Forgettable War, Unforgettable Fort



Inside Fort Meigs looking at a southwestern blockhouse

Who knew that Ohio boasts the largest historic fort site from the War of 1812?  For that matter, how many even remember there was a War of 1812? Lost among the shuffle of wars taught in the classroom history books, the War of 1812 often comes up short or even missing. But just outside Toledo, Ohio on the inland banks of the Maumee River stands Fort Meigs, an impressive structure that repelled not once, but twice the British invasion of northwestern Ohio.

The War of 1812 isn't as easy to understand as the Revolutionary War or the Civil War,  where causes seemed clear and a war inevitable. President James Madison in many ways was goaded into action from war-mongering politicians, who were tagged with the first use of the term warhawk, over issues involving British practices at sea and out west in the Great Lakes region. Throughout the nation a sizeable number of Madison High Schools today tout the Warhawks as their mascots.

Historic Marker and Visitor Center at Fort Meigs

For Ohio the War of 1812 was about Indians and Canadians, as both were immediate threats to the barely decade-old state. Fort Meigs was built to protect the interior of Ohio from coalition of English and French. The fort stands on the footprint of the original fort and features a nicely sized museum and visitor center. Built in 2003 as part of Ohio's Bicentennial celebrations, the winding displays give a great sense of the timing of the war and the artifacts of the time and those found at the site. A corner of the museum shows how modern science, including thermal imaging was used in renovating the fort.

Costumed interpreter reacting to musket demonstration

A visit on the right day might begin with a tour of the musuem by a costumed interpreter. On this visit the interpreter, a college-aged girl, remarked that in the 19th Century she did not have the right serve her country as a soldier but in the 21st Century does, including re-enacting one.

Fort McHenry in Baltimore certainly gains all the publicity and attention for the War of 1812, having been the site where Francis Scott Key penned the words to the Star Spangled Banner and what would later become the National Anthem.  But Fort Meigs is supersized in comparison to her east coast companion's star shaped designed.  Meigs is spread out over what could encompass two to three city blocks, with sturdy blockhouses every several hundred feet.

One of the eight blockhouse of Fort Meigs

These blockhouses not only served to repel Indian and British forces during the two sieges between May and July of 1813, but later housed pioneer families coming to northwest Ohio while their own homes were built.  Lore has it that one family, late in arriving and unable to secure housing in a blockhouse, set fire to the blockhouse.

Canon portal inside ground floor of a western blockhouse

The walls of these structures are several feet of solid wood with rifle portals that angle inward, giving a small outward target but inside the blockhouse a wide angle to swivel a gun for better accuracy.  A small cannon rests in the middle of the main floor room of each blockhouse with a narrow opening for firing outward.  Today the opening masks the intended view as tall grass obscures a view towards the river.

Croghan's Battery overlooking the Maumee and Perrsyburg

Each of the blockhouses today houses a different story about the fort, from soldiers quarters, disease and the role of women, to the science of artillery and a diorama of the fort's early construction. Artillery is a large part of the fort's story, defense and modern re-enactments. Each July 4th costumed interpreters hold a grand series of events, including a cannon fire demonstration on the grounds (click for video).

A series of large mounds were built within the interior of the fort to serve as buffers to artillery attacks from outside the walls and to also for fort storage, including powder magazines.  In 1908 a 100-foot monument to the war and the fort was erected, funded by the Grand Army of the Republic (a Civil War veteran's organization).



WPA Shelter House seen through blockhouse window



After the war and settlement of the area progressed, the fort reverted to farmland.  William Henry Harrison, hero of the war in the region, returned to the location of the fort for a Presidental campaign rally.  During the Great Depression, a road ran right through the former fort and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a rest-stop building inside what is today the fort.  The building has been maintained for its historic nature but for a different era.

The fort was reconstructed by the Ohio Historical Society in the 1960s and opened to the public in the 1970s.  A $6 million renovation in 2003 has turned the fort into the largest recreated fort in the nation, something that, just like the War of 1812, tends to get overlooked still today.

Fort Meigs, from the interactive displays, visitor center, museum and carefully reconstructed fort, offers a glimpse into a part of Ohio's history that featured dynamic individuals, such as Tecumseh and Harrison, and, of course, a naval battle on Lake Erie where Oliver Hazard Perry famously noted, "We have met the enemy and they are ours."  

J.

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A diverse and "beautiful spring" in Tuscarawas County

One of Ohio's first settlements was a diverse little village nestled in what is today on the outskirts of New Philadelphia in Tuscarawas County.  Schoenbrunn Village was a Moravian settlement, dating from 1772, that brought religion to the natives of Ohio.  Led by David Zeisberger, natives, primarily Delaware, were asked to abandon their traditional way of life to take up a Christian lifestyle in the village.  By all accounts the settlement enjoyed success in its mission and at its greatest had over 400 living within its walls that included natives from nine tribes, with the majority being Delaware. 

