Tecumseh

01 / The Detroit story

The Detroit story

Tecumseh, the Shawnee leader who spent years building a confederacy of nations to halt American expansion, sided with the British when the War of 1812 began, and that summer the Detroit River became the front line. On August 5, 1812, his warriors ambushed an American supply party at Brownstown, south of Detroit, cutting General William Hull's link to Ohio, and they fought again at Monguagon days later. When General Isaac Brock crossed the river on August 16, Tecumseh led roughly 530 warriors around Fort Detroit; by tradition he paraded them past the fort more than once so that their numbers seemed larger. Fearing a massacre, Hull surrendered the fort, the town and his army without a real fight. Detroit stayed in British hands for a year, until the American naval victory on Lake Erie in September 1813 forced the British to abandon it. Tecumseh covered the retreat and was killed at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813.

Highlights

1. Led about 530 warriors at the siege of Detroit in August 1812
2. Ambushed Hull's supply line at Brownstown on August 5, 1812
3. His alliance with Brock forced Detroit's surrender on August 16, 1812
4. Killed at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada on October 5, 1813