"...a mere matter of marching."

Well, the War of 1812 Bicentennial officially begins today. June 18, 1812, marks the decleration of war by the U.S. I heard a 10 minute spot on NPR talking about how the history of the war is taught in schoosls  in both the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. teacher referenced 2 songs in his teaching of the subject: The National Anthem (The battle of Baltimore) by Francis Scott Key, and Johnny Horton's "The Battle of new Orleans".  The Canadian teacher referenced the important personalities, especially Tecumseh and Laura Secord. Interesting, both of these important Canadian personalities were born in the U.S

Anyhow, in honor of this day, here is a video from You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsRK3DNoa_Q.

Apparently the key to American success at the battle was our superior choreagraphy.

Something New!

As you can see from my previous post, I really want/need an 1812 Shako. Last weekend at the reenactment of the 199th siege of Fort Meigs I got my shako! The plate is the 1812,  "RR" (Regiment of Riflemen) plate. the plume is 6" tall of cut feathers. The cocade is 4", plain center with a brass eagle, peculiar to the rifles. The plate and cockade were made by Dave Canan of Pickaway Plains traders of Circleville, OH. The  shako was made by Marty Land of Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, OH. I do not think that the brass ferrule at the base of the plume is accurate, and I plan to remove it. I am also going to pick up my braided shako cord soon. Here are some pics:

From the 1812 Workshop

Well, Mississinewa is only 2 weeks away! As usual I have put everything off to the last possible minute. At present I am currently shrinking/sizing my emerald green, linen material for my rifle frock in the dryer. To keep from having the whole thing fray away, I stapled the cut ends with #4 Swingline staples (I don't own a sewing machine)! Ironic, but the stapler I am using is from Marion, IN, home of the Mississinewa battlefield, which is where this whole mess began and ultimately will end. Some kind of kharmic 1812 thing?

Outside, my shako hat mold is forming. I had no idea how to proceed with this. I have no shako blank, and to buy one is $$$, which I do not have. Thus, I did the 21st c. thing and looked to the inter-web. I found a YouTube video in which a guy made a hat mold by spraying expanding foam insulation material into a hat, to get the crown shape. I figured, why not do the same for a shako? Thus, I went to Home Depot; found the cardboard post hole tubes (look in the concrete supply area) measured a few and tried them on (you get strange looks from folks when they see a guy puttuing 4' long tubes on his head in the store), And bought one with an 8" diameter. I then cut it down to about 14" tall. I sprayed the interior with no stick cooking spray and shot a whole can of foam gap filler into it. If it works, I will be happy. If it is an "epic fail" as the kids say, I am only out $9.

Other projects: Making my Fort Meigs camp axe fit its handle with a wood rasp and hammer. Going back to Home depot for a cotton drop cloth with which to make my gaiters. Wish me luck!

<< Epic Fail>> The shako block has failed. There was not enough strength to the foam, and the center of the tube was full of liquid sealant. Oh well, I tried!

Fallen Timbers: 2011

While taking the kids to N. Michigan for our annual week long vaccation this past August, we stopped in at the Fallen Timbers memorial outside Toledo, OH. Once again my lousy camera skills combined with overcast skies to generate some lousy photographs.




The memorial is best accessed off of I-475, on the west side of Toledo. Take the US 24 exit, West. From there it is only a short distance to the site. Recent archaeological work has located the actual battlefield site to be a short distance away from the "park".

The park site itself is layed out in a grand lawn style, bordered by trees and walking paths, leading to a cluster of memorials on a small bluff over looking the flood plain of the Maumee. The largest memorial is that of Wayne, Little Turtle and what appears to be a frontiersman. Each of the bases 4 sides memorializes the peoples and events leading up to and following the battle.

Other monuments are dedicated to the US troops and militia who fought on August 20th, 1794. More poigniant are the memorials to the Indian warriors and Turky Foot, the Ottawa chief.

Trouble with Blogger

I have found that I can no longer sign in or comment on my favorite blogs anymore. My apologies, many of you are doing great work or posting things of interest. I hope to be enabled to comment soon....

Another Tecumseh tomahawk...

Here we have another pipe tomahawk presented as a gift by Tecumseh. This one was given to James Galloway, Sr. This piece is in the collection of the Fort Ancient Museum, Ohio Historical Society. I wish I was better at taking pictures of items under glass in appallingly dark museum conditions. A brief biography of J. Galloway, Sr. is: http://historyofohio.blogspot.com/2009/04/james-galloway-family.html

Tecumseh was here...

Here is an interesting piece in the Adena mansion and museum in Chillicothe, OH. It is a pipe tomahawk presented to Thomas Worthington by Tecumseh after he (Tecumseh) stayed at Adena, while further discussing peace in the new state and the details of the Greeneville treaty. The Adena mansion is run by the Ohio Historical Society, and has undergone a massive restoration and had a new museum built since my first visit in 1997. Well done, OHS!

Something new!

Here it is! My just out of the box, Euroarms, 1803 Harpers Ferry, rifle musket! Just in time for the Tippecanoe bicentennial! Now to get the rest of my kit together. HUZZAH!!

"A well regulated militia..."

