William Hull

William Hull

William Hull (born June 24, 1753 in Derby , Colony of Connecticut , † November 29, 1825 in Newton , Massachusetts ) was an American politician and officer in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 .

Life

Early years and political advancement

Hull graduated from Yale in 1772 , studied at Litchfield, and completed his training as a lawyer in 1775. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Hull joined a local militia unit and received the rank of captain , later major and finally lieutenant colonel . Hull participated in the battles of White Plains , Trenton , Princeton , Stillwater , Saratoga , Fort Stanwix , Monmouth, and Stony Point . He received an official acknowledgment from Congress for his services .

After the war he took over the family home of his wife's family in Newton, Massachusetts, where he served as a judge and state senator . In 1805 appointed him US President Thomas Jefferson to the governor of the Michigan Territory . As governor, one of his main goals was to secure land cessions by the Northwest Indians . He was quite successful at this and angered many of the tribes. During the coming war, therefore, he had every reason to fear the wrath of the Indians.

British-American War

When the British-American War broke out in 1812, Hull sought the post of Secretary of War. After this office fell to William Eustis , he took the rank of brigadier general and command of the Army of the Northwest on the condition that he could keep his position as governor. He gathered militias in Ohio and Kentucky and marched with them and a few hundred regular soldiers, a total of 2,200 men, to Detroit . Despite his undeniable contributions to the Revolutionary War, Hull was unable to cope with his command. The US government and Major General Henry Dearborn , the Commander in Chief of the US Army , were partly responsible for this. Hull's repeated requests to build a fleet on Lake Erie were ignored, as was the need to adequately protect strategically important points such as Fort Mackinac and Fort Dearborn . Added to this were incompetent officers in Hull's army, a shortage of supplies and poor communication links. The inability of Dearborn to carry out the simultaneous attacks promised to Hull over the Niagara River and on Montreal would prove to be decisive . He also faced two energetic and dangerous opposing leaders, the British Major General Sir Isaac Brock and the Shawnee War Chief Tecumseh .

However, the general's personal deficits also played a significant role. These became apparent after the invasion of Canada , which began on July 12, 1812 . Hull was initially very sure of victory and published a proclamation to the Canadians in which he threatened them with death if they would fight with the Indians. However, he hesitated to attack the British border fortress Amherstburg until the British could send reinforcements and make a successful attack unlikely. Unfortunate skirmishes with the British and Indians at Brownstown (August 4th) and Maguaga (August 9th) that raised concerns about the security of his supply links, the loss of his campaign plans which fell into the hands of the British and news of the loss of Fort Mackinac shook Hull's self-confidence so much that, against the will of most of the officers, he ordered a retreat to Detroit. Brock and Tecumseh followed with 700 soldiers and 500 Indians and besieged the Americans in Detroit. In Hull, this appears to have caused a nervous breakdown. He remained completely passive, cutting off any defense of Detroit, even when the British began shelling the fort. Since Hull mistakenly considered the attackers to be far outnumbered by skillful psychological warfare of his opponents, he surrendered on August 16 with his 2200 men and 33 cannons without having offered any significant resistance.

A major role apparently played a panic fear of the Indians and the fear that storming the fort could lead to a massacre of the soldiers and their families. While the 1,600 militiamen were sent home by the victors, the regular soldiers and their officers were taken prisoner of war in Québec . Hull justified himself for the surrender that he had done what his conscience had commanded him and thus saved Detroit and the Michigan Territory from the horrors of an Indian massacre (“I have saved Detroit and the Territory from the horrors of an Indian massacre "). But in the United States, this hitherto unique debacle sparked anger and horror and destroyed Hull's reputation.

After his release from captivity, he was tried by a court martial in the winter of 1814/15 under the chairmanship of Major General Henry Dearborn - who was partly responsible for the debacle - and was sentenced to death by shooting as the only general in the US Army to date . However, due to its merits from the Revolutionary War and its age, it recommended the pardon, which was also given by President James Madison .

Last years

Hull spent the rest of his life in Newton and wrote two books with which he tried largely unsuccessfully to restore his reputation ( Defense of Brig. Gen. Wm. Hull , 1814, and Memoirs of the Campaign of the Northwestern Army of the United States : AD 1812 , 1824). Some historians today share the view that Hull was unfairly made the sole scapegoat for the embarrassing defeat. Hull was an uncle and the adoptive father of successful naval officer Isaac Hull , whom he adopted when his father Joseph Hull died. Ironically, the war that shattered his own reputation earned his adopted son great prestige.

Web links

Commons : William Hull  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Hull in the Enciclopedia Britannica
• Online biography

• William Hull in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Treaty Between the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi Indians . November 17, 1807. Retrieved August 3, 2013.