On the receipt of this the batteries were ordered to open fire upon the fort, which apparently threw the enemy into some confusion. An effort was made to return the fire from the opposite bank, but without effect. No damage was done on either side. All night the troops in Sandwich lay on their arms, prepared to cross the river at early dawn. Under the cover of darkness, six hundred Indians led by Tecumseh crossed over during the night, and were ordered to attack the enemy in flank and rear if they should oppose the landing of the troops. At six o'clock on Sunday, the 16th, three hundred regulars and four hundred militia under Brock's immediate command, were embarked in boats and canoes, carrying with them five pieces of light artillery, and were landed at Springwells, four miles below Detroit. One who was present writes: "A soft August sun was just rising as we gained the centre of the river, and the view at the moment was certainly very animated and exciting, for amid the little squadron of boats and scows conveying the troops and artillery were mixed numerous canoes filled with Indian warriors decorated in their half-nakedness for the occasion, and uttering yells of mingled defiance of their foes and encouragement of the soldiery. Above us again were to be seen and heard the flashes and thunder of the artillery from our batteries, which, as on the preceding day, were but feebly replied to by the enemy, while the gay flags of the Queen Charlotte, drooping in the breezeless, yet not oppressive air, and playing on the calm surface of the river seemed to give earnest of success, and inspired every bosom."[[1]]
Years before Isaac Brock had crossed the river on a peaceful visit to this garden of the West. The landscape was the same but what a change had come! There were still the settlers' homesteads, the orchards laden with fruit, the vines heavy with grapes, the fields of rich grass that lined the water's edge. But the flower-decked homes were deserted. Through the orchards gleamed the bayonets of armed men. Under the vines lurked the half-naked savage ready for his cruel work. Instead of the welcome he had once received, guns pointed their grim muzzles down the road. The women and children who had met him with smiles before were gathered trembling in the fort, and instead of the church bells calling them to prayer this Sunday morning, came the dull boom of the cannon from the shore and fort.
The advance
The road from Springwells passed up across the ground between the fort and the river. A few village dwellings were on the river side of the road, and a few farm houses on the west side. Fronting the road and commanding the approach in that direction were two 24-pound field guns, two 12-pound iron and two 6-pound brass guns. The 1st Regiment of Ohio volunteers was posted in an orchard on the west; next to them, extending to the west curtain of the fort, was the 2nd Regiment, and then the 3rd Regiment covering the north-west bastion and wagon train; while in the fort was the entire 4th United States Regiment, and a company of artillery. When the troops had crossed the river they formed and advanced in column, General Brock leading. Colonel Nichol went up to him and said: "Pardon me, General, but I cannot forbear entreating you not to expose yourself thus. If we lose you, we lose all. Let me pray you to allow the troops to pass on led by their own officers;" but the only answer he received was, "Master Nichol, I duly appreciate the advice you give me, but I feel that in addition to their sense of loyalty and duty, many here follow me from personal regard, and I will never ask them to go where I do not lead them."
The Indians under Tecumseh moved through the skirt of the woods covering the left flank, while the right rested on the river protected by the Queen Charlotte. The guns of the fort commanded the road by which Brock led his men, and there seemed no reason why a withering fire should not have met them.[[2]] General Brock continued the advance until within three-quarters of a mile of the fort, and then deployed to the left through a field to a house about three hundred yards from the road, which he selected as his headquarters. In this position the troops were covered. He then ascended the rising ground to reconnoitre. Scarcely had he done so when an officer bearing a white flag was seen coming from the point at which were stationed the threatening guns.
Hull's surrender
General Brock had not miscalculated the effect of the boldness of his advance. The explanation of the pusillanimous conduct of the American general is not hard to find. The cannonade from the battery on the Canadian side had opened again early on the morning of the 16th, and the true range having been found, some round shot fell into the fort, killing and wounding several. Among the killed was Lieutenant Hanks, who had been in command at Michilimackinac, and was then a prisoner on parole. Fort Detroit at the time was full of women and children and decrepit men from the surrounding country who had sought refuge from the Indians, believing there would be an indiscriminate slaughter. The fear of the Indians, the presence of some members of his own family in the fort, perhaps the entreaties of the non-combatants, combined to make General Hull decide on an immediate surrender.
Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell and Captain Glegg accompanied Captain Hull, the bearer of the flag of truce, back to the fort to arrange the terms of the capitulation. At mid-day of the 16th the British troops marched in. The territory of Michigan, the fort with thirty-seven pieces of ordnance, the brig Adams were ceded to the British. Two thousand five hundred American troops became prisoners of war. Four hundred rounds of 24-pound shot, one hundred thousand cartridges, and two thousand five hundred stand of arms, much needed by the Canadian militia, also fell into General Brock's hands.
He wrote to his friend Major Evans, on the 17th. "Detroit is ours, and with it the whole Michigan territory, the army prisoners of war. The force you so skilfully prepared and forwarded to me at so much risk, met me at Point aux Pins in high spirits and most effective state. Your thought of clothing the militia in the 41st's cast-off clothing proved a most happy one, it having more than doubled our own regular force to the enemy's eye."
American discomfiture