Siege of Fort Meigs

Siege of Fort Meigs
Part of the War of 1812
Fort Meigs
Date 28 April – 9 May 1813 Location present-day Perrysburg, Ohio Result American victory British abandon siege
Belligerents
United Kingdom Native Americans  Upper Canada	United States
Commanders and leaders
Henry Procter Tecumseh Roundhead	William Henry Harrison Green Clay William Dudley
Strength
1,250 Native Americans 433 regulars 462 Canadian militia	1,200 regulars 1,600 militia
Casualties and losses
British 14 killed 47 wounded 41 captured Indians 19 killed and wounded Total 121	160 killed 190 wounded 100 wounded prisoners 530 captured 6 missing Total 986

American victory

The Siege of Fort Meigs took place during the War of 1812, in northwestern Ohio. A small British army with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, which the British had captured the previous year. An American sortie and relief attempt failed with heavy casualties, but the British failed to capture the fort and were forced to raise the siege.

In the early days of the War of 1812, an American Army under Brigadier General William Hull surrendered following the Siege of Detroit. To recover Detroit, the Americans formed the Army of the Northwest. Brigadier General James Winchester briefly commanded the Army before William Henry Harrison was commissioned Major General in the regular United States Army and appointed to the command.

Harrison's advance was hampered by bad weather and shortage of supplies. On 22 January 1813, the leading detachment of his army (commanded by Winchester) was defeated at the Battle of Frenchtown. Harrison withdrew with his main body to the Maumee or Miami du Lac River, and in spite of rebukes from James Monroe, who was temporarily serving as United States Secretary of War, he declined to resume his advance immediately and instead gave orders for the construction of several forts to protect the rivers and trails which his army would use in any renewed advance. Two of the most important were Fort Meigs (named for Return J. Meigs, Jr., the Governor of Ohio) on the Maumee River and Fort Stephenson on the Sandusky River.

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Wikipedia