Battle of Maguaga The Battle of Maguaga ( also known as the Battle of Monguagon or the Battle of the Oakwoods was a small battle between British troops , Canadian militia and Tecumseh ' s natives and a larger force of American troops near the Wyandot village of Maguaga in what is now the city of Trenton , Michigan . Background . In the early days of the War , American army under Brigadier - General William Hull had moved to Detroit , intending to use it as a base for an attack on Upper Canada . Hull ' s resolution quickly faded . After deciding not to attack the British at Fort Amherstburg , he learned that Mackinac Island had been captured by the British and feared that many Indians would flock south from there to join the British . On 3 August , he retreated to American territory . At the Miami Rapids , Captain Henry Brush ' s company of Ohio Volunteers were waiting with vital supplies for Hull ' s garrison , including 300 head of cattle and 70 packhorses each laden with 200 pounds of flour . On 4 August , British troops under Captain ( local Major ) Adam Muir of the 41st Regiment and Indians under Tecumseh and Roundhead defeated a detachment which Hull had sent to collect these supplies at the Battle of Brownstown . Hull sent a larger detachment under Lieutenant - Colonel James Miller to escort the supply train back to Detroit . The battle . At Monguagon , Miller ' s command , comprising 280 regulars and more than 330 Ohio Volunteer troops , found their path barred by Adam Muir , with 205 British , Canadians and Indian warriors . As the Americans advanced into a heavy fire , things started to go wrong for the British . Noticing some men creeping through the woods on their right , some of the redcoats thought it was the enemy trying to outflank them and opened fire on them . The " enemy " turned out to be Potawatomi warriors allied to the British under Chief Main Poc , who immediately thought that the people firing at them must be Americans . Briton and Native American blazed away at each other until the Potawatomi realized that they were fighting their own side and withdrew into the woods to the rear . Meanwhile , seeing the American advance waver , Muir ordered the bugler of the light company of the 41st Regiment to sound the charge . In the British Army , only the light infantry used the bugle ; the rest of the infantry communicated using drumbeats . The officer commanding one of the other companies of the 41st Regiment thought that the bugle was sounding the " recall " and ordered his men to fall back . Before Muir knew what was happening , his whole force was streaming off to the rear . The Americans , who thought that the British were running from them , took heart and advanced over Muir ' s vacated position in pursuit of an enemy they thought they had routed . Miller advanced a good distance only to find that Muir had rallied his men and was standing , awaiting another attack . Miller , satisfied with his " victory " , decided not to renew his assault . Miller ' s force had suffered 18 killed and 64 wounded . Muir recorded 3 killed , 13 wounded and 2 missing from the 41st Regiment ; 1 killed and 2 wounded from the Canadian Militia and 2 killed and 6 wounded from the Native American contingent . The 2 men returned as “ missing ” were taken prisoner . The Americans later claimed to have taken thirty Indian scalps at the Battle . At this point , Colonel Miller ' s nerve seems to have gone . His men had discarded their knapsacks at the beginning of the battle so that they could fight more effectively . Now , Miller refused to go back into the woods to retrieve the knapsacks in case the enemy were waiting there to ambush him . He camped in a large clearing and the next morning , he refused to continue the advance to the Rapids . Miller may have been shaken by the comparatively heavy casualties that his command had suffered . He clearly did not fancy another encounter with Muir . He was also very ill , and almost in a state of collapse . Unknown to Miller , Muir ' s detachment had long since retired to their boats and sailed back to Fort Malden , Amherstburg . For two days , Miller stayed bivouacked , ignoring repeated orders from Hull to resume his advance to the Rapids . Finally , Hull realized that Miller was not going to obey him , and ordered him to return to Detroit . Aftermath . The Battle of Monguagon was characterized by a series of errors by both sides . The British routed themselves thanks to two misunderstandings , at least one of which could have been avoided through better training . The 41st Regiment had been stated to be " very sharp " , but this probably indicated that their standards of discipline , administration and parade - ground drill were good . Like most British regiments , they were not trained in light infantry tactics or " bush warfare " ( except for the Light company , and possibly the Grenadier company which was not present at Maguaga ) . Colonel Miller first wasted the tactical advantage that was given to him by the confusion within the British force , and then appears to have completely lost his nerve . James Miller ' s War of 1812 career ended in success and promotion to brigadier - general , thanks mainly to his capture of the British batteries at the Battle of Lundy ' s Lane . Nevertheless , in the wake of the Battle of Monguagon , he may have been fortunate to escape being court - martial led and cashiered . Miller ' s failure might have had dire consequences for the garrison of Detroit in the event of a sustained siege , when the supplies from the Miami Rapids would have been needed . In the event , Detroit surrendered to General Brock after a siege of only a few hours , so the absence of the extra food supplies was irrelevant . The only difference that the failure of Miller ' s expedition might have made was that Captain Brush ' s company and their supplies were not in Detroit to be captured . However , the terms of capitulation signed by General Hull included the garrison at the Rapids in the surrender agreement , and the British got the supplies anyway . Monguagon was the first encounter of the War of 1812 that was big enough to be called a " battle " even by the standards of this small - scale conflict . Three active battalions of the current 3rd Infantry ( 1 - 3 Inf , 2 - 3 Inf and 4 - 3 Inf ) perpetuate the lineage of the old 1st Infantry Regiment , which had a detachment at the Battle of Maguaga .