a gun-flint lock in a brass box, water tight, which lock could strike fire by several means. One was by clockwork [my italics], which could be set to one or more minutes or hours for striking the fire. Another was for being sunk at a given depth under water and a float, to which was attached a lever or catch near the surface of the water, which when hit by anything would spring the lock and strike fire. Another was by hitching one or more torpedoes to the middle of a rope a hundred feet or more long, and having a row boat at each end drag the torpedoes to an enemy's vessel or under it and either spring the gun-lock by clockwork or by contact with the vessel, and thus blow her up. (from R.S. Guernsey, New York City and Vicinity During the War of 1812-15, New York, 1889.)

 Although Fulton's mines had been demonstrated to effectively blow up a test schooner, they were never actually used against a British ship that we know of. However, another enterprising man used a variation on the classic "fireship" ploy that sounds like something a movie villain would do:

A schooner, called the Eagle, was fitted out by John Scudder, Jr... He placed ten kegs of powder, about 400 pounds, with a quantity of sulphur mixed with it, in a strong cask, and surrounded it with huge stones and other missiles... At the head of the cask, in the inside, were fixed two gun-locks, with cords fastened to their triggers at one end, and two barrels of flour at the other end, so that when the flour should be removed, the locks would be sprung, the powder ignited, and the terrible mine exploded.

As expected, the schooner was captured in Long Island Sound by the British warship Ramilles. The crew escaped to Millstone Point and sat back to watch the fireworks...

 ...Boats were sent out for the cargo. The hatches of the Eagle were opened, and when the first barrel of flour was removed, the explosion took place. A column of fire shot up into the air (the inventor of it said it reached up nine hundred feet) and a shower of pitch and tar fell upon the deck of the Ramilles. The Eagle, a British officer, and ten men, were blown to atoms, and most of the boats outside were seriously or fatally injured.

Ramilles escaped, and although for a while the local British commodore was threatening to destroy  "everything American that floats" in retaliation for what was basically a terrorist attack, things returned to normal on the blockaded shoreline--that is, until an even weirder inventor took another shot at Ramilles:

 A citizen of Norwich invented a submarine boat in which he could voyage three miles an hour. In this he went under the Ramilles, which was frequently seen near New York, and had nearly completed his task of fixing a torpedo to her bottom when his drill broke, he was discovered and his effort was foiled, but he escaped.

The enraged and fearful British navy landed a strong force where the submarine had beached, and blew it up to prevent any more attempts. The Commodore announced that American prisoners would be kept aboard British vessels, and ordered that the Ramilles be kept in motion and "caused her bottom to be swept with a cable every two hours, night and day, to keep off the 'damned Yankee barnacles'"!

A torpedo (sea mine) from the 1860s.

A critical improvement in detonators: a device to trigger mines electrically from the American Civil War.

Fulton's mines probably looked more like these barrels, reconstructions of Confederate mines from the vicinity of Wilmington, N.C.

As interesting as these early sea mines were, they failed to destroy any British ships. It would take until the American Civil War for anti-ship weapons like the electrically detonated mine and the submersible for these new weapons to begin to make an impact on naval warfare.

Franklinton Newspaper Revisited

Is that musician wearing flip flops?

     

    Yesterday I spent a good two hours in the basement of the Worthington Public Library going through a microfilm reel from the Franklinton, Ohio Freeman's Chronicle published between 1812 and 1814. It's the same paper from which I posted a selection of classified ads two years ago. Although I didn't find many new things, I was able to immerse myself in the world of a frontier town two hundred years ago. There were some familiar names, like Goodale, along with many others whose names have passed from public memory. In 1812 Franklinton was still a frontier village--but the number of brick houses, taverns, shops, and the handsome courthouse belie the image of a crude settlement made up of log cabins (but there were certainly plenty of those). Even during the height of the British blockade in 1813 and 14 you could still get a number of luxury items, including Chinese tea and Caribbean coffee. The state capital of Chillicothe was a few miles south, and the future capital city--Columbus-- was a sparsely settled rise of land called Wolf Ridge overlooking Franklinton from across the Scioto River.

