It's just before dawn on August 16th, 1812, at Fort Detroit in the U.S. Michigan Territory.

In his room in the officer's quarters, General William Hull reads dispatches by candlelight.

He hasn't slept for days,

busy launching the first campaign in what will come to be known as the War of 1812.

Tensions between the U.S. and Britain have been simmering ever since America defeated the British

in the Revolutionary War of 1776. After earning its independence from Britain,

America focused on establishing its new government.

Britain focused on its decades-long conflict with France.

But the open wounds of the revolution never fully healed.

And in recent years, the tension between America and Britain has given way to open conflict

on the high seas as U.S. and British ships began to skirmish.

The growing conflict has finally compelled President Madison to ask Congress for a declaration

of war, which Congress delivered in June the first time in the young country's history.

Not long after, President Madison sent General William Hull and over 2,000 troops into Canada,

a poorly defended British territory, expecting a swift victory.

But the British, with the help of their Canadian and Native American allies,

mounted a surprising defense.

Hull and his men were forced to retreat and hunkered down at the fort on the banks of the Detroit River,

the border between

the U.S. and Canada. The British don't pursue Hull across the river. Instead, they stay on

the Canadian side, but fire cannons onto the town of Detroit, forcing civilians there to flee.

Now, as Hull sits in the officer's quarters, he wonders how long it would be before the

...