Harrison was vigilant. He determined to watch the river with a party of scouts, and in the meantime to muster the militia and make a show of military force. He was convinced that if his wily antagonist found him off his guard that he would not hesitate to "pick a quarrel," and launch a general attack. The Governor's letter to the war department of July 10th, 1811, is interesting. "With them (i. e., the Indians) the surprise of an enemy bestows more eclat upon a warrior than the most brilliant success obtained by other means. Tecumseh has taken for his model the celebrated Pontiac and I am persuaded that he will bear a favorable comparison in every respect with that far famed warrior. If it is his object to begin with the surprise of this place, it is impossible that a more favorable situation could have been chosen than the one he occupies. It is just so far off as to be removed from our immediate observation, and yet so near as to enable him to strike us when the water is high in twenty-four hours, and even when it is low their light canoes will come fully as fast as the journey could be performed on horseback. The situation is in other respects admirable for the purposes for which he has chosen it. It is nearly central with regard to the tribes which he wishes to unite. The water communication with Lake Erie by means of the Wabash and Miami, with Lake Michigan and the Illinois by the Tippecanoe, is a great convenience. It is immediately in the center of the back line of that fine country which he wishes to prevent us from settling, and above all, he has immediately in his rear a country that has been but little explored, consisting principally of barren thickets, interspersed with swamps and lakes, into which our cavalry could not penetrate, and our infantry only by slow and laborious marches."

Tecumseh did not keep his word. At the very time he was promising Wilson to bring only a few men he was sending word in every direction to collect his people. On the twenty-fourth of July he was within a few miles' march of Vincennes with one hundred twenty or thirty warriors, and the Weas under Lapoussier were coming on in the rear. The people were greatly alarmed and irritated and there was danger of their firing on the savage bands. Brouillette was kept in the saddle riding from camp to camp. On the twenty-fifth, Harrison sent Captain Wilson twenty miles up the river to demand of Tecumseh his reason for approaching the town with so large a force, despite the Governor's injunction and his own previous agreement. The savage after some equivocation, said that he was only attended by twenty-four men and that the remainder had come "on their own accord." Parties of savages were then lurking about the settlements on every hand, and "upwards of one hundred were within two miles of the town northwest of the Wabash." Some sinister design was moving the chieftain's mind.

On the twenty-seventh the main body of savages arrived by canoe, and on the next day came those who marched by land. Three hundred red men were present, including twenty or thirty women and children. What was Tecumseh's object? Harrison's spies reported to him that it was the intention of the Shawnee to peremptorily demand a retrocession of the late purchase, and if it was not obtained, to seize some of the chiefs who were active in making the treaty, and in the presence of the Governor put them to death. If the Governor interfered he was to share the same fate. However this may be, the great chief abandoned any hostile design he may have entertained on a view of Harrison's forces. On the day of his arrival a review of the neighboring militia was held, at which were present seven or eight hundred men under arms. "The two infantry companies on duty were increased to three, and these being relieved on different days by some management in marching and changing quarters, it appeared to the Indians that four or five companies were on constant duty. The elegant troop of dragoons commanded by Captain Parke (who is also one of our supreme judges) were exhibited to the greatest advantage, and nightly patrols both of horse and foot announced a vigilance which defied surprise. The Indians were in astonishment and terror and I believe most of them went off impressed with the belief that Vincennes was not as easily to be taken as their chief would have convinced them." The promptitude and foresight of the Governor probably prevented a massacre.

Harrison sought an immediate interview, but was not able to bring Tecumseh into council, until Tuesday the thirtieth of July. An arbor had been erected in front of the executive mansion. An hour before the time of the appointed meeting Tecumseh sent a messenger to learn whether the Governor would be attended by an armed force. In that event he announced that he would come armed also. The Governor gave him his choice, but informed the chief that in case his warriors left their guns at their camp, that he (Harrison) would only be attended by twenty-five or thirty dismounted dragoons. Tecumseh preferred the latter arrangement, "and came attended by about one hundred and seventy or one hundred and eighty men without guns, but all of them having knives and tomahawks or war clubs, and some with bows and arrows." The Governor opened the council by mentioning the great alarm which had been occasioned by the late murders in Illinois and the assembling of so large a body of savages, and declared that he was ready to listen to anything that the chiefs might have to say, but that he would enter into no negotiation concerning the late purchase. That affair was in the hands of the President who had not sent any answer to the claim that Tecumseh had last year set up on behalf of all the tribes on the continent. He also declared that Tecumseh might, if he so desired, make a visit to the President and hear his determination from his own mouth. The Governor concluded by demanding an explanation of the seizure of the salt.

Tecumseh in his short reply adverted to the matter of the salt first. He said that he had not been at home on either occasion when the salt boats had arrived, but that it was impossible to please the Governor, for last year he was angry because the salt was refused, and now he was angry because it was taken. After some further unimportant observations, a violent storm came on and the council was adjourned.

At two o'clock the next day the council again convened, when Lapoussier, the Wea chieftain, who was now the firm friend of Tecumseh, arose and made a long speech on the treaties that had been entered into between the Governor and the Indian tribes. He closed by stating that the Miamis had been forced by the Potawatomi to make the late treaty of Fort Wayne, and that it would be proper to make an inquiry as to the person who had held the tomahawk over their heads, and punish him. This was, of course, an allusion to Winamac. Harrison immediately called on the Miami chiefs present for a contradiction of this statement, and then turning to Tecumseh, told him that it lay within his power to manifest the truth of his professions of friendship towards the United States and his desire to preserve peace, by delivering up the two Potawatomi who had murdered the four white men on the Missouri last fall, and who were then in his camp.

The reply of Tecumseh is given in Harrison's own language. "He said that after much trouble and difficulty he had at length brought all the northern tribes to unite and place themselves under his direction. That the white people were unnecessarily alarmed at his measures—that they really meant nothing but peace—the United States had set him the example of forming a strict union amongst all the fires that compose their confederacy. That the Indians did not complain of it—nor should his white brothers complain of him for doing the same thing with regard to the Indian tribes. As soon as the council was over he was to set out on a visit to the southern tribes to get them to unite with those of the north. To my demand of the murderers, he observed that they were not in his town, as I believed them—that it was not right to punish those people—that they ought to be forgiven, as well as those who lately murdered our people in the Illinois. That he had set us an example of forgiveness of injuries which we ought to follow. The Ottawas had murdered one of his women, and the Osages one of his relations, and yet he had forborne to revenge them—that he had even taken the tomahawks out of the hands of those who were ready to march against the Osages. To my inquiry whether he was determined to prevent the settlement of the New Purchase, he replied that he hoped no attempt would be made to settle until his return next spring. That a great number of Indians were coming to settle at his town this fall, and who must occupy that tract as a hunting ground, and if they did no further injury, they might kill the cattle and hogs of the white people, which would produce disturbance. That he wished every thing to remain in its present situation until his return—our settlements not to progress further—and no revenge sought for any injury that had been or should be received by the white people until his return—that he would then go and see the President and settle everything with him. That the affairs of all the tribes in this quarter were in his hands and that nothing could be done without him—that he would dispatch messengers in every direction to prevent them from doing any more mischief—that he had made full atonement for the murders which had been committed by the wampum which he delivered."

The reply of the Governor was short and pithy. It was now evening and the moon was shining. He told the assembled tribesmen that the moon which they beheld would sooner fall to the earth "than the President would suffer his people to be murdered with impunity, and that he would put his warriors in petticoats sooner than he would give up a country which he had fairly acquired from the rightful owners." The meeting was then broken up.

