09/12/2026
Most people who drive Gibraltar Road have no idea what happened at the other end of it.
On August 5, 1812, two hundred Ohio militiamen under Major Thomas Van Horne were moving south toward the River Raisin to es**rt supplies back to Fort Detroit. As they forded Brownstown Creek, Tecumseh and roughly two dozen warriors opened fire. Van Horne believed he was badly outnumbered and ordered a retreat; it became a rout back to Detroit. Eighteen Americans were killed. The mail the warriors captured included dispatches revealing how weak the garrison at Detroit really was, and eleven days later General Hull surrendered the fort without a fight.
There is a state historical marker at the site, on Middle Gibraltar Road in Gibraltar, with two cannons beside it.
Fourteen months after Brownstown, Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames, and to this day no one can say for certain by whose hand. More than 160 men gave accounts of that afternoon, and they contradict one another on nearly every point. On Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m., author Frank E. Kuron lays the evidence out at the Smith Hotel and lets you weigh it yourself. Hosted jointly by the Flat Rock and Brownstown Historical Societies. Free and open to the public, seating is limited, and Frank will have books to sign.
