Independence Day celebrations for 2008 have come and gone. As firework displays quieted, parades ended, beaches and parks emptied and people arrived home from festivals and picnics, probably few were aware that a Revolutionary War battle was fought in the Calumet Region in 1780.

A lone marker, erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, sits within sight of the lake front near the main pavilion at Indiana Dunes State Park.

It commemorates a battle fought in the dunes on Dec. 5, 1780 between American forces commanded by Lt. Thomas Brady and Jean Baptiste Hamlin and British forces under the command of Dahreau de Quindre.

History records it as the Battle of Le Petit Fort. Powell A. Moore, describing it in his book "The Calumet Region: Indiana's Last Frontier," writes that during the War of Independence turmoil broke out in the Northwest between the French fur traders, Native Americans and the British, who were making every effort to enlist the Indians against the Americans.

In Powell's account, "The sand dunes echoed to the sound of musket fire and war whoops as adherents of the English and Americans were locked in combat."

Augustin Mottin de la Balme, who had served General George Washington's American cavalry, had sent Hamlin, Brady and a detachment of Americans from his post in Illinois to Fort St. Joseph between what is now Niles, Mich. and South Bend. A center for the fur trade, it also served as a British staging area for war parties sent out to harass American settlements.

Powell's research states that the Americans timed and looted an empty St. Joseph site, loaded pack horses with bales of goods and furs, and hastily departed westward along the frozen lakeshore.

In strong pursuit, the English commander and a number Potawatomi Indians caught up with the Americans near Le Petit Fort in the dunes. Hamlin and three of his men were killed, two were wounded and Brady was captured along with seven of his men.

The following month, a large party of Spaniards, French and Indians left St. Louis and marched through our area in ice and snow to attack Fort St. Joseph. The place was burned and food supplies were destroyed so they could not be used by enemy forces.

A Spanish flag flew over the fort and the English were unable to respond, but the Potawatomi remained loyal to England until the War of 1812.

So for those who thought that the War for Independence was only about places like Bunker Hill and Valley Forge, you can look much closer to home for a taste of history.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. Contact her at janetcopywrite@sbcglobal.net.