author

Elias Darnell

d. 1861

A Kentucky veteran of the War of 1812, he left behind a vivid firsthand account of campaigning, defeat, captivity, and survival during one of the conflict’s most brutal episodes. His journal remains a valued primary source on General Winchester’s command and the River Raisin campaign.

1 Audiobook

A journal containing an accurate and interesting account of the hardships, sufferings, battles, defeat, and captivity of those heroic Kentucky volunteers and regulars, commanded by General Winchester, in the year 1812-13 Also, two narratives, by men that were wounded in the battles on the River Raisin, and taken captive by the Indians

A journal containing an accurate and interesting account of the hardships, sufferings, battles, defeat, and captivity of those heroic Kentucky volunteers and regulars, commanded by General Winchester, in the year 1812-13 Also, two narratives, by men that were wounded in the battles on the River Raisin, and taken captive by the Indians

by Elias Darnell

About the author

Remembered for A Journal Containing an Accurate and Interesting Account of the Hardships, Sufferings, Battles, Defeat, and Captivity of Those Heroic Kentucky Volunteers and Regulars, Commanded by General Winchester, in the Years 1812–13, he wrote from personal experience as a participant in the War of 1812. The book is a firsthand narrative of the Kentucky volunteers and regulars who served under General James Winchester.

Modern catalog records identify him as having died in 1861, and his journal was issued in 1834, with later editions keeping the account in circulation. Because that memoir focuses so closely on the River Raisin campaign and its aftermath, it has continued to matter to readers interested in early American military history and eyewitness writing.

Very little biographical detail is consistently available in the sources I could confirm beyond his authorship, his connection to Kentucky troops, and the date of his death. What is clear is that his surviving reputation rests on a direct, plainspoken record of war, captivity, and endurance.