Fort Amherstburg

Fort Amherstburg
Type	Fort
Site information
Controlled by	King George III/Queen Victoria
Site history
Built	1796
In use	1796-1850's

Fort Amherstburg was built by the Royal Canadian Volunteers at the mouth of the Detroit River to replace Fort Detroit, which Britain was required to cede to the United States of America in 1796 as a result of the Jay Treaty.

Built in the years before the War of 1812, Fort Amherstburg included "King's Navy Yard" for shipbuilding on the upper Great Lakes (Lakes Erie, Huron, and Superior). The War of 1812 began and escalated quickly with US General William Hull invading Canada in July 1812. Soldiers from the fort repelled the Americans at River Canard. After General Hull retreated back to Fort Detroit, British General Isaac Brock and the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh met at Fort Amherstburg to plan the attack of Fort Detroit in the British Indian Department building located outside of the fort grounds. After losing the Battle of Lake Erie (including the flagship HMS Detroit, which was built at the nearby Navy Yard Park), the British/Canadians destroyed the fort and retreated as most of the cannons normally placed in the bastions were put onto the ships to be used for the engagement on Lake Erie and subsequently were lost.

The Americans built a new, smaller fort on the same site and called it Fort Malden. After the end of the war, the British/Canadians reclaimed (what is now) Southern Ontario and Fort Malden.

After the War of 1812, the British let the fort fall into disrepair until threats of rebellion grew in Upper Canada. The fort was repaired to full military use and was garrisoned with men from the 34th Regiment of Foot (made famous for their routing the French 34th regiment during the Napoleonic wars).

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Wikipedia