History
In 1807, Captain Eli Brady Clemson set off to recruit his own company of the 1st United States Infantry Regiment. Most of the men he recruited hailed from Pennsylvania and New York, though his company included men from France, Ireland, and Prussia as well. Their first Muster was at Pittsburgh before ordered to Fort Belle Fontaine, Missouri Territory. By August 1808, Clemson's company were ordered to build one of two new "Factory Forts". His would be built on the Missouri River while the other would be built above St. Louis on the Mississippi River. The new fort was duly christened as Fort Osage in November 1808 by Captain Clemson as "a mark of respect to the Indian Nation for whom it was built". Remarkable that a US regular Infantry fort to be named for an Indian Nation. The Fort Osage Garrison would receive word of the "War of 1812" near the end of July 1812. Clemson would be promoted to Major in 1812 in the 1st Infantry and serve as the Inspector General for General Benjamin Howard of the US forces west of the Mississippi in 1813. Clemson would eventually be promoted to Lt. Colonel of the 16th US. Before his last promotion, however, he was able to influence Secretary of War John Armstrong, to order the three companies of the 1st Infantry stationed in the Illinois and Missouri territories, to the "Canada Line."
Rank Info
