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>> GLENN STOTT: The London and Western Districts
were made up of mainly American settlers. Eighty percent were American settlers - former
Americans. >>GEORGE SHEPPARD: I don't think most of them
cared if there was a King or a President, most of them were happy to get free land in
what is essentially a paradise. >> DOUGLAS LEIGHTON: I think most people who'd
settled here probably found themselves prospering and just wished to be left alone.
>> ALAN TAYLOR: What they didn't bargain on was that they would be caught in the middle
of a war. >> NARRATOR: On July 5th, 1812, Brother Denke
in Fairfield records that he hears the first signs of war:
>> BROTHER DENKE: Early in the morning we clearly heard the thunder of cannons from
Detroit. This proved to us that the War had started. Before the sermon, we prayed to our
Lord, beseeching Him not to let anything disrupt this congregation.
>> NARRATOR: What the Moravians hear is an unauthorized cannonade of Sandwich by the
Michigan Militia in retaliation for the British capture of the Cuyahoga Packet a few days
earlier. The Brigadier General of the Army of the Northwest,
William Hull, had filled the schooner with medical supplies to ease the burden on his
army on its 35-day march through the Black Swamp to Detroit. By accident, Hull's official
plans were also loaded onto the Packet. War is declared June 18th, but the news doesn't
reach Hull until after the Cuyahoga Packet has set sail. Her route takes her past the
British fort at Amherstburg, where word of the declaration of War was received the day
before. The Packet's crew, along with Hull's military
plans are easily captured by the British. To add insult to injury, the British Commander
instructs the American bandsmen aboard the Packet to play "God Save the King" on their
way into the British port.