HULL, William, American soldier: b. Derby, Conn., 24 June 1753; d. Newton. Mass., 29 Nov. 1825. He was graduated at Yale Col lege in 1772, then taught school and studied theology for one year, but finally studied law at Litchfield, Conn., and was admitted to the bar in 1775. He entered the army of the Revolu tion at Cambridge in 1775 as captain of a Con necticut company of volunteers; was promoted to the rank of major in the 8th Massachusetts regiment in 1777, and to that of lieutenant colonel in 1779. He was in the battles at White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Stillwater, Saratoga, Monmouth and Stony Point and in all the bat tles fought against Burgoyne. His services throughout the war received the approbation of his superior officers, and neither his courage nor patriotism was ever doubted. After the English evacuation he accompanied Washington to New York and was made lieutenant-colonel of the one regiment which then made up the entire peace establishment of the United States army. He was sent to Canada as a commis sioner in 1784, and again in 1793, after which he returned to the practice of law at Newton, Mass. After a trip to Europe in 1798 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas and later was elected to the Massachusetts senate where he served until 1805. In 1798 he was also made major-general of the Massachu setts militia. He was governor of Michigan Territory from 1805 till 1812, when he was ap pointed as brigadier-general to the command of the northwestern army. He marched his troops to Detroit, heard of the declaration of war, and of the fall of Michilimackinac, which let loose the Indians of the Northwest upon him, crossed into Canada, but found his communications cut off, recrossed, and on the arrival of General Brock surrendered to that officer the post of Detroit and the territory. For this he was
tried two years after by a court-martial, and sentenced to be shot. The execution of the sentence was remitted by the President in con sideration of his age and Revolutionary services. Historians are now agreed that the difficulties which surrounded General Hull were so great that we need not ascribe his surrender either to treason or to cowardice. He published 'De fence of Brigadier-General W. Hull, etc.' (Bos ton 1814) ; of the Campaign of the North Western Army of the United States, 1812' (Boston 1824). Consult Campbell, M., 'Revolutionary Services and Civil Life of General W. Hull' (New York 1848) ; Clarke, J. F., 'History of the Campaign of 1812' (New York 1848) ; Clarke, S. C., 'General W. Hull's Surrender at Detroit, 1812' (in Magazine of American History, Vol. XXVII, p. 343, New York 1892) ; id., 'General W. Hull' (in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. XLVII, pp. 141 and 305, Boston 1893) ,• Forbes, J. G., ed., 'Report of the Trial of Brid.-Gen. W. Hull, etc,' (New York 1814) ; Foster, J., 'The capitulation, or a His tory of the Expedition Conducted by William Hull' (Chillicothe 1812) ; Lossing, B. J., 'Hull's Surrender of Detroit' (Philadelphia 1875) ; Summer, W H., 'General W. Hull' (in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. IX, p. 41; Vol. XI, p. 167; Boston 1855 and 1857) ; Snelling, J., 'Remarks on Hull's Memoirs of the Campaign of 1812' (Detroit 1825).