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Search - War On The Detroit

War On The Detroit
Author: Milo Milton Quaife

War on the Detroit The Chronicles of Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville and The Capitulation by an Ohio Volunteer EDITED BY MILO MILTON QUAIFE SECRETARY OF THE BURTON HISTORICAL COLLECTION CHICAGO Hafeestibe R. R. DONNELLEY SONS Co. Christmas, 1940 UNDER the title of The Battle of Detroit we reprint the Journal of Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville ... more »and The Capitulation by James Foster as the con tent of this years volume of The Lakeside Classics. We do so somewhat apologetically, as we realize that by the time this little book reaches the reader, he will be thoroughly surfeited with war literature, but the selec tion of the material was made, the editing finished, and the type set before the collapse of the French Army, and it was too late to substitute a story of a more peaceful phase of early Western history. The Battle of Detroit is interesting as bring ing into sharp contrasts war as fought in America in 1812 and the present holocaust of Europe. Apropos the casualness of the War of 1812., we quote a paragraph from a sales catalogue of war books The War of 1812. was fought under the most peculiar circumstances of any military venture in our history. In the first place, the British Cabinet on June i, 1812 had conceded all but one American claim. The war, preface however, had been declared and was carried on regard less. In the second place, there was some question as to whom we should be fighting. France had offended as grievously as England and in the East particularly, Napoleon was regarded as the great menace to world peace. In the third place, the war was ostensibly fought to protect New England Maritime Rights but only the South and West were enthusiastic. New Eng land was against it from the start. The subject of impressment which brought on the war was not men tioned in the Peace Treaty, and finally, its greatest battle at New Orleans which made Jackson a popular hero was fought after Peace had been concluded. Gen. Hull, with headquarters at Detroit, was in command of all military stations throughout the West, which included Fort Dearborn at Chicago. Unfortunately, Gen, Hull, who had served with credit in the American Revolution, had grown old and timid and was entirely lacking in the vigor and daring which was so essential to leader ship on the western frontier. Fort Detroit was hundreds of miles out in the wilderness and was surrounded by thousands of savages to whom the British were paying 8.00 to 12.00 apiece for American scalps. From what happened in Detroit, as depicted in this volume, we can easily judge that Gen. Hull was thoroughly scared. Mackinac had fallen into the hands of the British, and the situation at Fort Dearborn seemed to be even more precarious than that at Detroit, vi js preface Accordingly, Hull sent a message by Win nemeg, a friendly Potawatomi chief, to Capt. Heald announcing the declaration of war with Great Britain and the fall of Mackinac, and ordering the evacuation of Fort Dear born, if practical, and retirement to Fort Wayne. Unfortunately, the message was interpreted by Capt. Heald as a positive order to evacuate and he refused to be in fluenced by the arguments and protests of his two fellow officers and Chief Winnemeg. There was ample ammunition and food to withstand a long siege and Winnemeg reports that the troops, with their women and chil dren, would surely be attacked by the Pota watomis. On August 15, 1812, Fort Dearborn was abandoned and the march started along the shore of Lake Michigan, and at a point two miles south of the Fort, the Indians attacked and most of the soldiers, women, and children were massacred. Thus, due to the timidity of Gen. Hull and the bullheaded ness of Capt. Heald, Chicago is indebted to the only military drama in its history. It is our good fortune that Dr. Quaife called our attention to the English transla tion of the Journal of Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville, which had lain for several years on the shelves of the Burton Historical Collection...

ISBN-13: 9781406775181
ISBN-10: 1406775185
Publication Date: 3/15/2007
Pages: 376
Rating:

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Publisher: Brousson Press
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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