In 1822, Colonel Brady and five companies of the 2nd Infantry established Fort Brady on the site of the French stockade Fort Repentigny (1751), along the St. Mary’s River at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan Territory, near Lake Superior. The outpost became an important defense structure in the upper Michigan frontier. In 1857, most of the soldiers at Fort Brady were withdrawn and transferred to Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Brady rose in rank to brigadier general later that same year, after ten years service. Brady had command of the garrison at Detroit by 1828.
He participated in the Black Hawk War. Five years later, in 1837, Brady was given command of Military Department No. 7, headquartered in Detroit. He remained in the position for seven years, during which time he was in command over the removal of several Native American tribes as well as an incident known as the “Patriot War”. When the U.S.-Mexican War broke out, Brady was too old to join the troops in the field but he assisted by helping to raise troops and equipment and shipping it to the war zone. In 1848, three years before his death, Brady was promoted to the rank of major general.
One of the founders of the U.S. Army and the Detroit Brady Guards, Brady died at the age of 86 following a carriage accident. When his pastor told him he was near death, he responded: “Mr. Duffield, let the drum beat; my knapsack is slung; I am ready to die.”
Source : Hugh Brady wikipedia entry
My Knapsack Is Slung: The Detroit Light Guard (1225 Corps Support Battalion in Iraq (2004-2005) / Hrad Kuzyk