Battle of Bloody Run Historical Marker

01 / The story of this place

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On July 31, 1763, during Pontiac's Siege of Detroit, Ottawa leader Pontiac's warriors ambushed a column of roughly 260 British soldiers led by Captain James Dalyell as they crossed Parent's Creek northeast of the fort. Dalyell and about sixty of his men were killed, and the creek ran so red that it became known afterward as Bloody Run, a name that survives in the neighborhood and in Elmwood Cemetery's landscaping today. The Michigan History Division erected a marker recalling the battle in 1977 near the Players Club building on East Jefferson Avenue, close to the site of the fighting and to Elmwood Cemetery, which now covers part of the battlefield. The ambush marked the high point of Pontiac's siege, though he was ultimately forced to abandon it later that year.

1. Marks the July 31, 1763 ambush of Captain James Dalyell's column by Pontiac's warriors
2. About sixty British soldiers were killed, giving Bloody Run its name
3. Marker erected in 1977 by the Michigan History Division
4. Stands on East Jefferson Avenue near Elmwood Cemetery, part of the historic battlefield