Before 1763, the French used Fort Michilimackinac on the mainland south shore of the Straits of Mackinac to control the area. After the Treaty of Paris (1763), the British occupied the French fort but considered the wooden structure too difficult to defend. In 1780/1781, its lieutenant governor Patrick Sinclair constructed a new limestone fort on the 150-foot (46m) limestone bluffs of Mackinac Island above the Straits of Mackinac.[5] The British held the outpost throughout the American Revolutionary War. Captain Daniel Robertson commanded the garrison on Mackinac Island from 1782 to his death in 1787. Despite the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1783), the British did not officially relinquish the fort to the United States until 1796.
War of 1812
In June 1812, at the start of the War of 1812, British Major-General Isaac Brock sent a canoe party 1,200 miles (1,900km) to confirm that a state of war existed. This party returned with an order to attack Fort Mackinac, then known as Fort Michilimackinac.[6][7]
A minimal United States garrison of approximately sixty men under the command of Lieutenant Porter Hanks then manned Fort Mackinac. Although a diligent officer, Hanks had received no communication from his superiors for months. On the morning of July 17, 1812, a combined British and Native American force of seventy war canoes and ten bateaux under the command of British Captain Charles Roberts attacked Fort Mackinac. Captain Roberts came from Fort St. Joseph and landed on the north end of Mackinac Island, 2 miles (3.2km) from the fort. The British removed the village inhabitants from their homes and trained their two 6-pounder iron cannons at the fort. The Americans, under Lieutenant Hanks, were taken by surprise and Hanks perceived his garrison was badly outnumbered. The officers and men under Roberts numbered about two hundred (including 180 Canadians); a few hundred Native Americans of various tribes supported him.[8][9]
Fearing that the Native Americans on the British side would massacre his men and allies, Lieutenant Hanks accepted the British offer of surrender without a fight. The British paroled the American forces, essentially allowing them to go free after swearing to not take up arms in the war again. They made the island inhabitants swear an oath of allegiance as subjects of the United Kingdom.
Shortly after the British captured the fort, two American vessels arrived from Fort Dearborn (Chicago), unaware of the start of the War of 1812, or the fort's capture by British forces. The British raised the American flag and when the vessels tied up at the pier, the British captured the two sloops as prizes of war. The ships were Erie (Captain Norton) and Friends Good Will (Captain Lee), the latter being taken by the British into service as HMSLittle Belt. The schoonersMary and Salina, anchored at port, were sent by the British to Detroit as cartels carrying the prisoners they had taken.
After capturing the island, the British under the command of Colonel Robert McDouall of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment built Fort George, a stockade and blockhouse on the highest point of the island, to prevent the Americans from re-capturing the island using the same strategy. Lieutenant Hanks made his way to Detroit and the American military post there. Upon his arrival, superiors charged him with cowardice in the surrender of Fort Mackinac. Before the court martial of Lieutenant Hanks could begin, British forces attacked Fort Detroit. A British cannonball ripped through the room where Hanks was standing, cutting him in half and killing the officer next to him as well.
United States Army Colonel George Croghan and his superior General William Henry Harrison designed a campaign to take control of the Great Lakes and sever the fur trade alliance between the British and the tribes of the region; as part of this campaign, the Americans attempted to retake Mackinac Island in July 1814. The two-pronged campaign also included an assault on Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, located on the upper Mississippi River.
Battle of Mackinac Island (1814)
On July 26, 1814, a squadron of five United States ships arrived off Mackinac Island, carrying a landing force of 700 soldiers under the command of Colonel Croghan. This landing began the Battle of Mackinac Island. To his dismay, Colonel Croghan discovered that the new British blockhouse stood too high for the naval guns to reach, forcing an unprotected assault on the wall of Fort George. The Americans shelled Fort George for two days with most shells falling harmlessly in vegetable gardens around the fort.
A dense fog forced the Americans back from Mackinac Island for a week. Major Andrew Holmes led the American forces in returning; they landed at the north end of the island near the location of the British assault in 1812. The Americans worked their way to the fort through dense woods, which Native American allies of the British protected, finally emerging into a clearing below Fort George.
