At the time of General Hull's surrender of Detroit there were two companies in the
Sugarcreek Township/Bellbrook area. One of these companies was led by Captain James Steele and was a company of riflemen. The other was a company of horse, probably mounted riflemen and was led by Captain Robert McClellan. This latter unit was garrisoned at Fort McArthur about 24 miles north of Urbana on the road to Fort Meigs near the mouth of the Maumee River.
Captain Steele managed to muster 70 armed men in front of the little courthouse in Xenia, Ohio on the morning of September 23rd, 1812 - the day after the word of the disaster at Detroit arrived in the area. It took about a month for the word to filter down to Steele's outfit for some reason. They had orders to march to Piqua as quickly as possible to safeguard a large store of war material there which had not yet been sent to Detroit. This stockpile was reportedly being threatened by marauding Indians and Steele's unit was undoubtedly joined by others from adjoining counties.
Local history records that this mission was satisfactorily accomplished and the material brought safely to Dayton, probably to Camp Meigs which was the locale from which Hull's army had assembled originally before marching on Detroit, departing on 1 June 1812.
From the fragments of the Ohio Militia Law of 1804 that we have seen we are certain of two things; 1) that the uniforms worn by the Militia consisted of whatever the majority of a Company agreed upon and, 2) that Discipline and Instruction were to be in accordance with the principles laid down by the immortal Baron (General) von Steuben.
At this point we have not seen the portion of the Law which deals with the weapons to be used by the militia. On this we await the pleasure of the Ohio Historical Society's research personnel. Pro tem, we plan to arm with .45 caliber Kentucky rifles since they would have been common in this area and far superior in range/accuracy to the Model 1777 Charleville smoothbores that most regular units used.
As for the identity of our unit, the only things we know with some degree of authority are that the two local companies formed a (fighting) portion of the 5th Batallion of the Ohio Militia, and that all rifle companies were raised from volunteers. Again pro tem we plan to style ourselves as Steele's Rifles. We may decide to cast our own unit hat-badges from low temperature melting point pewter and, if we decide to do it, these will probably consist of an outline of the state of Ohio, with the legend "5th Btn" at or near the top and with the letters SRS descending laterally across the face bend sinister with a raised dot at the location of Sugarcreek.
If you wish a good impression of what our uniforms will look like, you should consult the Society of Military Historians book "Years of Growth 1785-1815". In that book you will find an illustration of the Kentucky volunteer mounted riflemen raised by Col. Richard M. Johnson.
Failing that I can describe the uniform as follows: off-white drop sleeve (long) shirt with a black neck stock worn with off-white narrow fall trousers and blunt toed period design black shoes with brass or German silver buckles. Over the shirt we will wear a jacket weight light canvas capped and fringed wraparound hunting frock of a dark "forest green" secured with a broad leather belt in which will be carried (on the left hip) the period riflemen' knife/scabbard and a sheathed tomahawk.
The cartridge box, containing from 10 to 24 rounds (depending upon the specifications of the Militia Law), will be carried over the shoulder on the right hip. The headgear will consist of a black "low topper" with a bright green cockade and a long white quill tipped in black. The low topper, a sort of squat top hat, was quite common among the militia units of this region. For reenactment outings this rig will be complemented by a haversack and a round wooden canteen. These will not be used during "Company Exercises".
The Company fifer and drummer will not be armed in addition to what is specified above. If our First Sergeant does not wish to carry a rifle we'll let him have a hanger (the short, curved infantry saber)to go with his red wool worsted sash. Troopers, in present plans, will carry what they bring if they already own a flintlock and, if not, then will carry the Kentucky .45 caliber rifle. We will not carry bayonets since I am reliably informed that they were not used with rifles (even the 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle had no provision for them) and no plug bayonet of the period would fit into a .45 caliber piece.