Battle of Mackinac Island ( 1814 ) The Battle of Mackinac Island ( pronounced " Mackinaw " ) was a British victory in the War of 1812 . Before the war , Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron . It was important for its influence and control over the Native American tribes in the area , which was sometimes referred to in historical documents as " Michilimackinac " . Background . On 18 July 1812 , a mixed force of British regular soldiers , Canadian voyageurs and Native Americans captured the island in the Siege of Fort Mackinac before the American defenders knew that war had been declared . The news of this success influenced many more Native tribes who had previously been neutral or undecided to rally to the British cause , contributing to several more British victories over the next year . The British meanwhile abandoned their own defences at St . Joseph Island and concentrated their forces at Mackinac Island . For the rest of the year and through much of 1813 , the British hold on Mackinac was secure since they also held Detroit , which the Americans would have to recapture before attacking Mackinac . Then on 10 September 1813 , the Americans won the decisive naval Battle of Lake Erie , which allowed them to recover Detroit and defeat the retreating British and Native force at the subsequent Battle of the Thames . Although it was too late in the year to allow the Americans to mount an expedition to recover Mackinac before the lakes froze in winter , they had nevertheless cut the British supply lines to the post . The British garrison , commanded by Captain Richard Bullock of the 41st Regiment of Foot , were placed on half rations and also procured some fish and maize locally but were suffering severe shortages by the end of the winter . British Defences . In February 1814 , Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall of the Glengarry Light Infantry was ordered to re - establish communications with Mackinac and take charge of the post . McDouall ' s first task was to open a new supply line from York via Yonge Street and Lake Simcoe to the Nottawasaga River , which flows into Georgian Bay . The Nottawasaga was selected in preference to the established post at Penetanguishene on Matchedash Bay , even though the navigation from the Nottwasaga was obstructed by rocks and shoals . However , the route from Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene would need to be improved for , which would be almost impossible in the depths of winter , while the overland portage to the Nottawasaga was shorter and much more easily improved . McDouall ' s party consisted of ninety men of the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles , most of whom were accustomed to serving as marines , and eleven artillerymen with four field guns . He also brought with him twenty - one sailors of the Royal Navy to reinforce the crew of the schooner " Nancy " , which was being refitted at St . Joseph Island at the time , and thirty carpenters to assist in constructing thirty batteaux . On 19 April , McDouall ' s batteaux began descending the river with the Newfoundlanders , artillerymen and sailors , and reached the Lake on 25 April . He arrived at Mackinac on 18 May , carrying a large quantity of provisions for the hungry garrison and the Native allies , having lost only one boat " en route " despite stormy weather . A few days later he was reinforced by another 200 Native Americans , who were under the nominal leadership of Lieutenant Robert Dickson of the Indian Department . McDouall ordered the defences of the island to be strengthened . The existing fort was situated on a ridge which dominated the harbour on the south side of the island , but was itself overlooked by another wooded ridge , the highest point on the island . In 1812 , the British had dragged artillery to this ridge to compel the fort to surrender . McDouall ' s troops built a stockade and blockhouse on the upper ridge , naming the new fortification Fort George . However , McDouall was compelled to weaken his garrison by despatching an expedition under William McKay ( who held the local rank of Lieutenant Colonel ) to recover the distant post at Prairie du Chien . American Plans . In 1814 , the Americans attempted to retake the island as part of a larger campaign designed to sever the fur trading alliance between the British and the Natives in the northwestern states and territories . The United States Secretary of the Navy , William Jones , supported an attack on Mackinac as this would provide employment for the vessels of the American squadron on Lake Erie , which otherwise would have little further useful part to play in the war . While Governor William Clark mounted an expedition to recover Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River ( which prompted McDouall to despatch McKay ' s force ) , the expedition to Mackinac was prepared at Detroit , and Brigadier General Duncan McArthur established Fort