William Hull's military career began with distinguished service and ended with a court-martial. Born in Derby, Connecticut, on June 24, 1753, Hull attended Yale College, where at first he contemplated entering the ministry but later decided on a career in law. He practiced law in Litchfield, Connecticut, but even the legal profession did not hold his attention. At the onset of the Revolutionary War (1775-83), he devoted himself to the military. Hull served admirably in the Continental army and was promoted to major in 1777 and lieutenant colonel in 1779. He fought in several battles including the Battles of Trenton and Princeton (December 26, 1776, and January 3, 1777). In 1781 he married Sarah Fuller, and after the war he practiced law in Massachusetts. In 1787 he assisted in putting down Shays's Rebellion (1786-87). Elected to the Massachusetts state senate in 1798, Hull sided with the Democratic-Republican Party, and in 1805 President Thomas Jefferson appointed him governor of Michigan Territory, where he served for seven years. During his term as governor, Hull successfully acquired land cessions from Native Americans (including the Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, and Wyandot) in the territory.

The War of 1812 (1812-15) brought Hull back to the military, and he reluctantly accepted a position as a general in the Old Northwest. President James Madison ordered him to invade Upper Canada at the onset of the war, but the campaign foundered immediately as British general Isaac Brock drove Hull's 2,000 soldiers back to Detroit, even though the U.S. general possessed the superior force. Hull ordered the garrison at Fort Dearborn (modernday Chicago) to abandon the outpost after hearing of the capture of Fort Mackinac. Most of the 65-man garrison was massacred by Indians on August 15, 1812, as they left the fort despite assurances of a safe passage. Meanwhile, the British and their Native American allies (many of whom had been irritated by Hull's Indian policy when he served as governor of Michigan Territory) surrounded Detroit. On August 16, 1812, Hull, who seems to have lost his nerve and may have been suffering from depression, surrendered Detroit to Brock. He returned ignominiously to the United States and faced a court-martial, which found him guilty of cowardice, neglect of duty, and misconduct as an officer, and sentenced him to death for the Detroit debacle. Luckily for Hull, President Madison pardoned him from the death penalty because of his exemplary service during the Revolutionary War and his advanced age. His nephew, Commodore Isaac Hull, had also distinguished the family name with his naval performance during the War of 1812.

Hull spent the rest of his life defending his reputation. He wrote two books--Defense of Brig. Gen. Wm. Hull (1814) and Memoirs of the Campaign of the Northwestern Army of the United States: A.D. 1812 (1824)--that sought to explain his actions at Detroit. He died in Newton, Massachusetts, on November 29, 1825.

Bibliography:

Donald Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989).

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