TWO EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1814.
AN AMERICAN HERO OF CHIPPEWA AND LUNDY’S LANE, 1814
Ephraim Shaler [or Shaylor], ALS, 2 ½ pp, folio, to U.S. Senator Thomas Ewing from Ohio, Tallmadge, Portage County, Ohio, 9 June 1834.
Massachusetts native Ephraim Shaler received a commission as ensign in the 25th U.S. Infantry in 1812 and was twice promoted during the war for bravery and merit. He served with distinction, participating in the battles of Stoney Creek, Chrysler’s Field, Chippewa (also sp. Chippawa) and Niagara (or Lundy’s Lane). The War of 1812 hero writes to his senator two decades later, asking for Ewing’s help in securing a military pension, noting that the House has already passed a bill for this purpose, but soliciting his assistance in seeing it through the Senate. Among his wartime experiences, he notes that in “the Battle of Bridgewater/ or Lundys Lane...I received two Musket Shotts, one of which deprived me of the use of an Arm, the other passed through my side....” He then discusses his hardships during postwar duty as a captain at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri River, and other remote frontier posts. He closes, noting that “I do not wish to boast of my duty...I make the statements merely to enforce my claim” of disabilities received in the service of his country.
[with]
Thomas S. Jesup, ALS, 1 p., folio, np, 7 June 1834.
A detailed narrative of Shaler’s 1814 services as written by Thomas Sidney Jesup, his former commanding officer during the 1814 Niagara campaign, attesting to his invaluable service. Jesup was then major commanding the 25th Infantry and he and his regiment immortalized themselves by their stellar performance during the battles of Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane. Jesup himself received two brevet promotions as the result of his gallantry and skill during the two actions and went on to become Quartermaster General in 1818. He describes the battles in great detail (including the regiment’s capture of General Riall, the British commander, during the fierce night-fighting of the latter action) and emphasizes Shaler’s critical role as regimental adjutant, noting that at “a particular crisis of the battle of Niagara his services were of the utmost importance.” Jesup, “in feeble health, wounded, and dismounted, was compelled to impose upon Adjutant Shaler very important and dangerous duties...and he considered that the efforts...contributed in a considerable degree to the success which attended the operations of the regiment.” Jesup closes, noting that “Shaler continued for some time after he was wounded to encourage the men, and did not leave his station until positively ordered....” Shaler, "as worthy an old soldier...as ever drew battle blade" subsequently received some relief in terms of a small Federal pension and an appointment as the lighthouse keeper at Fort Howard, Wisconsin, where in 1844 it was noted that "the parsimonious Government of this Republic, permits him, though in mutilated condition, to languish on the very confines of poverty"--a sad commentary on the twilight years of a veteran and hero that had sacrificed so much in the service of his country. 2 items.
Literature: John C. Fredriksen, ed., "Memoirs of Captain Ephraim Shaler: A Connecticut Yankee in the War of 1812," New England Quarterly 57 (1984), 411-420.
Item #124
Price: $1,200.00
Status: On Hold