Editing Battle of Windsor (section)

==Renewed action==
On November 24, 1838, General Brady on the steamer ''Illinois'' captured a Patriot ship with 250 weapons and a supply of ammunition. He returned to Detroit to find that his own troops' weapons had been stolen from city hall in his absence. The theft was soon solved, and the weapons were recovered after two days. The Hunter Lodge at Port Huron with its Sarnia counterparts across the river planned an invasion at the beginning of December, but reinforcements from Detroit did not arrive. British officials in Canada became aware of the plot and deployed troops and artillery along that section of the border, ending the plan. Throughout November, some 300 Ohio and Pennsylvania Patriots assembled at a field south of the city of Detroit, joining a couple hundred locals and Canadians.

On December 4, 1838, at 2 am, the Patriots crossed the [[Detroit River]] into Canada on a captured steamboat, the ''Champlain'', and engaged in an unsuccessful battle at Windsor where the Patriots set the British barracks on fire, burned the steamer ''Thames'' and several houses, and killed four militiamen before taking positions at the Baby farm, which contained a large orchard. Only 20 militia were billeted at Windsor, a small town of around 300, while some miles further south at Sandwich and Amherstburg were the bulk of the 500 militia and regulars.

At about 7 am, a 60-man company of Canadian militia commanded by [[Arthur Rankin (surveyor)|Arthur Rankin]] from Sandwich repelled the invasion before the regulars arrived and captured several Patriots.<ref name=uppermost>{{cite book |url=https://digital.library.wayne.edu/item/wayne:WayneStateUniversityPress4436/file/PDF_FULL |title=Uppermost Canada: The Western District and the Detroit Frontier, 1800−1850 |last=Douglas |first=R. Alan |year=2001 |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |location=[[Detroit]] |isbn=9780814328675}}</ref> The militia pushed the Patriots out of the orchard and pursued them through the town. The Patriots then fled in several directions, some returning to their steamer to free the 18 prisoners they had taken. Colonel John Prince arrived after the rout (9:30 am) and took command. Prince then moved his troops back to Sandwich, fearing another attack there.

At 1:30 pm, a company of British regulars from the [[34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot]] with a six-pound cannon and 20 mounted Aboriginals arrived at Sandwich and continued north to Windsor. Prince decided to follow with his 400 militiamen. However, all of the Patriots had made their escape by this time, and only one of them was captured. Prince ordered that four prisoners be immediately shot without having been tried in court.<ref>[http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/rebellions/1837f04.html Chronology of Events] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222042026/http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/rebellions/1837f04.html |date=2007-02-22 }}, The 1837 Rebellions, edunetconnect.com, Baxter Publications</ref> The British cannon fired some shots at Patriots fleeing in stolen canoes, hitting one in the arm. The U.S. steamer ''Erie'' carrying Detroit militia captured some of the Patriots but soon released them on U.S. soil.