We have said that the promptitude and foresight of the Governor probably averted a massacre. It was the opinion of all the neutral Indians on the ground that Tecumseh meditated a stroke. His manner throughout the council was embarrassed, and it was evident to all that the speech he actually delivered was not the one he had prepared for the occasion. If he had found the Governor unprepared and the town defenseless, his fierce hatred of the paleface and his boundless ambition as a warrior, would probably have prompted him to resort to violence, for it is a well known fact, observed by all Indian writers, that a savage will always act upon the advantage of the moment, regardless of future consequences. Besides, it is probable that Tecumseh now felt himself powerful enough to deal a telling blow. Many accessions had been made to his confederacy and the daring depredations in the Illinois country had gone unpunished. Like all savages, he had nothing but contempt for a government that did not promptly revenge its wrongs. But when, on approaching the town, he observed the great military array, and saw bodies of armed men and mounted riflemen moving to and fro, his resolution was shaken and he experienced a more wholesome respect for his adversary's strength. "Heedless of futurity," says Harrison, "it is only by placing the danger before his eyes, that a savage is to be controlled. Even the gallant Tecumseh is not insensible to an argument of this kind. No courtier could be more complaisant, than he was upon his last visit. To have heard him, one would have supposed that he came here for the purpose of complimenting me. This wonderful metamorphosis in manner was entirely produced by the gleaming and clanging of arms; by the frowns of a considerable body of hunting shirt men, who accidentally lined a road by which he approached to the council house."

The body of savages again melted away, and the Miami chieftains who had accompanied the expedition returned to their homes. On the fifth of August, Tecumseh, with a retinue of twenty chiefs, including the famous Potawatomi, Shaubena, passed down the Wabash to visit the nations of the south and more firmly cement the bonds of his confederacy. The day before he departed he called on the Governor and labored hard to convince him that he had no object in view other than to unite the tribes in a league of peace. After visiting the Creeks and Choctaws, he was to pass through the land of the Osages and return by the Missouri river. Before his return, the last hope of the red man was to be forever crushed, and the old dream of Pontiac forever dispelled.

The Governor has paid a just and worthy tribute to his savage foe. In a letter of August seventh, 1811, he writes to the department of war as follows: "The implicit confidence and respect which the followers of Tecumseh pay to him is really astonishing, and more than any other circumstance bespeaks him one of those uncommon geniuses, which spring up occasionally to produce revolutions and overturn the established order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of the United States, he would perhaps be the founder of an empire that would rival in glory that of Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him. His activity and industry supply the want of letters. For four years he has been in constant motion. You see him today on the Wabash, and in a short time you hear of him on the shores of Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of the Mississippi, and wherever he goes he makes an impression favorable to his purposes."

While these stirring events were happening at the frontier capital, and on the thirty-first of July, a considerable body of the citizens of Vincennes, both English and French, met at the seminary building, and after selecting Ephraim Jordan as president and one James Smith as secretary, certain resolutions were "fallen into," which vividly portray the emotions of the frontiersmen of that day and their dire apprehension of impending danger. The resolutions stated in substance that the safety of the persons and property of the inhabitants could never be effectively secured, but by the breaking up of the combination formed on the Wabash by the Shawnee Prophet; that the inhabitants regarded this combination as a British scheme; that but for the prompt measures of Governor Harrison, it was highly probable that the town would have been destroyed and the inhabitants massacred. The Rev. Samuel T. Scott, the Rev. Alexander Devin, Colonel Luke Decker, Francis Vigo and others, were appointed as a committee to draft an address to the President of the United States, setting forth their situation and praying for relief. On the same day this address was duly formulated and signed by the committee above mentioned, and forwarded to the chief executive of the nation. In it, the citizens breathed forth their terrors and fear of the Wabash banditti, and their alarm at the constant depredations committed on the frontier. One passage is significant. "The people have become irritated and alarmed, and if the government will not direct their energies, we fear that the innocent will feel the effects of their resentment, and a general war be the consequence." A temper of this kind could not long be disregarded. Temporizing must cease.



CHAPTER XXIII

THE MUSTER AND THE MARCH

—The rally of the Kentuckians and their clansmen in southern Indiana, to Harrison's support—The coming of the support of the Fourth United States Regiment—The march to the Tippecanoe battlefield.

In the summer and early autumn of the year 1811, the British were again distributing arms and ammunition among the tribes of the northwest and rallying them for that second and final struggle with the United States. In August of that year a Potawatomi chief informed Harrison that he was present when a message from the British agent was delivered to the Prophet, "telling him that the time had arrived for taking up arms, and inviting him to send a party to Malden to receive the necessary supplies." A statement made by Captain Benjamin Parke of the light dragoons of Vincennes, to the Governor on the thirteenth of September, was to the effect that the Indians of the Wabash and the Illinois had recently visited Elliott at Malden; "that they are now returning from thence with a larger supply of goods than is known ever to have been distributed to them before; that rifles or fusees are given to those who are unarmed, and powder and lead to all." A similar communication made by the Hon. Waller Taylor, a judge of the supreme court of the Territory, stated that, "The spirit of hostility manifested by the Prophet and his followers (who, it is said, are daily increasing); the thefts and murders committed within a few months past, and the unusual quantities of arms, ammunition, etc., which not only these, but the Indians generally have received from the British agent at Fort Malden, strongly evidence a disposition to commence war as soon as a fit opportunity occurs."

In this same month of September, Touissant Dubois, a French-Canadian agent of the Governor's, reported to him that all the Indians along the Wabash had been, or were then, on a visit to the British agency. "He (Dubois) has been in the Indian trade thirty years and has never known, as he thinks, more than one-fourth as many goods given to the Indians as they are now distributing. He examined the share of one man (not a chief) and found that he had received an elegant rifle, 25 pounds of powder, 50 of lead, 3 blankets, 3 strouds of cloth, 10 shirts, and several other articles. He says that every Indian is furnished with a gun (either rifle or fusil), and an abundance of ammunition. A trader of this country was lately at the King's stores at Malden. He saw 150 kegs of powder (supposed to contain about 60 pounds each), and he was told that the quantity of goods for the Indian Department which had been sent over this year exceeded that of common years by twenty thousand pounds sterling. It is impossible to ascribe this profusion to any other motive than that of instigating the Indians to take up the tomahawk. It cannot be to secure their trade, for all the peltries collected on the waters of the Wabash in one year, if sold in the London market, would not pay the freight of the goods which have been given to the Indians." The contagion of unrest, thus encouraged and cultivated, was, as Captain Parke observed, rapidly spreading to all the tribes of the Wabash, the lakes and the Mississippi, and the influence of the Prophet was daily increasing. Unless the nest of banditti at Tippecanoe was broken up, the axe would quickly fall on all the settlements.

The plans of the Governor were speedily formed and most energetically carried forward. His purposes were, to call upon the tribes to immediately deliver up any and all of their people who had been concerned in the murders on the frontier; to require them to fulfill "that article of the Treaty of Greenville which obliges them to give information and to stop any parties passing through their districts with hostile intentions;" to further require them to cause such of their warriors as had joined the Prophet to immediately return to their tribes, or be put out of their protection. Of the Miamis he would demand an absolute disavowal of all further connection with the Prophet, and a disapprobation of his continued occupancy of their lands. All the tribes were to be reminded of the lenity, justice and continued consideration of the United States, and the efforts of the government to civilize them and promote their happiness, and warned that in case they took up the tomahawk against their fathers, no further mercies might be expected. To enforce these requirements, spread terror among the recalcitrant, and give strength to the wavering, he proposed to move up to the upper line of the New Purchase with two companies of regulars, fourteen or fifteen companies of militia, and two troops of dragoons. He hoped thus to dissolve the Prophet's bands without the effusion of blood, but in case of a continued defiance he proposed to march into the Indian country and enforce his demands with sword in hand.

