Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/94

 out why. So the British General Brock, being an inquisitive person, followed General Hull, invaded our territory and bottled up Hull in his fort at Detroit. Now remember, my son, General Hull lay snug, in a well fortified position, with some 1,800 men. The British commander having landed on American soil, with 1,320 men, refused to believe his own eyes when the Americans hoisted a white flag over their fort, and surrendered a superior force inside to an inferior force outside—and without even popping a cap. By this fiasco we Americans lost control of the entire northwest country, together with all the advantage of the initiative, which passed into British hands. Furthermore, their unexpected and easy success brought to the British standard nearly every Indian in all that region.

My son, what are you beginning to think about this proposition of a single-handed American farmer licking ten of any other nation on the globe?

Remember this British officer’s name,