The siege of Fort Meigs took place in late April to early May 1813 during the War of 1812 in northwestern Ohio, in present-day Perrysburg.

A small British Army unit with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, and its Fort Detroit in the Great Lakes region which the British from the north in Canada had captured it the previous year.

In the early days of the War of 1812 (1812–1815), an American Army under Brigadier General William Hull (1753–1825), surrendered following the siege of Detroit.

Brigadier General James Winchester (1752–1826), briefly commanded this army before William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), Congressional delegate and then secretary of the old Northwest Territory, then first governor of the Indiana Territory and future 9th president (1841) was commissioned a major general in the regular United States Army and appointed to the command by fourth president James Madison.

Harrison withdrew with his main body to the Maumee or also called Miami du Lac River, and in spite of rebukes from future 5th President James Monroe, who was temporarily serving as United States Secretary of War, he declined to resume his advance immediately and instead gave orders for the construction of several forts to protect the rivers and trails which his army would use in any renewed advance.

The garrison consisted of several hundred men from the 17th and 19th Regiments, U.S. Infantry, who were inadequately clothed, plus militia from Pennsylvania and Virginia whose own enlistments were soon to expire.

[11] The British Army commander on the Detroit frontier, Major General Henry Procter, had been urged to attack Fort Presque Isle (present day Erie, Pennsylvania), where the Americans were constructing a flotilla intended to seize control of Lake Erie, but Procter refused unless he received substantial reinforcements.

[12] Harrison received word of Procter's preparations, and hastened down the Maumee with 300 reinforcements, increasing the garrison of the fort to a total of 1,100 men.

As the British established their batteries, Harrison ordered "traverses", embankments 12 feet (3.7 m) high, to be hastily thrown up within the fort.

Early on the morning of 5 May, a detachment from Clay's brigade under Colonel William Dudley landed from boats on the north bank of the river.

Coming under fire from Natives in the woods, part of the Kentuckian force pursued Tecumseh's men, who led them deeper into the forest.

[15] Major Adam Muir led three companies of the 41st Foot and one of Canadian militia from the British camp and stormed the battery, killing many of the Kentuckians and forcing Shelby to surrender.

[26] Harrison reported no men missing or captured from his garrison,[27] so all of the prisoners taken on 5 May must have been from Dudley's troops on the north bank of the river.

The official casualty report for Dudley's command, compiled after the Kentucky Militia prisoners were paroled, details 80 men killed and 100 wounded (all of whom had been captured).

[26] On the same day, Procter's artillery resumed fire, but most of the Natives had abandoned the army and the Canadian militia were anxious to get back to their farms.

[5] Canadian Militia, including: Tecumseh's Confederacy Once the British had departed, Harrison left Clay in command of the fort with about 100 militiamen.

Tecumseh's warriors staged a mock battle in the woods to make it appear as if they were attacking a column of American reinforcements to lure Clay out of the fort.