Re-enacting the Battle of the Thames
Re-enacting the Battle of the Thames
Re-enacting the Battle of the Thames
Re-enacting the burning of Moraviantown
(from Moravians in Upper Canada: The Diary of the Indian Mission of Fairfield on the Thames, p. 513 - 514)
October 6 [1813]. Today was a difficult and pressing day for us. The pillaging, especially for food, began early in the morning. We had to relinquish our last bite of bread. Out of fear of the many transient warriors, we had stored in our cellars fifty bushels of potatoes, twelve bushels of apples and other vegetables, as well as six hundred pounds of flour which we had bought with cash. Ten bee-hives, most of them heavy laden with honey, were also devoured. They poured the honey out of the hives without killing the bees first and swarms of them surrounded the feasting soldiers. While the pillaging was going on, Gen. Harrison and several officers came into town. At first, we were comforted since we believed he would see justice done. Br. Schnall [the head of the missionaries] immediately went to him and asked him to protect us from the wild mob and to reimburse us for the goods that were stolen from us. He answered curtly: "You can move out, but you will not be compensated." When Br. Schnall wanted to say more, he cut him short, saying that he had no time to listen. Commodore Perry, who had heard it all, met Br. Schnall in the street afterwards. He was very friendly and said he knew and respected our society and our missions. He would help us obtain a pass, he said, so that we could move out unmolested. ... Toward noon, the commodore told us he would soon go to the settlement and feared that, if we are still here after he leaves, we may not get away at all. Gen. Harrison too said in his curt manner: "See to it that you get out of town." We also heard that the town was to be burned to the ground. We made haste to leave. ... With haste, we loaded the wagon and left Fairfield [Moraviantown] with heavy hearts. Of our departure, we can only say that we were booted out of town. Had we been given a few days' time, we could have sold our furniture, ovens, tables, wardrobes, cows, pigs etc. for a few hundred dollars. However, we could do nothing else but turn our backs on everything. We could tell from the soldiers' demeanour that, if we did not leave, we would lose what we had packed as well. Soon after we left, we got word that part of Fairfield was burnt. The next day, the rest went up in flames. ...
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Re-enacting the Battle of the Thames |
Re-enacting the Battle of the Thames |
Re-enacting the Battle of the Thames |
Re-enacting the burning of Moraviantown |