Alpheus Dumbleton In The War Of 1812

Sergeant Alpheus Dumbleton
WAR OF 1812

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Alpheus Dumbleton At Battle Of Plattsburg
During the War of 1812, Alpheus Dumbleton first served with Lieutenant Colonel Abraham J. Hardenbergh's Regiment of New York Militia. The dates for commencement and release from service with Herdenbergh's Regiment are unknown. At the close of the War of 1812 he served sixteen days in Colonel Caleb Carr's Militia Regiment beginning September 5, 1814 to September 20, 1814. He was discharged from this regiment just nine days after the Battle of Plattsburg, the battle which brought about the end of the war and the Treaty of Ghent. He was 27 years old. Why did he served in two different regiments? In those days, two depleted regiments were often combined into one regiment owing to disease, death, wounded and desertions. That might have occurred here. I've researched this and find that, although the history of the War of 1812 is well known, individual regimental histories are sketchy and poor of written material.



This below information was received from the National Archives, Washington, D. C.
They're online at: http://www.archives.gov/

Alpheus Dumbleton, War Of 1812, Equipment Claims
The value of $50.00 in 2006 currency would be:
$8,543.48 using the unskilled wage
$19,465.38 using the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita
$684,384.62 using the real share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods
and services produced within a country during a given time period.

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO MEASURE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUC (GDP):
(1) Nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the dollar value of production at current
year prices. For example, nominal GDP in 1990, $5,803 billion, is calculated using year
1990 prices for goods and services.

(2) Real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the dollar value of production using a given
base year prices. For example, real GDP in 1990, $7,112 billion in year 2000 dollars, is
calculated using 2000 prices for goods and services.

Editor, Don Smith: Whichever way you select, $50.00 was a lot of money. For me, the
Nominal GPD seems the most accurate.

Battle Of Plattsburg -or- Battle Of Lake Champlain
September 11, 1814

According to town records of Grafton, New York, several citizens of the town were cited as having been in the Battle of Plattsburg during the War of 1812. A quotation from their website:

Among those who, in the War of 1812, joined the Eddy (Editor's Note: General Gilbert Eddy) expedition to Plattsburgh, were Henry Simmons, Matthew Burdick, Alpheus Ford, Daniel Birdsall, Alpheus Dumbleton, John Howard and Varnum Jones. Click to view info: here.

The Battle of Plattsburg, otherwise known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, was the last invasion of mainland, U.S.A. An attack or raid is only meant to destroy or plunder, an invasion is to take and hold or occupy. The battle proved that, under capable leadership, raw American militia units could stand their own against seasoned British regulars.

In 1814 the British intent was a northern invasion of the United States to take control of Lake Champlain and land around the lake. This would have cut deep into the 13 colonies. All of Maine, most of New Hampshire and Vermont and all of upstate New York and most of Michigan would be Canadian today if it weren't for the victory at Plattsburgh 9/11/1814. Some historians say if it were lost the British could have reinforced and continued south and would have forever changed the borders as we know them today, not to mention what it could have done to the remainder of the independent states.

At the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Ghent, the negotiators were able to use the US victory at the Battle of Plattsburg just 3 and 1/2 months previous to gain favorable standing. The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, Flanders (Belgium), United Kingdom of the Netherlands, ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

September 11th has a completely different meaning to people in the northeast. They might not be waving American flags today if it weren't for the Battle of Plattsburgh. They are all proud that our victory gave credence to the poem "The Star Spangled Banner" which millions are singing proudly. Little do people know that the raid on Fort Mchenry in Baltimore was just that, a raid, a diversionary raid to keep American forces busy during the real invasion from the north.

The invasion on the most northern city in New York, Sept 11th, 1814 and the attack on the most southern city on the same day 187 years later is no comparison in importance to history of this country. By order of the Governor of New York State, September 11th had already been designated as Battle of Plattsburgh day in New York.


Area of upper state New York area where the battle occurred:



A large scale map view showing Plattsburg in the north and New York City in the south. Notice how close Plattsburg is to Canada. This map clearly shows how important the Battle of Plattsburg truly was.


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