At the second Battle of the River Raisin on Jan. 22, 1813, Col. John Allen tried vainly to rally the retreating Americans. Exhausted and disabled by a thigh wound, he faced the pursuing Indians near here and desperately defended himself at swordpoint before being killed. Allen was one of the most influential men in Kentucky. He organized and then led the elite first rifle regiment, Kentucky volunteer militia, had unsuccessfully run for the governorship of Kentucky in 1808, and was a member of its Senate at the time of his death. Counties in several states were later named in his honor.