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In no other profession are the penalties for employing untrained personnel so appalling or so irrevocable as in the military.

-- General Douglas MacArthur
The Defense of Detroit10450 Reads  Printer-friendly page

War of 1812Sandwich, in Upper Canada, 13 July 1812 Sir-from the 5th July inst. the day of the arrival of the army at Detroit, the whole was employed in strengthening the fortifications for the security of the town, and preparing boats for the passage of the river. About one hundred regulars of the British army, and, from the best accounts I have been able to obtain, six hundred Canadian militia with artillery, were in possession of the opposite bank, and fortifying directly opposite the town; seven or eight hundred Indians were likewise attached to this corps.
On the evening of the 11th, before dark, the boats were ordered down the river, and a part of the army marched towards the river Rouge, with directions to return under cover of the night and proceed above the town. The object of this movement was to induce the enemy to believe that this was a preparatory measure to the passage of the river below: this indeed would have been the real movement, if a sufficient number of boats could have been collected for the passage of a body of troops at once superior to the enemy's: the necessary arrangements having been made, the latter moved above the town to Bloody bridge. The 4th U. S. regiment, M'Arthur's, Finley's and Cass's regiments of Ohio volunteers, with three six pounders under the command of Captain Dyson, marched to the same point; the descent was immediately made, and the army is now encamped on the Canada shore without the loss of a man. In the course of the night the enemy abandoned their position and retreated to Amherstburg. Both the embarkation and the debarkation were conducted with the greatest regularity, and all the heavy artillery that was mounted on carriages was placed on the bank in suitable situations to have covered the landing. In less than five minutes after the first boat of a regiment struck the shore, the whole regiment was formed. The manner in which this difficult movement was executed does honor to the officers and soldiers of this army. I consider the possession of this bank is highly important. By erecting one or two batteries opposite to the batteries at Detroit, the river will be completely commanded in the rear of the army. On the Detroit River, the River La Trenche, and Lake St. Clair is a populous and valuable part of the province; it is likewise probable that when the Indians see the American standard erected on both sides the river it will have a favorable effect. Inclosed is a copy of a proclamation to the inhabitants, which I hope will be approved by the government. Two hundred copies have been printed and are now in circulation; all the inhabitants who have seen it appear satisfied.
Note: by Brigadier-General Hull, USA, letter to The Secretary Of War


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