Hull, WILLIAM, general, was born at Derby, Connecticut, in 1753, fought in the war of independence, and governed Michigan territory in 1805-12. In 1812 he was sent with an ill-found army of 1500 men to defend Detroit; there he was left without supplies, shut in by British and Indians, and ultimately compelled to surrender. The government needed a scapegoat, and Hull was tried by court-martial and sentenced to be shot. The sentence, however, was never carried out, and he died on his farm at Newton, Massachusetts, in 1825.
His nephew, ISAAC HULL, naval officer, was born at Derby, Connecticut, 9th March 1773, became a cabin-boy at fourteen, rose to the command of a ship in the West Indian trade, and in 1798 entered the newly-established American navy as a fourth-lieutenant. He was appointed to the Constitution frigate, which he commanded as captain from 1806. Hull was an able seaman, and in July 1812 his skill in sailing his ship enabled him to escape from an English squadron, after a pursuit of three days and nights. On August 19 of the same year he captured the British frigate Guerriere, forty-four guns, after a close action of thirty minutes; the Constitution losing fourteen killed and wounded, the Guerriere seventy-nine. The Guerriere was so injured that she had to be burned; while Hull's frigate escaped with such slight damage as to gain for her the name of 'Old Ironsides.' Hull received a medal from congress, swords of honour, and the freedom of several cities. He afterwards commanded squadrons in the Mediterranean and Pacific, retired in 1841, and died in Philadelphia, 13th February 1843. See the Life by General James Grant Wilson (New York, 1889).