Massacre at the River Raisin

Latter Part of December 1812

Meanwhile near Defiance, General Winchester, commander of the left wing of Harrisons army, had become absolutely convinced that he had enough men and materials on hand to advance on Detroit and finish the business Hull had been sent to do earlier in the year.   His plan was to march eastward toward the Rapids and construct a staging area near the site of old Ft. Miami and from there launch an attack on Detroit.  Brigadier General John Payne of the Kentucky militia and part of Winchester’s command, sent the following letter to Lt. Col. Pogue at Ft. Amanda asking that he send a battalion of his men to take part in the action.  The sense of urgency in Payne’s letter is clear.   He tells Pogue that the march will be a very difficult because the rivers are frozen shut so he can’t use boats plus, there weren’t enough oxen and other animals to help carry his equipment.  He also suggests to Pogue that the men he sends be volunteers not drafted soldiers.

Camp 6 miles below Fort Winchester - December 22, 1812

Col. Pogue  

Dear Sir, The present state of affairs requires all the patriotism, love of country and influences of officers should ma__________ great event. To do what is required, one battalion of your regiment should immediately proceed to this place. In doing this dear Colonel, I am not unmindful of the privations and sufferings the men will necessarily undergo. It will hereafter be faithfully marked in history that your country has justly reposed confidence in you. Believe me sir, when I say that the army which will advance from this place will carry its accommodations without the assistance of water craft or animal aid. Be assured the present moment must be improved. Do not be discouraged when I say that ample accommodations is not to be expected. I know you will provide the troops required without the least delay. I do hope that you will by no means make arrival of your troops later than the 2nd of January and sooner if possible. Make the detachment from your regiment for this place of the best equipt and volunteer companies if possible. I have the fullest confidence in your own method of effecting the requisition to the greatest ….advantage.                                                                                                                                                                                                             Yours…..John Payne, B.G.

OUTRAGE…….We Came Here to Fight.

Dec. 28, 1812 - Monday

General Payne’s request that Pogue send only a part of his regiment outraged Pogues men.  On December 28^th, Pogue wrote Payne telling him that sending only a small number of men to assist in the action would create major problems within the ranks.  His men had volunteered to fight and up until that date hadn’t even seen an enemy let along engage them.  Pogue informed Payne that the Auglaize was frozen over in spots so using canoes to transport his equipment was out of the question.  He went on to say that despite his attempts, he hadn’t been able to secure any oxen or horses to help transport baggage.  

How many men Pogue finally dispatched is unknown, however, but what is known is Pogue remained behind at Ft. Amanda to oversee operations there, a decision that, as it turns out, may have saved his life.

General Payne,

I received your favor of the 22^nd instant requiring a battalion from my regiment to camp at No. 5.  You also proposed a wish that battalion should be raised from the regiment by volunteers (the greatest difficulty is among those that is well who be left behind) and to be there by Jan. 2^nd and as it appeared not your intention to send me off at this season of the year without their tents and camp equipage.  I immediately set off at the receipt of the orders to procure some animal aid to remove the baggage as the Auglaize was not sufficiently frozen to justify a removal on the ice but too much so to take canoes.  Upon application to M. Bodley the quartermaster for horses, he informed me that it would check the supplies to the suffering army in advance to spare any horses before the brigadier of horses from Kentucky would arrive which was daily expected.   I went on near Piqua to see if I would meet them but did not hear of their being very near.  I returned which will put it out of our power to join the army as soon as was expected but I trust we will not be long after this time appointed as we will be prepared to move by water if it should thaw so as to check the prospect by land.  Colonel ________ has had a brisk little engagement with the Indians and came off victorious with the loss of about 8 killed and 48 wounded.  He has taken about 40 prisoners and the killed on the part of the Indians I have not heard.

