HISTORY

Battle of Brownstown August 5, 1812

Unable to move his supplies up Lake Erie, Hull was forced to move supplies slowly using an overland route. Such movement, however, was not without risk. Stuck in Ohio was a supply train consisting of 300 head of cattle and 70 packhorses each laden with 200 pounds of flour.

On August 4th, Hull dispatched 150-200 militia under Major Thomas Horne to escort a badly needed supply train to Detroit. Outside of the town of Gibraltar, Michigan the supply train and Major Horne were ambushed by 25 Native Americans under Tecumseh. Despite a massive superiority, at the first cries of the Native Americans, HorneÕs militia panicked and scattered. In the resulting confusion, Horne lost 18 killed, 12 wounded and a large number simply melted away into the wilderness. Only a single Native American was killed. Horne was able to return to Fort Detroit with only 70 men remaining.