The Battle of the River Raisin

From the Jan. 23, 2013, WKAR "The War of 1812: Battle of the River Raisin" by Scott Pohl.

American commander James Winchester was a 61-year-old veteran of the American Revolution and acted against the orders have General W.H. Harrison and took 1500 men to today's Monroe, Michigan because he had heard the British had supplies there.

He won a victory in the first battle, January 17, 1813, but the British returned in force on the 22nd and with Indian allies and this time soundly defeated the Americans, capturing Winchester in the process.  Winchester surrendered his force after British General Proctor convinced him that he had 800 Indians with him and he feared they would get out of his control if the battle continued any longer.

Proctor then returned to Fort Malden, across the river from Detroit, taking those prisoners who were able to walk.  This left about 80 U.S. troops behind and several dozen were murdered by the Indians on the 23rd.

This became known as the River Raisin Massacre and became a major American battle cry, "Remember the River Raisin!"  This was heard at the Battle of the Thames near present-day Chatham in late 1813.

Before This Blog, I Had Never heard of the River Raisin.  --Brock-Perry