      What was most interesting was how connected the residents of the town were. News articles in the Chronicle were copied freely from other papers-- an early form of syndication or even aggregation like the Huffington Post. Irregular mail pouches from other towns brought the news of the world. What a time it was! Not only was the endgame of the great world conflict known as the Napoleonic Wars playing out in Europe, but news came from Turkey of the Russo-Turkish war, in Texas a group of American adventurers had invaded the Mexican state and captured San Antonio-- while other filibusters were taking control of Spanish Florida, Algiers was taking advantage of the wars to raid American shipping, and pirates infested the seas. Here are some selections of news and ads from those years:

A Card.

Mr. Huntington most respectfully acqaints the Ladies and Gentlemen of Fraklinton that, at the Court House this evening, he will have the honor to offer them one of the Entertainments he has recently exhibited in some of the principle Towns in the United States.

In the course of the evening Mr. H will deliver some "Hints to those designed for a military life," & introduce a number of patriotic effusions breathing as nearly as possible the spirit of the times, and several pieces of satire on the English officers and government.

To commence at 7 o'clock.

Tickets (50 cents) to be had at Mr. Brodrick's Bar.

October 20. 

Handle--Cash!

Notice is hereby given, for the last time, to all persons indebted to the subscriber, either by note or book account, to come forward immediately, and settle the same, as longer indulgence cannot nor will be given.

My iron's good, my work is just,

Times are so hard I cannot trust;

Therefore to save both suit & sorrow.

Pay to-day, and I'll trust to-morrow.

George Skidmore

October 24, 1813.

 "Deserted"

"When he went away he had on brown clouded linsey clothes, and a white hat, pretty well worn. Whoever will apprehend the said Hall, and deliver him to any military officer in the service of the United States, so that he is brought to Head-Quarters, or delivered to the subscriber, shall receive 10 dollars reward, with all reasonable charges."

John M'Wharter

Capt. 1st Regt.

Nov. 4, 1813.

 

 The Election for President & Vice-President of the United States, has terminated in favour of Madison and Gerry. Clinton had 89 votes for President, and Ingersol 86 (?) for Vice-President.

Congress are doing--nothing.

Dr. Eustis, alias Useless, has resigned (from being the Secretary of War). Rumor is busy respecting his successor. Armstrong, the author of the famous letter exciting the revolutionary army to mutinize against Gen. Washington (the Conway Cabal affair), will probably be appointed.

The Hon. Secretary of the Navy tipples as much as ever.

The heroic Gen. Smyth has immortalized himself by-----running away.

Gen. Dearborn has concluded not to invade Canada till a "more convenient season".

By HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT

 

A Proclamation

WHEREAS an evil ill disposed Frigate known by the name of the AMERICAN CONSTITUTION ...being instigated by one ISAAC HULL, and not having the fear of our good ship the GUERRIERE... did with malice afore-thought and evil intent, on the King's high Sea, commit assault and Battery on the aforesaid ship... and after having overcome her in single combat, did send her to a place known to mariners by the name of Davy Jones' Locker...

 AND WHEREAS we have reason to fear that none of our Royal frigates are able to cope with the aforementioned frigate called the Constitution, we, therefore, ...are pleased to make known to the captain of all our frigates on the American station, that, the less they have to do with the American Constitution, the better for themselves--and if they have to consult their safety by flight, no disgrace will be attached to them.

General James Wilkinson was in fact a Spanish secret agent... but I didn't know that was so widely known at the time!

In 1813, with wartime scarcity and inflation, 100 pounds of wheat flour was $57.14 in today's money (according to a dodgy online calculator). $12 was the average monthly wage of a laborer.

Rude presidential elections of the past

Vote for Harrison. He's the kind of down to earth guy who you can get drunk with! Also a war hero!

No matter what their politics, most Americans can agree that this years' presidential election has been unusually bitter. The glut of corporate money pouring into political attack adverts has made TV a wasteland of recriminations against one candidate or another.

