August 16^th

Soon as aurora’s beautiful rays adorned the east, The cannon began to roar apparently with tenfold fury, to do execution, the enemies shot began to enter the fort, and as some ladies were making cylinders, (bags to hold the powder) and scraping lint in case it should be wanted, a 24 pound shot entered the next door to the one they were in, and cut two officers who were standing in the entry directly in two their bowels gushing out, the same ball passed through the wall into a room where a number of people were and took the legs of one man off and the flesh of the thigh of another. The person who had his legs shot off died in a short time, thus one of these angry messengers destroyed the lives of three and wounded a fourth in a moment of time,…

…the enemy had got the range of the fort so completely, that it was considered dangerous for the women and children to stay any longer in the quarters, and we all hurried to a root house (on the opposite side of the fort) which was bomb proof. Never shall I forget my sensation as I crossed the parade ground to gain the place of safety, you must recollect, my feelings had been under constant excitement for many weeks, and now were wrought up to a high pitch, weep I could not, complain I would not, and I felt as if my nerves would burst, my hair felt as if it were erect upon my head, which was not covered, and my eyes raised upward to catch a glimpse of the bombs shells and balls that were flying in all directions…

…on gaining the root house, I found it nearly full of women and children,…What a scene was here presented, such lamentation and weeping, I have never heard before, and I sincerely hope I never shall again, among all this number but three appeared composed, and they felt more that can be described, the wife of one of the officers who had been shot…was in an agony of grief as you may well suppose, and amidst her lamentations, asking what she had done to deserve this sore trouble. O though, I, what have any of us done to deserve anything else. One child too young to realize danger, was screaming most violently for its attendent to walk with her on the parapet, on looking out the door of the root house, opposite, I saw a ball take a chimney down and was told the same ball killed someone on the parapet, the other side of the house, who was stationed there on duty.

About this time, the enemy landed on our side, under cover of their armed vessels, of which they had a sufficiency to demolish Detroit if they close, and we had not a boat in order to carry a single gun…A white flag was accordingly displayed upon the parapet the common signal for a cessation of hostilities, and the cannon ceased to roar, all was still. Immediately the enemy sent to ascertain, for what purpose the white flag was exhibited, and learnt the determination of the General to surrender.

Our soldiers were then marched on to the parade ground in the fort where they stacked their arms, which were then deliver’d to the enemy, the American colors were taken from the staff on the fort and immediately replaced by the English colors, and a royal salute fired, from the very cannon, taken from them in the revolutionary war---while their music played God save the King, their national tune, in the most lively manner. A thousand emotions struggled in my breast, too numerous for utterance, and too exquisitely painful to be described, ---the poor fellows that were shot in this contest were buried in one common grave.