UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 07156 0503

V/ illi ari Hiai an't the
surrender of liet.'*olt,
James Freeiaan Clarke.
uoaton,19l;3.

-I give tkefe :BooM
for ike founding ef a College 'in this Colo/ty'

Gift of
19 I'i

¦cr

WILLIAM HULL

AND

THE SURRENDER. OF DETROIT

WILLIAM HULL

AND

THE SURRENDER OF DETROIT

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
TAKEN, WITH A EEW OMISSIONS, EROM THE VOLUME "MEMORIAL
AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES"
BY
JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE

TOGETHER WITH EXTRACTS EROM LETTERS FROM THE APPENDIX IN THE
VOLUME "GENERAL HULL'S MILITARY AND CIVIL LIFE"

BOSTON
PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS CO.
igi3

CbSLli'^

FOREWORD

I have in my possession two notes from John Fiske, the
historian, from which I take the foUowing extracts: — ¦
Dear Mr. C  , — I am glad that you will write the article on
General HuU, and do something in behalf of a sorely abused man. I,
too, intend to do something in the same way when I come to him in
my history, and I shall be especially glad to read your article.
August 25, 1886.
To another correspondent: — • January 19, 1893.
Pray accept my sincere thanks for the copy of "Life of General
HuU," which I shafl prize most highly. I look forward to treating
of the War of 181 2, and it has long been one of my cherished pur
poses to do fuU justice to the memory of General HtJl.
John Fiske did not live to write the history of the War
of 181 2, but in two of his short histories, intended for
schools and for young people, he makes a brief mention of
the surrender of Detroit. In his "History of the United
States for Schools" are these words: —
It has since been made clear that HuU, a man whose bravery and
integrity were unimpeachable, acted with sound miUtary judgment
and deserved no blame.

In the stUl shorter history, "How the United States
became a Nation," is the foUowing passage: —
Subsequent research has shown that the verdict was grossly
unjust, and the reputation of this brave but unfortunate man is
now redeemed.
W. C. Bryant, in his "History of the United States,"
gives a fair and accmrate accotmt of the surrender (vol. iv.
pp. 187-190). In a footnote on page 190 he says: — ¦
Much of the obloquy which has been heaped upon him [HuU]
is probably due to Lewis Cass, who hastened to Wasliington with
the first news, and gave it a coloring largely supplied by his imagina
tion. [General HuU was at this time a prisoner of war in Canada.]
Cass's letters before and after the surrender flatly contradict each
other as to the state of affairs at Detroit.
The facts, briefly stated, are these: General HuU, who
had Uved for some years at Detroit as governor of the
Territory of Michigan, had warned the govemment at
Washington of the absolute necessity of a fleet on Lake
Erie, teUing them that Detroit, a very important post,
would inevitably faU into the hands of whichever party
held possession of the lake, and that, unless his advice were
foUowed, it would, in case of war, faU into the hands of the
enemy. The government promised that it would heed
this advice, and also that, if General HuU consented to
receive the command of the army at Detroit, a remote out
post at that time, he should receive fuU support from the
government. Neither of these promises was kept.
General HuU was very eager for the court-martial, hav
ing the simpUcity to expect that his innocence would be

5
fully estabUshed. But the verdict was a foregone con
clusion. Madison was at this time looking for re-election, and it
was all-important to him to find a scapegoat for the in-
efiiciency of his admimstration. Dearborn, the man who
of all others had a personal interest in the condemnation
of HuU, was made president of the court-martial. Those
witnesses who, under the influence of Cass, testified against
HuU were all rewarded with promotion in the army,
though many of them had never seen a battle. Those who
testified in his favor received no promotion.
General HuU's own papers, containing his correspondence
with the government, which would have helped to exon
erate him, had been burned with the vessel in which they
were sent from Detroit to Buffalo. After the trial he re
peatedly asked for copies of these letters, but was refused.
It was twelve years before he at last obtained them from
John C. Calhotm. He then wrote a series of letters in the
Boston Statesman, which entirely changed the feeUng toward
him. Letters and testimonials came to him from every
part of the country, and a dinner was given to him in
Boston, and another in his native town, Derby, Conn.
Unfortxmately, during the twelve years that General
HuU was unable to obtain copies of the papers from Wash
ington, the garbled accounts of the surrender had gone into
print, and few persons care to look up facts or to change
a preconceived opinion.
Any one who desires a little fuUer information on this
subject will find it in the volume, " General HuU's Military
and Civil Life," which may be procured from the PubUc
Library in Boston and at the Boston Athenaeum. In the

appendix are interesting letters received by General HuU
at the time he wrote his papers in the Boston Statesman.
Those who had been his companions-in-arms during the
Revolution aU testified to his gaUant conduct during that
war.

The biographical sketch of General HuU is taken, with
a few omissions for brevity, from the volume, "Memorial
and Biographical Sketches," by James Freeman Clarke;
the extracts from letters at the end, from the appendix in
the volume, " General HuU's MUitary and Civil Life." L. F. c.

