The War of 1812: The Detroit Theater

Tecumseh arrived at Fort Wayne on June 17, 1812. He met with the new Indian Agent  Benjamin Stickney and stayed three days discussing their relations with the Americans. He laid the blame for all the unrest in the spring at the feet of the Potawatomi and informed Stickney he would travel north to Amherstburg to preach peace to the Wyandotte, Ottawa, Potawatomi there as well as the Ojibwa of Michigan. Stickney was new but no fool. He did not believe him so he told Tecumseh that a visit to Amherstburg could only be considered an act of war considering the two colonizers were so close to going to war themselves. Tecumseh left Fort Wayne on June 21st not knowing that the United States of America had declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812.

Earlier that spring General Hull assembled an army in Cincinnati. In May he marched them to Dayton where he added to his forces before continuing on to Urbana. Meanwhile, Governor Meigs also called for a conference at Urbana with chiefs friendly to the U.S. The purpose was to secure permission for Hull to hack a road through First Nations’ land to Fort Detroit. This new road would also serve as a supply line for the American invasion force.

Tarhe spoke for the Wyandotte and Black Hoof for the Ohio Shawnee. Their speeches were followed by harangues by other chiefs including the Seneca chief Mathame and the Shawnee Captain Lewis. Captain Lewis had just returned from Washington and like the others declared their undying fidelity to Americans. They not only gained permission for the road but permission also to build blockhouses at strategic places along the way. Captain Lewis and Logan also agreed to act as interpreters and scouts for General Hull. The long and arduous trek to Michigan began.

While Hull slowly trudged through the dense forests of Ohio and Michigan the other governors of the Northwest Territories arranged for another conference at Piqua with friendly First Nations. I was planned for August 1st and included groups of Miami, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Wyandotte. The Americans assumed a demographic like the Shawnee and that when war broke out a few groups might flee to Canada and join Tecumseh’s forces but the majority would remain neutral. They were expecting 3,000 First Nations people. The conference was designed to keep them neutral with the combination of presents and supplies along with an expectation that the size of Hull’s forces and its reinforcement of Detroit would overawe them. But, Hull’s over-extended journey left supplies short and the presents failed to arrive on schedule so the conference was postponed to August 15th. Meanwhile British agents spread the rumor that the conference was a ploy designed to get the warriors away from their villages where American militia would fall upon them killing their women and children.

Tecumseh took ten of his warriors and left for Amherstburg on June 21st. He planned to join the warriors already sent on ahead. They skirted Hull’s lumbering army arriving at Fort Malden at the end of the month.

Amherstburg was a small village some seventeen miles south of the village of Sandwich on the Canadian side of the Detroit River. Located at the north end of the village was a small, dilapidated outpost called Fort Malden. It was poorly maintained and under garrisoned. Although over the previous two months it had been tripled it still only amounted to 300 regulars from the 41st Regiment of Foot and one detachment of Royal Artillery. There were also 600 Essex Militia available but they were insufficiently armed and most were without uniforms. They were mostly farm boys from the surrounding homesteads who had no real interest in fighting but only joined the militia for a Saturday night out.

The infantry was commanded by the able Scot Captain Adam Muir. Lieutenant Felix Troughton had command of the artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Bligh St. George, who had overall command, stationed 460 militiamen along with a few regulars directly across the river from Detroit to protect the border. They settled in at the village of Sandwich to meet the invasion.

Directly in front of Amherstburg was a large heavily wooded island called Bois Blanc. There had been Wyandotte and Ottawa villages there since the founding of Detroit over 100 years earlier. The Island provided a place for the numerous encampments of other warriors who had began to gather in the area. A large main council lodge was erected opposite the island on the mainland near the village’s small dock yard. The dockyard provided slips for the three British ships that commanded Lake Erie; the brig Queen Charlotte, the schooner Lady Prevost and the small ship General Hunter.

When Tecumseh arrived he found his warriors joining in war dances with the others. Near the council lodge warriors would give long harangues detailing their exploits in previous battles striking the war post with their war clubs and working themselves into a frenzy. The drums would begin their loud rhythmic pounding and the dancing warriors would circle their sacred fire all the while yelling their blood curdling war whoops. The garrison would respond with cannon salutes. Soldiers would shout out cheers while they fired their rifles into the air from the rigging of the three ships.

Although the din of the warrior’s preparation for war was impressive their numbers were not. They were mostly Wyandotte from the Canadian side under Roundhead, his brother Splitlog and Warrow. Tecumseh was present with his thirty Shawnee. War Chief Main Poc was there with a war party of Potawatomi. The contingent of warriors also included thirty Menominee, a few Winnebago and Sioux, sent by the red headed Scottish trader Robert Dickson from Green Bay. The Munsee Philip Ignatius was also present with a few from the Goshen mission at Sandusky. The number was rounded out by a sprinkling of Ottawa, Ojibwa and Kickapoo. On July 4th a large war party of Sac arrived to bring the total warrior contingent to 350.

Canada was looking decidedly the underdog. Only 300 British regulars, 600 ill equipped militia and 350 First Nation warriors protected the Detroit frontier. Hull was approaching with an army of 2,000 and the Americans were raising another large invasion force in the east to attack at Niagara. And there would be no help arriving from England because of the war in Europe.

The general population of Upper Canada was a mere 77,000 with many of them recent American immigrants. Their loyalty was questionable. The population of the U.S. Northwest Territories was 677,000. The American Congress had approved a total allotment of over 180,000 fighting men. General Brock was looking at a war on two fronts with only 1,600 regulars and 11,000 militia at his disposal. Tecumseh had sent out many war belts as a call to arms but the large and powerful Three Fires Confederacy’s feelings were that they should remain neutral. They saw no reason to get involved in a war with the Americans that did not look winnable  Only a few young hotheads such as Ojibwa warriors Wawanosh, Waboose or The Rabbit, Old Salt and Black Duck from the St. Clair had joined Tecumseh at Amherstburg. Canada’s prospects were looking very grim!

NEXT WEEK:  Hull Invades Canada!