Immediately after the conference with Tecumseh the Governor had sent a message to the Miami chiefs who had accompanied the Shawnee leader, requiring their return to Vincennes, that he might confer with them on measures of peace. To this demand they returned an insolent reply and refused to come. He then dispatched Touissant Dubois with a written speech to the Miami, Eel river and Wea tribes.

"My children: My eyes are open and I am now looking toward the Wabash. I see a dark cloud hanging over it. Those who have raised it intended it for my destruction, but I will turn it upon their heads."

"My children: I hoped that you would not be injured by this cloud. You have seen it gathering. You had timely notice to keep clear of it. The thunder begins to roll; take care that it does not burst upon your heads."

"My children: I now speak plainly to you. What is that great collection of people at the mouth of the Tippecanoe intended for? I am not blind, my children. I can easily see what their object is. Those people have boasted that they will find me asleep, but they will be deceived."

"My children: Do not suppose that I will be foolish enough to suffer them to go on with their preparations until they are ready to strike my people. No. I have watched their motions. I know what they wish to do, and you know it also. Listen, then, to what I say. I will not suffer any more strange Indians to settle on the Wabash. Those that are there, and do not belong there, shall disperse and go to their own tribes."

"My Children: When you made the treaty with General Wayne you promised that if you knew of any parties of Indians passing through your country with hostile intentions toward us, that you would give us notice of it and endeavor to stop them. I now inform you that I consider all those who join the Prophet and his party as hostile, and call upon you to fulfill your engagements. I have also sent to the tribes who have any of their warriors with the Prophet, to withdraw them immediately. Those who do not comply, I shall consider to have let go the chain of friendship which united us."

"My Children: Be wise and listen to my voice. I fear that you have got on a road that will lead you to destruction. Have pity upon your women and children. It is time that my friends should be known. I shall draw a line. Those who keep me by the hand must keep on one side of it, and those that adhere to the Prophet on the other."

"My children: Take your choice. My warriors are in arms but they shall do you no hurt unless you force me to it. But I must have satisfaction for the murder of my people and the war pole that has been raised on the Wabash must be taken down."

When Dubois arrived at the Miami town with the above message, the chieftains were all preparing to go to Malden. The words of the Governor called them to a sudden halt. They must now determine whether they would further listen to the counsel of the Prophet and accept presents from the British, or remain on terms of friendship with the United States. No further wavering or delay would be tolerated.

In the council which followed, Lapoussier was insolent and told Dubois that the Miamis had received no notice whatever of any hostile intention on the part of the Prophet; that they (the Miamis) would defend their lands to the last man, and that the Governor was making himself contemptible in the eyes of all. These bold declarations were approved by Pecan, the Big Man, Negro Legs, Osage, and Sa-na-mah-hon-ga, or The One That Eats Stones, commonly known as the Stone Eater. The words of Little Turtle were of a different tone. He then and afterwards, affirmed his allegiance to the United States. While he prayed the Governor to avoid if possible the shedding of blood, he still proclaimed that the lands on the Wabash were the property of the Miamis; that they had endeavored to stop the Prophet from going there, and that his settlement was made without their consent. "I told my people when they were going to see the Governor not to say anything respecting the land; that the treaty was made and it was a fair one. They had signed the paper which bound the sale of the lands, and that nothing further should be said on the subject. I also charged them whatever they did, to have nothing to do with the Prophet; that the Prophet was an enemy of Governor Harrison's and Governor Harrison's of his; that if they formed any kind of connection with the Prophet it would make the Governor an enemy of theirs."

While these events were going forward, the Governor was making preparations for his expedition up the Wabash. The noise of the coming storm soon reached the ears of the Kentuckians. On the twenty-fourth of August, Joseph Hamilton Daviess wrote to the Governor offering himself as a volunteer. He had been instrumental in checking the treasonable designs of Aaron Burr, was Master of the Grand Lodge of Free Masons of the state of Kentucky, and was one of the most eloquent advocates at the bar of his state. His coming was hailed with eager joy by the rough militiamen of the frontier. In the latter part of the month Harrison was in Louisville asking for volunteers. His call, says Pirtle, "was met with a prompt and ample response. He was very popular, his voice stirring the people like a bugle call. Old Indian fighters like Major General Samuel Wells and Colonel Abraham Owen, of the Kentucky militia, instantly started for the field." Captain Frederick Geiger raised a company, and Captain Peter Funk, who was in command of a company of militia cavalry, at once hastened to Governor Charles Scott of Kentucky, to obtain permission to raise a company of mounted riflemen. In a few days his men were enrolled and early in September joined the forces of Colonel Joseph Bartholomew on their march to Vincennes.

On the third of September, the regular troops of the Fourth United States Regiment of infantry, under Colonel John Parke Boyd, arrived in keel boats at the Falls of the Ohio. The Governor was there to meet them. Boyd was a soldier of fortune and one of the most striking military adventurers of that day. A short sketch of him as given by Benson J. Lossing is as follows: "John Parke Boyd was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 21, 1764. His father was from Scotland, and his mother was a descendant of Tristam Coffin, the first of that family who emigrated to America. He entered the army in 1786, as ensign in the Second Regiment. With a spirit of adventure, he went to India in 1789, having first touched the Isle of France. In a letter to his father from Madras, in June, 1790, he says: 'Having procured recommendatory letters to the British consul residing at the court of his highness, the Nizam, I proceeded to his capital, Hyberabad, 450 miles from Madras. On my arrival, I was presented to his highness in form by the British consul. My reception was as favorable as my most sanguine wishes had anticipated. After the usual ceremony was over, he presented me with the command of two kansolars of infantry, each of which consists of 500 men.' His commission and pay were in accordance with his command. He describes the army of the Nizam, which had taken the field against Tippoo Sultan. It consisted of 150,000 infantry, 60,000 cavalry, and 500 elephants, each elephant supporting a 'castle' containing a nabob and servants. He remained in India several years in a sort of guerrilla service, and obtained much favor. He was in Paris early in 1808 and at home in the autumn of that year, when he was appointed (October 2) Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of the U. S. Army." This tall, handsome and courteous officer, who had fought with the hordes of India on the other side of the world, was shortly to encounter the eagle-feathered chiefs of the Winnebagoes on the banks of the Wabash.

On the night of the 19th of September the regulars of the Fourth Regiment arrived at Vincennes by way of the Wabash. They were under the immediate command of Colonel James Miller, of "I'll try, Sir," fame in the War of 1812. The Governor and Colonel Boyd had already traveled overland on horseback from Louisville. The sight which greeted the eyes of the old French residents on the morning of the twentieth, was a novel one. The American infantry of that period wore a uniform consisting of "blue, brass-buttoned tail-coats, skin-tight pantaloons, and 'stove-pipe hats,' with red, white and blue cockades." One pictures them marching in the brown October woods, their bayonets gleaming in the sunshine, and their bugles awakening strange echoes from headland and bluff. The regiment, though small, was made up of a formidable array of men. While not disciplined in Indian warfare, the rank and file were composed of brave, resolute soldiers, and such officers as Captains W. C. Baen, Josiah Snelling, Robert C. Barton, Return B. Brown, George W. Prescott and Joel Cook, were of the best of that time. The gallant Baen was on his last march, and his bones were destined to repose in a savage wilderness.

A military conference was now held, participated in by Governor Harrison, Colonel Boyd, and two judges of the supreme court, Benjamin Parke and Waller Taylor, both of whom were officers in the local militia. It was determined to ascend the river with a respectable force, which would not only defy attack, but impress the tribesmen, if possible, with a due respect for the power and authority of the United States. The Prophet, though not a warrior, was known, as Harrison says, to be, "daring, presumptuous and rash." He was now reinforced by a considerable body of Winnebago warriors, and the Potawatomi of the prairies and the Illinois were coming to his support. A small expedition would not only excite contempt, but might lead to a disaster.

