Battle of Prairie du Chien

[4] Although Prairie du Chien became a part of the United States following the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the Americans made little effort to maintain a presence in the far western settlement.

On May 1, Governor Clark and the combined forces under Perkins, Yeizer and Sullivan began moving up the Mississippi River en route to Prairie du Chien.

[7] Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall, commanding the post, did not want the Americans to gain a foothold in the northwest, fearing that it would disrupt the British fur trade as well as Britain's numerous alliances with the region's Indigenous tribes.

Late in the morning, Thomas Anderson approached Fort Shelby to deliver Perkins a note demanding the Americans' unconditional surrender.

Meanwhile, upset at the lack of progress, Colonel McKay began making plans to break the stalemate by firing red hot cannonballs into the fort to set it ablaze.

McKay agreed but asked that Perkins delay formal surrender until the next day so that he could ensure that the Indian forces accompanying the British would not threaten the Americans.

Major John Campbell had hastily led 120 assorted regulars and rangers up the river in six boats, but was ambushed by several hundred Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo at the Rock Island Rapids on 22 July.

In September, the United States sent a second force upriver towards Prairie du Chien to recapture the fort, but it was turned back at the Battle of Credit Island.

Despite suffering shortage of rations during the winter, the British (now commanded by Captain Andrew Bulger) maintained a presence at Fort McKay until word of the Treaty of Ghent reached Prairie du Chien in the spring of 1815.

The treaty returned Prairie du Chien to the United States, so the British force abandoned the fort on May 25, burning it in their retreat.

In the following year, the United States constructed Fort Crawford over the site of the battle in order to gain tighter control over the land.