Remember the Raisin!

These two works by the former director of the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort constitute a rich repository of information on Kentucky natives who fought in the War of 1812. The Battle on River Raisin, which was fought in and around Frenchtown (now Monroe), Michigan from January 18 to January 23, 1812, was one of the four principal campaigns of the War of 1812 engaged in by Kentucky forces. Following the defeat of the American forces at Frenchtown, as many as sixty Kentucky soldiers were massacred by Indians serving under the British. When news of the massacre reached Kentucky, patriots exhorted one another with shouts of "Remember the Raisin," which, the author claims, gave the new nation the "vengeance-fired impetus" to wage the remaining battles of the War of 1812.