The troops, anticipating a
brilliant victory, waited in eager expectation the advance of the
British. What was their disappointment and mortification at the very
moment, when it was thought the British were advancing to certain
destruction, orders were given for them to retire within the fort, and
for the artillery not to fire. Then, the men were ordered to stack their
arms, and, to the astonishment of all, a white flag was suspended from
the walls, and Hull, panic stricken, surrendered the fortress without
even stipulating the terms. The surrender included, beside the troops at
Detroit, the detachments under Cass and McArthur, and the party under
Captain Brush at the river Raisin. No provision was made for the
unfortunate Canadians who had joined General Hull, and several of them
were hung as traitors.
The disgraceful surrender of Detroit, excited universal indignation
throughout the country. When McArthur's sword was demanded, he
indignantly broke it, tore the epaulettes from his shoulders and threw
himself upon the ground. When General Hull was exchanged, he was tried
by a court-martial, found guilty of cowardice and sentenced to be shot;
but, in consequence of his revolutionary services and his advanced age,
the president pardoned him. His fair fame, however, has ever since been
blasted with the breath of cowardice.
While General Hull was in Canada, he dispatched Winnemeg, a friendly
Indian, to Captain Heald, the commander of Fort Dearborn, at the small
trading post of Chicago, with the information of the loss of Mackinaw,
and directed him to distribute his stores among the Indians, and return
to Fort Wayne.
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