Colonel McDouall had placed a small force bearing muskets, rifles, and two field guns behind low breastworks at the opposite end of the clearing. When the Americans emerged from the woods into the clearing, the British guns targeted them easily. British forces killed 13 Americans, including Major Holmes and two other officers, and wounded 51 others. The heavy losses compelled Colonel Croghan to order his men to retreat back through the woods to the beach. The Americans rowed back to their ships and retreated.
The American defeat in the Battle of Mackinac Island left the island and its forts in the hands of the British through the end of the War of 1812. Following the Treaty of Ghent, American forces reoccupied Fort Mackinac in July 1815. They renamed Fort George as Fort Holmes, in honor of Major Holmes, killed in the 1814 attack. After the War of 1812 and settlement of the northern border and tensions with Britain, Fort Mackinac gradually declined in military significance.
Later years
No longer needed as a front line border defense against the British in Canada, the fort was used as a strategic troop reserve. The Army essentially could deploy troops to Fort Mackinac until a need arose to transfer them to other locations of military importance. The Army nearly abandoned Fort Mackinac between such uses. It was also used as a fur trading post, as Mackinac Island was an important fur post. From 1816 to 1821 the post was commanded by Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, the older brother of President Franklin Pierce.[10] He married the daughter of Magdelaine Laframboise, a prominent fur trader of Ojibwe and French descent.
On June 6, 1822, a fur trader named Alexis St. Martin waited to trade in his furs when a gun accidentally discharged just inches from him, blowing a hole in his abdomen. The post surgeon, Doctor William Beaumont, attended to him. Dr. Beaumont cared for the presumably doomed St. Martin the best he could. To his surprise, the man appeared to make a recovery. Beaumont took St. Martin into his home, caring for him for several years. St. Martin healed although his stomach had a hole. Beaumont seized the opportunity and began observing and conducting experiments on the man. Through these experiments, Beaumont described the process of digestion in detail, unlocking its mysteries. Beaumont wrote a book about his experiments and later became known as "The Father of Gastric Physiology."
The fort developed as an important staging area for US exploration of the northern Michigan Territory, including the expedition in 1832 under the command of Lewis Cass to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft held the post of United States Indian agent at Fort Mackinac for a time in the 1830s. He did extensive study of the Native American languages and culture of the region, aided by his marriage to Jane Johnston, the Ojibwe-British daughter of Johnston, a wealthy British fur trader at Sault Ste. Marie. Both her parents' families were prominent among the elite of the region.
During the Mexican–American War and for long periods during the Civil War, the Army left the care and upkeep of Fort Mackinac to an ordnance sergeant. Despite these periods of relative inactivity, the fort played a small role in the Civil War, briefly used as a prison for three Confederate political prisoners. Brought to Mackinac Island and the fort during the summer months, these three men enjoyed relative freedom, guarded only by a volunteer militia. When faced with the prospect of enduring a long, harsh winter on the island, two of the prisoners signed loyalty oaths and obtained release. The third Confederate refused, and the Army ultimately transferred him to another post.
Fort Mackinac, Michigan by Seth Eastman
Seth Eastman, an officer and artist in the United States Army, in 1872 made an oil painting of Fort Mackinac, as a commission by the US Congress of paintings of military forts. It is now part of the collection of the United States Senate. His more important work was to illustrate Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's six-volume history of the American Indians, commissioned by Congress in the 1850s.
From 1875 to 1895, Mackinac National Park, the second national park in the United States after Yellowstone National Park, included Fort Mackinac and much of Mackinac Island. During the national park years, the troops stationed at Mackinac acted as park rangers. The Army tasked these men with maintaining the park, so they spent much time cutting new roads and footpaths through the park.
To improve conditions and boost morale, the Army constructed a bathhouse at the fort (in which every man at the fort was required to bathe at least once a week), a post toilet (complete with flush toilets), and a post canteen (where the men could read current magazines, play pool, and buy beer and wine). They wanted Fort Mackinac to be a "desirable station." Soldiers also had regular military duties, drilling on the parade ground and taking target practice at least once a week on either a 600- or 1000-yard rifle range. The skills learned at the fort later proved important for many troops who were posted at other locations in the still-dangerous American West.
