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MICHIGAN CHAPTER 12 Complete Defeat of the Savages
Late in July the garrison was cheered by the arrival of Captain Dalzell with twenty-two barges bearing two hundred and eighty men with several cannon and an abundant supply of provisions and ammunition. The men comprised detachments from the Fifty-fifth and Eightieth regulars and twenty Independent Rangers under command of Major Rogers. The party was attacked by the Indians from the shore just below the fort and fifteen of the soldiers were killed or wounded. The barracks in the fort could not accommodate these fresh troops and they were quartered upon the inhabitants of the town. The day after their arrival Captain Dalzell held a conference with Major Gladwin and proposed an attack in force upon Pontiac's camp. This camp had now been removed from near the mouth of Parent's Creek to a marsh some two or three miles above. The plans of the English officer had not been kept entirely secret and coming to the knowledge of some of the French were betrayed to Pontiac. At two o'clock on the morning of July 31st the detachment two hundred and fifty strong set out for the camp. They moved along the road which ran parallel with the river a short distance from the shore. Two large batteaux with mounted guns moved up to the river simultaneously. Unsuspicious of the fact, the English marched under the observation of savages who spied upon them from behind bushes and fences by the roadside. No sooner had the head of the detachment passed over the narrow bridge across Parent's Creek than it was met full in the face" by a blaze of musketry from the forces of Pontiac which had entrenched themselves on the rising ground just beyond. Scores of the English fell and the whole column recoiled under the shock of the unexpected attack. Dal-zell rushed to the front to lead his men to an attack upon the breastworks. But the savages after firing did not fight in a compact body.
MICHIGAN
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