Military / City history
Jean François Hamtramck
1756–1803 · US Army officer, first American commander of Detroit
Montreal-born Revolutionary War officer who took over Detroit from the British in July 1796 and commanded it until his death; the city of Hamtramck bears his name.
- Born
Montreal, New France- Died
Detroit, Michigan- Also known as
- John Francis Hamtramck
- Detroit years
- 1796–1803
- Field
- Military, City history
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Jean François Hamtramck, the son of a Luxembourg-born barber in Montreal, sided with the American rebels as a teenager, served in the invasion of Quebec, the Sullivan Expedition and the siege of Yorktown, and stayed in the new US Army. On the western frontier he commanded posts at Vincennes and Fort Wayne and fought in the Northwest Indian War. When the British finally handed over Detroit under the Jay Treaty, it was Colonel Hamtramck who led about 300 troops into Fort Lernoult on July 11, 1796, raising the American flag over the town for the first time. He remained commander of the Detroit garrison, a French-speaking officer in a largely French-speaking settlement, until his death there on April 11, 1803. A township formed in 1798 north of the city was named after him; its core became the city of Hamtramck, famous in the 20th century for its Polish community and the Dodge Main plant.
Highlights
- Led the American troops who occupied Detroit on July 11, 1796
- Commanded the Detroit garrison from 1796 until his death in 1803
- Veteran of the Siege of Yorktown and the Northwest Indian War
- The city of Hamtramck, Michigan, is named after him
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1796–1803
Fort Lernoult (Fort Shelby)
Demolished · 1779–1827
The fort he occupied on July 11, 1796, and commanded until 1803; demolished in 1827, recalled by a marker at Fort and Shelby streets.
Buried here · 1962–
Hamtramck's grave, Veterans Memorial Park
His remains and headstone, first buried in Detroit, were moved in 1962 to Veterans Memorial Park in the city of Hamtramck.