Governor Return Jonathan Meigs Letter to Henry Clay Regarding Resolution of Support   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: Governor Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. wrote this letter to Henry Clay, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, transmitting a resolution of the Ohio General Assembly pledging Ohio's support to whatever measures might be taken against France and/or England. The two-page printed resolution and one-page handwritten letter measure 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). The United States, angered by British attempts to impress American sailors into the British Navy and fearing the British presence in Canada, declared war on Great Britain in June 1812. William Henry Harrison, commander-in-chief of the Northwestern Army, built Fort Meigs, named for the governor, near present-day Perrysburg. In one of the most significant battles of the war, Colonel Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813. The British Captain Robert Barclay surrendered his entire fleet. Harrison learned that Perry had effectively cut the British supply line through Perry's message: "We have met the enemy and they are ours." The War of 1812 destroyed American Indian military power and confined them to reservations. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1347_1136324_001
Subjects: Military Ohio; Ohio Government; War of 1812
Places: Zanesville (Ohio); Muskingum County (Ohio); Washington (District of Columbia)