Pontiac’s Rebellion 1763–64

A confederation of Native American warriors, led by the Ottawa chief Pontiac, launched an assault on the British garrison at Detroit in April 1763. The Native Americans were angered by the harsh British treatment of them after the British victory in the French and Indian War (1754–63). Their intention was to drive the British soldiers and settlers from the region. After failing to take the British fort at Detroit, Pontiac’s forces lay siege to numerous forts in the northeast , gaining support from an increasing number of Indian tribes. The British incurred heavy losses and while forts such as Niagara and Pitt resisted, many were destroyed. By the autumn of 1763 Pontiac’s forces had killed or captured over 600 people and later that year Fort Sandusky fell to the Ottawas. Finally, in the spring of 1764 two British armies succeeded in thwarting Pontiac’s rebellion.