Henry Hamilton was
born probably in Dublin
around 1734. Classically
educated, he became an
ensign in the 15th Regi-
ment of Foot in 1755 and
arrived for service in
America three years later.
Hamilton proved himself
brave and adept as an of-
ficer, with distinguished
service at Louisbourg in
1758, Quebec in 1759,
Montreal in 1760, and Ha-
vana in 1762. He then re-
turned to Canada, where
in 1767 he gained a promo-
tion to captain and took
command of the Trois
Rivieres and Crown Point
garrisons. During this pe-
riod Hamilton also trav-
eled south to Philadel-
phia, where he struck up
cordial relations with Sir
Guy Carleton, becoming his brigade major.
In his official correspondence with superiors,
Carleton spoke favorably of Hamilton and
recommended him highly for civil service.
In consequence of the Quebec Act of 1774,
the British government extended that
province to include a large part of the area
sandwiched between the Ohio and Missis-
sippi Rivers. This was a region sparsely set-
tled by Native Americans, French trappers,
and English fur traders, a place nearly devoid
of British authority. A candidate was needed
to fulfill the role of lieutenant governor to re-
store order and impose British law, so Carle-
ton and Lord Dartmouth, the American secre-
tary in London, enthusiastically endorsed
Hamilton for the position. Despite his military
background, Hamilton was intellectually and
philosophically interested in civilian govern-
ment, so he resigned his commission and ac-
cepted the post. He arrived at his new home,
the frontier settlement of Detroit, on Novem-
ber 9, 1775.
Detroit at this time
was a dirty, squalid fron-
tier community number-
ing about 1,500 French-
speaking inhabitants, or
habitants. But because
his arrival coincided with
the onset of the Ameri-
can Revolution, Hamil-
ton wasted no time in
strengthening Detroit with
a stockade and organiz-
ing the militia. This proved
an exceedingly tall order,
as the local French inhab-
itants were indifferent to
both England and the
United States, being con-
tent for the most part to
be left alone. Hamilton
sought to counter this in-
difference by attracting
English-speaking settlers
to the region to shore up
his population base. He
also realized that the neighboring Indian
tribes were his only real military asset, and he
went to great lengths to win their support
with gifts and fur-trade concessions. For two
years Hamilton effectively defended Detroit
from rebels and Spanish intruders, with al-
most no assistance or advice from Carleton,
now governor-general. His position remained
tenuous given his sparse resources, but by
1777 the British government felt it necessary
to assume offensive operations along the
western frontier. Hamilton, eagerly disposed
and centrally located at Detroit, would figure
largely in those plans.
In the spring of 1777, Lord George Ger-
mainauthorized Hamilton to collect and or-
ganize as many local Indians as possible for
the purpose of raiding American frontier set-
tlements throughout the Ohio Valley.
Through this expedient, he anticipated that
the Americans would be forced to allocate
energy and resources to that distant region
while Sir John Burgoyneundertook a majorHAMILTON, HENRY
Henry Hamilton
Houghton Library