However, contentious campaigns are hardly new. The so-called "Revolution of 1800" which overthrew John Adams in favor of Thomas Jefferson held nothing back. "Gags, inquisitors and spies" and "hordes of harpies"? "Lordlings" with "gorging jaws"? "Fiery bigots" and "holy laws"? The Democratic Republicans were using these terms to describe the administration of Federalist President Adams. The Sedition and Alien Acts under his administration were thought to erode the liberties guaranteed under the Constitution. In general, Federalist policies favored New England merchants over the small farmers of the west and south-- although most of the prominent Republican leaders were  wealthy Southern planters.

The gloomy night before us lies,
The reign of terror now is o'er;
Its gags, inquisitors and spies,
Its hordes of harpies are no more

Chorus:
Rejoice, Columbia's sons, rejoice
To tyrants never bend the knee
But join with heart and soul and voice
For Jefferson and Liberty.

O'er vast Columbia's varied clime
Her cities, forests, shores and dales;
In riding majesty, sublime,
Immortal liberty prevails.

Hail! long expected glorious day
Illustrious memorable morn:
That freedom's fabric from decay
Secures for millions yet unborn.

No lordling here with gorging jaws.
Shall wring from industry its food;
No fiery bigot's holy laws,
Lay waste our fields and streets in blood.

Here strangers from a thousand shores
Compell'd by tyranny to roam;
Shall find, amidst abundant stores,
A nobler and a happier home.

Let foes to freedom dread the name,
But should they touch the sacred tree
Twice fifty thousand swords would flame,
For Jefferson and Liberty.

William Henry Harrison's campaign for the presidency in 1840 was less rancorous. The Democratic-Republicans were running Martin Van Buren for reelection. They characterized the elderly Whig Harrison as "granny" and one newspaper stated "Give him a barrel of hard cider, and ... a pension of two thousand [dollars] a year ... and ... he will sit the remainder of his days in his log cabin."

Even though Martin Van Buren came from a poor family, while Harrison was the scion of a wealthy Virginia plantation dynasty, the Whigs turned Democratic condescension into an advantage. They characterized their candidate as a down to earth war veteran, living in a Western log cabin and giving travellers hard cider.

The Whig campaign went so far as to construct log cabins at campaign stops and gave out free drinks to voters. That's right. A presidential campaign gave out free booze. It was a common tactic in early American politics-- see Davy Crockett's political campaigns.

The props of the campaign led in turn to a great song called "Log Cabin and Hard Cider"

Come swell the throng and join the song
Extend the circle wider!
Join the run for Harrison, Log Cabin, and Hard Cider.

With Harrison, our country's won
No treachery can divide her
Thy will be done with Harrison, Log Cabin, and Hard Cider.

Let Calhoun jeer and Benton sneer
Like every such backslider!
The fight was won by Harrison, Log Cabin, and Hard Cider.

To all the world our flag's unfurled
To vict'ry Tipp'll guide her.
Second to none is Harrison, Log Cabin, and Hard Cider!

Of course, another song emerged from the Whig camp: "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" which has somehow indelibly entered the American consciousness even if Harrison himself is only occasionally remembered as the shortest-lived President. A great jab in the song is "Little Van is a used-up man" referring to the incumbent Van Buren.

Just imagine how great American politics could be if we once again made up rude songs about the candidates, and the political parties bought us booze...

221 Years Ago in Ohio-- The Bloody Battle of the Wabash

Yesterday was the 221st anniversary of the Battle of  the Wabash, also known as St. Clair's defeat after the American commander at the battle, Major General Arthur St. Clair. You can read more about the battle here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clair%27s_Defeat.

Of St. Clair's approximately 1,000 men and civilian camp followers, less than 300 survived, and most of those were walking wounded. Some sources (including the wikipedia.org article) give casualties as high as 950 of the 1,000.

How did it happen? Essentially, General St. Clair's troops were marching into the wilderness of western Ohio and stopped for the night on November without fortifying the campsite. A small advance guard of Kentucky volunteers was posted outside the encampment, but they were quickly overrun. St. Clair's best troops, the 1st United States Infantry Regiment, had been sent back to escort food supplies and most of his men were green recruits. The perimeter of the camp was too small, and when the 1,000 Indian warriors under Chief Little Turtle surrounded and began to fire from the cover of the forest, they created havoc in the American camp.

