26. River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Michigan

Hello!  Welcome back to our blog on the NPS.  In our latest post we’ll be visiting a War of 1812 battlefield and making our first stop in the state of Michigan at River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

Entrance Sign and visitor center.

BACKGROUND:

               The War of 1812 started off badly for the United States.  Despite predictions that conquering Canada would be a swift affair, the U.S. had been embarrassed when their first invasion across the Niagara river in New York was repulsed and the British struck back by capturing Detroit in Michigan.  Suddenly the United States was forced to recover lost ground and the western shores of Lake Erie became the main theater of war.  Hoping to gain the element of surprise, American forces marched north through Ohio in winter to retake Detroit.  On January 18^th, 1813 a force of roughly nine hundred U.S. troops fought off a force of Canadian militia and American Indian allies at a small settlement called Frenchtown on the banks of the River Raisin in southeast Michigan.  Several days later on January 22^nd, a much larger force of British regulars, along with additional Canadians and Indian allies returned to assault Frenchtown.  The British were able to flank and rout the professional U.S. 17^th Infantry regiment, inflicting mass casualties.  Kentucky militia continued to hold out along a rail fence, until receiving orders to surrender from the captured American commander.  Most of the American prisoners were marched north while the wounded were left in Frenchtown to be retrieved later.  However, the next day, before British troops returned, their Native Indian allies fell upon the town and massacred the wounded Americans.  Out of the over nine hundred U.S. troops engaged in the two battles at Frenchtown and the ensuing massacre, only thirty-three were able escape unscathed back to American lines.  The defeat badly set back the U.S. counter-offensive to retake Detroit, while the massacre at Frenchtown gave the Americans the rallying cry of, “Remember the Raisin!”

A monument opposite the park grounds commemorating the U.S. soldiers who were killed in the battle and massacre at Frenchtown.

THE BATTLEFIELD PARK:

River Raisin National Battlefield Park was originally a Michigan state historic site until becoming a unit of the National Park Service in 2009.  The park currently preserves a tract of land at the corner of Elm Street and North Dixie Highway along the north bank of the River Raisin.  The majority of the property is open fields where the British force attacked across during the second battle on January 22^nd, 1813.  No original structures from the Frenchtown settlement remain, their locations built over by modern homes along Elm Street, however a rail fence where the Kentucky militia made their last stand was erected on the original spot.  A trail circles the edge of the battlefield.

The reconstructed rail fence where the Kentucky militiamen fought off several attacks by British regulars.  The British would have been advancing from the right of the photo.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               River Raisin National Battlefield Park is located in the present-day town of Monroe, Michigan, which absorbed the Frenchtown settlement, a roughly twenty-minute drive north from Toledo, Ohio.  The park is open from 9am to 5pm year-round with holiday exceptions.  For those interested in a more authentic experience, it is recommended to visit in the winter.  In addition, battle reenactments are conducted around the anniversary of the battle in January.  The visitor center contains a short film and exhibits featuring artifacts from the battle.  The park is handicapped accessible and passport stamps can  be found at the front desk in the visitor center.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A picnic shelter and historical markers behind the visitor center on the ground where the U.S. 17th Infantry Regiment camped prior to the battle.

Two mannequins in the visitor center displaying the uniforms of U.S. regulars (right) and militia (left).

A second mannequin display depicting the appearance of British soldiers at River Raisin, from left to right, Canadian militia, an artilleryman with a light cannon mounted on a sled for traversing through snow, and a British infantryman.