Then she cut her cable, hoisted sail again, and took the bottom on Squaw Island, where both British and American guns had the range of her.

Elliott had to abandon her and set fire to the hull, but he afterward recovered her ordnance.
What Elliott had in mind shows the temper of this ready naval officer.
"A strong inducement," he wrote, "was that with these two vessels and those I have purchased, I should be able to meet the remainder of the British force on the Upper Lakes." The loss of the _Detroit_ somewhat disappointed this ambitious scheme but the success of the audacious adventure foreshadowed later and larger exploits with far-reaching results.

Isaac Brock, the British general in Canada, had the genius to comprehend the meaning of this naval exploit.

"This event is particularly unfortunate," he wrote, "and may reduce us to incalculable distress.

The enemy is making every exertion to gain a naval superiority on both lakes; which, if they accomplish, I do not see how we can retain the country." And to Procter, his commander at Detroit, he disclosed the meaning of the naval loss as it affected the fortunes of the western campaign: "This will reduce us to great distress.