Siege of Detroit

Siege of Detroit
Part of the War of 1812
The Surrender of Detroit by John Wycliffe Lowes Forster.
Date 15–16 August 1812 Location Detroit, Michigan Result British victory
Belligerents
United States	United Kingdom Upper Canada Tecumseh's Confederacy
Commanders and leaders
William Hull	Isaac Brock Tecumseh
Strength
582 regulars 1,600+ militia 30 guns	600 Natives 330 regulars 400 militia 5 light guns 3 heavy guns, 2 mortars 2 warships
Casualties and losses
7 killed 2,493 captured	2 wounded

Coordinates: 42°19′49″N 83°02′55″W / 42.33015°N 83.04874°W / 42.33015; -83.04874

The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit, or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the Anglo-American War of 1812. A British force under Major General Isaac Brock with Native American allies under the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, used bluff and deception to intimidate the American Brigadier General William Hull into surrendering the fort and town of Detroit, Michigan, and a dispirited army which nevertheless outnumbered the victorious British and Native Americans.

The British victory reinvigorated the militia and civil authorities of Upper Canada, who had previously been pessimistic and affected by pro-American agitators. Many Native American people in the Northwest Territory were inspired to take arms against American outposts and settlers. The British held Detroit for more than a year before their small fleet on Lake Erie was defeated, which forced them to abandon the western frontier of Upper Canada.

In the early months of 1812, as tension with Britain increased, President of the United States James Madison and Secretary of War William Eustis were urged by many people, including William Hull, Governor of the Michigan Territory, to form an army which would secure the former Northwest Territory against Native Americans incited to take arms against the United States by British agents and fur trading companies. In particular it was urgently necessary to reinforce the outpost of Detroit, which had a population of 800 but a peacetime garrison of only 120 soldiers. It was also suggested that this army might invade the western districts of Upper Canada, where support might be expected from the many recent immigrants from the United States who had been attracted by generous land grants.

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