3. Bluff and Deception to Further Demoralize a Foe
Brock arranged for a misleading letter to fall into American hands. It greatly exaggerated the number of his native allies from an actual 600 to a fanciful 5000. He also tricked the Americans to believe that he commanded more regulars than was the case, by dressing his Canadian militia in castoff British regimental uniforms. Outside Detroit, he had the same troops march in a loop over the same stretch within eyesight of the garrison. Once they had been spotted – and presumably counted – by Detroit’s defenders, the British forces ducked out of sight, and returned to march anew as if they were fresh reinforcements. Brock also ordered his troops to light five times as many fires at night than was the norm, in order to further convey an illusion of greater strength. General Hull’s already low confidence collapsed at the prospect of facing a strong British army accompanied by 5000 Natives.