Interior of a larger home at Schoenbrunn

Originally from what is today the Czech Republic, Moravians named this village "Beautiful Spring" in German. The settlement, with a grand total of 28 men, women, children and a herd of cattle, moved to Ohio from northeast Pennsylvania where the Moravians and Delaware had spiritually worked together since 1734.  The location was chosen by a Delaware Chief, Netawates, or in English, Newcomer.  Just 20 miles from New Philadelphia lies the Ohio town, Newcomerstown, which English traders named in honor of the chief and had over 100 homes in the area by the 1770s. The Delaware called the Schoenbrunn location "Welhik T'uppek."

The Moravians, however, were pacifists and in the mid 1770s the Revolutionary War was reaching even into the Ohio territory.  Ft. Laurens, in what is today Bolivar, Ohio, was built in 1778 and the western theater of the war saw fighting in the northeastern Ohio territory.

Living somewhat apolitically in a self-sufficient community of Delaware and former Europeans, there was distrust by other settlers in the area whether the village was patriot or loyalist.  By 1778 the village was abandoned, but not before the church was taken apart to prevent desecration by others.  The village was reoccupied later that year, but only briefly as war continued to threaten the region.

The property in the early 1800s reverted to what much of Ohio had become: farmland.  Over 150 years later a minister of the Moravian Church, which still exists today, began researching the "lost" village.  Church records in Bethlehem, Pa., showed plat maps and journals by Zeisberger of the village's five-year run.  In 1923 the Ohio Historical Society took ownership and began to reconstruct the village.

A period interpreter stands outside a home at Schoenbrunn

The Visitor's Center at the site hosts a small, two-room museum displaying artifacts from archaeological digs. A conference room in the center doubles as a type of theater which loops a video of the construction of the village by the Ohio Historical Society.  Pictures along the walls show various stages of construction of the village, including an unusual aerial photo from 1930s that show how the land looked very different in the mid 1900s.  At the time of the dedication of the first re-constructed building, cars were parked haphazardly all over the farmer's field.  Today forest has grown around the village, restoring much of the look of the original village.

The school house glass window reflects more of the village

Of the 60 structures in the original village, today only 17 have been reconstructed.  Some of the buildings have been built upon the original foundation footprint from the 1770's. Moravian villages were spiritually laid out in the pattern of a cross, although the landscape at Schoenbrunn only allowed for a "T" pattern.  Anchoring the intersection of the two lines are the church and schoolhouse, both impressive structures.  Both contain glass windows, a rarity for frontier Ohio.  Records show glass was brought to the village and even today the wavy look of leaded glass adds authenticity to the recreated structures.

The schoolhouse, where period interpreters today will sometimes teach visitors Lenape, the Delaware language, was the first established school in Ohio.  However this is done in two "choirs" -- these were youngsters of the same age, gender and marital status.  Girls sat on one side of the room, boys on the other.

A period interpreter working on wooden hinges. 
The schoolhouse is the building in the background.

A visit to the village today on a weekend or special events day will yield period-costumed interpreters who will share the wares of the time. In one home a lady shared contemporary devices and their 1770s counterparts.  A woodworker along the main village way was constructing wooden hinges -- metal was another rare commodity in the woods of Ohio at the time. On a Children's Day, a colonial magic show kept little ones spellbound while a few houses down kids played colonial era games.

Schoenbrunn Villages fencing

Schoenbrunn also boasts a unique fortified fence, where poles, about 12 inches in diameter, were driven into the ground and seemingly stands at odds with a people of a pacifist nature.  It is only along the main avenue of the village.  Oustside the fence is the corn field, where children would alternate taking turns shooing away the wildlife. Corn was essential to the village and outside one home stands what could best be described as a colonial corn kerneler.  The raised notches in the drum would strip the niblets off the cob.

A colonial corn kerneler

As with many historical sites around Ohio, Schoenbrunn fell on hard times as state monies were diverted elsewhere.  The originally re-created village was renovated in the past decade to address decay that had crept in to the buildings.

Period interpreters, even the young ones, like to play

Today Schoenbrunn has undergone yet another re-birth and is being operated locally by the Dennison Railroad Depot. Throughout the year there are events such as a colonial trade fair, lantern tours and children's day.  All of these offer very unique and hands-on history and have added to the allure of stepping back into time to before Ohio's birth as a state when diversity was practiced long before its time.

- J.


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