HISTORY

The Alamo of 1812:
Frenchtown, January 18-23 1812

Sometimes a victory can lead to a serious defeat . . . a defeat that would never have happened had the first victory not occurred. In December 1835 a small group of Texas militia forced out a Mexican garrison in the town of San Antonio. 1,200 of these troops tried to fortify themselves in an old mission, but the Mexican command quickly gave the mission up as being indefensible. Once the victory was won, the Texan militia occupied the mission despite the failure of the Mexican regular army to defend it and in opposition to numerous orders (including one from their commander-in-chief) to abandon the position. Once won the militia was reluctant to abandon the mission, despite it's being a death trap. This resulted in 187 men attempting to hold the mission against 7,000 regular troops where 1,200 regulars couldn't hold against a mere 600 militia.

Thus we have the March 1836 Battle of the Alamo. In 1812, that battle was called the battle of Frenchtown or The River Raisin.

Call for Help

The battle for the Northeast United States so far had been a disaster; a string of defeats . . . often without a shot being fired. The American survivors waited in two camps, one under Gen. Winchester and another under Gen. Harrison, waiting for the rain to stop in Northeastern Ohio. On January 13th, two civilians came into Gen. Winchester's camp. They told a story of Frenchtown, about 30 miles to the north, and its occupation by about 250 Canadian militia and Native Americans.

To a defeated army this sounded like the answer to a prayer, an easy victory. It's unlikely, once work got out, that Gen. Winchester could have keep his men in camp . . . even if he had wanted to. The army was up for a fight. In any case, it needed something to do besides wonder when the rain was going to stop. Pushing the Canadians out of Frenchtown sounded too good to be true.

You know what they say about things that are too good to be true . . . they usually are.

The Vote

On January 14th, Winchester's officers met in a council of war and decided unanimously to take the bait and relieve Frenchtown. Winchester dispatched 450 Kentucky Riflemen under Col. William Lewis to be followed by 110 men under Col. John Allen. Most of the Kentucky riflemen had yet to file a shot and their enlistment terms would soon be up, so the officers decided it was a case of use them or lose them.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, it would be both.

Early Victory

The American troops arrived on the afternoon of the 18th after a cold march taking four days to go 30 miles. The Canadians and their North American allies were not set up for defense. Expecting an attack only in the morning, they had pulled their scouts into warmer quarters and were completely surprised by a late afternoon American advance. The Canadian militia managed to get off a few rounds, but were quickly driven from the village.

The Americans, now flushed with victory, pursued. Upon reaching the woods outside the village, the Canadians and their Native American allies turned and began a fighting withdrawal. The fighting lasted until darkness fell and British forces were able to disengage in the dark. American loses were 12 killed and 25 wounded. British losses are unknown.

First Reports

On January 19th, Gen. Winchester received word of the victory at Frenchtown. Word spread like wildfire and the general appeared to have no choice but to order the town held, abandoning the town after the victory might have lead to the entire Kentucky militia going home.

Later that day, the general advanced on Frenchtown with the 17th Infantry Regiment under Col. Samuel Wells. Presumably Winchester felt he needed the regulars to keep the militia in line.

Assuming that the British were gone for good (or at least for the winter), Winchester did not bother to bring any additional ammunition.

Reinforcements Arrive

On January 20th Winchester and the 17th arrived in the village of Frenchtown. No steps had been taken to prepare the town for defense. Winchester left the defense planning up to Cols. Lewis and Allen. Despite having tools and materials in the town, they took no steps to reinforce the weak fence line that acted as the town's only fortification. Instead Winchester busied himself with the chaotic results of the victory. Militia had quartered themselves in buildings all over the village. Units were mixed together and no thought was given to outposts or patrols.

With no room left in the village, The 17th Infantry as ordered to set up tents outside the village's fence line, in the open. Later this would prove to be a fatal mistake. Winchester himself found a warm, comfortable house outside of town, south of the river and set up headquarters there.

First Patrol

Winchester, after the battle, reported sending a scouting party as far north as Brownstown on January 21st without encountering the enemy. However, no records of that patrol can be found and no soldier ever stepped forward and reported that they had been on that patrol.

At the same time news of the defeat reached Gen. Proctor at Ft. Malden. He quickly assembled about 600 regulars as well as 450 Canadian militia and Native Americans, and together with six cannon he began to march across the frozen Western tip of Lake Erie to Brownstown. His objective, drive the Americans out of Frenchtown and reestablish it as a forward British outpost.

The Gathering Storm

Upon reaching Brownstown, Gen. Proctor linked up with the 200 or so survivors from the Frenchtown battle of the 18th and proceeded south, arriving at the woods north of the village late that night.

One Canadian made his way to Gen. Winchester and informed him of Proctor's advance. Winchester ignored this warning. Assuming that it would take several days for Proctor to assemble a sufficient force, he dismissed the Canadian's report as mere rumor. He still made no effort to fortify the town nor did he order any additional patrols.

The Final Battle

Gen. Proctor could easily have advanced at dawn, taken the village and its defenders without firing a shot. Instead he carefully formed his men into battle line just north of the village. This activity got the attention of one Kentucky sentry and the alerted Americans were soon up and firing on the assembling British.

The fire was effective and Gen. Proctor was soon forced to order his men to withdraw to the tree line. On British gun crew did not withdraw and kept up a devastating fire on the 17th Infantry Regiment, which had formed up outside its camp in the open. Soon the British Native American allies began circling around the American position and hitting the 17th Infantry Regiment from the side and rear. Slowly they began to give ground. Two American counterattacks to restore the line failed. Finally beaten back to the river the American 17th Infantry Regiment broke. They ran for the river.

Once the unit lost cohesion, Native American forces were able to destroy it piecemeal. Gen. Winchester, already on the other side of the river, was easily captured by Native American forces. (We was stripped when captured, leading to the story that he was captured in his nightshirt.)

Major Madison and 384 men held out in the town, low on ammunition, but still defiant. Gen. Proctor, who now had Gen. Winchester prisoner, insisted that he order Maj. Madison's forces to surrender and Gen. Winchester complied.

British losses were 24 dead and 161 wounded.

Aftermath

The night of January 23rd, Gen. Proctor marched off with 500 Americans to Ft. Malden, leaving 80 wounded Americans behind in the town. With no British troops present, Native Americans soon began to loot and burn the town, including the buildings that housed the wounded Americans. Many who escaped the burning buildings were scalped.

Only 30 Americans managed to escape and make it back to Gen. Harrison's camp with the news of the British counterattack.