Finally after a week of preparation, Winchesters troops   began marching eastward.  On Wednesday Dec. 30^th, Harrison received intelligence that Tecumseh and 600 warriors were moving eastward to cut off Winchesters supply lines.  Harrison immediately sent a courier ordering Winchester to stop his advance and return to Ft. Jennings.  Winchester responded saying he was continuing his advance because the enlistment for his Kentuckian volunteers was about to expire and the odds of them extending their enlistment was almost nil.  He added that the Kentuckians had become disillusioned and morale was low so promising them a good fight would be an excellent incentive to continue on.  After all, they had volunteered to fight. 

1813

A Slow and Most Miserable Trip – A 3 Day March Took 11.

Winchester continued on but the trip was a slow and miserable one owing to the heavy snow and bad roads.  Normally, a three day trip from Defiance to the Rapids, this one took eleven.  When they finally arrived at the rapids on Sunday January10^th, Winchester received the alarming news that the British and the Indians were terrorizing the inhabitants of Frenchtown thirty miles to the north and  threatening to kill everyone between there and Detroit.  Hoping to avoid a massacre, Winchester sent Col. Lewis and a detachment ahead to make an assessment of the situation.  Lewis arrived at Frenchtown on January 18^th and engaged the enemy in a brief skirmish. Winchester and the remainder of the advancing force arrived two days later on 20^th.   The Kentuckians were about to get their wish. For many this would be their first engagement with the enemy.  Unfortunately for several hundred more, it would be their last. 

The Highest Number of United States Casualties During the War of 1812

Jan. 18 – 1813 Tuesday

On Jan. 18^th the American forces entered Frenchtown and after a minor skirmish, the British and Indians retreated.  Casualties were very light on both sides.  Rather than retreating back to Detroit the British and their allies reassembled and began planning a strategy to attack the Americans.  

Jan. 22, 1813   Friday morning

Early that morning, a combined force of 2000 British, Canadian and Indians led by Col. Henry Proctor,

Col. Henry Proctor
1763 - 1822

annihilated Winchesters Army near Frenchtown, (Monroe, Michigan). in what became known as the Battle of the River Raisin.  Of the nearly 1000 men in Winchesters command, 379 were killed, 27 wounded and 560 taken prisoner.  Only 33 escaped death or capture.   British and Canadian losses were estimated at 24 killed and 158 wounded.  No count was made of Indians killed.   When the shooting stopped, the wounded American prisoners mostly Kentucky militiamen who were too injured or sick to travel with the other prisoners were placed in cabins. 

Shooting Fish in a Barrel

Jan 23, 1813

Early Saturday morning the 23^rd, in their final act of barbarism, the Indians set fire to the cabins with the defenseless sick and wounded men inside.  The 68 men who were able to move tried to escaped but  the Indians waiting outside, shot them down as they came through the door.  Those they didn't shoot were clubbed, tomahawked or stabbed to death.  The other prisoners began their march to Malden, and like that Batan Death March of World War II, those who prisoners who couldn't keep up with the others were murdered on the spot.   The battle cry, “Remember the Raisin” became the rallying call throughout the rest of the war. 

Arriving at Malden the prisoners were eventually pardoned after signing a paper stating agreeing not to up arms against Great Britain again.    

Allen County Ohios Namesake - John Allen

            Harrison was 45 miles east of Ft. Winchester when he received the news about Winchesters defeat.  He immediately halted and discussed the situation with his senior officers who unanimously agreed not to continue on to Frenchtown.  The enemy was greatly superior in number and a forced march through deep heavy snow would be too exhausting to the men and the animals so Harrison sent orders to commanders at Forts. Jennings and Amanda to advance with their men to the area to help build a new fort where part of the army would spend the winter.[2]

Hearing of Winchesters defeat Jennings immediately sent Lt. Ross with a letter to Pogue, at Ft. Amanda urging him to advance with as many men as possible and join him on his march to the Rapids.  He advised Pogue to use the waterway and sleds as much as possible for transporting supplies. Jennings letter to Pogue read:

Fort Jennings

Jan. 25th, 1813 Col. R. Pogue

Dear Sir, By Lieut. Ross you will receive news that will call to action every sympathy of your Lord.  The flower of Kentucky at the head of the left wing of the N.W. Army is no more, he will tell you more than I can write. I have received orders to march to Fort Winchester with three of the remaining companies of my Regiment, you will I expect also receive orders to march to the same point.  I would suggest to you the propriety of transporting your baggage by water and if you think practicable drop down as many empty canoes as will take on the loading that is in the sleds between your post and this.  The loading can get on no how else and will be of great advantage to the Army.  I wish you to immediately on the receipt of this to dispatch an express to me how and when your troops will start to this place and if shortly I will remain here and we will march together. I wish to hear from you as quick as possible.

