He  seemed  anxious  to  leave  what  was  now  American  territory,  and  too
impatient  to  wait  for  the  ferry  boat,  he  spurred  his  horse  into  the  river
and  swam  it  over  to   Canada.      On  the  bank  on  the  opposite  side  he
stopped  and  furiously  cursed  the  American  government  and  its  soldiers.
Like  Marmion,  when  he  had  got  outside  of  the  Douglas  castle,

"  His  shout  of  loud  defiance  pours,
And  shook  his  gauntlet  at  the  towers."

Then  came  the  ceremony  of  taking  possession.  The  sixty-five
United  States  troops  formed  and  marched  up  the  hill  to  the  fort.
They  were  probably  received  by  the  few  British  troops  that  were  left,
with  military  honors.  The  British  flag  came  down  at  noon,  and  then
the  starry  banner  of  the  free  was  hoisted  and  Detroit  and  the  North-
west became   United   States  territory.     A    letter  written   by   Colonel

252


England  a  few  days  later,  on  Bois  Blanc  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the
Detroit  River,  shows  that  he  was  in  Detroit  at  the  time  of  the  evacua-
tion. There  was  certainly  no  reason  why  he  should  not  be  present  at
that  time.  The  two  nations  were  at  peace  and  the  evacuation  was  the
result  of  ah  amicable  treaty,  and  it  would  have  been  boorish  and  dis-
courteous for  him  to  be  absent.  On  the  13th  came  Col.  John  Francis
Hamtramck,  who  was  in  command  of  this  post  until  the  arrival  of  his
superior  officer,  "Mad  Anthony"  Wayne,  who  came  in  September.
