Fort Mackinac Fort Mackinac is a former American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century near Michilimackinac , Michigan , on Mackinac Island . The British built the fort during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron ( and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes ) and did not relinquish it until fifteen years after American independence . It later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812 . During most of the 19th century , it served as an outpost of the United States Army . Closed in 1895 , the fort is now a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park . History . American Revolutionary War . It was built in 1780 by the British on Mackinac Island . Before 1763 , the French used Fort Michilimackinac on the mainland south shore of the Straits of Mackinac to control the area . After Treaty of Paris ( 1763 ) , the British occupied the French fort but considered the wooden structure too difficult to defend . In 1780 / 1781 , its lieutenant governor Patrick Sinclair constructed a new limestone fort on the 150 - foot limestone bluffs of Mackinac Island above the beautiful Straits of Mackinac . The British held the outpost throughout the war . Despite the terms of the Treaty of Paris ( 1783 ) , the British did not relinquish the fort to the United States until 1796 . War of 1812 . In June 1812 , at the start of the War of 1812 , British General Isaac Brock sent a canoe party 1 , 200 miles ( 1 , 900 km ) to confirm that a state of war existed . This party returned with an order to attack Fort Mackinac , then known as Fort Michilimackinac . A minimal United States garrison of approximately sixty men under the command of Lieutenant Porter Hanks then manned Fort Mackinac . Although a diligent officer , Hanks had received no communication from his superiors for months . On the morning of 17 July 1812 , a combined British and Native American force of seventy war canoes and ten bateaux under the command of British Captain Charles Roberts attacked Fort Mackinac . British Captain Roberts came from Fort St . Joseph ( Ontario ) and landed on the north end of Mackinac Island , 2 miles ( 3 km ) away from the fort . The British quietly removed the village inhabitants from their homes and trained two cannons at the fort . The Americans , under Lieutenant Hanks , were taken by surprise and Hanks perceived his garrison badly outnumbered . The officers and men under Roberts numbered about two hundred ; a few hundred Native Americans of various tribes supported him . Fearing that the Native Americans on the British side would massacre his men and allies , American Lieutenant Hanks accepted the British offer of surrender without a fight . The British paroled the American forces , essentially allowing them to go free after swearing to not take up arms in the war again , and made the island inhabitants to swear an oath of allegiance as subjects of the United Kingdom . Shortly after the British captured the fort several American vessels sailed up , unaware of the commencement of the War of 1812 , or the fort ' s capture . The British hoisted the American flag and when the vessels tied up the pier the British captured them . The British captured two schooners , " Chippewa " and " Friends Good Will " , which they took into service as HMS " Chippeway " and HMS " Little Belt " , and the " Mary " and the " Saline " , which they sent to Detroit as cartels carrying the prisoners they had taken . After capturing the island , the British under the command of Colonel Robert McDouall of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment built Fort George , a stockade and blockhouse on the highest point of the island . In an interesting epilogue to the capture of Fort Mackinac , Lieutenant Hanks made his way to Detroit and the American military post there . Upon his arrival , superiors charged him with cowardice in the quick and bloodless surrender of Fort Mackinac . Before the court martial of Lieutenant Hanks could begin , however , British forces attacked Fort Detroit . A British cannonball apparently decapitated Lieutenant Hanks , and he certainly died in the battle . United States Army Colonel George Croghan and his superior General William Henry Harrison designed a large campaign to capture control of the Great Lakes and sever the fur trade alliance between the British and the tribes of the region ; as part of this campaign , the Americans attempted to retake Mackinac Island in July 1814 . The two - pronged campaign included an assault on Prairie du Chien , Wisconsin , on the [ Mississippi River ] . Battle of Mackinac Island ( 1814 ) . On 26 July 1814 , a squadron of five United States ships arrived off the Mackinac Island , carrying a landing force of seven hundred soldiers under the command of American Colonel Croghan . This landing began the Battle of Mackinac Island . To his dismay , Colonel Croghan discovered that the new British blockhouse stood too high for the naval guns to reach , forcing an unprotected assault on the wall of Fort George . The Americans shelled Fort George for two days with most shells falling harmlessly in vegetable gardens around the fort . A dense fog forced the Americans back from Mackinac Island for a week . Major Andrew Holmes led the American forces in returning a week later ; they assaulted the north end of the island near the location of the British assault in 1812 . The Americans worked their way to the fort through dense woods , which Native American allies of the British protected , finally emerging into a clearing below Fort George . British Colonel McDouall meanwhile placed a small force bearing muskets , rifles , and two field guns , behind low breastworks at the opposite end of the clearing . When the Americans emerged from the woods into the clearing , British guns easily targeted them . British warriors killed 13 Americans , including Major Holmes and two other officers , and wounded 51 Americans . The heavy losses compelled American Colonel Croghan to order his men to retreat back through the woods to the beach . The Americans then rowed back to their ships and retreated . Later years . The American defeat in Battle of Mackinac Island left Mackinac Island in the hands of the British through the end of War of 1812 . Following Treaty of Ghent , American forces reoccupied Fort Mackinac in July 1815 . They renamed Fort George as Fort Holmes , in honor of Major Holmes , killed in the 1814 attack . After War of 1812 , Fort Mackinac gradually declined in military significance . No longer needed as a front line border defense against the British in Canada , the fort instead took on the role of a strategic troop reserve . The Army essentially could deploy troops not needed elsewhere to Fort Mackinac until a need arose to transfer