The Americans, who have erected new fortifications on
the site of the old, still retain possession of a post
to which they attach considerable importance, from the
circumstance of its being a key to the more western
portions of the Union.




CHAPTER II.

It was during the midnight watch, late in September,
1763, that the English garrison of Detroit, in North
America, was thrown into the utmost consternation by the
sudden and mysterious introduction of a stranger within
its walls. The circumstance at this moment was particularly
remarkable; for the period was so fearful and pregnant
with events of danger, the fort being assailed on every
side by a powerful and vindictive foe, that a caution
and vigilance of no common kind were unceasingly exercised
by the prudent governor for the safety of those committed
to his charge. A long series of hostilities had been
pursued by the North-American Indians against the subjects
of England, within the few years that had succeeded to
the final subjection of the Canadas to her victorious
arms; and many and sanguinary were the conflicts in which
the devoted soldiery were made to succumb to the cunning
and numbers of their savage enemies. In those lone regions,
both officers and men, in their respective ranks, were,
by a communionship of suffering, isolation, and peculiarity