Monroe Mi- May 26

Today was a cool, rainy day. However, we still felt the need to get out and we knew that Monroe Mi. was an historical area. Hard to believe that the war of 1812 came this far. The British wanted to hold onto Michigan and the Great Lakes consequently they and Native Americans fought our American troops in one of the largest engagements of the War of 1812. Of the 934 American troops who fought here, only 34 escaped death or capture. It was a rout for the British. The River Raisin flows through this area (see photo posted here), so the rallying cry of the War of 1812 was "remember the River Raisin". Also, I did not know that in 1835 a battle was fought here called " Battle of Toledo". In this battle Michigan lost Toledo and a potential civil war was averted. To our disappointment all the museums were closed, but we still found enough to do in touring the 1812 battlefield and reading historical markers. A statue of General Custer is also in this town as he had grown up in this area (I have also posted a picture of that here}. We enjoyed walking into some little shops near Custer's statue, and what realy capped off our afternoon in Monroe was finding the "Rendezvous" sweet shop.