Accordingly, on the morning of the twenty-sixth of September, an army of about one thousand men, including one hundred and forty dragoons and sixty mounted riflemen, commenced its march to the upper end of the New Purchase. The cavalry had been sent forward two days before to the settlement of Busseron, where forage for the horses could more easily be procured. Just before the departure of the army, a deputation of warriors arrived from the Prophet's Town, led by a war chief of the hostile Kickapoos. He expressed his astonishment at seeing such warlike preparations, said that his women and children were all in tears, and falsely asserted that the hearts of all the Prophet's party were warm towards the United States. The Governor peremptorily informed the Kickapoo that the army was about to march, and that nothing but an immediate surrender of the Indian murderers and horse-thieves would satisfy the government. The mount of Captain William Piatt, chief quartermaster of the expedition, and four horses from Busseron had just been stolen, and all further dissimulation on the part of the savages was without avail.

The account of the march, as recorded by Captain John Tipton, is exceedingly interesting. The militiamen of southern Indiana and Kentucky assembled from the frontier settlements, were men of simple habits, rough, unlettered, hard to teach the intricacies of military evolutions, but as General John C. Black has stated, they were also "insensible to fatigue, watchful as a catamount, resolute as men, heroic as martyrs." Some of their favorite sports were wrestling, shooting at a mark, and horse-racing. All were inured to an active, outdoor life. Most of them were without tents and few had blankets, but they did not complain. As the army advanced through the wilderness, the cutting down of bee trees, the shooting of squirrels, raccoon and deer were everyday occurrences; horses strayed away and were recovered; the provision boats lodged on the sand bars in the river and were launched again; stories of adventure and midnight massacre were told about the great camp fires. All came from families who had suffered from savage outrage; all hated both British and Indians "with a holy hate," and all were determined that the forces of civilization should not recede. They were eager for battle and unafraid.

On the second of October the army arrived at Terre Haute or "high land," said to be the scene of a bloody battle between the ancient tribe of the Illinois and the Iroquois. The place was designated by the old French traders and settlers as "Bataille des Illinois." A few old apple and peach trees still marked the site of an ancient Indian village. About two miles from this location was a town of the Weas. Harrison immediately began the erection of a quadrangular stockaded fort, with a blockhouse at three of the angles. This fortification, amid much celebrating, was, on Sunday, the twenty-seventh of October, christened as Fort Harrison. An oration was delivered on the occasion by Joseph Hamilton Davis.



All doubt of the Prophet's hostility was now dispelled. He had committed open acts of war on the United States. While the army was on the march to Terre Haute a party of the Prophet's raiders, in open daylight, took eight horses from a settlement in the Illinois Territory about thirty miles above Vincennes. At eight o'clock, on the evening of the tenth of October, a sentinel belonging to the Fourth United States Regiment was fired on and badly wounded by savages prowling about the camp. "The army was immediately turned out," says Harrison, "and formed in excellent order in a very few minutes. Patrols were dispatched in every direction, but the darkness was such that pursuit was impracticable. Other alarms took place in the course of the night, probably without good cause, but the troops manifested an alertness in taking their positions which was highly gratifying to me." On the evening of the eleventh, John Conner and four of the Delaware chiefs came into camp. Before leaving Vincennes, Harrison had sent a request that some of their chiefs might meet him on the march, for the purpose of undertaking embassies of peace to the different tribes. On the sixth of October, many of them had set out from their towns, but were met on the way by a deputation from the Prophet's Town. This deputation declared that the followers of the Prophet had taken up the tomahawk against the United States, "and that they would lay it down only with their lives." They were confident of victory and required a categorical answer from the Delawares to the question of whether they would or would not join them in the coming war. Conner and the four chiefs were immediately sent to report to Harrison, and another party ordered forward to Tippecanoe to remonstrate with the Prophet. On the twenty-seventh the latter party reported to the Governor at Fort Harrison. They had been insulted and badly treated by the Prophet and were dismissed with contempt. During their stay with the Shawnee leader, the warriors arrived who had fired on the sentinel at Terre Haute. They were Shawnees and the Prophet's nearest friends.

Harrison now resolved to immediately march to Tippecanoe and demand satisfaction. To return to Vincennes with his troops without effecting a dispersion or humiliation of the Prophet's party would be attended with the most fatal consequences. "If he is thus presumptuous upon our advance," writes the Governor, "our return without chastising him, or greatly alarming his fears and those of his followers, would give him an eclat that would increase his followers, and we would have to wage through the winter a defensive war which would greatly distress our frontiers." The Governor's display of force on the Wabash had not had the desired effect. While some of the Weas were returning to their villages, and the Wyandots were reported to be urging the tribes to fall away from the Prophet, still the spirit of treachery was abroad in the whole Wabash country. The Miami chiefs arrived for an apparently friendly council, but the Stone Eater was vacillating, and already under the influence of the Prophet. Winamac, who had made so many professions of friendliness towards the government, was now rallying his forces on the side of the Shawnee. Reinforcements of savage Kickapoos and Potawatomi from the Illinois river were beating down the great trails on the way to Tippecanoe. The constant and continued influence of the British, the "ridiculous and superstitious pranks" of the Shawnee impostor, and the natural fear and jealousy of all the tribesmen, on account of their lands, had at last cemented the savage union. The young men and braves of all the clans were ranged in either open or secret hostility against the United States.

The forces at the Prophet's Town were estimated at about six hundred. At a council of the officers it was decided to send for a reinforcement of four companies, but without waiting for their return, to at once take up the march, as all forage for the horses would soon disappear. On the twenty-ninth of October the army moved forward. It consisted of about six hundred and forty foot and two hundred and seventy mounted men. Two hundred and fifty of these were regulars, about sixty were Kentuckians, and the remainder were Indiana militia, raised at Corydon, Vincennes, and points along the Wabash and Ohio rivers. "The militia," says Harrison, "are the best I ever saw, and Colonel Boyd's regiment is a fine body of men." Along with the army rolled nineteen wagons and one cart to transport the supplies, as the winding course of the river and the nature of the ground near it, rendered their further transportation by boats impracticable. The Governor at the last moment sent forward a message to the Prophet's Town requiring the immediate disbandment of the Winnebago, Potawatomi and Kickapoo followers of the Shawnee, the surrender of all murderers, and the delivery up of all stolen horses. "I am determined," wrote Harrison to Governor Scott of Kentucky, "to disperse the Prophet's banditti before I return, or give him the chance of acquiring as much fame as a warrior, as he now has as a saint."

On Thursday, the thirty-first, the army crossed the northern line of the New Purchase at Raccoon Creek, and a few hours later forded the Wabash at Montezuma. The water was very deep and the troops and wagons were three hours in making the passage. The east bank of the river had been reconnoitered for several miles up and a feint made as though to cut a wagon road, but the country on the left bank afforded too many opportunities for an ambuscade, and Harrison now resolved to strike the open prairies toward the state line. On the first of November the army encamped on the west side of the Wabash about two or three miles below the mouth of the Big Vermilion, and as it had been determined to take forward the provisions from this point in wagons, a small blockhouse, twenty-five feet square was here erected, with a breastwork at each corner next to the river, to receive supplies from the boats. Remnants of the old landing were still to be seen in 1914. Logs and brush were now employed to level down the great horse weeds that filled the lowlands, and corduroy roads made for the passage of the wagons to the uplands at the west. Major General Samuel Wells, Colonel Abraham Owen and Captain Frederick Geiger had now arrived with some of the Kentucky volunteers, and the army, after leaving a guard of eight men at the blockhouse, at once crossed the Big Vermilion at the site of the old Kickapoo village and entered upon Sand Prairie at the north.

