River Raisin National Battlefield Park

The site of the largest battle of the War of 1812 on American soil, where 850 American troops were attacked by British soldiers and Native American warriors in January 1813. Around 300 Americans were killed and many wounded were massacred. Now a National Battlefield Park.

The River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe preserves the site of the deadliest battle of the War of 1812, a catastrophe that produced over five hundred American casualties and a rallying cry that echoed through the rest of the war: "Remember the Raisin." The major engagement occurred on January 22, 1813, when a combined force of British regulars and Native American warriors under the command of Colonel Henry Procter overwhelmed an American force that had occupied the settlement of Frenchtown along the River Raisin.

The battle itself was devastating, but what followed was worse. After the fighting ended, the British withdrew with their prisoners, leaving the wounded Americans behind with a promise that they would be protected. That promise was broken. Native warriors returned to the River Raisin and began plundering and burning homes, killing and scalping many of the wounded Americans who had been left helpless on the frozen ground. Official estimates indicate at least a dozen named individuals were killed in the massacre, with as many as sixty more who probably died in this manner. The bodies were left unburied for weeks, exposed to the winter elements and to the animals that fed on them.

The paranormal activity at River Raisin is among the most intense of any battlefield in the United States. The park has been called the most haunted place in Michigan, and Monroe itself has been identified in reports as having more ghost sightings per capita than any other city in the state. Visitors have claimed to see apparitions of American soldiers dressed in 1813 military attire walking across the battlefield, sometimes alone and sometimes in formation. The sounds of cries of pain and agony have been heard emanating from the field, particularly during the winter months near the January anniversary of the massacre. Electronic voice phenomena have been recorded at the park, and photographs taken by ghost hunters and paranormal researchers sometimes contain as many as twenty orbs in a single frame.

Paranormal investigation teams have conducted formal investigations at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, using objects from the early 1800s, including period music and military artifacts, to attempt to coax spirits into communicating. The battlefield is now a National Park Service site, the only War of 1812 battlefield preserved by the federal government, and visitors come for both the historical significance and the very real possibility that the soldiers who were slaughtered and left unburied on the banks of the River Raisin have never been able to leave the place where they fell.