Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit ( French for Fort Pontchartrain on the Straits ) or Fort Detroit was from the 1701 French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac built Fort , which lasted until the 1796th The area on which the fort was previously located is now in the US city of Detroit , Michigan , between Larned Street, Griswold Street and the Civic Center.
Background and edification
Fort Detroit's origins lie in a settlement on the Detroit River that was built to prevent the British from advancing further west, thereby allowing the French to monopolize the North American fur trade . Before Cadillac built Fort Detroit, he was in command of Fort de Buade , another French outpost in North America. Fort de Buade was abandoned in 1697 because of conflicts with religious leaders over the alcohol trade with Indians . Cadillac then convinced his superiors to let him build a new base. He reached the Detroit River on July 23, 1701.
When he arrived at the site of construction, he held a ceremony to formally take control of the territory. In honor of Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain (or his son Jerome), Minister of the Navy of King Louis XIV , he named the new settlement Fort Ponchartrain du Detroit. The start of construction of the warehouse and the surrounding wall was carried out immediately, but the first completed building was that of Saint Anne consecrated St. Anne's Church. Soon after, the palisade, made of 12-foot-high tree trunks, was fully erected, with a tower in every corner.
Military conflicts
The first major conflict over Fort Detroit broke out in March 1706 while Cadillac was absent. Members of the Ottawa tribe heard rumors of a planned Huron ambush . As a result, several Miami were attacked and killed by Ottawa nationals. The Miami fled to the fort and were protected by the soldiers; when the Ottawa attacked the fortification, over 30 attackers were killed. After the battle, the Miami struck back and attacked an Ottawa village.
The number of victims on the French side was two, a priest and a sergeant , who were outside the fortification and killed there.
During this incident, the fort was under the command of Étienne de Veniard , Sieur de Bourgmont . Bourgmont was criticized for his handling of the conflict. When Cadillac returned, Bourgmont and some soldiers from the fort deserted. In 1709, Cadillac succeeded in capturing one of the deserters; he testified that the starving deserters had shot one of the soldiers and then ate it.
Bourgmont remained on the run and lived with the Indians; he married a local woman and had a child with her. In 1718 he was decorated with the Order of Saint Louis because he was the first European to map the Missouri and the Platte River and he succeeded in persuading the Indian tribes to cooperate with the French against the Spaniards.
In 1712 Cadillac was discontinued and replaced by Dubuisson . Dubuisson invited the Fox to settle around the fort. With the tribes that originally settled in the area, however, the Fox were not welcome and a fight broke out. Annoyed by the unfriendly reception, over 1,000 Fox, Sauk and Mascouten attacked the fort. The Ottawa and the Hurons were on a campaign and could not help the French, but Jean Baptiste Bissot , Sieur de Vincennes , commander of the French outpost in Kekionga (now Fort Wayne , Indiana ) sent auxiliary troops to the fort Abandoned boys sent to catch up with the warriors and induce them to return. When the Ottawa reached the fort, the Fox and their allies fled, the Ottawa killed many Fox in pursuit.
A few years later, the conflict between the English and French in North America came to a head in the French and Indian War. Detroit was far from the main fighting areas and saw no battle. On November 29, 1760, two months after the French surrender in Montreal , Fort Detroit was handed over to the British officer Rogers . British rule deviated from the French regiment in a number of important respects: The British demanded higher taxes and confiscated weapons from “uncooperative” settlers, while they refused to sell them or the Indians ammunition at all. This limited their ability to hunt as well as significantly deprived them of potential threats. Maintaining good relationships with the indigenous population was also not very important to the British. In 1763, Chief Pontiac of the Ottawas gathered several tribes in the Pontiac Rebellion and attempted to capture Detroit from the British on May 7th. The uprising failed because the British were warned, but the fort was now besieged. The British force at the fort consisted of 130 soldiers with two six-pound cannons, one three-pounder and three mortars. In addition, a six-cannon schooner was anchored in the Detroit River. Two months after the siege began, on July 29, 1763, the British managed to bring a strong relief force into the area. Skirmishes in the area (including the Battle of Bloody Run ) lasted until mid-November when the last of the Indians were dispersed.
Even during the American Revolutionary War , Detroit was far west of the main battle area. The main purpose of the fort was to arm Indian tribes attacking American settlements in the southeast. American revolutionaries, particularly George Rogers Clark , attempted to set up an expedition to Detroit to stop these operations, but not enough men could be dug. In return, Clark managed to capture Henry Hamilton , the governor of Canada and senior officer in Fort Detroit. While Hamilton was incarcerated as a prisoner of war, Captain Richard B. Lernoult began in late 1778 to build a new defense system a few hundred yards south of the old fort. It was named Fort Lernoult on October 3, 1779 .
On July 11, 1796, Fort Detroit, Fort Lernoult and the surrounding settlement were handed over from the British to the Americans. It is believed that only Fort Lernoult survived the 1805 fire that devastated Detroit ; so probably no remains of Fort Detroit remain.