Harrison was now in the heart of the hostile Kickapoo country. Like his old commander Wayne, he maintained a most diligent lookout. The army was moving forward with mounted men in advance, in the rear and on both flanks. The infantry marched in two columns of files, one on either side of the road. The heavy army wagons drawn by oxen, and the beeves and led animals were in the center. A company of twelve scouts under the command of Captain Touissant Dubois closely scanned every place of danger and pointed out the army's way.

Late on the third of November, the frontiersmen saw for the first time the great prairies of the west, stretching north to Chicago and west to the Mississippi. They camped that night in Round Grove, near the present town of Sloan. An abundance of blue grass carpeted the sheltered ground and a fine spring of water supplied fresh drink. All the next day the great wheels of the lumbering baggage wagons cut through the sod of the Warren prairies, leaving a long trail over the plains that was plainly traceable for a half century afterwards. Night found the army encamped on the east bank of Pine creek, above the site of the old Brier milldam. An old bayonet of the revolutionary type was long years afterward picked up in an adjoining wheat field and is now lodged in the Babcock museum at Goodland. The dangerous passes to the south had been avoided and scouts were Posted far down the stream to avoid the danger of a night attack.

Wednesday the sixth, it was very cold. Indian signs were now observed for the first time, the scouts caught four Indian horses, and parties of savages were constantly lurking on the skirts of the advancing forces. Every effort to hold conversation with them, however, was in vain. At a distance of about four miles from the Prophet's Town the army was formed in order of battle, and moved forward with great caution. The scouts had evidently picked out a poor path, for the army now found itself on dangerous ground, and Harrison was obliged to change the position of the several corps three times in the distance of a mile, to avoid the peril of an ambuscade.

At half past two o'clock in the afternoon the troops crossed Burnet's Creek at a distance of one and one-half miles from the town, and again formed in order of battle. Captain Dubois, now offering to go to the Indian camp with a flag, was sent forward with an interpreter to request a conference. The savages knew Dubois well, but they now appeared on either flank and attempted to cut him off from the army. Harrison recalled him and determined to encamp for the night.

In the meantime, the impatient Major Daviess had advanced to the Indian corn fields along the river with a party of dragoons. He now returned and reported that the Indians were very hostile and had answered every attempt to bring them to a parley with insolence and contempt. He, together with all the officers, advised an immediate attack. Harrison was mindful of the President's injunctions. He did not wish to bring on a conflict until all efforts for peace had failed. He ordered the army to advance, but placed the interpreters at the front, with directions to invite a conference with any Indians that they might meet with.

After proceeding about four hundred yards, the advance guard was approached by three Indians who expressed a wish to see the Governor. One of them was a chief closely connected with the Prophet. He told Harrison that they were surprised at his rapid advance upon them; that they had been given to understand by a party of Delawares and Miamis whom the Governor had sent forward, that he would not march on their town until an answer had been made to his demands; that Winamac had been detailed two days before to meet the Governor and arrange terms, but that he had proceeded down the south side of the Wabash. These statements were all false, but the General answered that he had no intention of attacking them until he was convinced that they would not comply with his demands, and that he would now go forward and encamp on the river. In the morning, an interview would be held and he would communicate to them the determination of the President. The march was then resumed.

The Indian corn lands extended for a great distance along the river and the ground was so broken and uneven, and the timber had been cleared away to such an extent, that no suitable place could be found for a camp. The troops were now almost upon the town, when fifty or sixty savages sallied forth and with loud cries called upon the cavalry and militia to halt. The Governor immediately pressed to the front, and directed the interpreter to request some of the chiefs to come near. Harrison now informed them that his only object for the present was to secure a camp, where he might find wood and water. The chiefs informed him that there was a creek to the northwest that would suit his purpose, and after mutual promises of a suspension of hostilities until the following day, the interview was brought to an end.

Majors Waller Taylor and Marston G. Clark, aides to the Governor, were now detailed to select a site for an encampment. The ground chosen was the destined battlefield of Tippecanoe. "It was a piece of dry oak land rising about ten feet above the level of a marshy prairie in front, (towards the Indian town), and nearly twice that height above a similar prairie in the rear, through which, and near to this bank, ran a small stream clothed with willows and brush wood. Towards the left flank this bench of high land widened considerably, but became gradually narrower in the opposite direction, and at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards from the right flank, terminated in an abrupt point."



CHAPTER XXIV

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE

—The night attack on Harrison's forces.—The destruction of Tecumseh's Confederacy.

An inverted flatiron pointing to the east of south—that is the battle ground of Tippecanoe. The western edge is the sheer bank of Burnet's Creek. A savage would have some difficulty in climbing there. Back of the creek is a low marsh, filled with cat-tails and long grass. The surface of the flatiron is a sandy plain with scattering oaks, and sloping towards the east. At the north the plain widens, but comes to an abrupt point at the southern end. To the east and in the direction of the Prophet's Town is a wet prairie. The Kickapoos said that Harrison's choice of a camping place was excellent.

Late in the evening the army arrives and takes up its position. Axes are scarce and there is no time to erect a breastwork of trees. Firewood must be cut to warm the shivering troops. The militia have no tents and blankets are scarce. Low scudding clouds betoken a cold November rain. The regulars are split into two battalions of four companies each. One is placed on the left front facing the east. This is under the command of Major George Rogers Clark Floyd. Under him are the companies of Baen, Snelling and Prescott, and a small company of United States riflemen armed with muskets. On his right are two companies of Indiana militia commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bartholomew. The second battalion of regulars is placed in the left rear and is commanded by Captain William C. Baen, acting as major. To the right of this battalion are four companies of Indiana militia, commanded by Captains Josiah Snelling, Jr., John Posey, Thomas Scott and Jacob Warrick, all of whom are under the leadership of Lieutenant-Colonel Luke Decker. Warrick's company is in the southwestern corner of the camp, and next to the mounted riflemen under Spencer. The left flank is filled up by two companies of mounted riflemen under the command of Major-General Samuel Wells, of the Kentucky militia, acting as major. Back of these riflemen are two troops of dragoons under Major Joseph Hamilton Daviess, and in the rear of the front lines are the Light Dragoons of Vincennes, led by Captain Benjamin Parke. The right flank is made up of the famous Yellow Jackets of Harrison county, Indiana. They wear yellow flannel hunting shirts with a red fringe and hats with red plumes. Their officers are Captain Spier Spencer, sheriff of his county; First-Lieutenant Richard McMahan, Second-Lieutenant Thomas Berry, and Ensign John Tipton. Spencer is of a Kentucky family, his mother has been an Indian captive when a girl, and his fourteen year old son accompanies him on the expedition, bearing a rifle. The distance between the front and rear lines on the left flank is about one hundred and fifty yards, and something more than half that distance on the right flank. In the center of the camp are the headquarters of the Governor, the wagons and baggage, and the beef cattle.

Night is now coming on apace and the great camp fires of the army shed a cheerful glow on men and horses, arms and accouterments. Harrison is watchful. While neither he nor his officers expect a night attack, still he bears in mind that he is in the heart of the Indian country and only a mile and a quarter from the Prophet's village. A council of the officers is held and all placed in readiness for instant action. The camp, in form, is an irregular parallelogram, and troops may be rushed to at once reinforce any point assailed. The troops are formed in single rank and maneuver easily—extension of the lines is readily accomplished. The order of encampment is the order of battle. Every man must sleep opposite his post. In case of attack the soldiers are to arise, step to the rear of the fires, and instantly form in line. The line thus formed is to hold its ground until further relieved. The dragoons are to parade dismounted, with their pistols in their belts, and to act as a corps de reserve. The whole camp is surrounded by two captains' guards, each consisting of four non-commissioned officers and forty-two men, and two subalterns' guards, of twenty non-commissioned officers and privates. The regulars retire with accouterments on, and their arms by their sides. The tired militia, having no tents, sleep with their arms under them to keep them dry. Captain Cook, of the Fourth Regiment records that he slept with his boots and great coat on, and with his trusty rifle clasped in his arms. The infantry bear cartridges each loaded with twelve buckshot. These are intended for a rain of death.

