Porter Hanks American The Capture of Fort Mackinac

Lieutenant Porter Hanks was in charge at Fort Mackinac when it was unexpectedly attacked by British and First Nations forces. Unaware that war had been declared, he was totally unprepared and quickly surrendered. Hanks was paroled back to the United States at Detroit and gave General Hull the news of the fall of Fort Mackinac. Hanks was undergoing military court proceedings regarding the Mackinac affair at Fort Detroit when the British attacked. On August 16, as the British cannon pounded the fort, Hanks was cut in two and killed by an English cannonball.