military post was to officially be known as Fort Amherstburg; named in commemoration of General Lord Amherst, a British Commander during the Seven Years' War. This title has never been formally changed. However, because the fort lay in the township of Malden, its inhabitants and the locals came to commonly and colloquially refer to it as Fort Malden. The name "Fort Malden" has remained ever since. 1812–1814: The War of 1812 Fort Malden's involvement in the War of 1812 began on 2 July 1812, when British forces at Amherstburg captured the American schooner Cuyahoga. The United States declaration of war on Great Britain was made on 18 June of that year; yet, on 1 July, the US Army General William Hull had still not received word of this development. Hull had chartered the Cuyahoga to transport goods and army records, officers' wives, and the ill from Toledo, Ohio to Detroit, Michigan Territory, passing by Amherstburg. In the deep water channel of the Detroit River, the Cuyahoga was captured by the British brig . General Hull's reaction came on 12 July when, under his command, American forces crossed the Detroit River east of Sandwich (now Windsor, Ontario) and took the town without opposition. Sandwich was to be used as a base of operations for the American advance into Upper Canada, with General Hull commandeering the Francois Baby House as his headquarters. On 13 July, Hull issued this proclamation to the residents of Upper Canada: On 16 July, General Hull's army was met with armed British resistance for the first time. A patrol out of Fort Malden engaged with Hull's troops at the River Canard, where two British soldiers were killed, marking the first fatalities of the War of 1812. Major General Sir Isaac Brock assumed command of Fort Malden on 13 August 1812, and it was Brock who would lead British troops across the Detroit River days later. On 16 August, with the help of Chief Tecumseh's Native warriors, Brock and Tecumseh's forces marched on Fort Detroit. It is reported that Hull was fearful of 'hordes' of Indians swooping down upon the civilian population of Detroit, a fear that Brock and Tecumseh were able to capitalize on by convincing Hull that their ranks included 5,000 of Tecumseh's native warriors. It is largely due to the unsettling effect that the Native allies' presence had upon General Hull that Fort Detroit was surrendered