them to other locations of military importance . This arrangement led to the near - total abandonment of Fort Mackinac on numerous occasions . People also used the fort as a fur trading post . On 6 June 1822 , a fur trader named Alexis St . Martin waited to trade in his furs when a gun accidentally discharged just inches from him , blowing a hole in his abdomen . The post surgeon , Doctor William Beaumont , attended to the man . Doctor Beaumont cared for the presumedly doomed Saint Martin the best he could . To his surprise , the man apparently made a recovery . Doctor Beaumont took the man into his home and cared for him for several years . Saint Martin then healed despite a hole connecting his stomach to the outside world . Beaumont seized the opportunity and began observing and conducting experiments on the man . Through these experiments , Beaumont ably described digestion in detail and unlocked its mysteries . Doctor Beaumont wrote a book about his experiments and later became known as " The Father of Gastric Physiology . " The fort evolved into an important staging area for exploration of the northern Michigan Territory , including the expedition in 1832 under the command of Lewis Cass to explore the headwaters of the Mississippi River . Henry Schoolcraft held the post of Indian agent at Fort Mackinac for a time in the 1830s and conducted pioneering studies of the Native American languages and culture of the region . During the Mexican - American War and for long periods during the Civil War , the Army left the care and upkeep of Fort Mackinac to an ordnance sergeant . Despite these periods of relative inactivity , the fort did manage to play a small role in the American Civil War , briefly acting as a prison for three Confederate political prisoners . Brought to the Mackinac Island and the fort during the summer months , these three men enjoyed relative freedom , guarded only by a volunteer militia . However , when faced with the prospect of enduring a long , harsh winter on the island , two of the prisoners signed loyalty oaths and obtained release . The third Confederate refused , and the Army ultimately transferred him to another post , thus ending brief role of Fort Mackinac in the war . Seth Eastman in 1872 made an oil painting of Fort Mackinac , now part of the collection of the United States Senate . Mackinac National Park . From 1875 to 1895 , Mackinac National Park , the second national park in the United States after Yellowstone National Park , included Fort Mackinac and much of Mackinac Island . During the national park years , the troops stationed at Mackinac acted as park rangers . The Army tasked these men with maintaining and policing the park , so they spent much time cutting new roads and footpaths through the park and performing other mundane tasks . A mood of progressivism then apparently prevailed at the fort , as the Army constructed a bathhouse ( in which every man at the fort was required to bathe at least once a week ) , a post toilet ( complete with flush toilets ) , and a post canteen ( where the men could read current magazines , play pool , and most importantly buy beer and wine ) to boost morale and truly make Fort Mackinac a " desirable station . " Soldiers , however , did not ignore military duties as the troops drilled on the parade ground and took target practice at least once a week on either a 600 - or 1000 - yard rifle range . The skills learned and honed at the fort , seemingly trivial at a peaceful post such Mackinac , later proved important for many troops at later postings in the still - dangerous American West . Decommissioning . State administration . In 1895 , Congress closed Fort Mackinac and Mackinac National Park and gave the fort and park to the State of Michigan , which created Mackinac Island State Park , the first state park in Michigan . The semi - autonomous Mackinac Island State Park Commission in 1895 began governing Fort Mackinac and the other surrounding historic sites on or near Mackinac Island : Colonial Michilimackinac , Historic Mill Creek , The Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse , and Mackinac Island State Park . The Governor of Michigan appoints the Commission , which then meets many times during the course of a year to govern Mackinac State Historic Parks . The commission and historic parks preserve , protect , and present the rich and natural history of Mackinac Island and the Straits area . In the 1950s , Mackinac Island State Park Commission developed a new way of financing its park , based on the system that financed the Mackinac Bridge . Michigan financed construction of Mackinac Bridge through revenue bonds repaid from the later cash flow of the bridge after it opened in 1957 . Mackinac Island State Park Commission modified this idea to park restoration purposes , with Fort Mackinac admission fees serving as the cash flow . More than three - fourths of budget of Mackinac Island State Park Commission now comes from admission fees and other self - generated cash flow . Most United States parks - and - recreation agencies instead depend upon public subsidies . Mackinac Island State Park Commission operates one of the largest parks in United States that generates a significant majority of its own operating budget . The Fort today . The current museum at the park includes 14 historic buildings . Today , Fort Mackinac ( pronounced : " MACK - in - awe " ) stands as a popular tourist destination . Situated on 150 foot bluffs above the beautiful Straits of Mackinac , it is one of the few surviving American Revolutionary War forts and one of the most complete early forts in the country . In 2005 , Fort Mackinac celebrated 225 years standing guard over Mackinac Island . During the main tourism summer months ( June through August ) , visitors ascend into a bustle of activity within the old British - built stone walls of old Fort Mackinac after entering its weathered gates . Costumed interpreters then greet visitors , portray life in the 1880s , answer questions , pose for pictures , and lead tours throughout the day . Some of these " soldiers " carry original 45 - 70 Springfield Model 1873 , the type used at the fort during the 1880s . Others still play music or just simply greet and mingle with the crowds of visitors . The second largest cannon regularly demonstrated on the Great Lakes , the 1841 model six - pounder , positioned just as it would have been during the attack and bombardment of Fort Mackinac in the War of 1812 , fires many times during the day . Activities also include rifle firings , court martial re - enactments , and even dances of the type done during the early days of Fort Mackinac with many musicians providing music . Extant buildings . There are 14 original buildings standing on the site as well , including :