In the meantime, the fearful Prophet is filled with doubt. Now that the hour of destiny is at hand, his heart fails him. He counsels caution and a postponement of the fight. He urges that a treaty be entered into; a compliance made with the demands of the Governor, and that the Potawatomi murderers be surrendered up. The army must be thrown off its guard and a treacherous attack made on its return home. But the young men and warriors think otherwise. Has not the Prophet told them that the white man's bullets are harmless, and that his powder will turn to sand? Why hesitate? The army is now asleep and will never awake. Let the Magic Bowl be produced, the sacred torch and the "Medean fire." Let there be death to all!

At a quarter past four o'clock in the morning the Governor arises to pull on his boots. The moon is now obscured, and a drizzly rain is falling. The camp fires are still burning, but beyond the lines of sleeping men, all is darkness and gloom. The sentinels out there in the night are listening to strange sounds. Through the tall grass of the swamp lands terrible forms are creeping, like snakes on their bellies, towards the camp. The painted and feather-bedecked warriors of the Prophet are surrounding the army.

In two minutes more an aide is to awake the drummer and have him ready by the fire to beat the reveille, when all at once the attack begins. A sentinel, standing on the bank of Burnet's Creek near the northwestern angle of the camp, sees an object crawling on the ground. He fires and runs toward the line—the next moment he is shot down. With demon yells the savages burst upon the ranks of Captain Barton's company and Geiger's riflemen.

In an instant the camp is alive and the men spring to arms, but there is no disorder or confusion. In Barton's company a sergeant and two privates are up renewing the fires, and immediately give the alarm. Two savages penetrate the camps but are killed within twenty yards of the line. A corporal in Barton's company is shot as he steps to the door of his tent. Another corporal and a private are killed and a sergeant wounded as the lines are forming, but immediately afterwards a heavy fire is opened and the charging red skins are driven back. The attack on the Kentuckians is particularly ferocious. A hand to hand fight ensues. One of Geiger's men loses his gun and the captain runs to his tent to get him another. He finds some savages there "ransacking its contents, and prodding their knives into everything." One of them attempts to kill the captain with a tomahawk, but is immediately slain.

At the first alarm the Governor calls for his white horse, but the shots and yells terrify that animal and he breaks his tether. Harrison now mounts a bay and rides to the first point of attack, Colonel Abraham Owen at his side. Owen is killed, a lock of the Governor's hair is cut away by a bullet, but he brings up Wentworth's company under Lieutenant George P. Peters, and Captain Joel Cook's from the rear line, and forms them across the angle in support of Barton and Geiger.

Nothing like this fury has ever been witnessed before. The rattling of dried deer hoofs and the shrieks of the warriors resound on every hand. In a few moments the fire extends along the whole front, both flanks, and a part of the rear line. The fierce Winnebagoes, with tall eagle feathers in their scalp locks, rush upon the bayonets, attempt to push them aside, and cut down the men. It avails them nothing. The iron discipline of the regulars holds them firm. On every hand the soldiers kick out the fires, re-load their guns and settle down to the fight.

In the first mad rushes, the company of David Robb posted on the left flank, gives way, or through some error in orders, retires to the center of the camp. Harrison sees the mistake on the instant and orders Snelling to cover the left flank. Snelling is alert, and at the first gun seizes his sword and forms his company into line. The dangerous gap is at once filled, and the companies close up. But a murderous fire now assails them on the front from behind some fallen logs and trees. Daviess with his dragoons is behind the lines, and impatient of restraint. Twice he asks the Governor for orders to charge—the third time a reluctant consent is given. The regulars open up, the brave Major with eight of his men pass through the ranks, and the next moment he is mortally wounded. Snelling's company with levelled bayonets clear the field.

Prodigies of valor are being performed on the right flank. Spencer is there and his famous Yellow Jackets. If the regulars have been valorous, the mounted riflemen of Harrison County have been brilliant. Harrison rides down and calls for the Captain. A slip of a boy answers: "He is dead, sir." "Where is your lieutenant?" "He is dead." "Where is your second lieutenant?" "He is dead." "Where is your ensign?" The answer came, "I am he." The General compliments him and tells him to hold the line. Spencer is wounded in the head, but exhorts his men to fight. He is shot through both thighs and falls, but from the ground encourages his men to stand. They raise him up, but a ball puts an immediate end to his brave career. To the rear of Spencer is the giant Warrick. He is shot through the body and taken to the surgery to be dressed. His wounds bound up, he insists on going back to the head of his company, although he has but a few hours to live. Thus fought and died these brave militiamen of the southern hills. Harrison orders up the company of Robb and the lines hold until the coming of the light.

Throughout the long and trying hours of darkness the Governor remains cool. Mounted on his charger, he appears at every point along the line, and his calm and confident tones of command give reassurance to all his men. If the formation can be held intact until the coming of the dawn, the bayonets of the regulars and the broadswords of the dragoons shall be brought into play. He remembers the example of the illustrious Wayne.

As the morning approaches the fight narrows down to the two flanks. Here the savages will make their last stand. Harrison now draws the companies of Snelling, Posey and Scott from the front lines, and the company of Captain Walter Wilson from the rear, and forms them on the left flank. At the same time he orders Baen's company from the front and Cook's from the rear, to form on the right. The infantry are to be supported by the dragoons. But as soon as the companies form on the left, Major Samuel Wells orders a charge, the Indians flee in front of the cold steel, and are pursued into the swamps by the dragoons. At the same moment the troops on the right dislodge the savages from behind the trees, and drive them headlong into the wet prairie in front. The battle is over. A long and deafening shout from, the troops proclaims the victory.

Thus ended the battle of Tippecanoe, justly famed in history. The intrepidity of the officers, the firm resolution of the regulars, the daring brilliancy of the militiamen, all brought about the desired end. The conflict had been severe. One hundred and eighty-eight men and officers were either killed or wounded. The officers slain were, Colonel Abraham Owen, Major Joseph Hamilton Daviess, Captain Jacob Warrick, Captain Spier Spencer, Captain William C. Baen, Lieutenant Richard McMahan, Lieutenant Thomas Berry, Corporal James Mitchell and Corporal Stephen Mars. The loss of the savages in killed alone was nearly forty. The number of their wounded could never be ascertained. They were led in battle by the perfidious Winamac, who had always professed to be the friend of the Governor, and by White Loon and the Stone Eater.

In the weeks that followed the battle much censure of Harrison was heard, and much of the credit for the victory was at first accorded to the United States regulars and Colonel Boyd. This was so manifestly unfair to General Harrison, that Captains Cook, Snelling and Barton, Lieutenants Adams, Fuller, Hawkins and Gooding, Ensign Burchstead and Surgeons Josiah D. Foster and Hosea Blood, all of the Fourth United States Regiment, signed an open statement highly laudatory of the Governor's talents, military science and patriotism. They declared that throughout the whole campaign the Governor demeaned himself both as a "soldier and a general," and that any attempt to undermine their confidence in and respect for the commander-in-chief, would be regarded by them as an "insult to their understandings and an injury to their feelings." The legislatures of Indiana and Kentucky passed resolutions highly commendatory of the Governor's military conduct and skill.

The Indian confederacy was crushed. Tecumseh returned about the first of the year to find the forces at the Prophet's Town broken up and scattered, and his ambitious dreams of empire forever dissipated. Nothing now remained for him to do but openly espouse the British cause. He became the intimate and associate of the infamous Proctor and died in the battle at the River Thames.

