Fort Amanda

Fort Amanda War of 1812 Auglaize County Ohio Cridersville regional history military fort frontier Northwest Ohio local history Cridersville Historical Society. June 1812 The United States declares war on Britain; disputes over territorial expansion in North America, British restrictions on US trade with France, and impressment of US sailors. July 1812 US Army invades Canada from Detroit. December 1812 USS Constitution defeats British ship HMS Java; it would defeat four British ships during the war; it earned the nickname “Old Ironsides”. September 1813 Commodore Oliver H. Perry wins the naval Battle of Lake Erie; US gains control of the Great Lakes. October 1813 US victory at the Battle of the Thames in Ontario; Shawnee Chief Tecumseh is killed during the battle. April 1814 Britain’s ongoing war with France ends; it turns its full focus on the war in America. August 1814 British capture Washington DC; they burn the White House and other buildings; negotiations to end the war begin. September 1814 British 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor fails; Francis Scott Key writes a poem about the attack; it is later set to music and becomes “The Star-Spangled Banner”. December 1814 The Treaty of Ghent to end the war is signed in Belgium. January 1815 Battle of New Orleans; US General Andrew Jackson’s army defeats the British as they attack the city; Jackson was not aware a peace treaty had been signed; the war officially ended in February 1815. After the war, the US Army began plans to close Ft. Amanda. By 1817 early pioneer families were living in the former fort. 1 BUILDING THE FORT Construction of the new fort was assigned to a Company of Kentucky volunteers. Men from other Companies who had carpentry skills were also sent to aid in building the new fort. With the site chosen and the workforce in place, construction began around the second week of October 1812. The fort was to be built as a square—198 feet by 198 feet—with blockhouses at each corner and stockade walls enclosing an area of slightly less than one acre. With winter approaching, the first buildings needed were cabins for the men. The cabins...