WILLIAM HULL

Among the beautiful situations which abound in the
vicinity of Boston, that in Newton, lately occupied as the
residence of Governor Claflin, is very attractive. The
house stands on an elevation above an extensive lawn,
through which winds a large brook, and where groups of
graceful ehns throw their shadows along the soft grass in
the summer afternoons. In my childhood this was the
home of my grandfather, WilUam HuU, and one to which
aU of the grandchildren loved to go. He had been an
ofi&cer in the American army during the whole Revolution,
and had known Washington, Lafayette, and other leaders;
had been for some years governor of Michigan Territory,
and could teU numerous anecdotes of his early days, to
entertain the children who coUected around his hospitable
hearth. He would narrate to us stories of the sufferings
and exploits of the Revolutionary troops; of the terrors of
the French Revolution which he saw in Paris in 1798; and
wild Indians among whom he Uved in Michigan. A kind
and genial old man, disposed to be a friend to every one,
his house was a rendezvous for many sorts of people, who
made themselves at home in its parlors or its kitchen.
After a youth of adventure and a manhood which had
brought many distinctions and honors, his age had been

8
clouded by unmerited disgrace. Put in a position of com
mand where success was impossible, deserted by his gov
ernment and betrayed by his colleagues, he had been made
the scapegoat of a blundering administration and of other
commanders who knew how to throw on him the blame of
their own mistakes. But his sweet temper remained un-
imbittered by this ill-treatment. He was always cheerful.
He was never heard to complain, and was sure that his
character would be finaUy vindicated. And thus he spent
his last peaceful years in the pursuits of agriculture, on the
farm which his wife had inherited from her ancestors and
which suppUed the modest expenses of his household.
WilUam HuU was born in Derby, Connecticut, in 1753.
His eldest brother, the father of Isaac Hull, who com
manded the frigate "Constitution" in its battle with the
"Guerriere," became, Uke WiUiam, an officer in the Revo
lutionary army.
WilUam Hull, the fourth son, graduated at Yale College
with honors; afterward entered Law School at Litchfield,
Connecticut, and was admitted to the bar in 1775.
When the news of the battle of Lexington reached Derby,
a company of soldiers was raised there, and WilUam Hull
was chosen their captain, very unexpectedly to himself.
But, full of the enthusiasm of the hour, he at once accepted
the appointment, and, joining Colonel Webb's regiment, of
which his company made a part, marched to Cambridge
to join the army of Washington. His father dying at this
time, he resigned his share of the inheritance, saying, "I
want only my sword and my uniform." From that time
tiU the end of the American war he continued in the army,
being present in many of the most important operations

and engagements, such as Dorchester Heights, White
Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Ticonderoga, the surrender of
Burgoyne, Fort Stanwix, Monmouth, Stony Point, and
Morrisania. He was inspector under Baron Steuben,
lieutenant-colonel in 1779, and commanded the escort of
Washington when he bade fareweU to the army.
His commander, Colonel Brooks (afterward governor
of Massachusetts), wrote a letter in 1814, in which he says:
"In September, 1776, at White Plains, General HuU (then
captain) acted under my immediate orders, and was de
tached from the Une to oppose a body of Light Infantry
and Yagers advancing on the left flank of the American
army. His orders were executed with promptitude, gal
lantry, and effect. Though more than double his number,
the enemy was compelled to retreat, and the left of the
American Une enabled to pass the Bronx."
He was then hardly more than a boy, twenty-three years
old, fresh from coUege and the study of law. . . . This was
the first time that he had stood with his regiment to see
a British army marching to attack them, and his MSS.
glow for a moment with the admiration he felt as a young
soldier for the splendid miUtary equipments and discipUne
of the enemy. He speaks of " the magnificent appearance "
of the British troops, of the glitter of their poUshed arms
under the bright autumnal sun, of their rich uniforms and
equipage. So the boy captain stood with his poorly dressed
provincials to receive the volley of grape and chain shot
from the advancing foe, looking down on them from Chat-
terton's HiU, till he was caUed to lead the body which was
to oppose the force trying to turn the American left. AU
he says of this is, "It was promptly done, with much order

IO
and regularity; and, after a sharp conflict, the object was
completely attained"; merely adding that "his regiment
had the honor of receiving the personal thanks of Wash
ington after the engagement."
The next little touch of reality which breaks out from
his memoir is concerning the fatigues of the soldiers at Tren
ton and Princeton. He was one of those commanders who
made the sufferings of his soldiers his own. On leaving
the Highlands of New York to join General Washington
in Pennsylvania, he says he found that his company, then
reduced to fifty men, had only one poor blanket to two
men; many had no shoes or stockings; those which were
in the company were nearly worn out; their clothes were
wretched; they had not been paid, yet they were patient,
patriotic, and wiUing to serve on without compensation.
During their march they slept on the cold ground, though
it was December, and that without covering. It was a
bitterly cold Christmas night when Washington crossed
the Delaware to Trenton. There was a driving storm
of snow ani sleet, and the ice was running in the river.
The storm continued all night, and, when the troops were
halted, they were so fatigued that they fell asleep as they
stood in their ranks, and could with difficulty be awakened.
In the action which followed. Captain HuU acted as Ueu
tenant-colonel. As soon as the battle had been fought and
won, the army marched back with their prisoners and the
artiUery and miUtary stores they had taken. Nearly aU
that night was spent in recrossing the Delaware. After
gainmg the other side, our young captain marched his
troops to a farmer's house to get them some refreshment
and rest. "After my men had been accommodated,"

