War on the Detroit: The Chronicles of Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville and The Capitulation by an Ohio Volunteer

Chicago: The Lakeside Press / R. R. Donnelley & Sons. Very Good+ with No dust jacket as issued. 1940. First Edition Thus. First Printing. Hard Cover. Publisher's full red cloth, gilt lettering on spine, gilt medallion and borders on cover, t.e.g., fore-edge deckle. Illustrated with tissue-protected frontispiece and fold-out map. When the War of 1812 erupted, Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville (1784-1857) served as a volunteer on the Detroit frontier and saw action under Major-General Isaac Brock. For his service at the capture of Detroit he was awarded a medal and clasp. Meanwhile, his business had been badly disrupted by his absence and the hostilities. After a visit to Boucherville in early 1813, he rashly made his way back to Amherstburg carrying £1,348 worth of general merchandise in four canoes. The only merchant to have brought in new stock, he succeeded in selling most of what he had in a very short time and at high prices; during the first three days alone he recorded sales of £4,800. However, the defeat of Commander Robert Heriot Barclay by an American naval force on Lake Erie in September 1813 forced the abandonment of Amherstburg. Boucher de Boucherville later claimed for losses of £1,271 on his stock, of which £500 was recognized. Fleeing with his money, he was near the site of the battle of Moraviantown when the British under Major-General Henry Procter were defeated and he hastened on to Montreal. There, as he notes in his journal, he gave a report on the battle to the commander-in-chief of the British forces, Sir George Prevost. After a short rest at the family home in Boucherville, he joined his regular militia unit, the Boucherville battalion of militia, then at Châteauguay, serving as adjutant with the rank of captain. He was not, however, involved in the battle of Châteauguay and returned to Boucherville for the winter of 1814–15. James Foster's "The capitulation, or, A history of the expedition conducted by William Hull, Brigadier-general of the northwestern army. By an Ohio volunteer" was first published in 1812. It is a first person account of a member of the first army of Ohio. It describes enthusiastic volunteer soldiers soon faced with challenges. They marched to Dayton where no preparations have been made to host the troops and experienced problems with travel and forage for pack animals; and describe's Hull’s surrender. The United States was ill-prepared to begin the war, especially lacking in numbers of ground troops, so the fall of 1812 began slowly with a less than successful multi-pronged attack on British North America. Brigadier General William Hull led a force of regulars and militia across the wilderness of the Old Northwest, cutting a road as they travelled, intending to use Detroit as a base of operations in the region. As Hull settled in to Detroit, British forces in Canada moved to seize Fort Mackinac (also known as Fort Michilimackinac) located at the strategic straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. They took possession of the important fur trading post on July 17, 1812, without much resistance. British and Native American raids along the road captured some of Hull’s papers and threatened his supply lines. News of the fall of Fort Mackinac further alarmed General Hull, causing him to abandon his offensive plans and remain in place at Detroit. Though British and Native American troops were far fewer and farther away than he feared, Hull waited at Detroit until Brigadier General Isaac Brock began to mount a siege. Craftily, Brock let it be known that he was not sure he could control the native warriors in the heat of battle. The prospect of a massacre tipped the already fearful Hull over the edge. On August 16, 1812, he surrendered Detroit with barely a shot fired, and was court-martialed for treason and cowardice in 1813. . Spine and top edge mildly faded, slight wear at head and heel of spine, else fine; unmarked, unread, tight, square, and clean. VERY GOOD+. . The Lakeside Classics Series. Vol. 38. Frontispiece and maps. 16mo 6" - 7" tall. xxvi, 347 pp .