River Raisin Battlefield One Step Closer to Becoming a National Park

Washington, DC - Today, the House passed the “Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009” by a margin of 285-140. The Act includes language from the River Raisin National Battlefield Act, which was sponsored Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15); Senator Carl Levin sponsored companion legislation in the Senate.  That legislation designates the River Raisin Battlefield in Monroe County as a unit of the National Park System (NPS). 

“Around the nation, people know about the troubles facing our state and our way of life,” Dingell said after the vote. “The success of the River Raisin Battlefield is proof that no one can solve the problems facing Michigan better than people of Michigan. When we band together, we can plow through old, entrenched ways to do something new and spectacular. The Battlefield will be, first and foremost, a tribute to the Americans who fought for the freedom of a nation in its infancy and died for that cause. Without their sacrifice, America would never be the great nation it is today. But the history of the Battlefield will not be complete without telling of those who also fought to transform that space from a factory lot into a living monument dedicated to the memory of those heroes who were almost forgotten. I am so proud of the good people of Monroe County, whose efforts to make the Battlefield part of the National Park Service will live on in perpetuity. I believe that people from around our nation will come to visit this special place and admire the work done by our people.”

When the President signs the legislation, and the Battlefield land is donated as stipulated in the bill, the River Raisin Battlefield will be included as a unit of the National Park System.

The River Raisin Battlefield site was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812. Out of nearly 1,000 American troops that participated in the engagement, only 33 escaped death or capture.  This bloody event, arguably the largest land engagement of the war, gave birth to the emotional rallying cry “Remember the Raisin,” which spurred the American forces on to victory at the Battle of the Thames nine months later.

In the almost two hundred years since the fighting ended, the Battlefield was developed for commercial purposes, serving as home to a paper mill at the turn of the last century. During the 110th Congress, Congressman Dingell and Senators Levin and Stabenow helped bring more than $1.5 million in grant money, joining an additional $1.5 million from state and local sources, to pay for the rehabilitation effort, returning the Battlefield to the way it looked 195 years ago. Demolition crews have since brought down the smokestacks and blighted paper mills and archeologists and historians have been shedding new light on this pivotal moment in American history.