Fort Recovery monument illuminated

FORT RECOVERY - With the push of a button, Lester Huelskamp, the oldest living veteran among the village's veteran organizations, set the Fort Recovery Monument aglow with brilliant light on Friday evening.

The Fort Recovery Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6515 and American Legion Post 345 partnered with the Fort Recovery Historical Society and the Fort Recovery State Memorial to host a unique joint Memorial Day observance and ceremonial lighting of the monument.

Due to rain, the traditional ceremonies carried out by American Legion and VFW members were moved inside Fort Recovery High School.

Afterward, the veterans groups led a throng of people across the street to Monument Park. Roughly 1,000 white crosses representing soldiers killed in the 1791 and 1794 battles that cleared the way for the westward expansion of a fledgling country, surrounded the 101-foot-tall obelisk at Monument Park, inspiring moments of reflection and appreciation for all veterans who have served their country in times of need.

Huelskamp, 98, ushered in the first lighting of the monument, an event 10 years in the making. A series of lamps surrounding the monument illuminated the impressive structure. After the switch was turned on, the Fort Recovery High School band, under the direction of Reid Knuth, kicked in with the National Anthem and the Rev. Ned Brown offered the Benediction. This was followed with a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps.

Museum patrons had committed to installing lighting to illuminate the monument, the cornerstone of the village historic legacy. A fundraising campaign got underway with a generous donation from the John and Mary Ann Wendel Family. Museum patrons, various organizations and other individuals also contributed to the project, according to museum director Nancy Knapke.

Garmann/Miller drew up engineering, electrical and equipment plans for the lighting project that were approved by Ohio History Connection, which owns the monument, Knapke had told the newspaper.

"Garmann/Miller agreed to do this without charging us for it, and we were really proud of the fact that Ryan Heitkamp and Chad Schroer, both local boys who work for this company, were able to do the majority of the work for us," she said.

The towering monument honors the men, women and children who died in the Battle of the Wabash, also known as St. Clair's Defeat in 1791, and in the Battle of Fort Recovery in 1794.

Composed of North Carolina gray granite, the monument was authorized by President William Howard Taft and constructed by the Van Amringe Granite company of Boston, Massachusetts, in late 1912 before being officially dedicated in 1913. It was modeled after the Washington Monument.    U.S. Gen. Arthur St. Clair's historical campaign of 1791 in northwest Ohio to take control of the area between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes was a failure and one the nation's worst military fiascoes.

The tide turned for Americans in 1794 with the Battle of Fort Recovery, when the U.S. Army defeated the largest Native American force ever assembled. In addition to being one of the few times Native Americans attacked a fort, the battle led to the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.