This formative history takes a new look at a dramatic conflict-the war on the Detroit frontier in 1812-13. Powerful key players (Procter, Tecumseh and Brock), their disparate war aims, and the "all or nothing" character of the campaigns they waged still seem larger than life. Yet Sandy Antal's careful reconstruction of Native and national aspiration, vested colonial interest, and territorial aggression, reveals motives and expedients that were as often mundane as heroic. A Wampum Denied reassesses the much-maligned career of Henry Procter, commander of the British forces, traces the Canadian/British/Native side of the conflict (amid a literature dominated by the American view), and casts new light on an allied military strategy that very nearly succeeded, but when it failed, failed spectacularly.

Sandy Antal, co-author of Duty Nobly Done, became a teacher after retiring from twenty years as a major in the Canadian Forces. He now lives in Cameron, Ontario.

Sandy Antal's profile page

"In A Wampum Denied, retired Canadian army officer Sandy Antal seeks to rehabilitate Procter's reputation. His case is compelling. He shows that although Procter was badly served by his superiors in the east ... he did a good job of managing his troops an

"A Wampum Denied is a tour de force ... a mature piece of work, well-grounded in primary sources and a significant contribution to the field. This is the best work, by far, that I've read on the Northwest campaign in many years." Dr. Larry Nelson, Director, Fort Meigs State Memorial, Ohio

"A Wampum Denied is a tour de force ... a mature piece of work, well-grounded in primary sources and a significant contribution to the field. This is the best work, by far, that I've read on the Northwest campaign in many years." Dr. Larry Nelson, Director, Fort Meigs State Memorial, Ohio
"In A Wampum Denied, retired Canadian army officer Sandy Antal seeks to rehabilitate Procter's reputation. His case is compelling. He shows that although Procter was badly served by his superiors in the east ... he did a good job of managing his troops and lining up Indian allies and as a result played a key role in the British victories at Detroit, Frenchtown, and Fort Meigs ... Antal does much more than make the case for Proctor. He also presents a fine analysis of British policy and strategy in this theater and of war on the Detroit and Ohio frontiers ... this is a fine piece of scholarship, and no one interested in the western war can ignore it." Donald R. Hickey, The Journal of Military History

“Antal’s work is a detailed account of the struggles to preserve what was then the Canadian west, southwest Ontario, and the border with Michigan. Colonists were few and the transportation network limited.” British Journal of Canadian Studies