No care seems to have been taken to send out scouts to learn if the forest bordering the river above the falls was free from Indians, and, as the bateaux were slowly making their way against the swift stream towards Lake Erie, they were savagely attacked from the western bank by Indians in such force that Wilkins was compelled to retreat to Fort Schlosser.
It was not until November that another attempt was made to send troops and provisions to Detroit.

Early in this month Wilkins once more set out from Fort Schlosser, this time with forty-six bateaux heavily laden with troops, provisions, and ammunition.

While they were in Lake Erie there arose one of the sudden storms so prevalent on the Great Lakes in autumn.

Instead of creeping along the shore, the bateaux were in mid-lake, and before a landing could be made the gale was on them in all its fury.

There was a wild race for land; but the choppy, turbulent sea beat upon the boats, of which some were swamped and the crews plunged into the chilly waters.