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Engagement between HMS Amelia and French frigate l’Arethuse, off the Isles of Loss, 1813

Thomas Whitcombe (English, 1763–1824)

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Tombstone

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Which one of them is most likely to pull a Frank Mildmay and gloat about Mr. Madison's foolish war against the sovereignty of His Britannic Majesty in front of some American prisoners after capturing their ship?

My ocs, Frank Yule (left) and Edward Merrifield (right)

They’re lieutenants in the 1812 Royal Navy, codependent, sort of a knight/prince emotional dynamic and and and bad stuff happens to them 😚

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"the 5th celebrity you have saved on your phone -" you and i live in vastly different worlds

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My toxic trait is overcharging the US government $76,000 for steamboats intended for an expedition to establish a fort at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, and, having been practically guaranteed against loss through my political connections, taking little care to see that said steamboats and related equipment were of sufficient character to ensure a prompt fulfillment of the contract

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A generously sized bowtie with jewelled pin in a 9th plate daguerreotype portrait of a young man by William B. Eastman of Boston, MA (fl. 1847-1860).

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California Gentleman - 1839–1855

Attributed to Carleton Watkins (American, 1829 - 1916)

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Just got a very obvious Simulated Phishing Email in my work inbox, which I successfully reported, but to my great amusement the fake scenario was that I needed to testify for "Richard Johnson" in court.

YES THAT'S HIM ON THE WHITE HORSE, YOUR HONOR. HE INVADED UPPER CANADA and also stole my heart...

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Miwackulous Tye Monday

HOW THE DOOSE DOES HE MANAGE IT ?

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The education center is NOT complete, there is much still under construction, but it's open to the public now and they did a lot of work on the exhibits since I saw a sneak peek last summer.

Here I am standing about where I live on the edge of the huge floor map at the visitor center entrance: in the Black Swamp, 218 miles from Kentucky.

The mannequins of Kentucky militia and British soldiers that once greeted visitors are out of sight (I hope they come back for what looks like a winter scene/possible Battle of Frenchtown exhibit under construction.)

They still have the replica Kentucky River Raisin Battle flag hanging up; I love the bonnet rouge— I mean patriotic American liberty cap.

LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, KENTUCKÉ!

River Raisin National Battlefield Park, to their credit, really makes an effort to include the Indigenous experiences and perspectives in the War of 1812. There were over twenty different tribal nations who participated in the Battle of the River Raisin: Bodéwadmi (Potawatomi), Chahta (Choctaw), Chikashsha (Chickasaw), Chickamauga (Lower Cherokee), Eastern Dakota, Hoocąągra (Ho-Chunk or Winnebago), Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Lunaapeew (Lenape or Delaware), Mamaceqtaw (Menominee), Meskwaki (Fox) and Thâkîwa (Sauk or Sac), Mvskoke (Muscogee or Creek), Mohawk, Myaamiaki (Miami), Odawa (Ottawa), Ökwe'öwé (Seneca, Cayuga, or "Mingo"), Ojibwe (Chippewa), Oneida and Onondaga, Osage, Shawnee, and Wyandot (Wyandotte or Huron).

I typed all that out from signs at River Raisin National Battlefield Park because you so rarely see all of those names, especially in the original languages. In verifying some of the spellings I discovered that 13% of tribal nations are historically directly connected to the Battles of the River Raisin; a full 22% of tribal nations in the lower 48 US states. All were impacted by its aftermath.

There had a lot of beautiful wampum belts of recent make, including some replica historic belts. The wampum belt at center is a replica of the War of 1812 Peace Belt presented to the Haudenosaunee by the British in 1815. The same pattern is used in the River Raisin National Battlefield Park logo.

The United States did not memorialize its peace treaties after the war with wampum belts and stopped participating in wampum diplomacy—but they had a replica of the Wyandot-Tarhe Belt said to have been presented by Mad Anthony Wayne, which caught my attention after chasing the Fallen Timbers battlefield and its memorial.

Heading up to River Raisin Battlefield National Park tonight for the grand opening gala, lads! The education center is now complete, I may possibly bid on a painted rock or some Great Lakes art.

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A very nice illustration of War of 1812 US Infantry (artist not listed), and 1813 Kentucky Militia by the legendary H. Charles McBarron Jr. at River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

McBarron was known for his careful research, and he must have read the description of the ragged Kentucky militia at the Battle of the River Raisin in the memoirs of British/Canadian soldier John Richardson:

The appearance of the American prisoners captured at Frenchtown was miserable to the last degree. They had the air of men to whom cleanliness was a virtue unknown, and their squalid bodies were covered by habiliments that had evidently undergone every change of season, and were arrived at the last stage of repair. It has already been remarked that it was the depth of winter; but scarcely an individual was in possession of a great coat or cloak, and few of them wore garments of wool of any description. They still retained their summer dress, consisting of cotton stuff of various colors, shaped into frocks, and descending to the knee: their trowsers were of the same material. They were covered with slouched hats, worn bare by constant use, beneath which their long hair fell matted and uncombed over their cheeks; and these, together with the dirty blankets wrapped around their loins to protect them against the inclemency of the season, and fastened by broad leathern belts, into which were thrust axes and knives of an enormous length, gave them an air of wildness and savageness, which in Italy would have caused them to pass for brigands of the Apennines.

— Richardson's War of 1812 (Internet Archive)

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Polaroids taken aboard the Pride of Baltimore II, ft. the Duxbury Pier Lighthouse and the cutter Bloodhound, August 2024.

all photos ⓒ @the-golden-vanity

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I look to the mountains;

where will my help come from?

My help will come from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let you fall;

your protector is always awake.

— Psalm 121: 1–2 (GNT)

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03/17/2025

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Self Portrait (c.1851) by Johann Peter Hasenclever

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Iceberg, Twillingate, NL