II
says he, "I went into a room where a number of oflicers
were sitting around a table, with a large dish of hasty
pudding in its centre. I sat down, procured a spoon, and
began to eat. While eating I fell from my chair to the
floor, overcome witii sleep; and in the morning, when I
awoke, the spoon was fast cUnched in my hand." Happy
days of youth, when no hardship nor fatigue can prevent
blessed sleep from coming to seal up the eye and give rest
to the brain!
The waking of the boy soldier from this sleep on the
floor was foUowed two days after by an agreeable incident.
Washington, whose eye was e^'erywhere, had probably
noticed HuU's good behavior in this action.
The day before the march to Princeton one of General
Washington's aides came .to Captain Hull's tent, and said,
"Captain, the Commander-in-chief wishes to see you."
The young soldier went, we may suppose, with some
trepidation, to the general's quarters. Washington looked
at him, and said, "Captain HuU, you are an ofl&cer, I be
lieve, in the Connecticut Une?"
Hull bowed, and General Washington went on: "I wish
to promote you, and I have the power to do so. But for
that purpose I must transfer you to the Massachusetts
line, since there is no vacancy in yours. If you are wilUng,
I will appoint you major in the Eighth Massachusetts."
Hull thanked his general wannly for this mark of favor,
and said, "AU I wish, general, is to serve my country
where I can do it best, and I accept the promotion grate
fuUy." He was then appointed to command a detachment to
watch the approach of CornwaUis, and to detain him as

12

long as possible while Washington was fortifying himself
beyond the Uttle creek, behind which he concealed his
rapid night march to Princeton. After serving in these
two battles, he was sent to Massachusetts to recruit his
regiment. Having recruited three hundred men, he was
then ordered to join General St. Clair's army at Ticon
deroga. When General St. Clair evacuated that post, an
outcry of reproach went up against him from all quarters,
though this event probably caused the final surrender
of Burgoyne. Major HuU, satisfied of the injustice of these
censures on his commander, wrote a letter to a friend in
Connecticut during the retreat, — the stump of a tree serv
ing him for a table, — defending the course of St. Clair.
Major Hull was then sent with his regiment under General
Arnold to relieve Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River.
After this work had been accomplished, Arnold and his
troops rejoined the army of Gates at Saratoga, and Major
Hull commanded detachments in the battles which com
peUed the surrender of Burgoyne. In one of these battles,
when he drove the enemy from their post with the bayonet,
his detachment lost one hundred and fifty men out of three
hundred. He commanded the rear-guard in Schuyler's
retreat from Fort Edward, and was constantly engaged
with the advanced troops of Burgoyne. He commanded
a volunteer corps on the 19th of September. His detach
ment, by charging the enemy with the bayonet at a critical
moment, aided in the repulse of Burgoyne on that day. In
the battle of the 7th of October Major Hull commanded
the advanced guard. At the final surrender of Burgoyne,
he says: "I was present when they marched into our
camp, and no words can express the deep interest felt by

13
every American heart. Nor could we help feeling sym
pathy for those who had so bravely opposed us."
The Massachusetts regiment, of which young Hull was
major, had now earned the right to some short period of
rest. It had marched from Boston to Ticonderoga, had
retreated through the wilderness to Saratoga, had thence
marched to Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk and back, and
had been engaged in all the battles with Burgoyne. But
it was now ordered to Pennsylvania to join the army of
Washington, and was in the winter quarters during the
cruel winter passed at VaUey Forge. Major HuU and
Lieutenant-colonel Brooks had a hut together. It con
tained but one room, with shelves on one side for books,
and on the other for a row of Derby cheeses sent to HuU
by his mother. Here they passed the dreary days of the
winter. The men wanted provisions, blankets, and shoes.
The officers were scarcely better off than the men. Dis
content, approaching to mutiny, was the natural result.
Terrible diseases broke out in the camp. Long years after
these trials had passed by, my grandfather HuU could
scarcely allude to them without emotion.
The army was fading away by disease and desertion and
by the expiration of the term of enUstment. A little vigor
on the part of indolent Sir WilUam Howe would have driven
this shadow of an army back into the mountains of Penn
sylvania. Fortunately for Washington, General Howe was
incapable of any such enterprise. He preferred feasts and
games in PhUadelphia.
One attempt, however, he made. He tried to surround
a detachment of twenty-five hundred men under Lafayette,
but failed in this from the superior alertness and vigor of

