Perry County, Ohio - Chapter 14: The War of 1812 and Mexican War, 1883

Tue Wan or 1812. - At the time of this war, Perry had no existence, and the townships afterwards incorporated into Perry, were but thinly settled, several of them being entirely unsettled. 'The principal settlements were in Thorn, Reading, Hopewell and Madison. Very few persons were living in Jackson, Clayton, and Bearfield townships, and, at the breaking out of the war, Pike, the township in which New Lexington is situated, had but one settler, a bachelor, John Fowler. But what is now the county, furnished its quota of troops. 'They were mostly assigned to companies organized in I*airfield or Muskingum counties, several of them serving under Captain Sanderson, of Lancaster. They were sent to the northern part of the State, and served with the army operating along the Canadian frontier. Some of them were at Hull's ignominious surrender. Others served under Generals Scott and Cass. But most of them were assigned to General Harrison, and sent to Fort Meigs, which withstood two memorable sieges ; and where the British and Indians combined, failed to dislodge the brave men who defended it. The besieged soldiers lost seriously, in killed and wounded, and endured almost incredible hardships and privations, but the fort was held.

John Fowler, the solitary inhabitant of Pike township, when the war broke out, went to the army, serving two terms as a substitute for drafted men, and paid the government for hisland with money earned in the military service. Mr. Fowler afterward married and raised five sons, all of whom served in the Union Army during the Rebellion. 'The old original settler of the township lived to be quite aged, and died only a few years since. His gun and fishing rod were the companions of his old age; and only a short time previous to his death, it was a common occurence to see him in the dusk of the evening wending his way homeward with a bunch of squirrels or a string of fish.

John Lidey, a soldier of the war of 1812, became a prominent man in the county, was frequently elected to office, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1851. He had also been State Senator and Representative.

The soldiers of the war of 1812, sf this county, as far as known, are now all dead. The last one, Henry Hazleton, of Saltlick township, died only about three years ago. :

The war checked emigration to the county for several years, and in fact seriously affected the whole country. After peace was declared, what is now Perry county began to fill very rapidly, and the question of a new county was pressed upon the people and legislature, and the

Tue War wirn Mexico. - When Congress formally declared that '*War existed by the act of Mexico," and Ohio was called on for its quota of troops, early steps were taken in Perry county for the raising of volunteers. Fletcher Noles of Somerset, who had been captain of an independent military company, known as the Keokuks, in time. of peace, was very active and zealous in recruiting ; and being considered a good and efficient military man, was, when the company was raised, duly elected and commissioned Captain. Isaac De Long, a lawyer, also of Somerset, assisted in recruiting the company, and became Lieutenant. Men were enlisted from all parts of*the county, but principally from the neighborhood of Somerset, then the county seat. The two militia regiments of Perry county were to assemble and parade at Somerset, and also all the volunteer companies of the county, for the purpose of being harangued on the war question, with a view of getting volunteers for active service in the army. 'The militia were massed in a solid square in Dittoe's woods, west of town, and John Lidey, the Major General, seated on a spirited charger, made a fervent. and characteristic speech, urging the militia-men to volunteer and fight for their country. A creditable number of volunteers was obtained that day. After the dismissal of the militia, Daniel Humphreys of Newark, John H. O'Neill of Somerset, and others, harangued the masses in the courthouse square. It was late in the evening before the people dispersed to their homes. Volunteering continued, and Captain Noles completing his enlistments, marched the men to Zanesville, where they went into camp on Putnam Hill. Here a number of recruits were obtained and the company fully organized. After several days' drill, the company left camp, went aboard a boat, and sailed down the Muskingum and Ohio to Cincinnati, where it was assigned and organized as Company '*H" of the Third O. V. I., under the command of Colonel Curtis of Mount Vernon, Ohio. After remaining in Cincinnati a short time, the troops descended the Ohio and Mississipi rivers to New Orleans, where, atter a few days, they embarked for the mouth of the Rio Grande. They landed at Poin Isabel, and went into camp. After a short time the regiment was ordered up the river to Matamoras, where it went into camp, and did garrison duty for several months. Then it was ordered to Camargo, where it remained awhile, and then was ordered to Monterey, and afterward to Buena Vista. The regiment was not in the battles of Monterey or Buena Vista. These battles occurred while the Third regiment was yet stationed at Matamoras. After remaining for some time at Buena Vista and neighborhood, the regiment was ordered to march to Matamoras. Its term of service having expired, it was soon sent home. It took boats at Matamoras for New Orleans, which place was reached safely in due time. There the men were mustered out, paid and discharged. The men had been in no pitched battle, but they had seen guerillas enough and endured many hardships. There wis much sickness and several deaths in Captain Noles' company. A number died after reaching home, from disease contracted while in the service.

'The war continued, and the government was calling for more volunteers. Warren Filler and Thomas Ross, who had been with Captain Noles' company in the first year of the war, went to work and enlisted a company for another year's service. A few of the members of the company were from Hocking and other counties. Warren Tiller became Captain and Thomas Ross a Lieutenant. The companys rendezvoused at Somerset, and then marched to Lancaster, where they went aboard a canal boat. which took them to Portsmouth. At Cincinnati they joined the reorganized Third Regiment O. V. L., and went down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. From this city the regiment embarked for Vera Cruz, on the coast of Mexico. They were with the column under General Scott, but the regiment with others was detailed to guard posts and keep open the line of communication. Consequently, Captain Filler's company did not participate in any of the pitched battles, but had numerous encounters with guerilla troops. After the fall of the Mexican capital, the regiment to which the Perry company belonged, was ordered up and stationed awhile at the capital and in the neighborhood, doing camp and guard duty, and looking after guerrillas. But peace came, and the regiment was ordered home. ifr marched back to Vera Cruz and took a vessel for New Orleans, where the troops were paid and discharged. The Perry county company left behind them a number of dead comrades, whose dust reposes beneath the sod of the now friendly Republic. Others came home sick and diseased, some of whom died in consequence, in a short time, and others never fully recovered.

At the time of the war, Mexico seemed a great way off, and going there 'to soldier," appeared like going out of the world. The military service there was no play. Fighting the Mexicans on their own soil, was in many cases a serious undertaking. The sanguinary battles of Monterey, Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, and the struggles around the Capital, showed that the Mexican soldiers were no cowards, though they could not compete with the United States troops.

Many soldiers from Perry served in other companies than those named, but they were also in other regiments, and their services Cannot be traced except to record the fact that they participated in several of the important battles of the war, which not only secured 'Texas to us, but gaye other large accessions of territory.