Fort Dearborn massacre

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Date	August 15, 1812
Location	Chicago
Result	Indian & British victory

Combatants

Potawatomi
United Kingdom

United States

Commanders

Chief Blackbird

Nathan Heald

Strength

500+

69 military + civilians

Casualties

39 military + 27 civilians

Detroit frontier
Tippecanoe – 1st Mackinac Island – Maguaga – Fort Dearborn – Detroit – Fort Harrison – Fort Wayne – Mississinewa – Frenchtown – Fort Meigs – Fort Stephenson – Lake Erie – Thames – Longwoods – Prairie du Chien – 2nd Mackinac Island – Lake Huron – Malcolm's Mills

The Fort Dearborn massacre occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn in Michigan Territory (what is now Chicago, Illinois) during the War of 1812. The massacre followed the evacuation of the fort ordered by the commander of the U.S. forces General William Hull. This event is also known as the Battle of Fort Dearborn, and it was a decisive victory for the British.

The fort commander Captain Nathan Heald ordered that all whiskey and gunpowder be destroyed so it would not be taken by the local Indian tribes allied with the British, and then abandoned the fort. He remained at the fort until support arrived from Fort Wayne, Indiana, led by his wife's uncle, Captain William Wells. A procession of 148 soldiers, women and children then left Fort Dearborn to retreat to Fort Wayne. About one and a half miles (2 km) south of the fort, a band of Potawatomi and Miami warriors ambushed the garrison, killing more than fifty of the fleeing Americans and capturing the remainder as prisoners to sell to the British as slaves, although the British released the slaves promptly after purchase.

Fort Dearborn was burned to the ground, and the region remained devoid of U.S. citizens until after the war was over.