Siege of Prairie du Chien | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the War of 1812 | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom Native Americans | United States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William McKay | Joseph Perkins | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
77 Canadian militia Native Americans: Menominee Winnebago Fox *(Total force approximately 650) | 61 Army regulars 140 volunteers | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3 wounded [1] | 7 wounded prisoners 53 captured [1] [2] |
The Siege of Prairie du Chien was a British victory in the far western theater of the War of 1812. During the war, Prairie du Chien was a small frontier settlement with residents loyal to both American and British causes. By 1814, both nations were anxious to control the site because of its importance to the fur trade and its strategic location at the intersection of the Mississippi River and the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, a transportation route linking the Mississippi with the Great Lakes. [3]
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. Thus, it remained largely under British influence into the 19th century. In the spring of 1814, American forces decided to secure the location, realizing that if it fell to the British, there would be no obstacle to a British attack on St. Louis. William Clark, the governor of Missouri Territory, organized a force in St. Louis that included 61 regulars from the 7th Infantry under Brevet Major Zachary Taylor and 140 volunteers who agreed to join the force for sixty days under the command of Frederick Yeizer and John Sullivan. Shortly after the force was assembled, Taylor left for personal reasons. In his place, Lieutenant Joseph Perkins of the 24th Infantry took command of the regulars. 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. On May 17, they scattered some Sauk warriors who attempted to bar their passage at the Rock Island rapids. [4]
The American force arrived in Prairie du Chien on June 2. A few days later, on June 6, they began building a fort on a large mound north of the main village. The fort was named Fort Shelby in honor of Governor Isaac Shelby of Kentucky. Seeing that construction of the small wooden fort was underway, Governor Clark left to return to St. Louis on June 7. The Americans made steady progress on the fort, and although the defenses were unfinished, the barracks were occupied by June 19. Around the time that the fort was being occupied, the sixty-day terms of service for the volunteers led by Yeizer and Sullivan expired. Most of these men went home with Sullivan, although Yeizer and some men in his company agreed to stay aboard the American river gunboat Governor Clark, a thirty-two oar, fourteen gun wooden vessel anchored in the Mississippi River beside Fort Shelby.
Upon their arrival at Prairie du Chien, the American force captured some Winnebago. According to the Winnebago chief Tete de Chien, the Americans gave these prisoners food, then shot them while they were eating. Tete de Chien also said that Clark had another four Indians, including Tete de Chien's brother and the wife of a Sioux chief, imprisoned and shot after inviting them to meet with him. Clark later wrote that several Winnebago men had been shot while trying to escape. The historian Gillum Ferguson says that "Exactly what happened is impossible to determine". However, this incident encouraged the Indians of the region to support the British and oppose the Americans. [5]
Word of the American advance reached the British at Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan on June 21. [6] 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 American Indian tribes. To respond to the American threat, he dispatched a force consisting of the Mississippi Volunteers (a militia unit numbering 63 men led by Captains Joseph Rolette, Thomas G. Anderson, and Pierre Grignon), 14 men of the Michigan Fencibles (a locally-raised regular unit) and several hundred Menominee, Winnebago and Fox warriors. Perhaps the most important part of the force was a brass 3-pounder gun, under the charge of Sergeant James Keating of the Royal Artillery. Captain William McKay of the Michigan Fencibles was made a local Lieutenant Colonel and put in command of the force. Having collected additional militia volunteers and Native Americans en route, McKay's force eventually numbered about 650 men. [7]
On July 17, the British force arrived at Prairie du Chien. Late in the morning, Thomas Anderson approached Fort Shelby to deliver Perkins a note demanding the Americans' unconditional surrender. Perkins refused and prepared to defend the fort. The battle began early in the afternoon when the British 3-pounder gun opened fire. The gun damaged the Governor Clark and compelled it to retreat downriver. The boat carried the Americans' cannon and a substantial supply of goods and ammunition, as well as the volunteers still under the command of Frederick Yeizer.
With the gunboat gone, the British concentrated their fire on Fort Shelby, but the British cannon proved less effective. The Americans and the British maintained a steady exchange of gunfire throughout the next day, but to no avail for either side. However, by the third day of battle the Americans inside Fort Shelby were beginning to run short of ammunition and other supplies. More pressing, the well inside the fort had run dry, and an attempt to deepen it led to its total collapse. 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. Lieutenant Perkins offered to surrender if the British would guarantee his men's safety. 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.
On July 20, the Americans officially surrendered and vacated the fort. Under the terms of the surrender, the British were given control of the fort and the Americans' arms, ammunition, and provisions, while the American troops were allowed to return to St. Louis. 60 Americans of the 7th Infantry were captured, [1] 7 of them wounded, [2] while the British force had 3 Native Americans wounded. [1]
Perkins had been able to send messages asking for help to St. Louis. 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. He was able to fight his way clear when the Governor Clark unexpectedly arrived. Campbell's force had suffered 35 casualties. [8]
The British force took possession of Fort Shelby, which was renamed Fort McKay. Meanwhile, the Americans had returned to St. Louis by August 6. 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.
Two active infantry battalions of the Regular Army (1-1 Inf and 2-1 Inf) perpetuate the lineages of detachments of the old 7th Infantry that were at the Siege of Prairie du Chien.
The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was an American victory in the War of 1812 against Tecumseh's Confederacy and their British allies. It took place on October 5, 1813, in Upper Canada, near Chatham. The British lost control of Southwestern Ontario as a result of the battle; Tecumseh was killed, and his confederacy largely fell apart.
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Often called Wisconsin's second-oldest city, Prairie du Chien was established as a European settlement by French voyageurs in the late 17th century. Its settlement date of June 17, 1673, makes it the fourth colonial settlement by European settlers in the Midwestern United States, after Green Bay, Wisconsin, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan. The city has many sites showing its rich history in the region.
Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th century.
The siege of Fort Meigs took place in late April to early May 1813 during the War of 1812 in northwestern Ohio, present-day Perrysburg. A small British Army unit with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, and its Fort Detroit in the Great Lakes region which the British from the north in Canada had captured the previous year. An American sortie and relief attempt failed with heavy casualties, but the British failed to capture the fort and were forced to raise the siege.
The history of Wisconsin encompasses the story not only of the people who have lived in Wisconsin since it became a state of the U.S., but also that of the Native American tribes who made their homeland in Wisconsin, the French and British colonists who were the first Europeans to live there, and the American settlers who lived in Wisconsin when it was a territory.
The Bad Axe Massacre was a massacre of Sauk (Sac) and Meskwaki (Fox) Native Americans by United States Army regulars and militia that occurred on August 1–2, 1832. This final scene of the Black Hawk War took place near present-day Victory, Wisconsin, in the United States. It marked the end of the war between white settlers and militia in Illinois and Michigan Territory, and the Sauk and Fox tribes under warrior Black Hawk.
During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between Native Americans and United States soldiers and settlers. The Illinois Territory at that time included the areas of modern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Michigan.
The Winnebago War, also known as the Winnebago Uprising, was a brief conflict that took place in 1827 in the Upper Mississippi River region of the United States, primarily in what is now the state of Wisconsin. Not quite a war, the hostilities were limited to a few attacks on American civilians by a portion of the Winnebago Native American tribe. The Ho-Chunks were reacting to a wave of lead miners trespassing on their lands, and to false rumors that the United States had sent two Ho-Chunk prisoners to a rival tribe for execution.
The Battle of Mackinac Island was a British victory in the War of 1812. Before the war, Fort Mackinac had been an important American trading post in the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It was important for its influence and control over the Native American tribes in the area, which was sometimes referred to in historical documents as "Michilimackinac".
Samuel Whiteside was an Illinois pioneer. A farmer and backwoodsman, Whiteside briefly served in the Illinois General Assembly after statehood and led the Illinois militia for decades, rising to the rank of general but also enlisting as an ordinary soldier when militia calls declined at the end of wars. Whiteside fought the British in the War of 1812 and Native Americans through the Blackhawk War.
The Villa Louis is a National Historic Landmark located on St. Feriole Island, in Prairie du Chien, southwestern Wisconsin. The villa and estate are a historical museum operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The site has been restored to its appearance during the late 19th century, when it was the estate of the prominent H. Louis Dousman family, descendants of a fur trader and entrepreneur.
Credit Island is an island in the Mississippi River on the south west side of Davenport, Iowa within the Quad Cities area. Its name was derived by the use of the island as an early Indian trading post. Credit could be obtained on the promise of hides and skins to be delivered at a later time, hence the name. It was listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties on February 3, 1999.
Michel Brisbois was a French-Canadian voyageur who was active in the upper Mississippi River valley as early as 1781. Originally a fur trader for the Hudson's Bay Company, he eventually settled in Prairie du Chien, in what became Wisconsin. He had two families, including three children with a Ho-Chunk woman of mixed-race ancestry.
Campbell's Island is an island and unincorporated community in the Mississippi River. The island is located in Hampton Township, Rock Island County, Illinois. It is adjacent to the city of East Moline and is connected to the city by a bridge. It is the site of the Campbell's Island State Memorial, a listed historic site overseen by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Warrior was a privately owned and constructed steamboat that was pressed into service by the U.S. government during the Black Hawk War to assist with military operations. Warrior was constructed and launched in 1832 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Joseph Throckmorton who also served as the vessel's captain. Once constructed the vessel traveled to St. Louis and into the war zone. Warrior played a key role in the decisive Battle of Bad Axe. Following the war the steamboat continued its service under Throckmorton along the Upper Mississippi River.
Fort Shelby was a United States military installation in Prairie du Chien. Illinois Territory, built in 1814. It was named for Isaac Shelby, Revolutionary War soldier and first governor of Kentucky. The fort was captured by the British during the Siege of Prairie du Chien in July 1814. The British renamed the fort Fort McKay after Major William McKay, the commander of the forces that won the battle. Fort McKay remained under British control until 1815, when the British destroyed it before leaving the area. Fort Crawford was built on the same site in 1816.
Nicholas Boilvin was a 19th-century American frontiersman, fur trader, and U.S. Indian Agent. He was the first appointed agent to the Winnebagos, as well as the Sauk and Fox, and one of the earliest pioneers to settle in present-day Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. His sons Nicholas Boilvin, Jr. and William C. Boilvin both became successful businessmen in Wisconsin during the mid- to late 19th century.
Wabasha II, also known as Wapahasha, Wapasha, or "The Leaf," succeeded his father as head chief of the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe in the early 1800s. He led the Dakota forces fighting with the British in the War of 1812, but sided with the United States in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Chief Wabasha II signed the Treaties of Prairie du Chien in 1825 and 1830.
The Battle of Rock Island Rapids, also called the Battle of Campbell Island, was an American defeat during the War of 1812 at the hands of the British allied Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo. In July 1814, a military expedition was mounted to supply the U.S. garrison at Prairie du Chien after calls for help. The U.S. expedition was ambushed on July 19. In the aftermath another expedition was sent to re-capture Prairie after it fell to the British. This expedition was also ambushed in the Battle of Credit Island and forced to retreat southwards.
The Western theater of the War of 1812 was an theater of war during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Far from the Atlantic Coast and large cities, logistics and communication were more challenging in the western territories and the United States frontier. For many Native American nations involved, this war was a continuation of the defense of their lands against encroaching settlers.