<P> After receiving reinforcements, the British attempted to make a surprise attack on Pontiac's encampment . But Pontiac was ready and waiting, and defeated them at the Battle of Bloody Run on July 31, 1763 . Nevertheless, the situation at Fort Detroit remained a stalemate, and Pontiac's influence among his followers began to wane . Groups of Native Americans began to abandon the siege, some of them making peace with the British before departing . On October 31, 1763, finally convinced that the French in Illinois would not come to his aid at Detroit, Pontiac lifted the siege and removed to the Maumee River, where he continued his efforts to rally resistance against the British . </P> <P> Before other British outposts had learned about Pontiac's siege at Detroit, Native Americans captured five small forts in a series of attacks between May 16 and June 2 . The first to be taken was Fort Sandusky, a small blockhouse on the shore of Lake Erie . It had been built in 1761 by order of General Amherst, despite the objections of local Wyandots, who in 1762 warned the commander that they would soon burn it down . On May 16, 1763, a group of Wyandots gained entry under the pretense of holding a council, the same stratagem that had failed in Detroit nine days earlier . They seized the commander and killed the other 15 soldiers, as well as British traders at the fort . These were among the first of about 100 traders who were killed in the early stages of the war . The dead were ritually scalped and the fort--as the Wyandots had warned a year earlier--was burned to the ground . </P> <P> Fort St. Joseph (the site of present - day Niles, Michigan) was captured on May 25, 1763, by the same method as at Sandusky . Potawatomis seized the commander and killed most of the 15 - man garrison outright . Fort Miami (on the site of present Fort Wayne, Indiana) was the third fort to fall . On May 27, 1763, the commander was lured out of the fort by his Native mistress and shot dead by Miami Native Americans . The nine - man garrison surrendered after the fort was surrounded . </P> <P> In the Illinois Country, Weas, Kickapoos, and Mascoutens took Fort Ouiatenon (about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of present Lafayette, Indiana) on June 1, 1763 . They lured soldiers outside for a council, and took the 20 - man garrison captive without bloodshed . The Native Americans around Fort Ouiatenon had good relations with the British garrison, but emissaries from Pontiac at Detroit had convinced them to strike . The warriors apologized to the commander for taking the fort, saying that "they were obliged to do it by the other Nations ." In contrast with other forts, the Natives did not kill the British captives at Ouiatenon . </P>

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