136 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Raisin engaged in collecting supplies. Procter directed Lieutenant 
Edward Dewar, of the Quartermaster General’s Department, to protect 
him with a party of militia who went forward in-boats. Dewar with 
Roundhead and fourteen Wyandots rode from Brownstown on the Sth, 
and learned that a false report of the enemy’s movements had been 
purposely raised by some of the settlers to create an alarm and give 
them an opportunity of stealing some of the cattle purchased by the 
commissary. Next day a Pottowatomie chief arrived with his band 
from the rapids who stated that he had seen a party of Shawanese 
scouts in the enemy’s service at that place the day before and began a 
conversation with them across the river, but had been driven away by 
the appearance of American soldiers coming out of the woods. Some of 
the settlers at the River Raisin, who were armed and mounted, volun- 
teered to accompany Dewar and the Wyandots on a reconnaissance. 
Arriving at the rapids at dark on the 10th they carefully examined the 
fords and roads before entering the settlement. Five townships had 
been surveyed at this place and sixty-seven families resided here before 
the war. But one house remained which was occupied by a French 
Canadian family named Beaugrand, all the rest having been burnt by 
the Indians. Many cattle were running wild in the woods, and there 
were several large fields of standing corn fully ripe. Sending two 
trusty scouts along Hull’s road, Dewar with Roundhead and two others 
rode twenty-five miles up the left bank of the river. During the night 
he encountered a scouting party from a camp of Creeks from Florida 
who agreed to accompany him to Amherstburg. In the morning he 
was joined by a war party of Kickapoos carrying the scalp of a horse- 
man whom they had shot within the line of sentries at the American 
camp. They reported that it was occupied by about eight hundred 
men who were building blockhouses and were in want of provisions. 
On his return to the rapids, Dewar found that his men had succeeded 
in securing only twenty cattle out of ten times that number as they 
were very wild from having been shot at by the Indians; but it was 
estimated that eight thousand bushels of corn might be gathered. 
The settlements at the River Raisin had suffered greatly from the 
depredations of the Pottowatomies and Delawares whose villages had 
been destroyed. They had stolen most of the horses, wantonly killed 
many cattle and hogs and ravaged the fields. Still he reported that 
three thousand bushels of grain might be obtained. If suitable encour- 
agement was given he believed that many of the people residing there 
might be induced to remove to Canada and take part in its defence. 
He recommended that Colonel Elliott with the whole of the Indians then 
at Amherstburg, numbering some eight hundred warriors, should be 
