Lewis Cass American

Lewis Cass (1782-1866) had a colourful career in the early legal and administrative arenas of the United States. He was, at various times a lawyer, a U.S. marshal for the state of Ohio and, in 1806, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He was later appointed a brigadier general in the militia. Cass believed that the 1812 War against the British "was both just and necessary." He closed his law practice temporarily and was appointed colonel of the Third Ohio Regiment which would serve as part of General William Hull's Army of the Northwest. Known as an ambitious and confident officer, Cass believed in the regular and arduous drilling of the men under his command. From the outset, the headstrong Cass disapproved of his commanding officer, Hull. In private he wrote, "Instead of having an able and energetic commander, we have a weak, old man." Cass crossed into Sandwich alongside Hull, and pleaded with his general to further proceed into Upper Canada. During one raid, Cass took his men to within four miles of the secluded British stronghold at Amherstburg but, having no reinforcement from Hull to push on, he withdrew. The officers under Hull were so disgusted with his lack of initiative that they openly planned to depose him. The plan ultimately failed. After several fierce attacks by British-allied warriors on supply trains heading for Fort Detroit, Cass and fellow officer Duncan McArthur, were ordered to leave Detroit to secure the supply route. They left on August 14, 1812, with a force of 350 men, but en route they were recalled to defend Detroit from the battle which was already underway. By the time they returned, they found that the terms for a surrender had been drawn up and that they were part of it. Cass is said to have cursed Hull, crying out, "Traitor! He has disgraced his country" and breaking his sword in two rather than surrendering it. In 1813, Cass was promoted to brigadier general serving in William Henry Harrison's western campaigns, which included the Battle of the Thames. After the war, Cass testified against Hull at the disgraced general's court martial. Cass went on to become the territorial Governor of Michigan whereby he forced more land cessions from the First Nations of the area. He served in the Senate in the 1840's, and later ran as a Democratic presidential nominee only to lose out to Zachary Taylor. Over the course of these appointments, Cass helped found the University of Michigan and the Michigan Agricultural Society. He died on June 17, 1866.