The Weekly Register - April 1813

Description

Sponsors

This item is a part of the 1812 History digitization project. This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy.

Creator

Niles, Hezekiah, Editor

Media Type

Publication

Text

Item Type

Periodicals

Description

Issues for the April 1813 Weekly Register newspaper (Baltimore, Maryland) are divided as follows:

April 3rd, pages 73-88
9th Page:
• Report of proposal of the secretary of the navy to direct the commanding officers of public vessels to use only half the usual amount of powder, so vessels captured might be in good enough condition to impress into the US navy
• Report mentioning recent completion of Fort Meigs
• Reports from the blockades of the Delaware and the Chesapeake

10th Page:
• Report of Gen. Harrison being at Chilicothe, expected he would proceed to Cincinnati, with efforts to prepare the troops for the spring campaign
• Reports of military assignments and promotions, including Major-General Ogden assigned to command of the important post of New York, Major-General Hampton assigned to command at Norfolk, Major-General Wilkinson assigned to head the army of the centre, General Dearborn assigned to command the army of the north, promotion of Col. Wm Duane to Adjutant-General, and of Colonels Izard and Z. Pike to brigadiers.
• Report that British had again taken possession of Ogdensburg, declaring the country 50 miles around to be in their possession
• Report of stationing of 500 Maryland militia at Annapolis
• Report from Buffalo of a group of men in the regular army pursuing a deserter across the ice , captured by troops from Fort Erie, only one man managing to escape
• Report of an act passed in Kentucky authorizing organization and detachment of 3000 militia for a six month term

11th Page:
• Report of the Battle of Frenchtown
• Report three ships of 22 guns, 18 guns, and 5 guns had been blockading Long-Island sound
• Report fleet of 8 ships of the line and several frigates had left England for the American coast 10 or 12 days earlier
• Report Capt. Hull had gone to Portsmouth to supervise the construction of a 74-gun vessel and a frigate, Com. Bainbridge to Charlestown to supervise the construction of a 74 there
• Reports of the battle between the Hornet and the Peacock, including correspondence from Capt. Lawrence of the US ship Hornet

13th Page:
• Report that alleges two impressed seamen were serving on the Peacock when it was captured, one of them killed

14th Page:
• Reports of naval captures and prizes
• Excerpt of a letter from Captain Le Chantier of the privateer Hazard detailing a naval conflict with a privateer from New Providence
• Additional naval prizes list

15th Page:
• Report of inventions of the spring rocket, which was able to launch a 6 pound item 2000 yards, and a gun which could fire 25 times per minute
• Report of two engagements, one of them at Craney Island

April 10th, pages 89-104
3rd Page:
• Report on alleged massacring of American prisoners by natives in Michigan territory, since the British had taken control of the territory

6th Page:
• Statement from Ensign Baker of the US army describing the fate of American prisoners

9th Page:
• Opinion piece criticizing the British, especially Proctor, for allowing the alleged atrocities at the River Raisin to occur

12th Page:
• Report of Col. Barclay’s arrival in New York as an agent for British prisoners, heading to Washington
• Report of construction of six additional batteries and two additional furnaces, for the defence at Charleston, SC
• Thirty licensed vessels detained at Gibraltar, their crews sent to England as prisoners
• List of vessels by number of guns for naval stations at Halifax, Bermuda, Newfoundland, off the Western-Islands, and the stations at Jamaica and Leeward Island
• Notice of appointment of Colonels Pike, Izard, Covington, Cass, Winder, and McArthur as brigadiers
• Report Colonel Cushing had been appointed a brigadier in the place of Gen. Gansevoort, deceased
• Report that every military district were to be assigned an adjutant-general

13th Page:
• Report of completion of new defence of New York at Sandy-Hook
• Report that eight companies of British regulars had arrived at Malden, the militia and natives having been called in
• Report of exchange of fire at Black Rock and Buffalo, with enemy batteries across the river
• Report that Gen. Harrison’s army remained at the Miami, strongly fortified, and that Harrison had gone to Chilicothe to arrange for reinforcements to replace militia whose terms of service were to expire
• Report that 450 men had marched from Plattsburg to Sackett’s Harbour
• Report that the 9th, 21st, and part of the 25th regiments had arrive at Plattsburg from Burlington, Vt., and had continued their march westward, General Chandler accompanying the detachment
• Report that the 2nd battalion of the 16th regiment US infantry, consisting of over 500 men, had arrived at Poughkeepsie, under command of Colonel Dennis, headed for Albany
• Report that an invasion of Canada will occur about the first of May, 15000 troops being organized at Sackett’s Harbour and Buffalo
• Report that a British squadron consisting of British ships Shannon, Nymph, Teneodos, and Curlew has returned to Halifax from a four month cruise between the banks of Newfoundland and Bermuda

14th Page:
• Report Captain Lawrence of the US ship Hornet appointed to commander of the US ship Constitution, since Captain Bainbridge of the Constitution will supervise the construction of a 74-gun ship
• Report US naval force at Savannah consisted of the ships Enterprize, Troup, two gun-boats and six barges
• Report several enemy ships are cruising off the coasts of the Eastern states
• Two British frigates appeared in Boston bay, the US ships President and Constitution being unable to meet them, being under repairs
• Report British ships Shannon and Tenedos had been harassing trade on the eastern US coast
• Report of British capture of US ships Montesquieu and the Volante
• Report of a naval battle between the US ship Montgomery and the British brig Surinam

15th Page:
• Reports from the blockade of the Delaware and the blockade of the Chesapeake

16th Page:
• Rumour from Baltimore that the Dolphin was attacked by 17 boats, 2 of which were sunk, and that three armed schooners in company with the Dolphin made little resistance