Even though the Americans had brought six field guns with them, they were unable to clear the Indians with canister fire or bayonet charges from the infantry. Instead, artillery crews were cut down by rifle fire, while the Indians simply retreated from the infantry and light dragoon charges before surrounding and cutting down the counter-attacking detachments.

The disaster would have an immense effect on American military thinking. In 1794, General Anthony Wayne's Legion was a sleek combined-arms force, much better trained and coordinated than St. Clair's army had been. They erected a fort on the bone-strewn site of the massacre and called it Fort Recovery.

Wayne's system of warfare was adopted from his experience during the American Revolution, and the legion was meant to move fast, each of its sub-legions included line infantry, light infantry skirmishers, riflemen, light dragoons, and cavalry as organic parts of the order of battle.

The Legion was converted back into a more conventional United States Army and largely disbanded after the Treaty of Greenville. But leaders such as William Henry Harrison (who had arrived in Cincinnati to witness the aftermath of St. Clair's defeat in '91) remembered. Their tactics during the War of 1812 would draw upon these experiences.

General Harrison was surprised at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 in much the same circumstances as St. Clair had been in, with a compact bivouac site lacking fortification (perhaps in order to goad the Indians into attacking him). His infantrymen were able to maintain their perimeter until daylight, when he ordered a decisive counter-attack by mounted dragoons. Later on, he was always careful to order breastworks put up wherever his army stopped to camp.

Another American commander, Brigadier General James Winchester, was not so careful on the eve of the battle of Frenchtown in January 1813. The exposed 17th US Infantry Regiment was cut to pieces while the regiments of Kentucky militia, who had taken shelter behind a wall, were able to hold out much longer. Strangely, at the beginning of his march in the fall of 1812, Winchester had ordered his men to fortify themselves nightly. It was probably the sheer fatigue of their winter campaign that caused Winchester and his officers to repeat the fatal mistake of St. Clair.

Toledo's 101-year old freighter and a new national park site

I was in the Toledo area last week and had the chance to visit two exceptional historic museums: the restored freighter James M. Schoonmaker, built in 1911; and the River Raisin Battlefield National Park in Monroe, Michigan. Their websites are http://www.willisbboyer.org/ and http://www.nps.gov/rira/index.htm.

An 18th Century Urban Dictionary

A friend recently clued me in to the existence of a valuable reference for reenactors, historians and anyone who’s interested in the common language of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Francis Grose, esq’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published in 1785, and went through many editions. Below is an example hosted on archive.org from 1823:

Some of my favorite phrases or terms from early 19th century Britain include…

“All Nations” A composition of all the different spirits sold in a dram-shop, collected in a vessel into which the drainings of the bottles and quartern pots are emptied.

“Ambassador of Morocco” A shoemaker.

“Bug Hunter” An upholsterer.

“To dance upon nothing” To be hanged.

“Firing a Gun” Introducing a story by head and shoulders. A man, wanting to tell a particular story, said to the company, “Hark; did you not hear a gun?—but now we are talking of a gun, I will tell you the story of one.”

“Flam” A lie or sham story: also, a single stroke on a drum. To flam; to hum, to amuse, to deceive. Flim flams; idle stories."

“Gingerbread Work” Gilding and carving; these terms are particularly applied, by seamen on board Newcastle colliers, to the decorations of the sterns and quarters of West-Indiamen, which they have the greatest pleasure in defacing.

“Hen House” A house where the woman rules; called also a she house, and hen frigate: the latter, a sea phrase, originally applied to a ship, the captain of which had his wife on board, supposed to command him.

“High Jinks” A gambler at dice, who, having a strong head, drinks to intoxicate his adversary, or pigeon.

“Huzza” Said to have been originally the cry of the huzzars, or Hungarian light horse; but now the national shout of the English, both civil and military: in the sea phrase termed a cheer; to give three cheers being to huzza thrice.

