"HEADQUARTERS, DETROIT, Aug. 15, 1812.-Sir: I have no other reply to make to you than to inform you that I am prepared to meet any force that may be at our disposal and any consequences that may result from any exertion of it you may think proper to make. I avail myself of this opportunity to inform you that the flag of truce, under the direction of Captain Brown, proceeded contrary to the orders and without the knowledge of Colonel Cass, who commanded the troops. which attacked your picket men near the river Canard bridge. I likewise take this occasion to inform you that Cowie's house was set on fire contrary to my orders, and it did not take place until after the evacuation of the fort. From the best information I have been able to get on the subject it was set on fire by some of the inhabitants on the other side of the river. "I am, very respectfully, your excellency's most humble servant, "W. HULL, Brigadier General, etc. "His Excellency Maj. Gen. Brock, etc. The impression that would naturally be made upon the mind of the reader of the opening lines of General Hull's letter could be none other than that he intended to defend the fort to the last extremity, and that he and his men would yield only with their lives the flag of their country to the invader. In this view of the case, how can the subsequent conduct of Hull be accounted for except on the logical conclusion that he became panicstricken with fear and dismay by the very first step taken by the British general to enforce the surrender? or that some "understanding" existed with him? BOMBARDMENT OF DETROIT A short time before sunset on the day in which the above communications passed between the two generals, the British who had been allowed, unmolested, to erect their works on a commanding point of ground at Sandwich, commenced firing upon Detroit. The bank of the river being higher there than on the American side gave them an advantage in throwing shot and shells into the fort. But little damage was done, however, and but one man was injured and that only slightly in one arm. The fire was returned from one of the batteries which had been built near the centre of the town. The attack upon Detroit by the enemy continued until near midnight when it was suspended for a few hours. At daylight on the 16th it was resumed on both sides, opened by the British. The firing on our side was kept up until orders were given to stop firing, but continued on the other side, for fifteen or twenty minutes after our batteries became silent; during this time two commissioned officers, a surgeon and two privates had been killed. Soon after Captain Hull, son of the commanding general, was sent across the river with a flag of truce. During the bombardment of Detroit many incidents, amusing or otherwise, occurred. At its commencement the citizens, being unaccustomed to the roar of artillery, the rattling of shot against the sides and upon the roofs of the houses and the explosions of shells, kept a vigilant eye upon the movements of the enemy upon the south side of the river; whenever the flash or smoke of cannon appeared from that quarter they dodged behind some building or other place of shelter. In a short time, however, they became accustomed to the new order of things and paid less attention to the tumult and the flying missiles. Judge Woodward. one of the judges of the Territorial Supreme Court, at that time, was living in his bachelor apartments in a stone building standing on the north side of Jefferson avenue, which was the principal street of the town and running parallel to the river. Between this house and the river there stood a large brick storehouse belonging to the government and near this one of our batteries was built. A shot passed over this building and struck the stone house in which the judge resided. He had just risen from his bed in the morning and was standing beside it when the shot crashed into his room and struck the bed and pillows and drove them into the fireplace, the spent ball rolling out on the floor. The judge was somewhat startled by the close call, but coolly picked up the cannon ball, placed it on the mantel piece and afterwards labeled it: "Souvenir of my first caller on August 16, 1812, who came unannounced.' On the evening of the 15th a large shell was thrown from a mortar placed at a point opposite where Woodward and Jefferson avenues now intersect. As it came hurtling through the air it was watched with an anxious eye by those who saw it as a messenger of death, perhaps, to some fellow mortal unconscious of his approaching fate. The fuse was burning brightly as it flew on its errand of destruction. It passed over Jefferson avenue and fell upon a house standing at the present corner of Woodward avenue and Congress street. Passing through the upper rooms of the house it fell upon a table around which the family was seated and thus descended through the floor into the cellar, the fuse having burned down nearly to the powder. The family stood not upon the order of their going, but fled precipitately to the street, which they had barely reached when the shell exploded, tearing up the floors and carrying away a part of the roof. No fatalities, however, occurred to the citizens during the attack by the British, though many of the buildings bore evidence of the effect of the Sandwich (Windsor now) batteries upon. their walls. The fort occupied high ground, back some distance from the river, the barracks being upon the north side. A shot passed over the front wall, penetrated the barracks, and killed three officers who chanced to stand in range. Another shot struck the top of the front parapet and, passing through it, struck a soldier on the breast, over the heart, killing him instantly without breaking the skin where it struck. One of the French citizens who lived in a small house near the river, while the shots and shells were flying over and around him, stood in his doorway unconcernedly smoking his long clay pipe. Presently a shell whizzed past his face, taking with it the pipe from the Frenchman's mouth. He was unharmed, but so indignant at this unceremonious liberty and the