British Soldiers Held a Fort on Michigan Soil Until 1828. They Stayed Six Years After a Boundary Commission Ruled the Island Was American.

British soldiers were still garrisoned on Michigan soil in 1828. Not as visitors, and not as a rumor. A functioning British Army post sat on Drummond Island, at the far eastern end of the Upper Peninsula in what is now Chippewa County, for thirteen years after the War of 1812 ended.

They stayed six of those years after a boundary commission ruled the island was American.

The reason they were there at all is on the state historical marker on the island, erected by the Michigan History Division in 1977. It reads: Forced by the Treaty of Ghent to evacuate the fort they had captured on Mackinac Island during the War of 1812, the British selected this island as an alternate military post.

They lost Mackinac, so they built a replacement

The British took Fort Mackinac in 1812 and held it through the war. The Treaty of Ghent, signed in December 1814, made them hand it back. Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall moved his command roughly forty miles east to Drummond Island in 1815 and started building.

The location was not sentimental. It sat close to the traditional gathering point at the Straits, which is what the marker means when it says the post was meant to sustain English control of the Indians and the Upper Great Lakes fur trade.

Not stubbornness, and not an accident

The version that circulates online is that the British simply refused to leave, or that nobody told them where the border was. The record is more specific than that. An international boundary commission did not resolve which channel through the archipelago carried the line until 1822, and when it did, Drummond Island fell on the American side.

The garrison then stayed another six years. Britain withdrew its forces to the naval station at Penetanguishene, Ontario, in November 1828. The marker says it flatly: the British abandoned the stronghold in 1828, six years after Drummond Island was ruled United States territory.

What was actually up there

This was not a token blockhouse. Michigan Technological University’s Military History of the Upper Great Lakes project puts the settlement at 300 to 450 people during construction, with two story officers’ quarters with fireplaces and stone reinforcement, timber houses, a sawmill, a lime quarry and a lumber yard, alongside cedar bark lodges.

The purpose was influence rather than defense. The same project records more than 3,000 Native visitors a year by 1819, rising to an estimated 4,500 in the 1820s, drawn by British gift distribution and the fur trade. Black Hawk was among the people who came through.

What is left

Almost nothing, and the way it ended explains why. Accounts of the 1828 evacuation describe troops leaving behind food, furniture and personal belongings because there was no cargo space for them. The 1977 marker closes with the current state of the site: now summer cottages occupy this rocky countryside and only a few ruined chimneys survive as reminders of the conflict between British and American sovereignty in the Old Northwest.

Yooper Hub note: if you have been out to the fort site on Drummond Island, send us a photo of the chimneys and we will add it here with credit.

Sources: Michigan History Division state historical marker for Fort Drummond (1977); Michigan Technological University, Military History of the Upper Great Lakes project, entries by Aaron Ortiz and Niklas Romero.

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How this story was reported

Editorial methodArchival synthesis

Last verifiedSep. 9, 2026

Corrections statusNo material correction note is recorded on this article.

AI assistanceResearched and drafted with AI tools. Reviewed and approved by editor Keegan O’Brien.

Verification note: The ledger establishes the 1815 move from Fort Mackinac, the 1822 boundary ruling and the November 1828 withdrawal to Penetanguishene from the 1977 Michigan History Division marker text, the NRHP listing (69000069, listed 1969-10-01), the Treaty of Ghent text, and two Michigan Tech Military History of the Upper Great Lakes posts for the settlement size and Native visitor figures. The article does not claim the British 'refused' to leave or that the fort was a defensive work; it does not name the exact number of troops.

Primary sources

1. Fort Drummond, Michigan Historical Marker no. 109 (Michigan History Division, 1977), transcribed at HMDB — Michigan History Division, Department of State (marker); Historical Marker Database (transcription)

   Accessed Sep. 9, 2026.