“Rabbit Catcher” A midwife.

“Rag Carrier” An ensign (!).

“Rollers” Horse and foot patrol, who parade the roads round about London during the night, for the prevention of robberies.

“Turnpike-Man” A parson; because the clergy collect their tolls at our entrance into and exit from the world.

“Used Up” Killed; a military saying, originating from a message sent by the late General Guise, on the expedition at Carthagena, where he desired the commander-in-chief to order him some more grenadiers, for those he had were all used up.

“Wife” A fetter fixed to one leg.

There’s even a 19th century English version of Fight Club (!)

P.C. Pugilistic Club; a society of gentlemen, founded in 1814, expressly for the purpose of keeping alive the principles of courage and hardihood which have distinguished the British character, and to check the progress of that effeminacy which wealth is apt to produce. Men of rank, associating together, learn to prize the native and acquired powers of human nature. The incitement which they produce to noble deeds of hardihood and bravery,and the high respectability which they confer by the patronage of their rank and fortune, is of inestimable benefit. This club consists of about 120 subscribers.

Of course, there are probably more different terms for prostitutes than for any other person or thing listed in this book. See Barber’s Chair, Public Ledger, etc. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of an American version of this book. The diverse and sprawling geographical regions of the early United States gave rise to heterogeneous dialects and slang. It's hard to say which English phrases and vulgar words would have been uttered on the streets of say, Pittsburgh or Cincinnati during the War of 1812.

American soldiers developed their own slang. "Uncle Sam", the famous term for government supplies and equipment, supposedly came from an Army contractor in upper state New York named Samuel Wilson. However, Kentucky militia soldiers crossing the Ohio River at Newport, KY used the term as early as 1814. Another great term comes from the siege of Fort Erie that summer, when British round shot was tumbling dangerously through the American encampment. Every time a near miss rolled past, some wag would announce: "that went as swiftly as any goose egg!" For some reason, the goose egg did not last as long in the popular lexicon as Uncle Sam did...

A Weekend at the Fair

This past weekend, I went out to Springfield, Ohio to see the early American reenacting event called The Fair at New Boston (link). The Fair is one of those sprawling events that one often hears spoken of in reenacting circles, but since it's not particular to the War of 1812 period and is civilian, artisan and merchant-oriented-- I've never been. This Saturday I decided to go in 21st century garb and see what the fair had to offer.

George Rogers Clark, who captured Vincennes during the War of Independence.

After about 50 minutes driving, including an inadvertent detour through  the center of Springfield, we arrived at the fair and were ushered by boy scout volunteers into a parking spot. The grass in the parking lot was tall enough to rattle against the floorboard of the car, but parking in the grass is something you get used to in the reenacting world.

The fair itself sprawled across a farm meadow and several clearings and hillsides. Merchants, artificers, and food venders were all laid out in a box-shaped encampment (mostly of spacious wall tents) with broad, regular avenues. The military camp, oddly enough, was very un-military. The wedge tents and flys were strung along a couple of walkways, interrupted by a picket line where several horses (a rarity at 1812 events) grazed and tolerated the children who came up to pet them. There was also a couple of artillery companies in separate areas of the camp, including a 3-inch howitzer and a light 6-pounder field piece manned by the Mad River Artillery Co (link) . Periodically they provided demonstrations for the crowd on the brow of a steep hill to one side of camp. There was even a stray detachment of the Royal Navy, flying a naval ensign that was unmolested by either the green coated US riflemen next door or the Kentucky mounted riflemen elsewhere in camp. However, I could see that there was little time for war with so much trade going on...

A naturalists writing table and specimens.

A travelling forge, necessity for any army on campaign.

The old method of cutting the bore of a rifle for grooves.

In the bustling streets of the tent city below I met with a lot of familiar merchant companies, and some not so familiar (as this is to the south and earlier than most events I attend). Regency Revisited (link), Spencer's Mercantile (link ), and Smoke and Fire (link), were present, as was Flying Canoe (link). The First Regiment of Volunteers, an 1812 regiment (link), was busily recruiting in one of the market avenues, while blacksmiths, gunsmiths, and tinsmiths hawked wares even as they crafted more. Strapped for cash, I spent my last Spanish Dollar on a tow worm for cleaning my musket.

