siege, but did not command the river." And as the American government
had been for some time secretly preparing for war, it may be safely
inferred, that in the meanwhile this fort had been rather strengthened
than permitted to fall to decay; and that it was at least as tenable in
1812 as when Governor Hull, two years before, gave the preceding
description of its defences. The town of Detroit is in lat. 42 deg. 15'
north, and long. 82 deg. 33' west.

About the year 1763, Detroit, then indeed the far west, and containing a
garrison of 300 men, was nearly captured by stratagem by Pontiac, the
celebrated Indian chief of that day, who waged war against the British,
and whose alliance, before the capture of Quebec by Wolfe, in 1759, was
anxiously courted by both the French and English.[53]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 51: The 49th British regiment assisted at the reduction of
this fort in July, 1759.]

[Footnote 52: James' Military Occurrences of the late War between Great
Britain and the United States, 2 vols. London, 1818.]

[Footnote 53: For a description of the deeds of Pontiac, or Pondiac, as
she spells his name, see Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs of an American Lady,"
vol. ii.]

CHAPTER VIII.

The discussions which had been so long pending between Great Britain and
the United States, assumed, during the winter of 1811-12, a very serious
aspect. But many did not believe that the latter power was inclined to
proceed to extremities; while others, who foresaw that it only awaited a
favorable moment to invade the Canadas, which were supposed ripe for
revolt and would therefore fall an easy conquest, were prepared to
expect what soon after followed, a declaration of war against Great
Britain.

As this was not the first time that the American government had
proceeded to menaces, and as the northern and eastern states were known
to be averse to hostilities, the British ministry were deluded into a
belief that peace would yet be maintained. Mr. Foster, the English
minister at Washington, seems to have partaken of this delusion, for it
does not appear that he had taken any precautionary measures to convey
to the governor of the British North American Provinces the earliest
intelligence of the declaration of war on the 18th June, 1812; and, had
it not been for the prudent foresight of some British merchants at New
York, it is possible that the first intimation would have been received
from the mouths of the American cannon. T