loss of his pipe that he seized his musket and, rushing to the river, waded out as far as he could and fired at the battery across the stream until his ammunition was exhausted, accompanying the valorous onslaught with a volley of picturesque French profanity until that also was exhausted. In the meantime, under cover of his batteries, General Brock had crossed the river with his forces, landing at Springwells a mile or two below the town. Here he formed his line and marched up the narrow lane leading to Detroit, halting at a shallow ravine just below. Here he remained entirely unmolested, partaking at his leisure of a substantial lunch, while he dispatched an officer with a flag to ascertain why the American general had sent a flag of truce across the river, when he, the commanding general was on this side. THE FORT SURRENDERED General Hull sent Capt. Snelling with a note to General Brock, which he delivered; the purport of this note was that he had agreed to surrender the fort. Thus was Michigan again under the flag of Great Britain.* A month having elapsed subsequent to the surrender of the Northwestern army, and the fort and town of Detroit, and no official report having been received at Washington, of the transaction, Colonel Cass, who was in the capital on parole, prepared and submitted to the secretary of war, the following communication concerning this disastrous affair: "WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 1812.-Sir: Having been ordered to this place by Col. McArthur, for the purpose of communicating to the government, such particulars respecting the expedition lately commanded by Brigadier General Hull, and its disastrous result, as might enable them to appreciate the conduct of the officers and men, and to develop the causes which produced so foul a stain upon the national character, I have the honor to submit to your consideration the following state ment: "When the forces landed in Canada, they did so with an ardent zeal and were stimulated by the hope of conquest. No enemy appeared within sight of us, and had an immediate vigorous attack been made upon Malden, it would doubtless have fallen, an easy victory. I know that General Hull afterwards declared he regretted this attack had not been made, and he had every reason to believe success would have crowned his efforts. The reason given for delaying our operations, was to mount our heavy cannon, and allow the Canadian militia time and opportunity to quit an obnoxious service. In the course of two weeks the number of their militia who were enrolled and organized had decreased by desertion from six hundred to one hundred menand in the course of a few weeks (probably three) the cannon were mounted, the ammunition fixed and every preparation made for an immediate investment of the fort. At a council, at which were present all the field officers, held two days before the completion of our preparations it was unanimously agreed to make an immediate attempt to accomplish the object of our expedition. If by waiting two days, we could have the service of our heavy artillery it was agreed to wait,if not it was determined to go without it and to attempt the capture of the place by storm. This opinion appeared to correspond with the views of the General, and the day was appointed for commencing our march. He declared to me that he considered himself pledged to lead the army to Malden. The ammunition was placed in the wagons, *The following incident in connection with the Surrender of Detroit by General Hull, and relating to the act of General Cass, which is now a part of the historical narrative of that deplorable event, was written by an eye witness to the act; and is taken from the Zanesville (Ohio) Aurora, printed in 1848: To the Editor of the Aurora: ZANESVILLE, OHIO, JUNE 19, 1848. SIR: In the Zanesville Courier of this date I noticed an article headed "The Broken Sword;" in which it is stated that the honor of breaking his sword is “borrowed, or rather stolen capital;"' that it was Gen. McArthur, and not Gen. Lewis Cass, who broke his sword at the time of Hull's surrender. Now it may be that Col. McArthur did break his sword, for he was a patriot and brave man; but if he did, the writer of this did not see or hear of it at the time. But I did see Col. Cass break his sword at the pickets where Gen. Brock-the British commander -met Colonels McArthur and Cass above the Well Springs, below Detroit. I was standing within six feet of Col. Cass at the time; and I never will forget the indignation and mortification he exhibited at the time. His faithful blade he shivered there- He would not strike his country's flag The brave old volunteer! the cannon were embarked on board the floating batteries, and every requisite article was prepared. The spirit and zeal, the ardor and the animation displayed by officers and men on learning the near accomplishment of their wishes was a sure and sacred pledge that in the hour of trial they would not be wanting in their duty to their country and themselves. By a change of measures, in opposition to the wishes and opinions of all the officers, was adopted by the General. The plan of attacking Malden was abandoned, and instead of acting offensively, we broke up our camp, evacuated Canada, and re-crossed the river in the night, without even the shadow of an enemy to injure us. We left to the tender mercy of the enemy, the miserable Canadians who had joined us, so that the protection we had afforded them was but a passport to vengeance. This fatal and unaccountable step dispirited the troops, and destroyed the little confidence which a series of timid, irresolute and undecisive measures had left in the commanding officer. About the tenth of August, the enemy received a re-inforcement of four hundred men. On the 12th the commanding officers of three of the regiments, the fourth was absent, was informed through a medium which admitted of no doubt, that the general had stated that a capitulation would be necessary. They on the same day addressed Governor Meigs of Ohio a letter of which the following is an extract. 