Hull had been extremely confident when he invaded Sandwich, but the American Commander hesitated over the following weeks. He decided not to attack Amherstburg until there was "an absolute certainty of success.” He worried that his proclamation promising no quarter for Canadians who fight alongside the Natives was too aggressive; the statement could backfire and seal a grisly fate for Detroit if the fort were to be overrun. His officers pleaded with him to push on and confront the British and First Nations at Fort Malden. Hull's confidence melted away, however, and he announced a retreat to Detroit on August 7. Hull returned to the fort with a near-mutinous army and more fears than ever.

Hull failed to secure a promise of neutrality from Tecumseh and his Native alliance; this was a crushing blow. Native attacks had prevented his troops from bringing much-needed supplies up from the River Raisin. Gory reports streamed in from survivors who had witnessed the stealth and ferocity of Tecumseh's forces. These stories rattled all the Americans, and perhaps Hull most of all. The recent news of Fort Mackinacs's surrender convinced him that the Natives from the northern Great Lakes would soon descend to join in the imminent attack on Detroit.

Hull's lack of confidence was not entirely of his own doing. He had pleaded for extra men and money from Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, but had been consistently turned down. More significantly, Hull had not received the promised support from American forces elsewhere in the form of offensive strikes at Niagara and Kingston. This was the original American plan at the outset of war; calculated to strain the modest British defenses along the border. Dearborn failed to initiate the attacks. This lack of competence within the American war administration was an issue that would receive no mention when Hull was later faced his court martial for the loss of Detroit. In fact, the proceeding was presided over by none other than Dearborn himself.

Many of Hull's subordinates later said that they were defeated before the battle had even begun. Hull refused to initiate any action whatsoever. At one point he could have blown a solitary British gunboat out of the water with his 28 guns, but held off. The day of the attack, Hull refused to return fire even as the British cannon were killing people within the fort. The sight of the destruction rendered him almost catatonic. The only thought that seems to have made sense to his muddled mind was to immediately stop the advance of danger. He could do this by simply waving a white flag. The only decision he made that day was the one to surrender.

While the volunteers, and the 1,600 Ohio and Michigan militia were paroled home, Hull and his 600 regulars were shipped off to Quebec. More American men died on this voyage than during the ill-fated campaign.

Hull's reputation was disparaged throughout America; the tidal wave of blame and frustration for the unsuccessful beginning of the war fell around his neck. He was reviled by the American troops and brought before a court martial on charges of treason and cowardice. After three months of trials, he was finally found guilty of cowardice and sentenced to be shot.

Taking into consideration Hull's age and his participation in the Revolutionary War, President Madison pardoned him. Hull spent the remainder of his days defending his action on that fateful summer’s day in much the same way he expressed it immediately after his surrender: "I have done what my conscience directed. I have saved Detroit and the Territory from the horrors of an Indian massacre."