Fort Saint Joseph, Michigan

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Fort Saint Joseph, Michigan

FORT SAINT JOSEPH, MICHIGAN. January 1781. The French built this fort in 1697, turning it over to the British in 1763. That same year Pontiac captured the post, which was returned to the British at the end of that war. The British did not garrison it again until the Revolution. After the British offensive against St. Louis, 26 May 1780, the Spanish sent a force against Detroit. With about sixty militia and sixty Indians, Captain Eugenio Pourré surprised Fort St. Joseph in January 1781, and the British garrison surrendered immediately. Holding the place only twenty-four hours, the Spaniards subsequently claimed the valleys of the St. Joseph and Illinois Rivers "by right of conquest" (Ward, p. 862).

SEE ALSO St. Louis, Missouri.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ward, Christopher. The War of the Revolution. 2 vols. Edited by John R. Alden. New York: Macmillan, 1952.

                         revised by Michael Bellesiles

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Fort Saint Joseph, Michigan

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