14
the young French general. HuU was with the body sent
to meet and assist Lafayette on this occasion.
After the battie of Monmouth, in which Major HuU
served under Lord Stirling, taking part in the successful
resistance to the attack of the right wing of the British, he
was ordered to march his regiment to Poughkeepsie, and
then to Kingsbridge, in front of the enemy's lines near
New York. HuU had the command of the corps of obser
vation at this place, which faced the whole British army,
and was eighteen mUes in advance of any other body of
American troops. Great circumspection and constant
watchfulness was necessary. He moved his troops from
spot to spot, about White Plains above and below Dobbs
Ferry, patrolling to the right and left, and watching every
movement of the British army. This was the region
ravaged by the Cowboys and Skinners, and is the scene of
Cooper's novel, "The Spy." Major HuU commanded here
during three winters, trying to repress the cruelty of these
lawless marauders, so far as his smaU force would aUow.
He was then about twenty-five years old and in exceUent
health. "In a command so responsible," says he, "I
adopted a system to which I steadfastly adhered; nor did
storms, cold, or the darkness of the night ever interfere
with its performance. Early in the evening, without tak
ing off my clothes, with my arms by my side, I lay down
before the fire wrapped in my blanket, and gave directions
to the sentinel to awaken me at one in the morning. My
adjutant, or some other officer, was with me, and one or
two of the faithful guides from among the loyal inhabitants
of the region. The troops were ordered to be paraded at
the same hour, and to remain on parade imtU my return.

15
After the whole were assembled, one-half were allowed to
go to rest, and the other half were formed into strong
guards, which patroUed in front and on the flanks of the
detachment until sunrise. This force was m addition to
the smaU parties which were constantly patroUing with the
guides. After making this arrangement, I rode with my
adjutant and one or two guides across to the North River,
and then back, on the Une of my patrols, toward the East
River, and then rode thus in different directions untU sun
rise. I commonly rode about twenty nules at night, and
as many duruig the day. I was directed to preserve peace
and good order among the inhabitants, and cautioned not
to aUow suppUes to be carried to the enemy. The enemy
made many attempts to surprise and destroy my detach
ment, but by the precautions taken his plans were invari
ably defeated. I selected a number of famiUes on whose
fideUty I could rely, and formed a Une of them, extending
from Kingsbridge to my most advanced guards. I re
quested them to come to me at night, and gave them my
instructions. The man who Uved nearest to Kingsbridge,
whenever he noticed any extraordinary movement among
the enemy, was to take a mug or pitcher in his hand, and
in a careless manner go to his next neighbor on this Une
for some cider, beer, or milk, give him notice, and return
home. His neighbor was to do the same, and so on, until
the information reached my station. Thus the enemy
could make no movement without my being informed of
it. I rewarded these good people for their services, which
they could not perform without much personal risk. Not
one was faithless to his trust, though surrounded by hard
ship and danger. The State of New York required them

i6
to take the oath of fideUty, and, if they refused, their
property might be confiscated. Those who did not take
the oath were plimdered by the Skinners, and those who
did by the Cowboys."
About the end of May, 1779, Sir Henry CUnton moved
up the Hudson from New York, the American army re
treating before him. The British troops took possession of
the two strong positions of Stony Point and Verplanck's
Point, and put garrisons in them. Major Hull was ordered
to West Point, where his detachment erected a fort over
looking and commanding the other works at that place.
Stony Point and Verplanck's Point were the keys of the
Highlands, and formed the eastem and westem termini of
King's Ferry, an important Une of communication. They
were just at the head of the Tappan Sea. General Wash
ington, whose headquarters were just above West Point,
determined to attack Stony Point and retake it. He in
trusted the enterprise to General Wayne. . On this occa
sion Major HuU commanded a column, and received the
commendation of his commander for his conduct. HuU
had two narrow escapes, one baU passing through the
crown of his hat and another striking his boot.
For his conduct on this occasion Major HuU received
promotion, and was made a Ueutenant-colonel. He was
also much gratified by an in\'itation from General Wash
ington to enter his fanuly as one of his aides. But he was
obUged to decline this, as General Steuben, who was intro
ducing a new system of discipline into the army, was very
desirous to have HuU as one of his assistants, as inspector,
in which position he remained for some time. He was
afterward ordered to West Chester to his old position before

New York, where he commanded a detachment of four
hundred troops. In this position he offered to make an
attack on the British post of Morrisania, which was garri
soned by a partisan corps who were constantly plundering
in the neutral ground and in the State of Connecticut.
General Washington gave his permission rather reluctantly
in a letter printed by Sparks, and dated January 7, 1781.
Washington doubted of the success of the enterprise on
account of the long distance the Americans would have to
march to attack fresh troops, and because they would
leave fortified British posts in their rear. He added that
"success depends absolutely upon the secrecy and rapidity
of the movement." Hull was accustomed to this watch
fulness and caution from his long command in this exposed
vicinity. He marched past the enemy's posts unperceived,
with six hundred troops, and succeeded in dispersing the
enemy, taking prisoners and cattle and the horses of the
British cavalry. They then burned the barracks and
stores, and he returned without rest and amid frequent
attacks on the rear from an ever-increasing foe, and at
last brought off his prisoners and his troops in safety. He
received the thanks of Washington and Congress for this
service. Having served six years without having asked for
leave of absence, he now obtained permission to spend the
rest of the winter in Boston, where he was married to the
only child of Judge Fuller at her father's house in Newton.
At the close of the war, WUliam HuU, then thirty years
old, having had aU this experience behind him, full of
energy, health, and talent, began to practise law in New
ton. He must have been successful, for during the next
twenty years he built a large house at Newton Corner and

