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Old Betsy Cannon

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Title	Old Betsy Cannon
Subject	Military Ohio War of 1812 Forts & fortifications Cannons Artillery (Weaponry)
Place	Fremont (Ohio) Sandusky County (Ohio)
Description	"Old Betsy" a cannon that could shoot six-pound iron balls, played a key role in the defense of Fort Stephenson (near present-day Fremont) during the War of 1812. It was the fort's only piece of artillery and was mainly used to discourage Indian attacks. In August 1813, fifteen hundred British troops and their American Indian allies surrounded Fort Stephenson, which was defended by 160 men. Major George Croghan, the young commander of Fort Stephenson, realized he was clearly outnumbered and outgunned. Since the cannon was the fort's only defense, Croghan ordered that it be moved around the perimeter of the fort to make it appear that there were more cannons. Croghan anticipated the British attack from the northwest that began in the afternoon of August 2. Croghan allowed British and Indian troops to cluster in a nearby ditch from which they were planning to storm the fort. He then fired "Old Betsy." General Proctor ordered the British troops to retreat. Nearly 150 British and American Indians were killed in the battle, while Croghan and his American troops lost one soldier. After the War of 1812 the cannon was stored in an arsenal in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1851 Fremont Mayor Brice J. Bartlett arranged for it to be returned to Fremont. The war department sent it to Lower Sandusky, however, which Fremont had formerly been called. The cannon went to Sandusky where it had to be retrieved. It was last fired at a rally celebrating Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency.
Date of Original	1812 circa
Collection	Fort Stephenson Collection http://www.sandusky-county-scrapbook.net (for more information on the Sandusky County Scrapbook)
Source	Historical object(s) or artifact(s)
Submitting Institution	Birchard Public Library
Type	StillImage
Format	picture; objects

Title	Om779_1028759_001
Rights	For rights and reproduction requests, go to the Ohio Historical Society's Audiovisual and Graphic Reproduction Services page at http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/audiovis/photodup.html; Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to http://www.ohiohistory.org/images/information
File Name	Om779_1028759_001.tif
Image Height	1032
Image Width	1897
File Size	622.763 KB

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Old Betsy Cannon

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