Formation
In September 1811 John Gibson, secretary of the Indiana Territory, called out the militia in response to rising tensions with Native American tribes in the region. The Yellow Jackets were one such company to respond to the call. The company gained its name from the uniforms provided by the county for the men. The cuffs and fringes of their buckskins and wool coats were dyed a bright yellow.
The militia of Harrison County was organized into a company of sixty men commanded by Captain Spier Spencer, the county sheriff. Spencer was a veteran of at least forty prior engagements with Native Americans. The second in command was 1st Lieutenant Richard McMahan, a new settler living near Corydon. The company had four sergeants and four corporals, one of each from each township in the county. Among them was Pearse Chamberlain, Henry Batman, and William Pennington, the younger brother of Dennis Pennington the speaker of the territorial legislature. Dennis Pennington was also a member of the company, but was unable to make the expedition because he was overseeing the construction of the new county courthouse and had to attend a meeting of the legislature who were called into an emergency session. The company had eight ensigns including future U.S. Senator John Tipton. Tipton kept a detailed journal of the company's activities and it is from that source that most knowledge of the company is known. The company contained two musicians, Daniel Cline serving as a drummer and Isham Stroud as a fifer. Both boys were fifteen years old, the youngest men in the company. There were forty-three privates enlisted, including many of the prominent men in the county.
The privates were paid between $8 and $6.66 for the duration of their four-month enlistment. The officers were paid between $50 and $26. All the men were required to supply their own horses and were paid forty cents a day for their horses' fodder. The company first met at Harrison Mill on the western edge of the county. After camping there a night waiting for the entire force to come together the company set out to join the primary camp of the territorial militia.
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