British Landing

Here during the night of July 16-17, 1812, a small force of British regulars and several hundred voyageurs and Indian allies from St. Joseph Island landed. They occupied a height that overlooks Fort Mackinac and demanded its surrender. Lieutenant Porter Hanks, commander of the American garrison of fifty-seven soldiers, had not known that war had been declared. Realizing that resistance was hopeless and might provoke an Indian massacre, Hanks capitulated without a fight.