Custer Remembers the River Raisin

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Honoring Our Veterans

On Memorial Day, we honor our military veterans.  In that spirit, we present this photo, taken on June 15, 1871.  It depicts George Armstrong Custer, his father Emmanuel and eighteen veterans of the War of 1812.

Monroe resident and War of 1812 veteran Joseph Guyor brought this group together.  He posted his invitation to them in the June 1, 1871 Monroe Commercial.  He proclaimed that "the soldiers of 1812, residing in this county, are respectfully invited to a free dance and reunion at my house...The refreshments will be furnished by the officers of the late war [i.e., the Civil War], desirous of meeting the old soldiers of 1812, and will try to make it pleasant and agreeable to all that may attend."  Guyor's House was located on an island that may no longer exist (The Monroe County Historical Museum noted that river formations change over time, and that many such islands have vanished naturally.).  A brief account of the gathering is provided on page 82 of Talcott E. Wing's History of Monroe County, Michigan (New York:  Munsell and Company, 1890).  Wing states that "The afternoon was pleasantly passed in recounting the scenes, trials and hardships of the war, interspersed with anecdotes of a local character."  Wing identifies the individuals in the photo as follows:

Back row (left to right):  John Beshear (age 80), John Claper (age 76), General Custer, Francis Lazarre (age 82), Jean De Chovin (age 77)

Middle row (left to right): George Younglove (age 77), John Boroff (age 100), David Van Pelt (age 89), Lewis Jacobs (age 96), Charles Haven (age 76), Henry Mason (age 79), Thomas Welphy (age 73), Joseph Guyer (age 88)

Front row (left to right): Peter Navarre (age 80), James Nadeau (age 77), Emanuel Custer (father of George Armstrong), Robert Navarre (age 80), Joseph Forlke (age 80), Bronson French (age 82)

These veterans participated in the Battle of the River Raisin - the bloodiest battle ever fought on Michigan soil.  On the morning of January 22, 1813, British and Canadian soldiers and their Native American allies surprised American troops at Frenchtown (present-day Monroe).  The Americans surrendered after heavy losses.  The British - fearing a reprisal attack from William Henry Harrison, the military commander of the region  - withdrew to Fort Malden in Amherstburg, Ontario.  Wounded prisoners who couldn't walk were left behind.  The next day, the Native Americans, angered by their battlefield losses, returned to an unguarded town.  They plundered homes and murdered some settlers and wounded soldiers.  Estimates of the number killed vary from as low as thirty to as high as one hundred.  In any case, the event was soon dubbed "The River Raisin Massacre."  

The Archives of Michigan houses photos of veterans and textual records of the Michigan Military Establishment and Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.  For history and rosters of early Michigan troops, see Michigan's Early Military Forces:  A Roster and History of Troops Activated Prior to the American Civil War by Leroy Barnett and Roger Rosentreter (Detroit:  Wayne State University Press, 2003).  Another good book on early Michigan military history is David Curtis Skaggs and Larry L. Nelson's The Sixty Years War for the Great Lakes, 1754-1814 (East Lansing, Michigan State University Press, 2001).   Web surfers can check the web site of the River Raisin Battlefield Visitor Center (http://www.co.monroe.mi.us/monroe/default.aspx?PageId=107).  For information on George Custer's life in Monroe, see the web site of the Monroe County Library's George Armstrong Custer collection (http://monroe.lib.mi.us/hs_special_collections_custer.htm).  For more Monroe County History, check the web site of the Monroe County Historical Musuem:  http://www.co.monroe.mi.us/monroe/default.aspx?Pageid=42

-Bob Garrett, Archivist
E-mail:garrettr1@michigan.gov

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Archives of Michigan
Michigan Library and Historical Center
702 W. Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48913
Phone: (517) 373-1408
E-mail: garrettr1@michigan.gov

Updated 05/18/2006.

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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