A requirement for earning the Tiger badge in Cub Scouts is to visit a museum or historic place. So a couple weekends ago Ethan’s Tiger den (and their parents) headed to Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio, an historic site that was an integral part of the War of 1812.
From The Ohio Historical Society’s website:
William Henry Harrison built Fort Meigs on the Maumee River in 1813 to protect northwest Ohio and Indiana from British invasion. Today’s reconstruction is one of the largest log forts in America. British and Canadian troops, assisted by Indians under Tecumseh, besieged the fort twice. The 10-acre log enclosure with 7 blockhouses and 5 emplacements presented a formidable defense. The first assault was in May of 1813 and the second was in July. Both failed and the British retreated after the second. In the spring of 2003, the fort underwent a major renovation and the construction of a Museum and Education Center.
The Museum and Education Center has 3,000 square feet of exhibits and artifacts - including soldiers’ letters and diaries, weapons, maps, and uniforms - that describe Fort Meigs role during the War of 1812. Exhibits themes include The Lore of the Land, The Sixty Year War for Ohio, and Building Fort Meigs. Original artifacts from the War of 1812, including swords, uniforms, and maps highlight the events of the war and the impact it had on soldiers and thier families.
It’s a very interesting and educational place to visit. As is often the case for people that live so close to something famous, I had never visited the fort in the almost 18 years I’ve lived in the area. If you live in NW Ohio maybe these photos will entice you to want to check out the fort. Here are details for your visit.
We had guides for our arranged tour of the fort. They dress in period uniforms, exacting in detail, and are very knowledgeable about the history of the 10 acre fort and the War of 1812.
Here are the attentive Cub Scouts, wating for our guiides to demonstrate firing their muskets…which, by the way, had a 50% rate of misfire.
In a few of the photos you can see mounds of dirt. These are original to the fort and served as defense for the soldiers against cannon fire from the British. They are currently about 4 or so feet high due to erosion but were 14 feet tall when the original fort was in place. This is a reconstructed fort, but made as true to the original as they could. Before the reconstruction all that was here were those dirt walls to serve as a reminder of what happened here.
Here is one of 7 blockhouses that make up the fort. The only irregularity that the reconstructed fort doesn’t have that the original fort did is that they weren’t able to build the blockhouses with that “hang over” balcony type section that you might attribute to what a fort should look like in your mind. Here’s an example of what I mean.
Inside four of the blockhouses are displays showing what transpired when the fort was in active use. This display in blockhouse 7 explains why the location was chosen and a depiction of what it was like when the fort was constructed. The original fort was built between February and April of 1813…in the snow, in the freezing cold and in the muddy conditions that are created when stripping the land of all available trees.
In blockhouse 6 you can view the types of weaponry that were used in the battles between America and the British. There are several types of ammunition that could be loaded into a cannon and fired at the enemy, from the traditional cannonball to a tin can that would break apart in mid-air scattering 9 smaller cannonballs to cause more destruction. In addition, there were also bombs. Hollow cannonballs filled with gunpowder and a fuse. The firing of the cannon would light the fuse and if the fuse was cut to the correct length and timed out correctly, it would explode over your enemy - and not before it got there. I was interested to hear that even back in 1813 they recycled. The same cannonball might be fired back and forth over and over between forces.
Here’s one of 5 battery positions at the fort where cannons would be fired.
From this battery you can see the monument in the distance, more of the dirt hills and a shelterhouse that was built by the WPA in the 1930’s. The shelterhouse that was left standing during the restoration because it, by itself, is now historic.
Our tour guide is showing the scouts one of the forms of discipline that was used on the soldiers. I think this is called a “horse.” The soldier would be stripped down, set on top of this Snoopy doghouse shaped contraption and then have his hands tied behind his back and cannonballs tied to his ankles. Ouch!
Inside blockhouse 4 we find an example of a soldier’s tent at the fort. No one slept in the blockhouses, they all used tents and while this tent might look comfortable for 2 men, it was more likely that 6 men stayed in here, with all their gear….and if they were married? yup, she slept here too. It was considered a luxury to have wooden slats that you could lay down for a floor, otherwise you just laid in muck and mud.
These larger tents were for officers, and only 2 officers were assigned to these tents that were outfitted with cots, tables and desks. Obviously, there was a lot of incentive to become an officer.
In blockhouse 2 there is a cannon and here the scouts watched as the window was opened to reveal a suitable sized hole for firing the cannon.
The blockhouse walls were constructed of 2 foot thick oak. Cannonballs would bounce right off the sides. This is a hole designed for firing a musket. Notice how it tapers in size from the inside to the outside by several inches.
Here’s the granite Fort Meigs Monument that honors all the men that died at the fort. It’s 82 feet high and was erected in 1908.
And finally, here’s Ethan walking away from the museum that was opened as part of the restoration in 2003. Of course, there’s a gift shop but there’s also a museum with a number of fascinating displays showcasing articfacts found from the fort and items that would have been used during the war.
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