i8
travelled extensively in America and Europe. He went
to France during the French Revolution, and, I beUeve,
took a cargo of some sort to England.
Meantime he was very happy when at home in Newton,
where he had a large family growing up around him. Of
his eight chUdren seven were daughters, aU Uvely and agree
able, and drawing many visitors to the hospitable house.
It must have been a very pleasant place to visit; at least
so I was told by Governor Levi Lincoln, who, when ninety
years old, stiU remembered the gayeties of the place, where
he and others had visited seventy years before. All the
seven daughters were married, one going to Uve in New
York, two to Georgia, one to Michigan, one to Maine, and
two making their homes in Boston.
During these years he was a leading man in the State,
and was frequently elected to the Massachusetts Legis
lature. In Shays's insurrection he commanded a column
of Lincoln's force, which surprised and dispersed the insur
gents. He was made major-general of the mUitia in 1796.
In 1793 he was commissioner to Canada to treat with the
Indians. In 1805 WilUam HtUl received from Thomas Jefferson
the appointment of Governor of Michigan Territory and
also that of Indian agent. All the white inhabitants of
the Territory amounted to less than five thousand; but
the Indian tribes were numerous, warUke, and needed to
be treated with much wisdom. The object of Governor
HuU was to civilize them, and to turn them, if possible,
into citizens.
Detroit, where the governor lived during his seven years'
administration of the Territory, was then more difficult to

19
reach from New York than it is now to go to China. It
was necessary to traverse Lake Ontario and Lake Eric
on small sailing vessels, which sailed only occasionaUy from
Buffalo and from the other ports. He was asked, as war
with England and with the Indians sfcnicd imminent, to
accept a commission of brigadier-general in the United
States army, and lead a body of troops to Detroit lo pro
tect the inhabitants. He refused the commission, and
Colonel Kingsbury was appointed in his place; but, this
officer falling ill, Hull at last consented to take the com
mand. He collected his troops in Ohio, and cut a military
road through the wilderness, ajid on reaching Detroit found
that war had already been declared against Great Britain.
Iwcrytliing had been mismanaged at Washington. So
dilatory was the Secretary of War in sending him notice
that the British at Maiden heard first that war had been
declared, and captured a vessel in which General Hull
had sent his stores to Detroit. General Dearborn, who was
to have co-operated with him by invading Canada from
the east, instead of doing this made an armistice with Gen
eral Brock, the British commander, which enabled him to
concentrate all his troops against Detroit. Although
General Hull had, during several years, urged again and
again on the government the importance of buUding a
fleet on Lake Erie, nothing had been done, and the lake
was in the possession of the British fleet. Provisions soon
became scarce; the woods were filled with hostile Indians;
his supplies were sto]iped, his communications cut off.
Under those conditions his post became not tenable, and
he surrendered, — for tlie same reasons which had compelled
Burgoyne to surrender at Saratoga and Cornwallis at

20
Yorktown. But these two British generals had put them
selves voluntarily into a position where they were sur-
rotmded and cut off from their supplies. General HiUl
went, in obedience to orders, to Detroit, depending on the
support which had been promised him by his government,
and which was never given. Burgoyne and CornwaUis
returned to England, and, instead of being condemned for
their surrender, were rewarded with other and higher
positions. General Hull was punished by the government
which had deserted and betrayed him, by being made the
scapegoat for their own mistakes and their own incapacity.
A victim was necessary to appease the disappointed hopes
of the nation, which had been taught to beUeve that Canada
was to fall an easy prey to our arms. The anger of the
people must be diverted from the government which had
plunged into a war without preparation. At this junct
ure they fotmd a serviceable tool in Colonel Cass. He
went directly to Washington after the surrender of Detroit,
wliile General Hull was prisoner of war in Canada, and wrote
a letter September lo, 1812, in which he threw all the blame
of the disaster on his general. In this letter he informed
the government "that, if Maiden had been immediately at
tacked, it would have fallen an easy victory." But Colonel
Cass himself had voted in a council of war, with a majority
of officers, against such an attack. In this letter he states
that there was no difficulty in procuring provisions for
the army. But a month before this was written, and four
days before the surrender, this same Colonel Cass wrote
to the Governor of Ohio that the communication with
Ohio must be kept open, as the very existence of the army
depended upon it, and that the supplies must come from

