Pontiac (Ottawa leader) exaggerated. Historians today generally view him as an important local leader who influenced a wider movement that he did not command. The war began in May 1763 when Pontiac and 300 followers attempted to take Fort Detroit by surprise. His plan foiled, Pontiac laid siege to the fort, where he was eventually joined by more than 900 warriors from a half-dozen tribes. Meanwhile, messengers spread the word of Pontiac's actions, and the war expanded far beyond Detroit. In July 1763, Pontiac defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but he was unable to capture the fort. In
Siege of Detroit the fort. The statue commemorates the partnership between the two leaders which resulted in the capture of Detroit, and was sculpted by Canadian Mark Williams, who also created the Provincial Marine monument at the King's Navy Yard in Amherstburg. Siege of Detroit The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the British-U.S. War of 1812. A British force under Major General Isaac Brock with American Indian allies under Shawnee leader Tecumseh used bluff and deception to intimidate U.S. Brigadier General William Hull into surrendering the fort