William Orlando Butler to force any British soldiers in hiding from their shelter. Nevertheless, the 1st and 5th Kentucky Rifle Regiments and the 1st Volunteers continued to hold out in Frenchtown. Losing 5 killed and 40 wounded, they had succeeded in taking a heavy toll on the British artillery. Their marksmen had killed or wounded all but one member of the gun crews manning the three cannon in the center of the British line, plus 13 of the 16-man howitzer crew. They had also brought down many infantrymen. Now, however, they were finally running out of ammunition, having repulsed three British assaults. Gen. Procter demanded Winchester order his remaining men to surrender. Otherwise, all would be killed and Frenchtown burned. Procter insisted on an unconditional surrender and refused Winchester's counter-proposals, since Winchester was already his prisoner. Major George Madison, a United States officer still on the battlefield, persuaded Procter to accept a surrender on the promise that all would be protected as prisoners of war. When they saw the British waving a white flag, the Kentucky riflemen thought it meant a call for a truce. Instead, a British officer handed them a written order from General Winchester to surrender. They refused and decided to fight to the death rather than trust the Potawatomi. After another three hours of fighting, Major Madison issued a formal declaration of surrender. Procter tried several times to persuade the Native Americans to burn Frenchtown, but the Potawatomi refused. They had given the land to the settlers and did not wish to inflict more harm on them. River Raisin Massacre Immediately after the American surrender, some of the Kentuckians argued with their officers that "they would rather die on the field" than surrender, fearing that they would be killed by their captors. Still, the fighting ceased immediately following their surrender. At least 300 Americans were estimated killed, with over 500 taken prisoner. Procter determined on a hasty retreat in case General Harrison sent more troops when he learned of Winchester's defeat, he marched the uninjured prisoners north and across the frozen Detroit River to Fort Malden; the wounded prisoners unable to walk were left behind at Frenchtown. Procter could have waited another day for sleds to arrive to transport the wounded prisoners, but he worried that more American soldiers were on the way from the south. On the morning of January 23, the Native Americans robbed