Event record · battle
upper Mississippi · Western theater
Capture of Prairie du Chien
17–20 July 1814
A British and Indigenous force captures the new American post at Prairie du Chien and preserves the upper Mississippi alliance network.
Participants
- British and Canadian personnel under William McKay
- Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Dakota, and other Indigenous allies
- American Fort Shelby garrison
Outcome
The American garrison surrendered and British authority returned to the upper Mississippi post.
Why it matters
The capture kept trade, diplomacy, and military resistance active west of Lake Michigan after Tecumseh's death.
Location evidence
43.052, -91.141 · regional precision
Coordinates locate the named site, city, or broad region; they do not reconstruct unit movements.
Where it sits in the story
This record belongs to a connected military, political, and human sequence. The chapter supplies causes, consequences, competing perspectives, and the limits of the surviving evidence.
Follow the evidence
Evidence behind this event
- The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial EditionUniversity of Illinois Press · scholarly monograph
Donald R. Hickey's synthesis of the war's politics, campaigns, finance, diplomacy, and memory.
- The War of 1812Osprey Publishing · scholarly survey
Carl Benn's concise military and social overview, particularly useful for Canadian and Indigenous participation.