It was fought between the United States of America and a joint force of British and Native Americans near the River Raisin in Frenchtown (present-day Monroe, Michigan).

This was the deadliest conflict recorded on Michigan soil, and the casualties included the highest number of Americans killed in a single battle during the War of 1812.

[9] The name "River Raisin Massacre" is used to describe January 23, the day after the second battle, when British-allied Native Americans killed dozens of the mostly volunteer soldiers from Kentucky who were too badly injured to march overland to Canada.

However, President James Madison commuted the sentence to dismissal from the army in recognition of Hull's honorable service during the American Revolution.

[3][12] 200 Potawatomies63 Canadian Militia[13] 1 Militiaman and 3 warriors killed[14] or James Winchester, the second-in-command of the Army of the Northwest, led a column consisting of approximately 1,000 inexperienced regulars and volunteers, most of whom came from Kentucky.

On January 18, 1813, Lewis charged across the frozen River Raisin to attack the British and Indian camp, which contained 63 soldiers of the Essex Militia, accompanied by a 3-pounder cannon, and about 200 Potawatomi.

"[18] After a long, bloody and exhaustive withdrawal over two miles of woodland, the Canadians and natives slipped away, leaving Frenchtown to the Kentuckians.

During their retreat from Frenchtown, the Potawatomi raided Sandy Creek, a small settlement founded in 1780 about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the River Raisin.

[19] Following the recapture of Frenchtown, US Brigadier General James Winchester and the rest of his troops met with Colonel Lewis two days later on January 20, 1813.

Without ensuring that sentries and pickets had been placed,[21] Winchester retired for the night to his headquarters at the Navarre House south of the town.

The Indians included Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa, Chippewa, Delaware, Miami, Winnebago, Creek, Sauk, and Fox tribes.

[24] Procter's artillery consisted of six light 3-pounder cannons drawn on sledges, manned by men from the Canadian Provincial Marine under the command of Lieutenant Frédérick Rolette.

A Canadian volunteer, John Richardson, who had marched with the 41st Regiment of Foot, later wrote, "On the 22nd, before daybreak, came within sight of the enemy... such was their security and negligence that... our line was actually half formed within musket shot of their defenses before they were even aware of our presence.

They faced heavy musket volleys to their front, while they were also under direct roundshot and canister fire from the six 3-pounders and flanked by the Essex militia and the Indians.

General Winchester was awakened by the artillery fire and rushed to the battlefield, ordering 240 men from the 1st Kentucky Rifle Regiment under Col. John Allen to reinforce the regulars.

Almost 220 of the 400 Americans had been killed, many of them shot, tomahawked, and scalped during the withdrawal; 147 men, including Winchester, were captured by the Indians and Canadian militia.

A few succeeded in escaping by simply removing their shoes and running in their stockings, which left footprints in the snow that looked like moccasins.

[23] Major George Madison, a United States officer still on the battlefield, persuaded Procter to accept a surrender on the promise that all would be protected as prisoners of war.

Procter could have waited another day for sleds to arrive to transport the wounded prisoners, but he worried that more American soldiers were on the way from the south.

[3][5][34] Medard Labbadie, a resident of the River Raisin area, in his transcribed deposition sent to the US House of Representatives, stated "Those soldiers and citizens able to walk were marched off towards Malden.

... [Private Blythe] whilst in the act of pleading for mercy, an Indian more savage than the other stepped up behind, tomahawked, stripped and scalped him."

Searls then caught hold of the tomahawk and appeared to resist and upon my telling that his fate was inevitable, he closed his eyes and received the savage blow which terminated his existence.

His ill-prepared defensive planning following the successful First Battle of the River Raisin led to the defeat of his army and the high number of deaths suffered by his column.

If Winchester had retreated to the Maumee River to rejoin with General Harrison's column, the two could have strengthened their numbers and marched back to Frenchtown with the necessary troops and preparedness to fight the British and Native Americans.

While Winchester's army suffered heavy losses at the start of the surprise attack, the Kentuckians regrouped and fought off three waves of British lines to protect their camp.

Immediately following the battle, Procter, fearing that General Harrison would send more Americans to Frenchtown, made a hasty retreat slightly north to Brownstown.

The city was held by the British until a United States victory at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, allowed the recapture of Detroit.

Frenchtown was held as a stronghold by the British until Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson from Kentucky led his cavalry to liberate the town on September 27, 1813.

The location of the site is bounded by North Dixie Highway, the River Raisin, Detroit Avenue, and Mason Run Creek.

[42] The River Raisin National Battlefield Park was authorized on March 30, 2009, with the passing of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, and funded later that year.