21
that State. And on August 3 he wrote to his brother-in-
law that "both men and provisions were wanted for the
very existence of the troops." Yet Cass's letter and testi
mony was what divert efl the anger of the people from the
government upon General Hull. It was published as an
official account of the surrender in all the newspapers of
the Union. Its author. Colonel Cass, was immediately
rewarded for this service (for he had performed no other
which could explain such advancement) by being pro
moted from his position of colonel in the Ohio mUitia to
that of brigadier-general in the army of the United States.
He also was appointed Governor of Michigan in place of
his old commander.
At the time when General Hull surrendered Detroit,
the condition of affairs was as follows: His provisions were
nearly exhausted, ('ommunication by the lake was im
possible, that being in the hands of the British, and remain
ing so until Perry's victory. His communications through
the woods by land were entirely cut off, and two efforts
to reopen them, made by strong detachments, failed. The
Territory itself could furnish no supplies, as it depended on
Ohio and Indiana for its own. By the fall of the Ameri
can forts on the upper lakes all the hostile Indians* were
set free to attack Detroit. Brock had more troops, nu
merous Indian allies, ample suppUes behind him, and the
lake in his possession. Hull might have fought a battle,
but, if he had won it, his position would have remained
nearly the same. A victory would not have opened the
woods or given him the lake; but a defeat wotdd have
caused the massacre by the Indians of the white inhabi-
•The British had made allies of these Indians.

22
tants of the Territory. General Harrison, weU acquainted
with the country, foresaw and foretold the coming dis
aster. That it was inevitable that Detroit must belong to
whichever nation held command of the lake appears from
the fact that General Harrison, after the surrender, ad
vanced to within a short distance of Detroit and was obUged
to remain there a whole year, unable to move upon that
place untU Perry's victory gave the lake to the Americans,
when the British commander evacuated at once both
Detroit and Maiden, without waiting for the American
forces to appear.
When the court-martial was summoned to try General
Hull, the officer whose neglect of orders had caused the
whole disaster was appointed its president. This was
General Dearborn, who was to have co-operated with
General Hifll by invading Canada on the east, and who,
instead of this, had committed a gross miUtary blimder by
signing an armistice which enabled the British troops
to be concentrated against General Hull. The acquittal
of Hull would have been the condemnation of Dearborn.
And thus a man was made judge of the case who had a
personal interest in the conviction of the accused.*
The charge of treason was abandoned by the court as
being wholly untenable. They found that General HuU
was guilty of cowardice in surrendering Detroit, sentenced
him to be shot, and told him to go home from Albany to
Boston, and wait there for the execution of the sentence.
* The Secretary of War, who with General Dearborn was responsible for signing the
armistice, expected at that time to bear the blame of the misfortunes of the campaign. Hc
wrote to General Dearborn, "Fortunately for you, the want of success which has attended
the campaign will be attributed to the Secretary of War" (Records of the War Office.
vol. vi. p. 2S3).

23
Of course, it was not intended that the sentence should be
inflicted. AU they wanted was a victim, and to put him
to death might make him a martyr.
PubUc opinion has long since reversed this sentence.
The charge of cowardice has been abandoned by all well-
informed writers. It was indeed absurd in itself. Physi
cal courage, in a soldier, is very much a matter of habit.
Most soldiers are alarmed in their first battle: few but show
courage in their tenth. Now General Hull was the only
man in the army who was accustomed to war. He had
been in the thick of many battles, had led charges at the
point of the bayonet, had received again and again the
thanks of Congress and of General Washington for his
bravery. Against this man's courage, evidence was re
ceived on his trial from miUtia officers who had never heard
a gun fired in battle.
WiUiam HuU had the one never-f aUing support, — the
consciousness of having done his duty. On this point he
never expressed a doubt. He maintained to the last, and
repeated on his death-bed, his conviction that he had done
right in this act, which had brought him so much unmerited
misfortune. As a boy, I used often to visit his home, and
nothing could be more cheerful, kindly, and attractive than
his whole manner. I never saw a cloud on his brow, I
never heard a harsh word from his Ups. All his grand
children loved him, and it was a hoUday when they could
go to the old place in Newton. Nothing in his whole man
ner indicated that there was any cloud on his mind or heart.
Before his death there came a Uttle sunshine from with
out also, in addition to the peace which reigned within.
In 1824, by the kindness of John C. Calhoun, then Sec-

24
retary of War, he was able to procure documents from
Washington, by the help of which he wrote an appeal to
the people of the United States from the sentence of court-
martial. This series of letters, in the Boston Statesman,
were read with interest aU over the coimtry. PubUc
testimonials of esteem were off'ered to him by men of aU
parties; and a marked change took place from that time
in the opinion of the community conceming his character
and conduct, and a dinner in his honor was given in
Boston, and another in Derby, Connecticut, his native
town. This favorable opinion has been more and more confirmed
Ijy the conclusions of the best historians. Benson J. Loss
ing, in a monograph pubUshed on the surrender of Detroit
in Potter's American Monthly for August, 1875, calls the
trial a disgraceful one, its sentence unjust, and says that
the court was evidently constituted in order to offer Hull
as a sacrffice to appease pubUc indignation and to preserve
the administration from disgrace and contempt. "The
conception of the campaign against Canada," says Lossing,
"was a huge blunder. HuU saw it, and protested against
it. The faUure to put in vigorous motion for his support
auxiliary and co-operative forces was criminal neglect."
Lossing adds that in choosing to surrender Detroit HuU
"bravely determined to choose the most courageous and
humane course; and so faced the taunts of his soldiers and
the expected taunts of his countrymen rather than fUl the
beautiful land of Ohio and the yoimg settlements of Michi
gan -nith mourning. To one of his aides he said: 'You
re tmn to your famUy without a stain: as for myself, I
have sacrfficed a reputation dearer to me than Ufe, but I

