Fort Shelby (Michigan)
| Fort Shelby (Fort Lernoult, Fort Detroit) | |
|---|---|
| Detroit, Michigan | |
| Type | Fort |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | British (1779-1796) Americans (1796-1812) British (1812-1813) Americans (1813-1826) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1778–1779 |
| Built by | British |
| In use | 1779–1826 |
| Materials | Wood, earth |
| Demolished | 1827 |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders |
Richard B. Lernoult, Jean François Hamtramck, William Hull |
Fort Shelby was a military fort in Detroit, Michigan that played a significant role in the War of 1812. It was built by the British in 1779 as Fort Lernoult, and was ceded to the United States by the Jay Treaty in 1796. It was renamed Fort Detroit by Secretary of War Henry Dearborn in 1805. The fort was surrendered to the British by William Hull in 1812, and reclaimed by the Americans in 1813. The Americans renamed it Fort Shelby in 1813, but references to "Fort Detroit" relating to the War of 1812 are to this fort, not to the earlier Fort Detroit, which had been abandoned by the British in 1779 in favor of Fort Lernoult. It was given to the city of Detroit in 1826 and dismantled in 1827.
In the fall of 1778, Captain Richard Lernoult, the commander of the British Army at Fort Detroit, feared that that existing encampment would not be sufficient to defend against the oncoming American forces, who, under the command of Colonel Daniel Brodhead, had advanced to within ninety miles. He dispatched his second in command, Captain Henry Bird, to plan a new fortification on higher ground. Work commenced on the project in November 1778, and although construction was beset by problems due to severe weather, by October 1779 a total of 381 British troops were stationed at the new fort.
The fort was constructed of a 4' high pile of tree trunks, topped with 7-8' long sharpened , all of which were covered with an 11' high earth embankment, 12' wide at the top and 26' thick at the base. Outside of the embankment was a 5-6' deep ditch, 12' wide and containing an 11-12' picket.
Although the British had promised to abandon their forts in U.S. territory following the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, they continued to occupy six of them, including Fort Lernoult. President George Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London in 1794 to negotiate a resolution to this and other issues. The Jay Treaty called for the forts to be turned over to the U.S. by June 1796. The British abandoned Fort Lernoult and moved their forces to Fort Amherstburg on the other side of the Detroit River. The Americans occupied the fort on July 11, 1796, under the command of Colonel Jean François Hamtramck with 300 men.
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Wikipedia