The War of 1812 is an often overlooked, but important part of our nation's history that is soon to be celebrating its 200th anniversary.
It proved to the British America was indeed serious about maintaining the sovereignty it had earned in the Revolutionary War. It opened two centuries of peace with our Canadian neighbors. The war also brought us our National Anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner."
A local group of reenactors wants to make sure Illinois remembers the war as we approach its 200th birthday.
Mike Bolin of Rudement is a member of the local 17th Illinois Territorial Rangers, the reenactment group that has guarded the block house at the Saline Creek Pioneer Village and Museum several years during the annual spring Life on the Illinois Frontier Festival. The Rangers also hold several events during the year at Fort Massac in Metropolis. The Rangers are joining a multinational effort to observe the bicentennial of the War of 1812.
Rangers Mike Bolin, Dave Cummins, his wife Kathy and son Doug met at the museum grounds Tuesday with Bill Wilson and other members of the commission organizing Illinois' 200th year anniversary of the war.
Bill Wilson of Greenville in Madison County is chairman of the Illinois War of 1812 Commission. Pope County Middle School history teacher Seth Graves, his girlfriend Krysta Wise and Bolin are also helping the commission to organize reenactors to hold events until 1815 in honor of the war.
Wilson says though the war is named after the year 1812, it involved skirmishes between the years 1811 and 1815. The war ended in January of 1815 with the Battle of New Orleans. Though the United States of America had established itself as a country, the British during that period allied with Native American tribes desiring British trade to attack the settlers.
The U.S. had its federal troops, but the outlying frontier mainly depended on community blockhouses and militia groups like the 17th Illinois Territorial Rangers to keep families safe. In what is now Saline County there were blockhouses at Rudement -- the Hankerson Rude Block House -- and at the current location of the flag pole at Wolf Creek Cemetery -- the Coleman Brown Block House.
Wilson said there were two attacks by Native Americans on the Coleman Brown Block House, though neither resulted in injury. The block house did its job.
"The idea of the block house is it was a structure so imposing it would discourage attacks," Wilson said.
