Battle of Côte Sans Dessein

Battle of Côte Sans Dessein. Milepost 134. , Attack on Côte Sans Dessein , A settlement on the Côte Sans Dessein hill weathered an attack by members of the Sac and Fox Nation on April 4, 1815. The battle was an extension of the War of 18 12 (1812-1815), though a treaty to end the fighting had been signed in December of 1814, four months before the attack., While most of the men of the fort were drawn away and engaged in a skirmish in the forest, another group of Sac and Fox attacked the settlement. Louis Roi (pronounced "Wah") had stayed behind at the fort saying his gun's ramrod needed maintenance. Roi was accompanied in the blockhouse by only two other men and two women, one of whom was his wife. When the Sac and Fox attacked, Roi fired at the large force from the portholes of the blockhouse. The women cast bullets so he could keep shooting. Roi's marksmanship coupled with the support of the women reportedly killed 14 Native Americans and wounded many more., Burning Down the House , As their attacks were repelled and their men wounded, the Sac and Fox believed they were fighting a large force and focused on destroying the blockhouse. They shot flaming arrows at the fort. As Roi continued shooting, the two women worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames. When they ran out of water, they doused the fire with milk. When they ran out of milk, Madame Roi used the urine collected in a chamber pot to put out the remaining flames., The Sac and Fox finally retreated, and the fort was saved by the women's quick thinking., The Côte Sans Dessein Massacre , Soon after the attacks, the Missouri Gazette and Public Advertiser, a St. Louis newspaper, printed and article with the headline "Awful massacre!" The subheading read "The village of Côte Sand Dessein (On the Missouri) Burnt and its inhabitants massacred!!!", The article greatly exaggerated the attack. It described the scene by saying "All of the houses were in flames; the place full of Indians butchering the inhabitants." It concluded "The village of Côte Sans contained about two-hundred souls.", The next issue of the newspaper clarified: "The late attack on the village of Côte sans Dessein was not as fatal as first represented by those who escaped the sanguinary affair."