Pontiac (Ottawa leader) he had relatives. Pontiac continued to encourage militant resistance to British occupation among the Illinois and Wabash tribes, and to recruit French colonists as allies. According to historian Richard White, it was during this time that Pontiac exerted his greatest influence, developing from a local war leader into an important regional spokesman. After the failure of the siege of Fort Detroit, the British initially thought that Pontiac was defeated and would trouble them no longer, but his influence continued to grow. The British had successfully pacified the uprising in the Ohio Country, but British military dominance was tenuous. They decided
Fort Meigs An embankment against the interior side provided a parapet. When completed, the fort was the largest wooden walled fortification in North America. The First Siege: On May 1, 1813, British allied forces, under General Henry Proctor and Chief Tecumseh, opened a bombardment of the fort, which had mustered 1,200 regulars and militia, and laid siege. Reinforcements reached the fort on May 4, increasing its garrison to 2,800. Early on the morning of May 5, a detachment from Clay's brigade under Colonel William Dudley landed from boats on the north bank of the river, stormed the British batteries on the north