"Captain Leslie Combs' Ill-fated Canoe Trip" Topic

"Very few motorists crossing the Maumee River today on the Interstate 475 Bridge may realize, if they glance downriver towards Maumee and Perrysburg and the Buttonwood Recreational Area, that they are looking at the site of a terrifying adventure during the Siege of Fort Meigs. This is an extract from the Narrative of the Life of General Leslie Combs, a veteran of the battle:

When they reached St. Mary's Blockhouse, General Clay divided his brigade, sending Colonel Dudley's regiment across to the Auglaise River, and descending the St. Mary's himself, with Colonel Boswell's, intending to united them again at old Fort Defiance. Captain Combs was attached to the former… It was fifty miles from Fort Defiance, where they expected to meet General Clay, to Fort Meigs; and it was deemed extremely hazardous for any one to attempt to open a communication between the two points, especially as no one present, except Captain Combs, knew the exact position of Fort Meigs, or had any knowledge of the intervening country…. (At a council of officers Captain Combs volunteered) "Colonel Dudley," said he, "General Clay has thought proper to entrust me with an important command, attached to your regiment. When we reach Fort Defiance, if you will furnish me a good canoe, I will carry your dispatches to General Harrison, and return with his orders. I shall only require four or five volunteers from my own company, and one of my Indian guides to accompany me…"

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