I just got the kids back to their mom's after another exciting, fun and exhausting Fort Meigs siege weekend. The persistent rain this week/spring, and the occasional "leaden" sky seemed to keep the number of on lookers down, but still the event and attendees soldiered on! Another quality event! The kids militia as always is a huge hit with my son, Lawson (7), and he has the amazing ability for finding a buddy everywhere he goes. Lawson and his buddy fell in, were equipped, learned the rudiments of 19th c. drill, fought a mock battle and were musterd out all in about 40 minutes! This says volumes about the volunteers of Fort Meigs and their ability to "herd cats". Well done folks! Sadly, I was talking with fort staff more about clothing and stitching than paying attention but here is a shot of Lawson (loading)and his buddy. The fort provides the kids with a stand of arms for this activity. It is amazing to see how quickly the kids fall into line, take orders and execute commands with some alacrity. Hats off to the public schools for training them in linear order and voice command ("alright kids line up for lunch, recess, to go down the hall", etc) American militia training and performance would have been vastly improved in the war of 1812 with a levee of elementary school aides!

Along the road home...

When I journey back home to Michigan from my present abode in Columbus, Ohio, I take US 23 North. This in many ways is my true "road home", as I can take it from here in central Ohio, north all the way to my home town in Oscoda, MI. Pretty cool I think. While not as storied as the National road (US 40) or Route 66, there is some history along the side of it. Here are 2 markers related to the struggle for the Old Northwest. And here is a shot of 2 new recruits for the 41st Regt:

This shot of the kids was taken at Fort Meigs, Siege Weekend 2010. Thanks to freind, fellow wargamer and reenactor, Dave D.

Signs of life

Yep, there is still life here. Despite some changes in my personal life, I still have my main loves and interests: my kids, my books and my toy soldiers.

While trying to make some room


on memory card, I ran across


these shots from an old Spattacon


2010 I believe.



Here are some of Rebs by the talented Brad N. They are a mix of TSSD, Cunnygham and Conte. Brad did a number of conversions on these, mostly head swaps. The unit looks ragged and well worn, with loads character and campaign impedimentia.

Cold Wars '09

Well, I am consistently irregular in my posts. I have that going for me!
Now for some old news.....


I made the trip out east to Lancaster, PA, for Cold Wars. This was my first trip out in about ten years or so. Overall, the gaming crowd has gotten grayer, balder and heavier. Myself included. Baseball hats and beards seem to be the thing as we all age. Unlike past cons, I did not overspend in the dealer area or flea market. And, this is the first time I bought NO lead minis! Yep, not one! I picked up a number of books and rules sets in the flea market, along with some cool toy soldeir finds such as a Timpo crusader and other fun things. Rather this year I did some gaming, met up with some friends and met a couple of guys who I had been in correspondence with via e-mail and news groups for years. 10 years, has been too long.

I certainly was not kidding when I said that this would be an irregular blog! Well, '09 is upon us, we have new president due in a few days, and we just passed Spartacon, XIX! Spartacon is a historical miniatures wargame convention, held each January, in Lansing, MI. Spartacon is run by some old college friends, whom I have happily stayed in touch with over the years since I left town in 1991. Ray, Dick, Bob, Mark, et al, set the bar pretty high with some truly gorgeous games, which are assembled from all over Michigan, Ohio, Ontario, Kentucky, and even from as far away as Philadelphia, PA!

This year, after 18 years of clear (clear-ish) January weather, we got socked. Lansing picked up 7" during the day, and points south toward the Detroit metro area got even more. This affected attendance. 130+ passed through the doors, and a number of games were understandably canceled. Still, everyone seemed to have a great time; players played, dealers sold stuff, flea market folks transferred some junk, and on site concessions sold food. Everyone won! The visual standard of the games was very high as always, but I only participated in two of them, both with the big 54mm figs, which I now prefer.

This year 54mm came out strong with 2 very nice games, which were booked up, and drew admiring crowds. The first was a 54mm Battle of Trenton, using Ken Cliffe's gorgeous "All the Kings Men", metal figs. I commanded the Hessian grenadiers and a light gun. My grenadiers fired a devastating volley driving off some American light troops that had the audacity to approach across an open field. After that victory, I lead them into a charge against another rebel unit. With my substantial superiority in numbers, movement, and in some cases a 2:1 match up in melee, I was soundly defeated. Yep, I blew all 14 die rolls! Failed my morale roll, and ran away. We lost the game pretty badly.

The other 54mm game was run by Tod Kershner, with his homegrown war of 1812 rules. Tod is one of the co-authors of Age of Reason Seven Years War rules. Tod always has some clever mechanics, and his games visually do not disappoint. He was helped with figures and terrain this time by Dale Wood, who painted up some of the excellent Barszo, US Regulars and Indians. Dale also scratch built an excellent limber and gun team. A great looking game. The scenario was simple: get the gun and supplies across a river, with the far bank held by Glenngarry light Infty. and a company of light troops of the 49Th foot. Indians could be anywhere and were. After a hard fought fire fight and some nasty melee, the US forces of Free trade and Sailors rights, triumphed over the bloody handed forces of Albion and their native minions, (we won on points).

Here is a little historic gem from Point Pleasant, West Virginia. It is a reconstruction of the plaque placed by the Celeron expedtion, claiming all of the Ohio river valley for France in 1749. The original lead plaque washed out of the river bank in the 1850's. As I recall, this claim was hotly disputed by Great Britian, lead to small skirmish which took on global proportions.

Hello, and welcome. After several false starts, I hope to launch this mess with the new year. Look for pictures of toy soldiers, wargames and all things historic along the roads of the midwest.