16th. The troops paraded early in the morning, and were received by Governor Scott. We paraded again at 10 o’clock, and marched to a convenient place in close order, where the Rev. Mr. Blythe preached a short sermon, and the Honorable Henry Clay delivered an appropriate discourse.
17th. The troops were inspected by Major Garrard.
18th. We drew two months’ pay in advance. There being a general complaint amongst the volunteers respecting sixteen dollars, which were expected to be drawn in lieu of clothing, Major Graves paraded his battalion, and gave them their choice to go on without the sixteen dollars, or return home. Six chose to return; these, to fix an odium upon them, were drummed out of camp and through town.
19th. We commenced our march in high spirits to join General Hull at Detroit, or in Canada. Each regiment, for convenience and speed, marched separately to Newport. We arrived at Newport the 24th; it is 80 miles from Georgetown. It rained most of the time, which made it disagreeable travelling and encamping. These hardships tended a little to quench the excessive patriotic flame that had blazed so conspicuously at the different musters and barbecues.
Here we received information of General Hull having surrendered Detroit and Michigan Territory to General Brock, on the 15th of this instant, while in possession of the necessary means to have held that post against the forces of Upper Canada.[A] This we could not believe until confirmed by handbills and good authority; when thus confirmed, it appeared to make serious impressions on the minds of officers and privates. Those high expectations of participating with General Hull in the laurels to be acquired by the conquest of Malden and Upper Canada, were entirely abandoned.
We drew our arms and accoutrements, and crossed the Ohio on the 27th. Our destiny was thought to be Fort Wayne.
The following general order will show some of the evolutions which were performed by this army while on its march.
“Headquarters, Cincinnati, August 23, 1812.
“The troops will commence their march in the direction to Dayton, by Lebanon, at an early hour to-morrow morning. The generale will be beat instead of the reveille; the tents will then be struck, the baggage loaded, and the line of march taken up as soon as possible.
“The commandants of the several corps will immediately commence drilling their men to the performance of the evolutions contemplated by the commander-in-chief, for the order of march and battle. The principal feature in all these evolutions is that of a battalion changing its direction by swinging on its centre. This, however, is not to be done by wheeling, which, by a large body in the woods, is impracticable. It is to be formed thus: the battalion being on its march in a single rank, and its centre being ascertained, the front division comes to the right about, excepting the man in the rear of that division who steps two paces to the right, at the same time the front man of the second division takes a position about four feet to the left of the man in the rear of the front division, and dresses with him in a line at right angles to the line of march. These two men acting as marks or guides for the formation of the new alignment at the word—Form the new alignment, March! the men of the front division file round their guide, and form in succession on his right. At the same time the men of the rear division file up in succession to the left of the guide, and dress in a line with him and the guide of the front division. This manœuvre may be performed by any number of men, by company and platoon as well as battalion.