r forming upon the beach, advanced in
column, flanked on the left by the Indians, with the river of Detroit on
their right, and took (at the distance of a mile) position in line, in
front of the American fort, into which the enemy had retired. Here every
preparation was making for an immediate assault, when, to the surprise
of both armies, a white flag was seen flying upon the walls of the fort,
and a messenger advancing with proposals from the American general to
_capitulate_. Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell, of the Militia, and Major
Glegg, of the 49th Regiment, aide-de-camp to General Brock, immediately
proceeded by his orders to the tent of the American general, where, in
a few minutes, they dictated the terms of capitulation. By this the
whole American army, including a detachment of 350 men, under Colonels
McArthur and Cass, dispatched on the 14th for River Raisin to escort the
provisions in charge of Captain Brush from thence to Detroit, became
prisoners of war; and Detroit, with the Michigan territory, were
surrendered to the British arms, without the effusion of a single drop
of British blood.

"The American statements of their own strength nearly coincide with
British reports, which make it 2,500 men, regulars and militia. The
militia were paroled, and permitted to return home, on condition of not
serving during the present war. The regulars were sent down to Quebec.

"The British force, including Indians, is acknowledged by the enemy to
have consisted of only 1,030 men or thereabout. Our own, and perhaps
more correct reports, state it to have consisted of 350 regular troops,
400 militia, and 600 Indians, who, upon the present occasion, are said
not to have sullied the glory of the day by any wanton acts of savage
barbarity incident to the Indian mode of warfare. Twenty-five pieces of
iron and eight pieces of brass ordnance, with an immense quantity of
stores of every description, and one armed brig, called the _John Adams_
(afterwards named _Detroit_), fell into the hands of the British"
[besides nearly 3,000 stand of small arms, much ammunition, and three
weeks' provisions for the whole army]. (Thompson's History of the War of
1812, pp. 67-72.)

"Thus ended this (first) rash and imbecile attempt at the conquest of
Canada. The loss of Mackinac and Detroit, with the flower of their army,
at the outset of the war, was a disgrace that filled the American
Government with consternation and alarm, as their plans of