Instigated by his officers, Hull answered this by a spirited
refusal and a declaration that the fort and town would be defended to
the last extremity. The British commenced a cannonade, and Hull was
greatly distressed at the number of women and children in the fort,
exposed to the fire of the enemy. The more charitably inclined historian
interprets his acts as the result of tender regard for the helpless and
innocent, rather than cowardice, especially as his daughter and her
little children came near being slain by a ricocheting cannon-ball,
which almost annihilated a group of officers in front of the door of the
house in which the mother and her children were. The firing continued
until next day. The alarm and consternation of General Hull had now
become extreme. On the 12th, the field officers, suspecting that the
general intended to surrender the fort, had determined on his arrest.
This was probably prevented, in consequence of Col. McArthur and Cass,
two very active and spirited officers, being detached, on the 13th, with
four hundred men, on a third expedition to the river Raisin.
Early on the morning of the 16th, the British landed at Springwell,
three miles below the town, without opposition, and marched up in solid
column toward the fort along the river bank. The troops were strongly
posted, and cannon loaded with grape stood on a commanding eminence
ready to sweep the advancing columns.
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