Posted on 01/23/2016 5:02:58 PM PST by cripplecreek
MONROE, MI — Michigan isn't necessarily known for its war history.
That could be the reason why many Michiganders are unaware of the details of the deadliest day of war on Michigan soil.
Another possible reason, according to Daniel Downing, is America doesn't love to talk about the times we lose.
"It's a great American defeat and we don't like to brag about our defeats," said Downing, who serves as chief of education, interpretation and operation for River Raisin National Battlefield Park.
Left without sufficient ammunition, more than 300 Americans were killed Jan. 22, 1813 during the War of 1812's Battle of Frenchtown, which occurred on land that is now the city of Monroe. In addition to the immediate casualties, about 60 men were seriously wounded and more than 500 were taken captive.
"This was the first attempt by the United States to take back the Michigan territory," said Downing, discussing the Battle of Frenchtown, which is also known as the Battle of the River Raisin.
Downing is currently preparing for the national park's annual commemoration of the battle, which will take place Saturday, Jan. 23.
Detroit was surrendered to British and Native American troops about five months before the conflict in Frenchtown, during the Siege of Detroit. In an attempt to take back the land, on Jan. 18, 1813, American troops rushed a small number of British and Native American troops from the Frenchtown area.
"On the 22nd, the British counter-attacked," Downing explained.
The Americans, most of whom were members of the Kentucky militia, were camped out near a road that bordered the frozen River Raisin. Their spot near the road was necessary, Downing explained, since it was the only way to receive supplies.
"Logistically, that's why the battle occurred here," he said.
As the British and Native American forces attacked from both sides, Americans were ill-equipped to fight back, since Brigidier General James Winchester took the army's extra ammunition to a private home about a mile away from Frenchtown, according to the official River Raisin Battlefield website.
"They could not stand the withering fire," Downing said. "They retreated against the frozen River Raisin."
Of the more-than 900 Americans involved in the battle, only 33 were unscathed and free from capture following the conflict.
Winchester was one of those captured and the next morning on Jan. 23, Native American troops surrounded and killed Winchester's soldiers who were injured during the previous day's battle.
"That was very graphic," Downing said. "This was a very famous event in its day. It was kind of like the 9/11 of its day."
The massacre, known as the River Raisin Massacre, was used as a recruiting tool for years to come.
"This became America's first rallying cry – 'Remember the Raisin,'" Downing said.
Eventually, most of the 500-plus soldiers captured during the Battle of Frenchtown were released.
While some of those killed or captured during the battle were from Michigan, the vast majority of American soldiers involved in the conflict were from Kentucky.
"Four out of every five casualties in the war came from Kentucky," Downing said.
Kentucky's heavy involvement means some Kentucky residents are traveling to Monroe in order to take part in Saturday's memorial activities. Additionally, Ohio residents, Michiganders, Canadian residents and Native Americans are expected to take part in what Downing calls a "big event."
The day begins at 11 a.m. with a tactical demonstration at the battlefield located at the Monroe Multi-Sports Complex, 333 N. Dixie Highway. At noon, attendees will gather at River Raisin National Battlefield Park, 1403 E. Elm, for a commemoration ceremony. The final event of the day, a presentation on the reconstruction of historic Fort Holmes, occurs at 2:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Historical Museum, 123 S. Monroe Street.
A national park was first created on the site of the battle in 2010, with the River Raisin National Battlefield Park officially opening in 2011.
For more information on the battle visit riverraisinbattlefield.org or nps.gov/rira.
Can’t remember who it was, but someone sported a tagline for a long time around here that read something like, “Remember the River Raisin!”
Something is just not right with that photo....
We had a lot of that fighting down here in Alabama. I live about 10 miles from the Creek’s capital of Tuckabatchee, were Tecumseh spoke to the Creeks about forming a great Western Indian confederacy. Most of the tribal leaders rejected his appeals, and he went back North. He was said to have stated, on leaving, that he would bring a great disaster to the Creeks, and only a few days later, the famous New Madrid earthquake occurred. Many of the Creeks, especially the younger warriors, joined the Red Sticks on what they called, “the day Tecumseh caused the ground to shake”.
While the Kentucky militia went North to Michigan and eventually into Ontario with Harrison, most of the Tennessee militia went South against the Creeks. They were led by Andrew Jackson. He, along with two regiments of the US Army, and about 1200 Cherokee warriors allied with the Tennesseans, went south along the Tallapoosa river (about 2 miles as the crow flies from me), and decisively defeated the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend, and further South to just North of Montgomery at the confluence of the Tallapoosa and Coosa Rivers where they formed the Alabama river, and built a fort, Fort Jackson, where the White Stick Creeks signed a peace treaty, which would eventually lead to the Trail of Tears and the expulsion of the Southeast Indians by Jackson when he became president!
After wintering at Force Jackson, he led his forces South to Mobile and then to New Orleans, and defeated the British there. His rise to the presidency started at those two battles.
Oh, by the way, the Red versus White Stick Creeks. At Tuckabatchee (which was an Indian city of about 10,000 souls) they had a bundle of sticks, at the council when Tecumseh spoke. Half were painted white, the other half red. At the end of all the talks, the chiefs were asked to choose a white stick for peace, or a red stick for war. The white sticks won, and that is why Tecumseh left in anger and made his curse. After the earthquake, many chiefs traded their whites sticks for red!
And the rest, as they say, is history!
That would be me.
And I wonder how long it will be before that truth is scrubbed.
That’s what I was thinking, but wasn’t sure.
:-)
Thanks for posting this. Man, I’m sick of the Trump wars..
Excellent.
Nice thread!
“At first I thought this would be about the Ohio Michigan border war over Toledo.”
The Toledo wars?
Did you know that the Michigan/Ohio border is contested to this day? Some MI maps list the border at the Maumee river!
Read about the Gnaddenhutten Massacre, where peaceful Christian Indians at a Moravian mission, mostly women and children, were lined up and their brains bashed out with mallets and see why the Indians had no love for the colonists, either.
And he has a great dog. Had.
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