April 17th, pages 105-120
11th Page:
• Report of anxiety of sailors at Sackett’s Harbour to put to sea, the military force present there amounts to around 8000 men, ready to depart as soon as the ice breaks up
• Report that Major-General Lewis had set off from Albany, accompanied by General Boyd, to take command of the army on the Niagara frontier
• Report of considerable bodies of troops gathering on the Canada frontiers, Dearborn headed for Sackett’s Harbour, claiming troops will not be idle for long
• Report that part of the Kentucky volunteers had reached Cincinnati, on their way to the Miami rapids

12th Page:
• Reports that the North-Western army at the rapids of the Miami had exceeded 3000 men
• General orders that part of New-Jersey which the first division of the militia is supplied from will become part of the fourth military district of the United States
• Report that General Cushing, having been appointed a brigadier, had left his seat of government, and Capt. C. K. Gardner of the artillery had been appointed assistant-adjutant-general, with the rank of major
• Report that Major A. Y. Nicoll had been appointed an inspector-general with the rank of colonel
• Report that a mounted regiment being raised in Kentucky had been rapidly filling his ranks, men above 45 and under 18 having been volunteering
• Report that Capt. Dudley had passed through Georgetown with 122 volunteers, headed to the Miami rapids
• Report that General Wilkinson had been at Lat Petite Cocquille supervising construction of a new military work at that place
• Letter from Lieut. Col. John Harvey, deputy adjutant-general with a British account of an attack by the Glengarry Light Infantry on Ogdensburg, lead by Lieut. Col. McDonnell

13th Page:
• Naval news, and news from the blockades of the Delaware and the Chesapeake

16th Page:
• List of American captures and prizes

April 24th, pages 121-136
1st Page:
• Article discussing the effects of the orders-in-council

5th Page:
• Article from a London paper discussing the growing strength of the US navy against Britain, as well as the commercial aspects of the wars Britain had been fighting

9th Page:
• Short biographical piece on the life of General James Wilkinson

10th Page:
• Short article discussing the loss of the US ship Vixen and the death of her commander, Captain Reed
• Report of a creation of a new British settlement on Block-Island, about eight-leagues from Rhode-Island

11th Page:
• Notice of sale of cargo from the ship Montesquieu, captured by the British in the Delaware and ransomed at Philadelphia
• Reports of frequent alarms being raised in New-York on the appearance of British ships off Sandy Hook

12th Page:
• Report that the British had offered 500 dollars to natives if they could capture US mail, and that six natives and two American men had been killed
• List of appointments to military posts to fill vacancies
• Report mentioning large numbers of recruits marching to Sackett’s Harbour and the Niagara frontier and that General Dearborn had marched to Sackett’s Harbour as well
• Report that claims 30,000 men will be ready for the invasion of Canada from Sackett’s Harbour, the Niagara frontier, and Michigan territory by the first of May
• Report stating 312 regulars had passed through Hagerstown, from Virginia, on their way to Black Rock
• Report that a 69-hour express mail route had been established between Chilicothe and the Miami rapids
• Report of General Harrison’s arrival at Fort Meigs, having organized a detachment of 1500 men from Kentucky and ordered them to follow him as soon as possible
• Report that the Virginia militia had been sent home, and that the Pennsylvania militia had agreed to stay 20 days longer than the end of their term
• Notice of Brigadier-General Chandler’s arrival in Watertown, NY with about 2000 troops, headed for Sackett’s Harbour
• Report of an expedition of about 1000 troops to native towns on the Wabash and Massissinaway under the command of Col. Russell
• Report that 760 Kentucky volunteers under the command of General Green Clay had passed through Cincinnati on their way to the Rapids
• Report two British frigates had been seen hovering off Boston
• Report that two 74-gun ships, three frigates, and three sloops of war had sailed from Halifax to cruise in Boston bay
• Report of the expectation of 20 sail of the line and 40 frigates for the purpose of bombarding Baltimore and Norfolk
• Report of rumour that US ship Essex had captured a large British frigate
• Report British 74-gun ship Valiant had stationed at Sandy Hook, chased away by a gun-boat flotilla

13th Page:
• List of British vessels on Lake Ontario
• Report that 100 of the crew of the Constitution had left Boston for Sackett’s Harbour, the frigate being in repairs
• Report that British had been destroying or sending in for adjudication any vessels they encountered
• Report that English privateer Sir John Sherbrooke had stopped the US ship Ariadne, and had plundered her, burned her papers and license, and stripped the vessel of her crew
• Report of privateer schooner George Armstrong’s encounter with a British frigate
• Report of the capture of the British smack Fox by US smack Hero
• Reports from the blockade of the Delaware

14th Page:
• Reports from the blockade of the Chesapeake
• List of American prizes of British vessels

PLEASE CLICK ON THE WEEKLY PERIODICALS ON THE RIGHT OF THE SCREEN (PDF FILES)TO DOWNLOAD FILES.

Look for other issues of the Weekly Register within this website.

The Weekly Register, also known as Niles Weekly Register, was a weekly periodical edited by Hezekiah Niles (1777-1839) and published in Baltimore Maryland. Volumes of interest were published between 1811 (Vol. 1, No. 1, September 7, 1811) to 1814 (Vol. 5, No. 26, February 26, 1814). These volumes focus primarily on 19th century politics and government in the United States of America.

Niles edited and published the Weekly Register until 1836, making it one of the most widely-circulated magazines in the United States. The popularity also made Niles into one of the most influential journalists of his day. Devoted primarily to politics, Niles' Weekly Register is considered an important source for the history of the period. The Register also recorded current economics, technology, science, medicine, geography, archaeology, the weather, and stories of human interest.

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