Local ceremony honors War of 1812

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

It was a war most people have forgotten, one that involved more defeats than victories for the fledgling United States of America, which had the temerity to take on Great Britain, then the most powerful nation on earth.

A special ceremony was held at noon on Monday to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, which began 200 years ago and included the burning of Washington, D.C., and the Battle of New Orleans, as well as a number of engagements that occurred right here in Ohio.

Organizations involved in the program included American Legion Post 178, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5803, Isaac Van Wart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Jacob Stemple Chapter of the Daughters of the War of 1812, the Van Wert County Veterans Service Office and American Legion Post 346 in Ohio City.

Mistress of ceremonies for the event was Joan Stripe of the DAR, while the speaker was Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Charles D. Steele, himself a decorated war veteran who retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.

“The War of 1812 was our first war as a new nation,” Judge Steele said. “By declaring and fighting the war against Great Britain, we not only preserved our national honor, but showed the world that the United States of America was to be reckoned with on an international level.”

The war was more of an annoyance for Great Britain, which was also engaged in a life-or-death struggle with Napoleon’s armies in Europe at the time. However, the conflict nearly bankrupted the United States, whose trade was severely curtailed by a blockade of the East Coast by British ships, while several disastrous attempts to invade Canada also brought about the realization that the young nation needed a professional army if it were to survive and prosper.

Judge Steele also talked about the impact of the war on Ohio, which had only been a state for nine years when the war began. Several important engagements were fought in Ohio, including the Battle of Fort Meigs and the Battle of Lake Erie, where Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry issued the statement: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

The judge noted that the war’s impact was felt throughout the state and resulted in the founding of a number of new Ohio communities, which began as forts that were needed to protect the army’s supply chain in the state.

“Ohio was a battleground where men fought and died to defend their country, their homes and their families,” Judge Steele said.

American Legion Post 178 Chaplain Dick Elder gave the invocation and benediction for the event, while a three-member honor guard fired a three-gun salute to honor those who fought — and died — during the war.

A 15-star, 15-stripe flag, like the one Francis Scott Key saw flying over Fort McHenry during its bombardment by British ships that inspired him to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”, also flew over the Courthouse during the ceremony.