HISTORY

September 4-5, 1814
Battle of Credit Island

After losing a number of outposts in the Northwest the US Army made one last attempt to wrest control of the upper Mississippi from the British. This attempt was an expedition of 334 men lead by none other than future President Zachary Taylor. Their objective was to burn Native American villages and crops near Rock River along the Iowa and Illinois border. The boats in Taylor's command were not heavy enough to allow the guns to be fired from the boats themselves (without swamping the boats) so Taylor had to look for a place to disembark them. The first action occurred on September 4, when Taylor's men drove off a Native American force roughly three times their size that tried to prevent the landing. Although successful, Taylor was still not able to get the guns off the boats.

On the morning of the 5th, the British moved up a number of small guns within range of the American flotilla and opened fire. Outnumbered and unable to land his artillery and unable to fire from the boats in response, after nearly an hour of British pounding, Taylor was forced to withdraw.

The Native American forces and the British were low on ammunition and supplies, and did not pursue the Americans.