The War of 1812 in Wisconsin

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The Battle for Prairie du Chien

Mary Elise Antoine

An in-depth exploration of a little-known but pivotal moment in the early history of Wisconsin and the nation.

304 pages, 6 x 9, 39 b&w illustrations, 6 maps
Hardcover: $28.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-738-9
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-739-6
Publication Date: 5/9/2016

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Front cover of The War of 1812 in Wisconsin

Description

The town of Prairie du Chien, located just above the mouth of the Wisconsin River in the southwest corner of the state, was a key location in the vibrant trade routes of the Upper Mississippi region in the early nineteenth century. Whoever controlled the prairie commanded the immense territory inhabited by thousands of Native Americans—and the fur they traded with each other and with European traders and colonizers. When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, British and Americans fought to maintain the ever-shifting alliance of the tribal nations in the region. In The War of 1812 in Wisconsin, author Mary Elise Antoine brings this little-known corner of Wisconsin’s history to life.

This is the story of the battle for the control of Prairie du Chien and the western country, which began many years before the three-day siege in July 1814 for which the Battle of Prairie du Chien is named. It is also the tale of the people, Euro-American and Native, who lived in pre-territorial Wisconsin and how the contest for control of the region affected their lives and livelihoods. The outcome of the War of 1812 would determine what Manifest Destiny would mean to all who called these lands home.

Author Bio

Mary Elise Antoine is past president of the Prairie du Chien Historical Society and former curator of collections and research at the Villa Louis State Historic Site in Prairie du Chien. Antoine has over forty years of professional experience working for history museums and in historic preservation. She has written numerous articles and books, including Frenchtown Chronicles of Prairie du Chien; An Elegant Edifice: The Women Who Forged a Legacy at Villa Louis; and Enslaved, Indentured, Free: Five Black Women on the Upper Mississippi, 1800–1850, which received the Book of Merit Award from the Wisconsin Historical Society Board of Curators as well as silver awards from the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Midwest Independent Publishers Association. She lives in Prairie du Chien.

Drawing largely from the rich collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Mary Elise Antoine deftly braids multiple strands of social, economic, and political history to tell a compelling story of how the War of 1812 prompted a tectonic shift for indigenous and francophone residents of pre-statehood Wisconsin. A must read for students of the War of 1812 in the trans–Great Lakes and Mississippi River Valley.

Michael Douglass

Former director of Villa Louis Historic Site

“Of all the theaters of the War of 1812, the upper Mississippi valley undoubtedly has been the least researched. This is not surprising when one considers that it was the most peripheral theater in a war that occurred largely on the peripheries of both the United States and British Canada. Thus, Mary Elise Antoine's highly readable volume is a welcome addition to a growing body of historical literature concerning the conflict.”

—Patrick J. Jung, The Annals of Iowa