Decommissioning
State administration
In 1895, Congress closed Fort Mackinac and Mackinac National Park. It transferred the fort and park to the State of Michigan, which created Mackinac Island State Park, the first state park in Michigan. The semi-autonomous Mackinac Island State Park Commission in 1895 began governing Fort Mackinac and the other surrounding historic sites on or near Mackinac Island: Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, and Mackinac Island State Park. The Governor of Michigan appoints members of the commission, who meet many times during the course of a year to govern Mackinac State Historic Parks. The commission and historic parks preserve, protect, and present the rich and natural history of Mackinac Island and the Straits area.
In the 1950s, Mackinac Island State Park Commission developed a new way of financing its park, based on the system that financed the Mackinac Bridge. Michigan financed construction of Mackinac Bridge through revenue bonds repaid from the cash flow of toll fees from the bridge after it opened in 1957. Mackinac Island State Park Commission modified this idea for park restoration purposes, with Fort Mackinac admission fees serving as the cash flow. More than three-fourths of budget of Mackinac Island State Park Commission now comes from admission fees and other self-generated cash flow. Most United States parks-and-recreation agencies instead depend upon public subsidies. Mackinac Island State Park Commission operates one of the largest parks in United States that generates a significant majority of its own operating budget.
The Fort today
The current museum at the park includes 14 historic buildings.
Fort Mackinac, high up on the limestone bluffs overlooking the main town on Mackinac IslandFort Mackinac, 2004
Today, Fort Mackinac is a popular heritage tourist destination. Situated on 150-foot bluffs above the Straits of Mackinac, it is one of the few surviving American Revolutionary War forts and one of the most complete early forts in the country. In 2015, Fort Mackinac celebrated 235 years standing guard over Mackinac Island.
During the main tourism summer months (June through August), visitors ascend into a bustle of activity within the old British-built stone walls of old Fort Mackinac after entering its weathered gates. Costumed interpreters greet visitors, portray life in the 1880s, answer questions, pose for pictures, and lead tours throughout the day. Some of the "soldiers" carry original 45-70 Springfield Model 1873, the type used at the fort during the 1880s. Others play music or greet and mingle with the crowds of visitors.
The 1841 model six-pounder, positioned just as it would have been if used during the attack of Fort Mackinac in the War of 1812, is fired many times daily. It is the second-largest cannon regularly demonstrated on the Great Lakes. Activities also include rifle firings, court martial re-enactments, and dances of the type done during the early days of Fort Mackinac with live musicians.
Extant buildings
There are 14 original buildings as part of the fort museum:
1. Commissary Building: Once used for food storage; today houses a video program.
2. Post Headquarters: Used for the paymaster and offices.
3. Quartermaster's Storehouse: Held any and all equipment needed by the soldiers during the Fort's history.
4. Post Bathhouse: The newest building, built in 1885, housing 6 baths for the soldiers' comfort.
5. Soldiers Barracks: Used to house the more than 100 soldiers stationed there, but today houses a museum and the gift shop called the Sutler's Store.
6. Post Schoolhouse: Provided education for soldiers
7. Hill Quarters: Many lieutenants lived in these officers' quarters. Rank was rewarded.
8. Post Hospital: Where the post doctor/surgeon treated patients until a new hospital was built in 1860.
9. Officer's Stone Quarters: Michigan's oldest building (1780), used to house officers. Today holds the Kids Quarters and the Tea Room.
10. Wood Quarters: Used for various purposes over the life of the building, including officers' quarters and a post canteen that served Schlitz beer, but no whiskey.
11. Post Guardhouse: Prisoners were held on this site for over a century.
12-14: North, East, and West Blockhouses: Stone towers built by the first Americans garrisoning Fort Mackinac.
Mackinac Island is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles (11.3 km2) in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin meaning "Big Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century. It was a strategic center of the fur trade around the Great Lakes. Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the site of two battles during the War of 1812 before the northern border was settled and the US gained this island in its territory.
Mackinac or Mackinaw may refer to:
Fort Holmes is a fortified earthen redoubt located on the highest point of Mackinac Island. Originally built in 1814 by British forces during the War of 1812, the redoubt was improved by that army throughout the course of the war (1812–1814) to help defend the adjacent Fort Mackinac from a possible attack by the U.S. Army.
Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan in the United States. Built around 1715, and abandoned in 1783, it was located along the Straits, which connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan of the Great Lakes of North America.