2S
have saved the inhabitants of Detroit, and my heart ap
proves the deed.'"
General HuU, as we have said, spent his last days at
Newton, on his wife's farm, in the peaceful pursuits of
agriculture. His means were very Umited, and he was
often in quite straitened circumstances, when he was sup
posed by the ignorant to be reveUing with "British gold,"
for which he had sold his cotmtry. A large part of his sup
port he derived from the produce of his farm. And none of
his grandchildren will ever forget the happy hours spent at
his house in the Thanksgiving hoUdays. Nor can we ever
cease to remember the boimteous Thanksgiving dinner,
nor the long table aroimd which the company assembled,
nor the satisfaction of our grandfather, when, at the be
ginning of the feast, he spread his hands above the board
and said, "AU that you see on this table, my children, is
the produce of my own farm."
There is something instructive in the story of such a life.
It is one of the lessons which will always bear repeating,
which show us that the peace and joy of the heart come
from a consciousness of right-doing rather than from out
ward circumstances. It is probable that General Hull,
fallen on evil days and tongues, was quite as happy, fully
as contented, as when his Ufe led from one success to
another. The "stupid starers and the loud huzzas" were
gone, but the self-approval remained. Cast down, but not
destroyed, persecuted, but not forsaken, he realized the
description of the poet: — "Thouhastbeen
As one, in suffering aU, that suffers nothing,
A man that fortune's buffets and rewards
Hast taken with equal thanks."

This sketch may fitiy close with the account of the \asit
from Lafayette in 1825. General HuU recei%ed his old
comrade standing on the steps of the house of his son-in-
law in Boston, surrounded by his children and grand
children. One of the grand-daughters then present thus
describes the interview: —
" I was present at the house of my imcle, Isaac McLeUan,
in Boston when General Lafayette made a special \-isit
upon my grandfather. It was very touching to witness
the meeting of the old companions-in-arms. General
Lafayette embraced my grandfather in the French form,
laying his hands upon his shoulders, and said, among other
words of gracious welcome, 'We both have suffered con
tumely and reproach, but our characters are vindicated:
let us forgive our enemies and die in Christian peace and
love with all mankind.' "

LETTERS

From the letters received by General HuU, after the
pubUcation of his Memoirs, we give the foUowing ex
tracts : —
FROM ROGER M. SHERMAN TO GENERAL HULL.
Fahlfield, Connecticut, March 21, 1825.
I carmot forbear expressing to you the great satisfaction I have
derived from the perusal of your " Memoirs of the Campaign of the
North-westem Army." So far as I know the pubUc sentiment, they
are deemed a satisfactory and unanswerable vindication. Your
proofs are conclusive, and no mind, however prejudiced, accustomed
to the weighing of evidence, can resist the inferences you make
from them. This remark is extensively verified in the circle of my
own observation. I am happy that you possessed such ample means
of doing an act of justice to yourself, your friends, and your country.

EROM CHARLES P. SUMNER TO GENERAL HULL.
Boston, March 11, r82S.
I feel it my duty to express to you my humble opinion that your
Memoirs have had and are having the desired effect of reinstating
you in the good opinion of impartial and disinterested men: this
is the effect wherever I have had an opportunity of hearing their
opinion, and it is the effect on me, although I am one of those who
had some degree of prejudice to your disadvantage.
I am imknown to you, but there are thousands equally unknown

28
that are daily imbibing and recovering the most respectful sentiments
towards you, and believe that your character will not suffer in the
estimation of unprejudiced posterity by any comparison that can
be instituted between you and any of your more successful contem
poraries.

FROM DANIEL PUTNAM, SON OF GENERAL PUTNAM, TO
GENERAL HULL.
Beooklyn, CONNEcncnT, Sept. 25, 1824.
If I advert to the season of youth, when under the appellation
of "Rebels" and, as it were, with halters about our necks, we were
among the number who opposed a powerful enemy and never quailed
at his approach, why then I know not how to associate a lofty spirit
and a patriot heart with dishonor.
If I caU to remembrance the laurels which then encircled your
brow, and the deeds of renown which drew forth the thanks of Wash
ington in general orders and those of Congress inscribed on their
journals, I recognize you as the gallant Colonel Hull, at the head
of his partisan corps, and do not forget how I rejoiced in the weU-
merited fame of my friend. . . .
When the news of your capitulation reached us, and the epithets
of "coward," "traitor," etc., were bellowed lustUy from so many
mouths, and rung long and loud in our ears, I thought, as I now
think, and when, after a long delayed trial, I read your defence Ijcfore
the court-martial, and the cruel sentence of that court, I marked
you as the "scapegoat" on whose head the errors of others were
laid, to divert the pubhc indignation from their own; but I never
did beheve your blood would be shed to expiate their sins: it was
a sacrifice too daring.