Gratiot at the southern end of Lake Huron as an advanced base . On 3 July , a squadron of five American brigs and gunboats under Commodore Arthur Sinclair sailed from Detroit , carrying an embarked landing force of 700 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Croghan . The force consisted of an " ad hoc " battalion of regular infantry ( made up of five detached companies of the 17th , 19th and 24th U . S . Infantry ) under Major Andrew Holmes and a battalion of volunteers from the Ohio militia , with detachments of artillery . Rather than make directly for Mackinac , the American squadron first searched Matchedash Bay for the base from which the British at Mackinac were supplied , which the Americans thought was at Penetanguishene . As the weather was foggy and the Americans had no pilots familiar with the area , which abounded with islets and sunken rocks , they spent a week in the bay but found nothing . They then sailed to St . Joseph Island , which had been the original British military post in 1812 , but found it had been abandoned . They burned the empty post , and also the Canadian North West Company trading post at Sault Sainte Marie . The Americans finally arrived off Mackinac on 26 July . Their delayed arrival had given McDouall ample warning , and he had further reinforced his defences by calling in the last two companies of militia left to defend St . Joseph Island and Sault Ste . Marie . Battle . The American ships attempted to bombard the fort for two days , with most of the shot falling harmlessly in vegetable gardens around the fort . Sinclair discovered that the new British blockhouse , Fort George , stood too high for the naval guns to reach . A dense fog then forced the American squadron away from the island for a week . When they returned , Croghan decided on 4 August to land on the north side of the island roughly where the British had landed in 1812 ( the present - day community of British Landing ) and work his way through the woods to attack the blockhouse . The American brigs and gunboats bombarded the woods around the landing site to flush out any Natives , further sacrificing any chance of gaining surprise . Rather than wait to be attacked , McDouall left only 25 militiamen in Fort Mackinac and another 25 in the blockhouse and advanced with the main body of his force to occupy low breastworks which faced a clearing which lay on the Americans ' line of advance . His force consisted of 140 men of the Royal Newfoundland and the locally raised Michigan Fencibles , and 150 Menominee Indians from the Wisconsin River , who McDouall considered to be the best fighters at his disposal , and one 6 - pounder and one 3 - pounder field guns . When the Americans emerged from the woods into the clearing , they were easy targets for the British guns . Croghan brought up two 6 - pounder guns , but meanwhile he sent his Ohio Volunteers , leading the advance , to outflank the British left , and sent the detachment of regulars through the woods around the British right . These manoeuvres proceeded very slowly , because of the difficult terrain . While they were in progress , a false report of another American landing west of the fort caused McDouall to withdraw the Newfoundland and Michigan Fencibles , but the American regulars were ambushed by the Indians . Thirteen Americans were killed , including Major Holmes and two other officers , fifty - one were wounded ( including Captain Benjamin Desha , second in command of the regulars ) and the Americans were thrown into confusion . McDouall meanwhile discovered that there was no landing behind him , and moved his redcoated infantry back into their positions . The heavy losses and confusion among the United States regulars , and the return of McDouall ' s infantry , forced Croghan to order his men to retreat through the woods to the beach . Two wounded Americans were left to be taken prisoner . The Americans rowed back to their ships , leaving the fort in the British hands until the end of the war . Aftermath . The American expedition subsequently located the post at the Nottawasaga River and on 15 August , they captured it before returning to Detroit . The British scuttled the schooner " Nancy " , which had taken refuge in the Nottawasaga River , so that it would not fall into American hands . Commodore Sinclair left the gunboats USS " Tigress " and USS " Scorpion " to blockade Mackinac , hoping to starve the garrison into surrender before the following spring . In the Engagement on Lake Huron , both vessels fell into British hands , securing the British hold on the entire region . Five active regular battalions of the United States Army ( 1 - 3 Inf , 2 - 3 Inf , 4 - 3 Inf , 2 - 7 Inf and 3 - 7 Inf ) perpetuate the lineages of the former 17th , 19th and 24th United States Infantry Regiments , elements of which participated in the battle . Most of the site of the Battle of Mackinac Island is now the Wawashkamo Golf Links , laid out in 1898 .