'Believe all the bearer will tell you. Believe it, however much it will astonish you, as much as if told you by one of us. Even a c is talked of by the The bearer will fill the blank lines.' The risk of sending this letter to Governor Meigs and the doubt if its reaching its destination, and possibly falling into improper hands made it necessary to use the utmost circumspection in giving details, and therefore the blanks were left. The word 'capitulation' will fill the first, and 'commanding general' the other. As the enemy was not near us, and as the superiority of our forces was manifest we could see no necessity for capitulating, nor any propriety in alluding to it. We therefor determined in the last resort to incur the responsibility of divesting the general of his command. This plan was eventually prevented by two of the commanding officers of regiments being ordered upon detachments. "On the 13th, the British took a position opposite Detroit, and began to throw up works. During that and the two following days, they pursued their object without interruption, and established a battery for two 18 pounders and an 8 inch howitzer. About sunset on the evening of the 14th, a detachment of 350 men from the regiments commanded by Col. M'Arthur and myself, was ordered to march to the River Raisin, to escort the provisions, which had some time remained there protected by a party under the command of Capt. Brush. "On Saturday, the 15th, about one o'clock, a flag of truce arrived from Sandwich, bearing a summons from Gen. Brock, for the surrender of the town and fort of Detroit, stating, he could no longer restrain the fury of the savages. To this an immediate and spirited refusal was returned. About four o'clock their batteries began to play upon the town. The fire was returned and continued without interruption and with little effect till dark. Their shells were thrown till eleven o'clock. "At day light the firing on both sides re-commenced-about the same time the enemy began to land troops, at the Springwells, three miles below Detroit, protected by two of their armed vessels. Between 6 and 7 o'clock they had effected their landing, and immediately took up their line of march. They moved in a close column of platoons, twelve in front upon the bank of the river. "The fourth regiment was stationed in the fort-the Ohio volunteers and a part of the Michigan militia, behind some pickets, in a situation in which the whole flank of the enemy would have been exposed. The residue of the Michigan militia were in the upper part of the town to resist the incursions of the savages. Two 24-pounders loaded with grape-shot were posted upon a commanding eminence, ready to sweep the advancing column. In this situation, the superiority of our position was apparent, and our troops in the eager expectation of victory, awaited the approach of the enemy. Not a sigh of discontent broke upon the ear, nor a look of cowardice met the eye. Every man expected a proud day for his country, and each was anxious that his individual exertion should contribute to the general result. "When the head of their column arrived within about five hundred yards of our line, orders were received from General Hull for the whole to retreat to the Fort, and the twenty-four pounders not to open upon the enemy. One universal burst of indignation was apparent upon the receipt of this order. Those whose conviction was the deliberate result of a dispassionate examination of passing events, saw the folly and impropriety of crowding 1100 men into a little work which 300 could fully man, and into which the shot and shells of the enemy were falling. The fort was in this manner filled: the men were directed to stack their arms, and scarcely was an opportunity afforded of moving. Shortly after a white flag was hung out upon the walls. A British officer rode up to enquire the cause. A communication passed between the commanding generals, which ended in the capitulation submitted to you. In entering into this capitulation the general took counsel from his own feelings only. Not an officer was consulted. Not one anticipated a surrender, till he saw the white flag displayed; even the women were indignant at so shameful a degradation of the American character; and all felt as they should have felt, but he who held in his hands the reins of authority. "Our morning report had that morning made our effective men present fit for duty 1,060, without including the detachment before alluded to, and without including 300 of the Michigan militia on duty. About dark on Saturday evening the detachment sent to escort the provisions, received orders from Gen. Hull to return with as much expedition as possible. About 10 o'clock the next day they arrived within sight of Detroit. Had a firing been heard of any resistance visible, they would have advanced and attacked the rear of the enemy. The situation, in which this detachment was placed, although the result of accident, was the best for annoying the enemy and cutting off his retreat that could have been selected. With his raw troops enclosed between two fires and no hope of succor, it is hazarding little to say, that very few would have escaped. "I have been informed by Col. Findley, who saw the return of their quarter-master-general, the day after the surrender, that their whole force of every description, white, red and black, was 1030. They had twenty-nine platoons, twelve in a platoon, of men dressed in uniform. Many of those were evidently Canadian militia. The rest of their militia increased their white force to about seven hundred men. The number of their Indians could not be ascertained with any degree of precision; not many were visible. And in the event of an attack upon the town and fort, it was a species of force which could have afforded no material advantage to the enemy. "In endeavoring to appreciate the motives and to investigate the causes which led to an event so unexpected and dishonorable, it is impossible to find any solution in the relative strength of the contending parties, or in the measures of resistance in our power. That we were far superior to the enemy; that upon any ordinary principles of |