Major Uriah Blue and the War of 1812

Today, June 18, 2012, is the Bicentennial anniversary of the start of the War of 1812. Marking this moment in history, this is the second of two posts today. The first acknowledged Pvt. Freeman Munson, my 5th great-grandfather, who deserted after five months in the army.

The focus of this post is Major Uriah Blue (1.1.3.1.2 in Blue Family Genealogy), the first cousin of Floy Bates Aderman’s great-great grandfathers, Robert and John Blue. (Robert and John were brothers who married McNary sisters; Robert’s son, Robert Jr., married John’s daughter, Martha. Robert, Jr. and Martha are Floy’s great-grandparents.)  Uriah Blue was a second Lt. in the Provisional Army of the United States in 1799, while still living in Virgina and worked his way up the ranks to Major. He distinguished himself during the War of 1812 and the Creek Wars.

According to the U.S. Army Historical Register, Uriah’s military service included:

Blue, Uriah. Va. Va. 2 lieutenant 8 infantry 12 July 1799; honorable discharged 15 June 1800; 2 lieutenant 2 infantry 16 Feb 1801; honorable discharged 1 June 1802; 1 lieutenant 7 infantry 3 May 1808; captain 9 May 1809; major 39 infantry 13 Mar 1814; honorable discharged 15 June 1815; reinstated 2 Dec 1815 as captain 8 infantry to rank from 9 May 1809 and with brevet of major from 13 Mar 1814; resigned 3 Dec 1816; [died – May 1836.]

Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army
B.
page 226

Among his accomplishments in the War of 1812, according to archive.org, was leading a detachment of Chickasaw Indians against their mortal enemies, the Creeks. Among the warriors in his detachment was Moshulatubbee, the chief of the Northeastern District of the Choctaw Nation (the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians were closely related and both from what is now Mississippi). Below is the name of one of the Privates in his detachment, part of the 39th Infantry.

An example of the Consolidated Military Record showing the name of a Private in Major Blue’s Detachment.

The Tennessee.gov website tells of one of his missions in Florida toward the end of the war (scroll down to Major John Chiles). Blue was under the command of Maj. General Andrew Jackson (yes, the future President of the United States) and led a mission (#20) to storm and capture Spanish Pensacola, Florida. Major Blue was in charge of the Mississippi Militia and the Choctaw Warriors. Jackson had preceded him in Florida, but Maj. Blue’s task was to find the enemy Creeks who had escaped Jackson’ campaign. That particular mission has been considered fairly unsuccessful because Blue’s forces were so poorly supplied.* Another interesting tidbit, though, is that Davey Crockett was with him on that mission.** He then went with his troops to fight with Gen. Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans.

According to the Blue Family research on Major Uriah Blue, he married Rebecca Sturtevant and they had five children. The two youngest ones were still minors when Rebecca died before 1834 and Uriah died in 1836. He is buried in Mobile, AL where he was in charge of an Army garrison at the time of his death.

* See notes about Major John Chiles at http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/military/1812reg.htm.
**http://www.heritech.com/soil/genealogy/potts/bluegen.htm (scroll down to 1.1.3.1.2)