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Native American Strategy During the Siege of Mackinac

Native Americans played an important role during the siege of Mackinac Island, and the subsequent battle. The size of the Native American force as well as their intimidation of the Americans made them a formidable foe. There were Native Americans from the Sioux, Winnebagoes, Menomonie, Chippewas, and Ottawa tribes. While Native Americans aligned with both British and American forces, the British had more Indian support during the siege of Mackinac. After the American Revolutionary War, the British continued to trade in American territory and maintained strong alliances with the tribesmen there, adding to their incentive to join British forces.

The British had about 300 Indian warriors under their command when taking the Island. Mackinac Island held importance for Native Americans as a prominent trading post. While Britain’s Native American allies contributed numbers to the siege, they also upped the timeline, as Indian forces were anxious to attack Mackinac with or without the British. Native Americans were under British command, but the Native Americans did give input on how to execute the attack. The British believed that if the Native Americans were not reigned in that there would have been much more bloodshed.". Rather, the sheer size of the Native American and British forces dissuaded the Americans from engaging. The capitulation of 1812 was achieved without one bullet fired and the combined forces were victorious.