I am dear Sir yours with due respect,

Lt. Col.  Jennings

2 Regt. Ky. Volunteers and Comdr. at  Fort Jennings

How many of Pogue’s men regiment assisted in building Harrison’s new fort is unknown however a large number remained at the fort to continue building boats and getting materials ready for shipment. 

Normally We’d Walk Across Lake Erie, But Not This Time.

Harrison, hungry for a victory and still thinking he had time to capture Detroit and rescue the hundreds of American prisoners there, spent the next few days evaluating his options on how to reach Detroit.  He and his senior officers had already decided that advancing along the west side of Lake Erie in the heavy snow, would be too exhausting for men and animals, plus there was the issue of transporting supplies under the same conditions.  His only real option at that point was to try to cross the frozen lake and attack Detroit from the south.     He sent a group of men ahead to check the thickness of the ice to see if it was thick enough to support men, supply wagons and most important, his artillery..  The men returned a few days later and told Harrison in their opinion, the ice was not think enough to support his artillery pieces.  With his campaign at a virtual standstill, Harrison wrote the Secretary of War and informed him that he was suspending the winter campaign.  In response, the Secretary   recommended Harrison discharge the militia and depend solely on federal troops for the rest of the winter.  Harrison refused and continued work on his new fort naming it Ft. Meigs in honor of Ohio Governor; Return J. Meigs, Jr.

                               Kentucky Honors It's Dead

After the war the State of Kentucky named 9 counties in honor of its sons who were killed at the River Raisin.

1. Allen County (after Lt. Col. John Allen
2. Ballard County (after Major Bland Ballard)
3. Edmonson County (after Captain John Edmonson)
4. Graves County (after Major Benjamin Franklin Graves)
5. Hart County (after Captain Nathaniel G. S. Hart)
6. Hickman County (after Captain Paschal Hickman)
7. McCracken County (after Captain Viegil McCracken)
8. Meade County (after Captain James M. Meade)
9. Simpson County (after Captain John Simpson)

James Winchester

Born the third child of William and Lydia (Richards) Winchester on Feb. 5, 1752 in Fredrick County, Maryland, James Winchester started out as a captain in the Revolutionary War and was twice captured by the British.  He married a woman named Susannah Black.  After the war, he moved to Tennessee to engage in farming, militia service, and politics.  He was a Captain in the Tennessee militia at the onset of the war of 1812.  He was later commissioned a brigadier general. Second in command to General William H. Harrison.  He was ordered to Kentucky to build an army to relieve Detroit.  Unpopular with his troops for being too refined and disciplined, he lost his bid to command the entire Northwestern Army to William Henry Harrison.

Captured at the River Raisin, Winchester spent a year in captivity at Detroit.  Returning home he and his wife Susannah lived quietly at their home east of Gallitan, Tennesse, a home they called "Cragfont."  

Cragfont - Home of Brig. Gen. James Winchester

James remained active in community affairs and served on the state commission to regulate the Tennessee-Missouri boundary.  He and Andrew Jackson were instrumental in founding the city of Memphis, Tennessee.  

James Winchester  died at the age of 74 in on July 27, 1826. His wife Susannah (b.1771) died in 1864.  Both are buried along with other family members a short distance behind their home "Cragfont"    GPS:  N36°24'22.04”,W86°20’30.12”

 

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[1] Monroe, Michigan

[2] Fort Meigs near Maumee, Oh.