Hi Mercer Fans: I think Mrs. Lloyd asked about a Bird in the War of 1812, and others, and a subsequent ballad. About fifteen minutes before I opened my Mercer digest I was reading a book entitled A Signal Victory, The Lake Erie Campaign 1812-1813 by David Curtis Skaggs and Gerard T. Altoff. Pub by Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD 1997. Page 80 discusses James Bird, son of John and Rebecca of Luzerne county, PA. Bird was a gunner in a PA artillery outfit and was being held on charges theft, mutiny, and resisting arrest. Charges would be dropped if he would enlist as a marine in the Lake Erie Campaign and performed satisfactorily. "this enlistment would lead to tragic notoriety for the young gunner eventually celebrated in ballad." One of the footnotes to this was Chas. B. Galbreath, "The Battle of Lake Erie in Ballad and History," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications 20 (1911). Imagine the ballad may be in this book. That's all I can tell at this point. Incidentally, the first book cited that I am reading is excellent. Regards, Brent Morgan