Battle of Frenchtown

The Battle of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, refers to two consecutive engagements in the Michigan Territory during the War of 1812. Fighting between American forces commanded by Brigadier General James Winchester and British and Indigenous forces under Colonel Henry Procter took place on January 18 and January 22, 1813, at Frenchtown (present-day Monroe) on the River Raisin roughly 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Detroit.

On January 18, American militia forced the retreat of a British and Indigenous detachment occupying Frenchtown. The attack was part of a larger plan to retake Detroit following its loss after the siege of Detroit the previous summer. Four days later on January 22, the British and their Indigenous allies launched a surprise counterattack. Ill-prepared, the Americans lost 397 soldiers in this second battle, while 547 were taken prisoner. A number of wounded prisoners were murdered the following morning by a group of Indigenous warriors, while a few other prisoners were killed as they were brought to Fort Amherstburg. The Battle of Frenchtown was the deadliest conflict recorded on Michigan soil, and represents the highest number of Americans killed in a single battle during the War of 1812.

Parts of the original battlefield were designated as a state historic park and added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2009, the United States Congress authorized the creation of the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, one of four such parks in the nation and the only one commemorating the War of 1812.