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Lot 193
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Early Settler of Detroit and War of 1812 Hero Requests Quarters
Early Settler of Detroit and War of 1812 Hero Requests Quarters
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Description:

Detroit
River Rouge, MI, April 12, 1810
Early Settler of Detroit and War of 1812 Hero Requests Quarters
ALS
[DETROIT.] Henry B. Brevoort, Autograph Letter Signed, to Jacob Kingsbury, April 12, 1810, River Rouge, Michigan. 1 p., 7.75" x 9.75". Expected folds; some soiling on exterior folds; toning on address panel; very good.

This letter from Lieutenant Henry B. Brevoort requests quarters in the Citadel at Fort Detroit. By 1810, some of Detroit's citizens had removed portions of the timbers that made up the city's stockade walls to use as building materials or even firewood. Commanding Brigadier General William Hull had the remaining stockade walls taken down and placed in storage to prevent their gradual loss. The citadel was a structure outside the earthworks fort but connected to it by a stockade remnant. It housed the fort's troops as a barracks.

Three years later, Brevoort served in the Battle of Lake Erie and received this commendation from Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry: "Captain Brevoort, of the army, who acted as a volunteer in the capacity of a marine officer, on board that vessel [brig USS Niagara], is an excellent and brave officer, and with his musketry did great execution." During that battle, Commodore Perry famously wrote to General William Henry Harrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours."

In 1823, Brevoort received a silver medal from Congress for his actions. The medal was attached to a silver crescent with an inscription from Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson that read, in part: "In compliance with a resolution of the Congress of the United States, the President directs me to present to you a silver medal, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of your gallant conduct and service in the decisive and glorious victory gained on Lake Erie on the tenth day of September in the year 1813, over a British squadron of superior force."

Complete Transcript
River Rouge
12th April 1810
Lieut Breevorts compliments to Colonel Kingsbury, & wishes (if practicable) that quarters may be provided for him in the Citadel, previous to his Sailing, as he intends to change his situation
I remain Dr Sir / Respectfully your / Obt & mo Hbe St
Hy. B. Brevoort
P.S. I hope this request will not be made known. Bt

Historical Background
Originally founded by French military leader and trader Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac along the Detroit River, in 1701, Detroit remained a small frontier settlement of traders, trappers, soldiers, and farmers for the next fifty years. The fort they built was Fort Pontchartrain du détroit, but after 1751, it was known simply as Fort Detroit. It remained a French settlement until the British took control of the fort in 1760, following the French and Indian War. At that time, it had approximately 2,000 inhabitants and 300 buildings. The settlement lost much of its population to St. Louis in 1764, but by the beginning of the 1770s, Detroit was the center of the Great Lakes fur trade. When the Revolutionary War began, the fort served as a base for British soldiers to launch expeditions into Ohio, and its citadel was a place to hold American prisoners, growing to some 500 by 1780.

In 1778, the British began construction of a new fort a few hundred yards to the north of the original Fort Detroit and named it Fort Lernoult in 1779. It eventually superseded the original fort and was officially renamed Fort Detroit in 1805.

Although Michigan became part of the United States in 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War, the British refused to surrender the forts in Detroit and Mackinac. American General Anthony Wayne defeated British troops and Native American allies at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, and the British finally surrendered Fort Detroit in 1796 as part of the provisions of the Jay Treaty. In that year, the stockade and surrounding farms included approximately 2,100 people, two-thirds of which were French, but also including Dutch and German settlers and enslaved African Americans.

The city of Detroit received a city charter in 1802 and when Michigan Territory was separated from Indiana Territory in 1805, Detroit became its first capital. By 1810, Detroit had a population of 770. Fort Detroit was renamed Fort Shelby in 1813. It was abandoned by the army shortly after the end of the War of 1812 and demolished by the City of Detroit in 1827.

Henry B. Brevoort (1775-1858) was born on Long Island, New York, and was among the first Americans to settle in the area of Detroit, Michigan in 1796. He entered the army in 1797 and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd Infantry Regiment in 1801, a 1st lieutenant in 1805, and a captain in 1811. From 1802 to 1812, he commanded the brig USS Adams, which supplied American troops and materials to Fort Mackinac and Fort Dearborn as the "navy of the lakes." When Brigadier General William Hull surrendered Fort Detroit in August 1812, Brevoort was taken prisoner, and the British seized the USS Adams. Brevoort was later paroled and returned to service. Although an officer in the American army, he served as captain of marines in the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813, one of the most significant American naval victories of the war. For his service, he was promoted to major, and in 1823, he received a silver medal from Congress. After the war, he returned to Detroit, where he was a prominent local Democrat and served as register of the land office (1821-1823). From 1824 to 1829, he served as an Indian agent at Green Bay, Wisconsin. He returned to Detroit and was employed in the customs service.

Jacob Kingsbury (1756-1837) was born in Norwich, Connecticut, and enlisted in the 8th Connecticut Regiment in July 1775, receiving a promotion to corporal before the regiment disbanded in December 1775. Kingsbury remained in the Continental Army when it reorganized in January 1776. He was commissioned an ensign in Webb's Additional Continental Regiment in 1780 and served until the army was disbanded in November 1783. In 1787, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the First American Regiment. He served in campaigns against Native Americans in 1790 and 1791. He was promoted to captain in 1792 and assigned to the 1st Sub-Legion later that year. At the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794, Kingsbury commanded the 3rd Sub-Legion. In the 1796 reorganization, the 1st Sub-Legion again became the 1st Infantry Regiment. Kingsbury gained promotion to captain in 1797 and lieutenant colonel in 1803. In 1808, he was promoted to colonel and placed in command of the 1st Infantry. During the War of 1812, he commanded the defenses of Newport, Rhode Island, and was inspector general over Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1813-1814. He was discharged from the army in June 1815, after 33 years of service.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.75" x 9.75"
  • Medium: ALS

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