Though the 1783 Treaty of Paris formally ended the Revolutionary War, British forces stubbornly held onto a string of lucrative frontier outposts for over a decade to protect their dominance in the fur trade. Among the most strategic was Fort Lernoult in Detroit. It wasn’t until the ratification of the Jay Treaty that the British finally agreed to vacate the premises, paving the way for Captain Moses Porter and a detachment of 65 American soldiers to march into the compound on July 11, 1796, to officially take possession of the territory for the United States.
When the British evacuated, they left behind a functioning fortification but fundamentally altered the local dynamic, as the American flag was raised over Detroit for the very first time. This transition marked a crucial shift in establishing actual U.S. sovereignty over the Northwest Territory. The fort would continue to serve as a pivotal, heavily contested military hub through the subsequent War of 1812.