The battle of Tippecanoe gave great impetus to the military spirit in the western world and prepared the way for the War of 1812. Harrison became the leader of the frontier forces and thousands of volunteers flocked to his standard. The tales of valor and heroism, the stories of the death of Daviess and Owen, Spencer and Warrick, and of the long, terrible hours of contest with a savage foe, were recounted for years afterward around every fireside in southern Indiana and Kentucky, and brought a thrill of patriotic pride to the heart of every man, woman and child who heard them. The menace of the red skin was removed. During the following winter the frontier reposed in peace.

The battle did more. Many of those who followed Harrison saw for the first time the wonderful valley of the upper Wabash and the boundless prairies of the north. In the wake of the conflict followed the forces of civilization, and in a few years afterward both valley and plain were filling up with a virile and hardy race of frontiersmen who laid the foundations of the new commonwealth. In 1816, Indiana became a member of the federal union.



CHAPTER XXV

NAYLOR'S NARRATIVE

—A description, of the battle by one of the volunteers.

An excellent portrait of Judge Isaac Naylor now hangs in the court room at Williamsport, Indiana. He was one of the first judges of the Montgomery circuit which formerly embraced both Warren and Benton. Naylor was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1790, and removed to Clark county, Indiana, in 1805. In 1810 he made a journey to New Orleans on a flatboat. While preparing for college the Tippecanoe campaign came on, and he joined Harrison's army at Vincennes. His account of the battle is as follows:

"I became a volunteer member of a company of riflemen, and on the 12th of September, 1811, we commenced our march toward Vincennes, and arrived there in about six days, marching about 120 miles. We remained there about a week and took up the march to a point on the Wabash river, sixty miles above, on the east bank of the river, where we erected a stockade fort, which we named Fort Harrison. This was three miles above where the city of Terre Haute now stands. Col. Joseph H. Daviess, who commanded the dragoons, named the fort. The glorious defense of this fort nine months after by Captain Zachary Taylor was the first step in his brilliant career that afterwards made him President of the United States.

A few days later we took up the march again for the seat of Indian warfare, where we arrived on the evening of November 6th, 1811.

"When the army arrived in view of the Prophet's Town, an Indian was seen coming toward General Harrison with a white flag suspended on a pole. Here the army halted, and a parley was had between General Harrison and an Indian delegation, who assured the General that they desired peace, and solemnly promised to meet him next day in council, to settle the terms of peace and friendship between them and the United States.

"General Marston G. Clark, who was then brigade major, and Waller Taylor, one of the judges of the General Court of the Territory of Indiana, and afterwards a Senator of the United States from Indiana (one of the General's aides), were ordered to select a place for the encampment, which they did. The army then marched to the ground selected about sunset. A strong guard was placed around the encampment, commanded by Captain James Bigger and three lieutenants. The troops were ordered to sleep on their arms. The night being cold, large fires were made along the lines of encampment and each soldier retired to rest, sleeping on his arms.

"Having seen a number of squaws and children at the town I thought the Indians were not disposed to fight. About ten o'clock at night Joseph Warnock and myself retired to rest, he taking one side of the fire and I the other, the other members of our company being all asleep. My friend Warnock had dreamed, the night before, a bad dream which foreboded something fatal to him or to some of his family, as he told me. Having myself no confidence in dreams, I thought but little about the matter, although I observed that he never smiled afterwards.

"I awoke about four o'clock the next morning, after a sound and refreshing sleep, having heard in a dream the firing of guns and the whistling of bullets just before I awoke from my slumber. A drizzling rain was falling and all things were still and quiet throughout the camp. I was engaged in making a calculation when I should arrive home.

"In a few moments I heard the crack of a rifle in the direction of the point where now stands the Battle Ground House, which is occupied by Captain DuTiel as a tavern. I had just time to think that some sentinel was alarmed and fired his rifle without a real cause, when I heard the crack of another rifle, followed by an awful Indian yell all around the encampment. In less than a minute I saw the Indians charging our line most furiously and shooting a great many rifle balls into our camp fires, throwing the live coals into the air three or four feet high.

"At this moment my friend Warnock was shot by a rifle ball through his body. He ran a few yards and fell dead on the ground. Our lines were broken and a few Indians were found on the inside of the encampment. In a few moments they were all killed. Our lines closed up and our men in their proper places. One Indian was killed in the back part of Captain Geiger's tent, while he was attempting to tomahawk the Captain.

"The sentinels, closely pursued by the Indians, came to the lines of the encampment in haste and confusion. My brother, William Naylor, was on guard. He was pursued so rapidly and furiously that he ran to the nearest point on the left flank, where he remained with a company of regular soldiers until the battle was near its termination. A young man, whose name was Daniel Pettit, was pursued so closely and furiously by an Indian as he was running from the guard line to our lines, that to save his life he cocked his rifle as he ran and turning suddenly around, placed the muzzle of his gun against the body of the Indian and shot an ounce ball through him. The Indian fired his gun at the same instant, but it being longer than Pettit's, the muzzle passed by him and set fire to a handkerchief which he had tied around his head. The Indians made four or five most fierce charges on our lines, yelling and screaming as they advanced, shooting balls and arrows into our ranks. At each charge they were driven back in confusion, carrying off their dead and wounded as they retreated.

"Colonel Owen, of Shelby County, Kentucky, one of General Harrison's volunteer aides, fell early in action by the side of the General. He was a member of the legislature at the time of his death. Colonel Daviess was mortally wounded early in the battle, gallantly charging the Indians on foot with his sword and pistols, according to his own request. He made this request three times of General Harrison, before he was permitted to make the charge. The charge was made by himself and eight dragoons on foot near the angle formed by the left flank and front line of the encampment. Colonel Daviess lived about thirty-six hours after he was wounded, manifesting his ruling passions in life—ambition, patriotism and an ardent love of military glory. During the last hours of his life he said to his friends around him that he had but one thing to regret—that he had military talents; that he was about to be cut down in the meridian of life without having an opportunity of displaying them for his own honor, and the good of his country. He was buried alone with the honors of war near the right flank of the army, inside of the lines of the encampment, between two trees. On one of these trees the letter 'D' is now visible. Nothing but the stump of the other remains. His grave was made here, to conceal it from the Indians. It was filled up to the top with earth, and then covered with oak leaves. I presume the Indians never found it. This precautionary act was performed as a mark of peculiar respect for a distinguished hero and patriot of Kentucky.

"Captain Spencer's company, of mounted riflemen composed the right flank of the army. Captain Spencer and both his lieutenants were killed. John Tipton was elected and commissioned as captain of this company in one hour after the battle, as a reward for his cool and deliberate heroism displayed during the action. He died at Logansport in 1839, having been twice elected Senator of the United States from the State of Indiana.

"The clear, calm voice of General Harrison was heard in words of heroism in every part of the encampment during the action. Colonel Boyd behaved very bravely after repeating these words: "Huzza! My sons of gold, a few more fires and victory will be ours!"

"Just after daylight the Indiana retreated across the prairie toward their town, carrying off their wounded. This retreat was from the right flank of the encampment, commanded by Captains Spencer and Robb, having retreated from the other portions of the encampment a few minutes before. As their retreat became visible, an almost deafening and universal shout was raised by our men. 'Huzza! Huzza! Huzza!' This shout was almost equal to that of the savages at the commencement of the battle; ours was the shout of victory, theirs was the shout of ferocious but disappointed hope.

"The morning light disclosed the fact that the killed and wounded of our army, numbering between eight and nine hundred men, amounted to one hundred and eighty-eight. Thirty-six Indians were found near our lines. Many of their dead were carried off during the battle. This fact was proved by the discovery of many Indian graves recently made near their town. Ours was a bloody victory, theirs a bloody defeat.

