Another British Victory: The Fall of Detroit

From August 16th WKAR "War of 1812: The Surrender of Detroit" by Scott Pohl.

Yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of the surrender of Detroit, regarded as one of the most embarrassing moments in American history.

The territorial governor of Michigan, William Hull,  had been appointed to command the 2,000 man army made up mostly of Ohio militia charged with defending Detroit from British attack.  British General Isaac Brock bombarded Detroit and made the Americans think he had more regular troops through ruse, but used his trump card, a veiled threat that should a battle take place, he couldn't assure the Americans he could control his many Indian allies and no-telling what atrocities they might commit.  Hull was deathly afraid of Indians.

Hull immediately surrendered without even consulting his officers.  The regular U.S. Army troops were taken to prison in Canada while the Ohio militia were paroled and sent back home.

This capped a month of great success for the British in the territories.  Fort Mackinac, guarding the strait between Lake Huron and Michigan,  had been captured in July and the day before, Fort Dearborn (present-day Chicago) had been captured.

William Hull had a three-month-long trial for cowardice, neglect of duty and treason and was found guilty on the first two charges.  He spent the remaining ten years of his life trying to clear his name.  The real situation was that he was the wrong man for the job.

Another Big American Loss.  --Brock-Perry

At that time, most Detroiters were French and may have numbered about 1,000.