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Note: Came to Canada and lived at Lot 14, Concession 14, Dawn Twp.,Lambton Co.,Ontario.
George Laird fought in the war of 1812. Found this info in letter written by Mrs Jean Laird Eley, 107 Mineola Road East, Mississauga, Ontario L5E 2E6.
In 1881 he made the following statement: My name is George Laird- I am 79- was in Cap't Jacob's Rifle Co.-Luit. Col. J. Baby commanded - enlisted in spring of '12 on the Thames, was called to duty on 12 July & marched to the frontier at Sandwich. I was at the Battles of Maumee & Fort Megg & witnessed the massacre of American prisoners by Indians. I was not wounded, was disbanded in Oct. 1814 by General Proctor. I have no papers.
Buried in Shetland Cemetary,Euphemia Twp.,Lambton Co.,Ontario, Canada.
1861 Dawn Township Census: George Laird Age 62 Farmer
Matilda Laird Age 44
Alfred Laird Age 28 (son f 1st marriage)
Albert G. Laird Age 12 (son f 1st marriage)
George T. Laird Age 6
Adeline Laird Age 2
Percilla Laird Age 2
George Laird arrived in Canada about 1806.
Florence Windrim has the Laird Family Bible.
Background to Battles fought in War of 1812
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.[4]
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 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.
Harrison descended the Maumee to the site of Fort Meigs with an army which ultimately numbered 4,000 men (mainly militia) and began construction of the fort on 1 February 1813. He contemplated a hit-and-run attack across the frozen Lake Erie against the British position at Amherstburg, but found that the ice was breaking up and returned to the half-finished fort.[5] He found the officer he had left in charge, Joel B. Leftwich, had left with all his men because the enlistment period of the militia units assigned to the task had expired. Construction had halted, and the wood that had been cut was being used as firewood.
As the enlistments of Harrison's Ohio and Kentucky militia were also about to expire, Harrison disbanded his force and departed for Cincinnati, Ohio, to raise a fresh army. He left Engineer Major Eleazer D. Wood to complete the construction of the fort. The garrison consisted of several hundred men from the 17th and 19th U.S. Infantry, who were inadequately clothed, plus militia from Pennsylvania and Virginia whose own enlistments were soon to expire.
The fort was on the south bank of the Maumee, near the Miami Rapids. Across the river were the ruins of the old British Fort Miami and the site of the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers. Fort Meigs occupied an area of 8 acres (32,000 m2), the largest constructed in North America to that date. The perimeter consisted of a fifteen-foot picket fence, linking eight blockhouses. The north face was protected by the Maumee, and the east and west faces by ravines. The south face was cleared of all timber to create an open glacis.[6]
The poor weather of early spring prevented a British attack while the fort was still vulnerable.[7] The British commander on the Detroit frontier, Major General Henry Procter, had been urged to attack Presque Isle (present day Erie, Pennsylvania), where the Americans were constructing a flotilla intended to seize control of Lake Erie, but Procter refused unless he received substantial reinforcements. Instead, he decided upon an attack on Fort Meigs, to disrupt American preparations for a summer campaign and hopefully capture supplies.[8] Harrison received word of Procter's preparations, and hastened down the Maumee with 300 reinforcements, increasing the garrison of the fort to a total of 1,100 men.[6] Harrison had persuaded Isaac Shelby, the Governor of Kentucky, to call up a brigade of 1,200 Kentucky militia under Brigadier General Green Clay. Clay's brigade followed Harrison down the Maumee, but had not reached the fort before it was besieged.
[edit] The Siege begins
Procter's force disembarked at the mouth of the Maumee on 26 April. His force consisted of 31 men of the Royal Artillery, 423 men of the 41st Regiment of Foot, 63 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 16 men from other units, and 462 Canadian militia. He also had roughly 1,250 American Indian warriors led by Shawnee chief Tecumseh. His artillery consisted of two 24-pounder guns (which had been captured at Detroit), nine lighter guns and two gunboats mounting 9-pounder guns.[6]
It took several days for the British force to move up the Maumee and set up batteries. Most of these were on the north side of the river, but one was set up on the south side. Most of the Indians also were on the south side of the river, loosely investing the fort. As the British established their batteries, Harrison ordered "traverses", embankments 12 feet (3.7 m) high, to be hastily thrown up within the fort. The British batteries opened fire on 1 May, but most of the cannon shot fired sank harmlessly into the wet earth of the traverses and embankments.
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