- Arent DePeyster
Arent Schuyler DePeyster (
27 June 1736 -26 November 1822 ) was a British military officer best known for his term as commandant of the British controlledFort Michilimackinac andFort Detroit during theAmerican Revolution . Following the capture of Lieutenant-Governor GeneralHenry Hamilton , DePeyster is often credited as being the military leader of British and Indian forces in the Western American and Canadian frontiers.DePeyster was a native of
New York City , the son of Pierre Guillaume DePeyster and Cornelia Schuyler. He was educated inLondon and obtained a commission asensign in time for theSeven Years War . He served under his uncle, ColonelPeter Schuyler , in upper colonial New York, gaining experience at frontier American warfare. He was captured, held as prisoner in France, and served out the war with the8th Regiment of Foot in Germany after being exchanged. After the war, he was stationed in Scotland, where he married Rebecca Blair.The 8th Regiment was assigned to Canada, and DePeyster enjoyed a series of promotions. In 1774 he was appointed commandant of Fort Michilimackinac. When war broke out with the United States, DePeyster participated in several campaigns, notably the effort under General
John Burgoyne in his native colony of New York. He was rewarded with a promotion tomajor .Major DePeyster took control of Detroit in 1779, and effectively managed his American Indian allies in the
Northwest Territory against American militia from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Although Great Britain ceded control of Detroit to the United States at the end of the war, Detroit remained in British control until 1796.In late 1783, DePeyster was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and transferred to
Fort Niagara . After the war, he returned to England and continued to serve, eventually receiving a commission ascolonel . He retired in 1794 due to illness, but was actively involved with the militia, especially when threatened by Napoleon. It was in the militia that he formed a friendship with poetRobert Burns , and DePeyster would publish his own works in 1813, titled "Miscellanies, by an officer".References
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2831 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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