Battle of Brownstown

Background. Brownstown was a Wyandot village south of Fort Detroit on Brownstown creek. In February 1812, Walk-in-the-Water and seven other Wyandot chiefs petitioned the United States and obtained a 50-year possession of Brownstown and Monguagon; Walk-in-the-Water lived there and commanded the Wyandot warriors. The engagement was an early skirmish of the War of 1812, fought while the United States military, despite outnumbering Tecumseh's Confederacy eight to one, was contesting the Detroit region.

The Ambush. On 5 August 1812, Major Thomas Van Horne led 200 U.S. soldiers south toward the River Raisin to collect cattle and other supplies for Brigadier General William Hull at Fort Detroit. After the force forded Brownstown creek, they were set upon by roughly two dozen Native Americans led by Shawnee war chief Tecumseh, Chickamauga war chief Daimee, and Wyandot chief Roundhead, together with a detachment from the Essex Militia. Van Horne ordered a retreat, and the untrained American militia scattered in panic.

Aftermath. Although the United States military outnumbered Tecumseh's Confederacy eight to one, the Americans lost the engagement and suffered substantial losses, while Tecumseh's forces were almost completely untouched. Elements of the old 4th Infantry were present at the battle, a lineage perpetuated by the Regular Army's 1-5 and 2-5 Infantry battalions. By an act of Congress on 1 June 1813, widows of the men killed in the battle were awarded half pay for five years.