Siege of Fort Detroit April 27, 1763, Pontiac spoke at a council on the shores of the Ecorse River, at what is now known as Council Point Park in Lincoln Park, Michigan, about 10 miles (15 km) southwest of Detroit. Using the teachings of Neolin to inspire his listeners, Pontiac convinced a number of Ottawas, Ojibwas, Potawatomis, and Hurons to join him in an attempt to seize Fort Detroit and drive out the British. On May 7, Pontiac entered the fort with about 300 men, armed with weapons hidden under blankets, determined to take the fort by surprise. However, the British commander Henry Gladwin
Fort Detroit by the British after the French surrendered Montreal in 1760 during the French and Indian War (part of the Seven Years' War). The British held it until the American Revolutionary War, and it was taken over by the United States afterward. They built Fort Lernoult to the north along the river in 1779. This was later renamed as Fort Shelby and was abandoned by the US military in the 1820s. The city of Detroit demolished Fort Shelby in 1827. Cadillac ordered Fort Detroit built on the west side of the Detroit River in an effort to prevent British colonists from