John was appointed by Governor of Ohio and served in Great Lakes Region. He was sent from Baltimore to punish Indians for stealing white children, and to recover the children (maybe why he was made Colonel?) Col. John DeLong of 1st Regiment & 4th Detachment Ohio was honorably discharged on 25 Oct 1813

Evidently John had a rather varied military career. One researcher indicates that John Francis DeLong served in the American Revolution at the age of 12 in New York as well as in the Indian wars; unverified.

Research does verify that John was the Commanding Colonel of the First Regiment of the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812 and served from September 1813 through March of 1814.

According to the Field and Staff Muster Rolls of Fort Meigs, Ohio on 14 January 1814 Col. DeLong is listed as present, and states "now under arrest", but the circumstances of his arrest are still a mystery. However the good name of the Colonel wasn't stricken from the Ohio Militia rolls, thus his infraction was not severe enough to warrant a "drumming out".

Prior to 1802 John and his family lived in the Baltimore, Maryland area before moving to Beaver Township (now Guernsey Co., OH) where they settled at the forks of the creek and John became one of the leading men in this vicinity.

For Ohioans, the War of 1812 was a continuation of struggles brought onto them by the British and Indian tribes, like the Miamis.

Autumn 1812, after the surrender of Detroit to the British Army, the fever of war was at its peak. "Every man ran to arms—none waited for the formality of orders." 1813, Governor Meigs called for 5,000 volunteers, and the response was threefold.

This American campaign did have defensive successes among areas of Northwestern Ohio where posts, like Fort Meigs on the Maumee River and Fort Stevenson on the west bank of the Sandusky River we're able to withstand sieges brought on by the British and Indians.

It's in the Fall of 1813 that we find Colonel John F. DeLong leading the First Regiment of the Ohio Militia towards the front line. 11 wagons and 738 men were under J.F's command with the majority of soldiers from areas such as Belmont and Fairfield County.

By September 22, 1813, in the Upper Sandusky area, J.F and his troops had marched through Lancaster, Franklinton, and Delaware. The news of Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie must have reached them, and thus they began to march onwards to camp in Lower Sandusky. Troops that had previously stationed in said area had ferried across Lake Erie to Canada in pursuit of the retreating British army and Tecumseh with his Indian warriors.

Early December 1813, Colonel DeLong was commander of Fort Meigs in Ohio, however by January 14, 1814, the Colonel had become a prisoner facing a court-martial for charges on various infractions of rules according to military conduct.

Charges such as these were usual among untrained officers of the Ohio Militia, the record from the court is incomplete, and we don't know the outcome of the trial. However, we know Colonel DeLong's name was not stricken from the Militia rolls.

Years following the war Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, O.P. was visiting Ohio regularly to seek out Catholic households and making many converts.

In Beaver Valley, John's father, George DeLong, seems to have been the first of his family to become Catholic and had his son James DeLong baptized in 1820.

Colonel J.F. DeLong followed his father's example, and within a few years, nearly seventy of their relatives had followed suit.

For Colonel DeLong to renounce his former beliefs to embrace the Catholic Faith seems to have not only been influenced by his father, but also his Catholic neighbors; the Gallagher and McConnaghy families, along with the Apostle of Ohio, Father Fenwick.

Although, later records do show some of his descendants did return to Protestantism. Per the Barquilla de la Santa Maria.

John Francis Delong