Wayne State will fly a 15-star flag July 11 remembering the first U.S. flag flown over Detroit and Michigan in 1796 by Gen. Anthony Wayne.

The Michigan Legislature adopted a resolution in 1971 designating each July 11as Anthony Wayne Day, commemorating the man whose gallantry and service made Detroit a part of the United States. Traditionally the university flies the flag each year.

"The British ceded the Northwest Territory -- including the present states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin -- to the United States in the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War," says Philip Mason, distinguished professor of history. But the United States was unable to move out the British out who retained control of the territory and the rich fur trade.

By arming the Indians and encouraging them to raid and burn pioneer settlements through such agents as the famous renegade Simon Girty, the British effectively retained control of the territory and trade north and west of the Ohio River, Mason explains.

The American government seemed powerless to assume control of western forts they won in the Revolution. That was the picture when President George Washington appointed Revolutionary War hero "Mad Anthony" Wayne, who earned his nickname through his daring in such battles as the successful storming of Stony Point, to enforce terms of the treaty.

Wayne took command of the legion in June 1792 and began to whip the undisciplined frontiersmen into a trained army. He took his time, but when the legion moved west into Ohio, it was ready.

The British policy ended when Wayne defeated a coalition of Indians and British agents at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near Toledo, Ohio, in August1794. The British recognized that the American forces could capture Detroit and even some Canadian posts.

The Jay Treaty was concluded, calling for the British evacuation of Detroit, Mich., Mackinac and other military posts. In the spring of 1796 the British built a fort at the mouth of the Detroit River, which they named Amherstburg. They moved the cannon and stores from Fort Lernoult in Detroit, and in July the troops left Detroit. The victory by Wayne accomplished what Washington hoped.

Under Wayne's command, Col. Moses Porter arrived in Detroit July 11, 1796,with 45 soldiers. Two days later his commander, Col. Francis Hamtramck, a Swiss-born army officer, arrived to take charge. The British flag, which had flown over Detroit for 36 years, was lowered in a solemn ceremony and the stars and stripes were raised in its place.

Detroit citizens were given a choice. They could move across the river to Canada or become American citizens. Some families were split between the two countries.

After the British departed, an appreciative U.S. government initially named the area Wayne County and declared it included all of Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as a strip that included parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Wayne left Detroit in November 1796 and died a month later at age 51 near Erie, Pa. Today a city, a county and a university are named in his honor.

"Anthony Wayne," Mason says, "was a big reason the United States expanded beyond the original states along the Atlantic coast and became a world power, instead of just another country in the Western Hemisphere."

For more information call Mason at 313.577.8042 or 313.577.2150.