The taverns, coffee houses, and publick houses were doing a brisk business with fair goers and reenactors alike. Two great tavern tents were set up on either flank of the market, the Blackhorse Tavern and Little John's. Each reminded me of a scene from one of William Hogarth's engravings--albeit without the whoring, bear-bating and gambling that 18-th century city-dwellers would have enjoyed.

Further out in the midst of a woodlot lay the Indian encampment. It was pretty well populated with wigwams, lean-tos, and the occasional teepee. A great longhouse had been erected in the center of the village. A white artist was sketching the scene, while a couple of chickens clucked contentedly in a log hutch. Back in the main camp, entertainers regaled visitors on several stages situated throughout the market. The largest of these was the Cheapside Theatre, a set of canvas walls surrounding a open-air performance space. Other entertainers, such as the Clockwork Clown and my personal favorite, Common Stock, played on smaller stages or (in the latter's case) prowled the tent avenues. For those searching for erudition, there was a printer, a naturalist, and a Grand Camera Obscura built by Mr. John Stealey (--which I'd had the chance to see at Fort Meigs the week before).

Unfortunately, the atmosphere was more alike to the East Indies than old London or Philadelphia, and we were soon defeated by the humidity and swarms of yellow jackets. We left the fair feeling that we'd got the value of our $8 admissions.

History Road Trip Photos

A few months ago I posted a few pictures from the National Road Museum in Norwich, OH. On the same day trip, I visited the Ohio River Museum and the Campus Martius Museum in Marietta, Ohio. Marietta was the earliest American settlement in the Ohio territory. Founded in 1788, it was named after the then- Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Many of the structures built by the town's first settlers are still standing.

A wheelwrights shop in the National Road Museum. Note the creepily realistic mannikin.

Blacksmith's shop in same.

A lady tavern keeper serves some hungry guests.

Zane Gray in his study. The noted western writer pioneered the production of silent Western films in the 1910s.

Wheelhouse of the Tell City. It used to stand in someone's yard.

Interior of the wheelhouse. Note the spokes, which could be climbed on to force the tiller--this before steam-assisted steering gear.

A flat boat, the "arks" of the Ohio River that moved families and their livestock and supplies down river to the frontier. General Green Clay's brigade used these craft to move down the Maumee River for an amphibious assault during the Battle of the Rapids, 5 May 1813.

WP Snyder, a steam powered stern-wheeler. Though it looks old, this stern-wheeler was built in 1918 and retired in the 1950s.

Engineers station on the WP Snyder.

Steam engine. Since the stern wheeler was employed pushing barges all year round, there were plenty of pot bellied stoves in all compartments.

Aft steering gear. Just forward at right is one of the heads.

Pilot's eye view of the river. By the 20th Century the Mississippi was no longer the treacherous, wild river it had been to 19th century riverboat men. Much of the equipment is similar to older steam boats.

Coal fired boilers, amidships. Most of the space on the main deck is taken up by boilers and steam engines.

One of the famous lead plates buried by Celeron de Bienville to lay claim to the Ohio country in 1749.

One of the most interesting artifacts at Campus Martius. Return Jonathan Meigs wore this arm band as a badge of office (like a gorget) as a commissioned officer during the Revolutionary War. Armbands like this are usually associated with Indian leaders.

Chest, hat and sabre belonging to Rufus Putnam as a Revolutionary War officer.

Hawk given by Tecumseh to Thomas Worthington as a gesture of friendship. Worthington entertained both Tecumseh and the men who could be said to have been his mortal enemies, Henry Clay and William Henry Harrison.

Calumet carried by Indian Agent John Johnston when negotiating the removal of the Wyandot Indians, the last organized tribe living in Ohio.

A short musket or musketoon. Interesting because the United States armories did not produce musketoons or carbines until years after the War of 1812.