29

FROM JOHN STACY, A REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER, TO
GENERAL HULL.
Harvard, 20th August, 1824,
General William Hull:
Sir, — Permit a soldier of the Revolutionary war, who served six
years previous to its close, and who is a native of the county of
Middlesex, to congratulate you on the honorable testimony borne
by General Heath and others, highly distinguished in that war, for
your having acted so distinguished a part in our Revolutionary
struggles. I am probably one of the few remaining who was under
your command in the hazardous expedition at Morrisania, and I
feel myself happy in living to this period, that I may witness to the
gallantry and address with which the enterprise was effected; not
only as it respects the assault on the enemy in that place, but on
the moming after, in decoying the enemy some miles from its lines,
without any material injury to our troops, and untO it came in
contact with our reinforcements, which immediately checked the
enemy and drove it back with considerable loss. We were nearly
forty hours from our quarters and the whole time on the alert,
without any respite from duty. Well knowing the courage and
enterprise of the commander on this occasion inspired every soldier
with a noble ardor, animated every one to a prompt and cheerful
performance of duty, and stimulated them to follow their leader,
not knowing whilher going or what the object.
Would to God, sir, I could add one mite to have your character,
as an officer and soldier, placed on its proper basis; and to have it
entirely acquitted from what I consider, and I believe thousands
of your fellow-citizens do also, the vile, wicked, and corrupt pro
ceedings that have been had against you in consequence of the
failure of the expedition against Canada in the late war, and that
those who formed the scheme of your destruction might soon feel
the weight of their own iniquitous conduct.
From an old soldier, who stiU feels the high value of a soldier's
reputation.

30

FROM DR. JAMES THACHER, THE HISTORIAN, TO GENERAL
HXTLL. Plymouth, April 4, 1825.
I have perused your Memoirs with great satisfaction. It has
confirmed my conviction, and I have no doubt but it has had the
same effect on every candid and unprejudiced mind. I am de
cidedly of opinion that justice and duty require that you should
no longer estrange yourself from the society of your feUow-citizens
and your compatriots, and I hope you wiU resume that standing
with the public to which you are unquestionably entitled. I ex
pected to have seen you in our ranks at our interview with General
Lafayette. Since the much-lamented death of our exceUent and
amiable friend. General Brooks, I have suggested to several of our
brethren that you ought to succeed him as President of our Society
(Cincinnati). Some few have objected, and Dr. Townsend (our
vice-president) and Major Alden have been mentioned, and the
result is uncertain.
I understood that you have received a letter from General Lafay
ette, and should be glad to know the purport of it.

FROM S. HALE, ESQ., TO MRS. N. B. HICKMAN, A DAUGHTER
OF GENERAL HULL. Keene, N.H., Sept. 27, 1847.
That public sentiment has been unjust to him, I do not doubt,
and have never doubted; and now, after having had my attention
again fixed on the subject, and caUed to mind all I have read and
heard, I am convinced that to others rather than to him should the
disasters of that campaign be attributed. I have no doubt of his
patriotism, nor of his personal courage.
I am now convinced that the Administration of that day did not
contemplate the conquest of Canada.

FROM COLONEL TRUMBULL TO MRS. JULIA K. WHEELER,
A DAUGHTER OF GENERAL HULL.
New Haven, June 3, 1841.
The declaration and conduct of that war I have always regarded
as one of the least honorable passages of the American history,
but I now view it with increased disgust, as a most disgraceful period
of the grossest ignorance and misconduct; and, what is worse, a
vile endeavor to divert public indignation from its authors and
conductors by a sacrifice of the reputation and even life of one of
the bravest officers of the Revolution.
I had not the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with your hon
ored father during the Revolution, as we were employed in quarters
distant from each other, but I always regarded him as one of the
ornaments of the service.

EXTRACT FROM LETTER FROM THE HONORABLE HORACE
BINNEY TO MRS. MARIA CAMPBELL, A DAUGHTER OF
GENERAL HULL. Fhilaoelphia, March 4, 1841.
There are perhaps too many stiU living who are interested in sus
taining the unjust sentence of the day to permit us to hope for the
universal acceptance of any work that shaU bring it and them to
reproach by exposing the prejudices and party interests which led
to it. But the truth, dispassionately told and sustained by evi
dence, is sure to triumph, sooner or later. It is one of the common
incidents of our condition, a state of war between evU and good, that
its triumph is frequently too late for the happiness of those we respect
and love. . . .
After aU, a reversal by the Government is a form. The true
reversal is by the voice, and in the hearts, of the people. With
those who know the case of General HuU, that reversal has, I think.

32
been already pronounced. The thing to be desired by the personal
friends of himself and his family is to make that reversal the sentence
of history.
How much I shaU be gratified to see, to live to see, I may say, all
your wishes attained on this, a subject among the nearest to your
heart, I need not say.

YALE

Date Due

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