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Ontario) and Montreal without any assistance. “There was a lot of saber rattling going on,” said John R. Grodzinski, a history professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, who specializes in the War of 1812.Yet despite its population advantage, the United States had only about 12,000 men in uniform, including “too many incompetent officers and too many raw, untrained recruits,” explained Donald R. Hickey, a history professor at Wayne State College and author of various books on the War of 1812. A number of other factors also favored Canada at the war’s outset. For one thing, the British controlled the Great Lakes and were therefore better able to move troops and supplies. Moreover, they received support from Canadians, who many Americans falsely believed would welcome them as liberators, and from Native American tribes worried about U.S. expansionism. “The USA was woefully unprepared,” Hickey said. “Plus, the logistical challenges of waging war on a distant frontier were daunting if not insuperable.”

When U.S. General William Hull assembled a force of about 2,000 men and led them to Detroit, the jumping-off point for an intended assault on nearby Fort Malden in Upper Canada, the British found out about his plans by seizing a schooner with his baggage and papers on it. To make matters worse for Hull, about 200 Ohio militiamen refused to go beyond American territory. The general nonetheless remained confident. On July 12, 1812, he took his men across the Detroit River and into Canada, where he immediately issued a written proclamation telling inhabitants that they would “be emancipated from tyranny and oppression.” “Had I any doubt of eventual success I might ask your assistance, but I do not,” Hull declared. “I come prepared for every contingency.”

These words proved immediately laughable. Hull briefly laid siege to Fort Malden but soon withdrew after warriors under the leadership of Shawnee chief Tecumseh intercepted his supply train. British commander Isaac Brock then chased the Americans back across the river and began launching cannon fire at Fort Detroit from the Canadian side. Brock arranged for a bogus document to reach the Americans that told of large numbers of Native Americans approaching Detroit.

Country: United States

It's A Long Way Back

By Dilhorne