Mackinac Island State Park is a state park located on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Lake Huron island, it is near the Straits of Mackinac. The island park encompasses 1,800 acres (7.3 km2), which is approximately 80% of the island's total area. The park is also within the boundaries of the city of Mackinac Island and has permanent residents within its boundaries. M-185 circles the perimeter of the park as the only motorless highway in the state due to the island's ban of automobiles. The park is governed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. On July 15, 2009, the park celebrated its 20 millionth visitor.
Michilimackinac is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is considered to be mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States. Michilimackinac was the original name for present day Mackinac Island and Mackinac County.
Fort Michilimackinac State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Mackinaw City along the Straits of Mackinac. The park contains Fort Michilimackinac, which itself is dedicated a National Historic Landmark and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse as well as the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse Signal Tower which contains a foghorn.
The Battle of Mackinac Island was a British victory in the War of 1812. Before the war, Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It was important for its influence and control over the Native American tribes in the area, which was sometimes referred to in historical documents as "Michilimackinac".
The series of Engagements on Lake Huron left the British in control of the lake and their Native American allies in control of the Old Northwest for the latter stages of the War of 1812.
Chief Wawatam was a coal-fired steel ship that was based, for most of its 1911–1984 working life, in St. Ignace, Michigan. The vessel was named after a distinguished Ojibwa chief of the 1760s. In initial revenue service, the Chief Wawatam served as a train ferry, passenger ferry and icebreaker that operated year-round at the Straits of Mackinac between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, Michigan. During the winter months, it sometimes took many hours to cross the five-mile-wide Straits, and Chief Wawatam was fitted with complete passenger hospitality spaces.
The siege of Fort of Mackinac was one of the first engagements of the War of 1812. A British and Native American force captured the island soon after the outbreak of war between Britain and the United States. Encouraged by the easy British victory, more Native Americans rallied to their support. Their cooperation was an important factor in several British victories during the remainder of the war.
Fort St. Joseph is a former British outpost on the southernmost point of St. Joseph Island in Ontario, Canada, on Lake Huron. The fort consisted of a blockhouse, powder magazine, bakery building, Indian council house and storehouse surrounded by a palisade.
British Landing is a place within Mackinac Island, Michigan and is located on the shore of Mackinac Island, two miles (3 km) northwest of the island's downtown and harbor. British Landing is the site of a War of 1812 amphibious operation on July 16–17, 1812, by a joint force of the British Army and their allies among the Native Americans and indigenous people of Canada. The operation led directly to the surrender of Fort Mackinac by the U.S. Army.
The Biddle House is a historic house and fur trade shop space, built before 1800 on Market Street on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Mackinac Island State Park. It is a Michigan Registered Site and a contributing resource to Mackinac Island's status as a National Historic Landmark.
The McGulpin House is a historic house museum, located in a structure originally built before 1780 and now located at the corner of Fort Street and Market Street on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It is owned, operated, and opened to the public during the summer months by Mackinac Island State Park as part of Historic Downtown Mackinac Island.
Michael Dousman (1771–1854) was an American fur trader and merchant with business interests in and around Mackinac Island during the War of 1812 period.
Fort Drummond, also known as Fort Colyer or Fort Collier, is a military fort located on the west end of Drummond Island on Whitney Bay, in the vicinity of De Tour Village, Michigan. It is the only known military and civilian site established by British forces on American soil following the War of 1812. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1956.
Porter Hanks was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. He is best known for having been the commanding officer at Fort Mackinac, situated on the Strait of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. He surrendered the fort without bloodshed on July 17, 1812, in one of the opening movements of the war.
Charles Roberts was a captain in the British Army during the War of 1812. He is best known for his field command of the mixed British-Canadian-First Nations column that captured a United States strongpoint, Fort Mackinac, on 17 July 1812 in one of the opening movements of the war.
↑ "Fort Mackinac". Historic Sites Online. Michigan State Housing Development Authority. 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
1 2 Lossing, Benson (1868). The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812. Harper & Brothers. p.267.
↑ "Surprise at Ft. Mackinac". Chicago Tribune. February 15, 1942. Retrieved April 5, 2016. Article is based largely upon the book Old Fort Mackinac by Roger Andrews
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