Surrender of Fort Detroit

Background. As tensions between the United Kingdom and the United States grew in early 1812, Hull, governor of the Michigan Territory, urged President Madison and Secretary of War William Eustis to rapidly reinforce Detroit to secure the Old Northwest against Indigenous tribes incited by British agents. Congress declared war on the United Kingdom on 18 June 1812, and Madison wished to appoint Hull a Brigadier General commanding the newly organized Army of the Northwest.

The Surrender. Hull surrendered Fort Detroit to General Isaac Brock on 16 August 1812, ending the siege of Detroit, an early engagement of the War of 1812 also known as the surrender of Detroit or the Battle of Fort Detroit. Brock had tricked Hull into believing he was vastly outnumbered, so the fort fell without a fight.

Aftermath. For his part in the capture of Detroit, Brock was appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath on 10 October 1812, though he died before learning of the honour. Hull was later exchanged but faced a court-martial in January 1814 on charges of treason, cowardice, and neglect of duty. In 1848, 138 militia veterans of the siege received the Military General Service Medal with the Fort Detroit clasp.