   Supports: The marker reads 'Forced by the Treaty of Ghent to evacuate the fort they had captured on Mackinac Island during the War of 1812, the British selected this island as an alternate military post,' was built by Colonel Robert McDonall, and 'The British abandoned their stronghold in 1828 six years after Drummond Island was ruled United States territory'; it closes with 'only a few ruined chimneys survive.'

   Marker erected 1977 by Michigan History Division. michmarkers.com, the editor's cited source, now serves unrelated gambling content and could not be used; HMDB carries the full inscription and marker number. Marker spells the commander 'McDonall'; the article uses 'McDouall'.

2. Fort Drummond, National Register of Historic Places, NRIS 69000069 — National Park Service, NPGallery

   Published Oct. 1, 1969. Accessed Sep. 9, 2026.

   Supports: The Fort Drummond site on the west end of Drummond Island, Chippewa County, Michigan, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (listed October 1, 1969; significant years 1815 and 1828; areas of significance Military and Politics/Government).

   Nomination PDFs linked from the asset page: npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/16772216-431d-4110-8964-0c809e894172/ and /GetAsset/c2ec4124-f1b1-4868-b775-f866d7bb7e12/ (not fetched).

3. Treaty of Ghent, 1814 — Avalon Project, Yale Law School

   Published Dec. 24, 1814. Accessed Sep. 9, 2026.

   Supports: The treaty was signed at Ghent on December 24, 1814; Article I required that 'All territory, places, and possessions whatsoever taken by either party from the other during the war … shall be restored without delay,' and Articles VI and VII created boundary commissioners to decide which islands in the lakes and water communications between Lake Huron and Lake Superior belonged to which party.

   Supports the article's statements that the treaty forced the return of Fort Mackinac and that an international boundary commission later ruled on the island.

Additional reporting

1. Fort Drummond Occupation — Military History of the Upper Great Lakes, Michigan Technological University (Aaron Ortiz)

   Published Oct. 21, 2017. Accessed Sep. 9, 2026.

   Supports: In 1819 'over 3,000 Native Americans were clothed there' and in the 1820s the average number visiting Fort Drummond annually was 4,500; Black Hawk, the Sauk war chief, was the most notable visitor (speech of July 12, 1821); an international commission determined in 1822 that the island was on American soil; Lt. Carson 'withdrew his forces to the naval station at Penetanguishene, Ontario, in November of 1828.'

   Student-authored university project; typed additional. Also records that McDonall learned of the peace five months after the treaty was signed.

2. Fort Drummond, the Forgotten Fort — Military History of the Upper Great Lakes, Michigan Technological University (Niklas Romero)

   Published Nov. 15, 2019. Accessed Sep. 9, 2026.

   Supports: 'The fort averaged 300 to 450 people during the construction'; officers had two-story buildings with fireplaces and stone reinforcements; the post had a sawmill, a lime quarry and a lumber yard alongside cedar-bark lodges; McDonall led construction in 1815; 'It was discovered during 1822 that the island was American soil'; and in 1828 the troops left 'most of the food, furniture, and personal belongings as they didn't have the space to ship their stuff.'

   Student-authored university project; typed additional.

3. Fort Drummond (Drummond Island, Michigan) — Wikipedia

   Accessed Sep. 9, 2026.

   Supports: British occupation ran 1815-1828; the 1822 boundary determination placed Drummond Island in the United States; the British shipped troops and materiel to Penetanguishene and American forces took possession on November 14, 1828; NRHP listed 1969-10-01 (69000069) and Michigan State Historic Site designated 1956-11-27.

   Cites Samuel Fletcher Cook, Drummond Island: The Story of the British Occupation, 1815-1828 (1896), the source of the article's third image.

Photo and media credits

1. Historic Fort Mackinac.jpg (featured image) — Shonebrooks, via Wikimedia Commons

   Featured image record. Accessed Sep. 9, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0.

   Supports: Featured image of Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island; article caption credits 'Photo: Shonebrooks, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons'; local file fort-mackinac-historic.jpg.

   Commons file identified Sept 9 2026 via the Commons API from the author credit and matching aspect ratio.

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