"Soon after breakfast an Indian chief was discovered on the prairie, about eighty yards from our front line, wrapped in a piece of white cloth. He was found by a soldier by the name of Miller, a resident of Jeffersonville, Indiana. The Indian was wounded in one of his legs, the ball having penetrated his knee and passed down his leg, breaking the bone as it passed. Miller put his foot against him and he raised up his head and said: 'Don't kill me, don't kill me.' At the same time five or six regular soldiers tried to shoot him, but their muskets snapped and missed fire. Major Davis Floyd came riding toward him with dragoon sword and pistols and said he would show them how to kill Indians, when a messenger came from General Harrison commanding that he should be taken prisoner. He was taken into camp, where the surgeons dressed his wounds. Here he refused to speak a word of English or tell a word of truth. Through the medium of an interpreter he said that he was a friend to the white people and that the Indians shot him while he was coming to the camp to tell General Harrison that they were about to attack the army. He refused to have his leg amputated, though he was told that amputation was the only means of saving his life. One dogma of Indian superstition is that all good and brave Indians, when they die, go to a delightful region, abounding with deer and other game, and to be a successful hunter he should have all his limbs, his gun and his dog. He therefore preferred death with all his limbs to life without them. In accordance with his request he was left to die, in company with an old squaw, who was found in the Indian town the next day after he was taken prisoner. They were left in one of our tents.



"At the time this Indian was taken prisoner, another Indian, who was wounded in the body, rose to his feet in the middle of the prairie and began to walk towards the woods on the opposite side. A number of regular soldiers shot at him but missed him. A man who was a member of the same company with me, Henry Huckleberry, ran a few steps into the prairie and shot an ounce ball through his body and he fell dead near the margin of the woods. Some Kentucky volunteers went across the prairie immediately, and scalped him, dividing his scalp into four pieces, each one cutting a hole in each piece, putting the ramrod through the hole, and placing his part of the scalp just behind the first thimble of his gun, near its muzzle. Such was the fate of nearly all of the Indians found on the battle ground, and such was the disposition of their scalps.

"The death of Owen, and the fact that Daviess was mortally wounded, with the remembrance also that a large portion of Kentucky's best blood had been shed by the Indians, must be their apology for this barbarous conduct. Such conduct will be excused by all who witnessed the treachery of the Indians, and saw the bloody scenes of this battle.

"Tecumseh being absent at the time of the battle, a chief called White Loon was the chief commander of the Indians. He was seen in the morning after the battle, riding a large white horse in the woods across the prairie, where he was shot at by a volunteer named Montgomery, who is now living in the southwest part of this state. At the crack of his rifle the horse jumped as if the ball had hit him. The Indian rode off toward the town and we saw him no more. During the battle the Prophet was safely located on a hill, beyond the reach of our balls, praying to the Great Spirit to give victory to the Indians, having previously assured them that the Great Spirit would change our powder into ashes and sand.

"We had about forty head of beef cattle when we came to the battle. They all ran off the night of the battle, or they were driven off by the Indians, so that they were all lost. We received rations for two days on the morning after the action. We received no more rations until the next Tuesday evening, being six days afterwards. The Indians having retreated to their town, we performed the solemn duty of consigning to their graves our dead soldiers, without shrouds or coffins. They were placed in graves about two feet deep, from five to ten in each grave.

"General Harrison having learned that Tecumseh was expected to return from the south with a number of Indians whom he had enlisted in his cause, called a council of his officers, who advised him to remain on the battlefield and fortify his camp by a breastwork of logs, about four feet high. This work was completed during the day and all the troops were placed immediately behind each line of the work, when they were ordered to pass the watchword from right to left every five minutes, so that no man was permitted to sleep during the night. The watchword on the night before the battle was 'Wide-awake, wide-awake.' To me, it was a long, cold, cheerless night.

"On the next day the dragoons went to Prophet's Town, which they found deserted by all the Indians, except an old squaw, whom they brought into the camp and left her with the wounded chief before mentioned. The dragoons set fire to the town and it was all consumed, casting up a brilliant light amid the darkness of the ensuing night. I arrived at the town when it was about half on fire. I found large quantities of corn, beans and peas, I filled my knapsack with these articles and carried them to the camp and divided them with the members of our mess, consisting of six men. Having these articles of food, we declined eating horse flesh, which was eaten by a large portion of our men."

(THE END.)



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25. Eggleston, Edward. Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet.

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45. Hubbard, Gurdon S. Recollections and Autobiography. A fine review of the early fur trade under John Jacob Astor. (Indiana State Library.)

46. Hutchins, Thomas. A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina. 1778. Hutchins was geographer to the King, and later geographer to the Continental Congress. He possessed valuable information concerning the west, and especially of the Wabash valley. (Indiana State Library.)

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48. Jasper and Newton Counties, Indiana. Edited by Louis H. Hamilton, of Rensselaer, Indiana, and Judge William Darroch, of Kentland, Indiana. 1916.

49. Journals of Old Continental Congress. 1775 to 1788. These journals contain the proceedings relative to early Indian affairs, and show the early policy of the old Congress with reference to the Indian tribes, in the years just prior to Washington's administration. (Indiana State Library.)

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INDEX

(References are to pages.)

—A—

Adams, John, 126, 245, 288

Adams, Lieut., 378

Adair, Major John, 213

Agaskawak, Ottawa Chief, 169

Albach, James R., Historian, 193

American Fur Company, 12

Arrowheads, 33, 154

"Army Ford Stock Farm", 154

Armstrong, Capt. John, 163, 165, 166

"Army Ford," Eugene, Indiana, 172

"Aristocrats", 249

Ash, Abraham, Interpreter, 262

Asheton, Capt. Joseph, 167, 169, 187

Ash-cake, 38

Ashley, Ill., 22

Astor, John Jacob, 12, 13

Attica, Ind., 73

Atwater, Caleb, Historian, 14

Au Glaize, River of, 42, 45, 230, 282

An Glaize, Town of, 212

Au-goosh-away, Ottawa Chief, 241

Au Sable Grove, Ill., 23

—B—

Babcock's Museum, Goodland, Indiana, 367

Badger, 13

Baen, Capt. Wm. C., 360, 371, 372, 377, 378

Bancroft, George, Historian, 92

Barbee, Major, (Ky.), 185, 231, 232

Barron, Joseph, Interpreter, 249, 258, 259, 261, 262, 267, 276, 306, 312, 313, 314, 318, 320, 321, 322, 324, 325, 326

Barron's Interview with Tecumseh, 313, 314

Barton, Capt. Robert C., 360, 374, 375, 378

Bartholomew, Col. Joseph, 358, 372

"Bataille des Illinois", 362

Bateaux, 49

Beans, 37, 389

Bears, 12, 13, 16, 27, 51, 114

Bear Chief (Ottawa), 228

Beckwith, Hiram, Historian, 18, 46, 47, 72, 76, 155

Belle Riviere, Ohio River, 113

Benton County, Indiana, 22, 24, 32, 74, 190, 381

Berry, Second Lieutenant Thomas, 372, 378

Beaver, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 51

Beaver City, Indiana, 18

Beaver Creek, Indiana, Illinois, 18

Beaver Lake, Indiana, 11, 13, 18

Beaver Township, Newton County, Indiana, 18

Beaverville, Illinois, 18

Big Bottom, Ohio, Massacre at, 173

Bigger, Captain James, 382

Big Man, (Miami Chief), 357

Birch, Jesse S., 190

Black, General John C., 362

Blackbird, Potawatomi Chief, 203

Black Hawk War, 78

Black Hoof (Catahecassa), Shawnee Chief, 57, 275

Blood, Hosea, Surgeon, 379

Blue Grass, 37, 367

Blue Jacket, Shawnee Chief, 62, 140, 146, 148, 157, 158, 159, 169, 171, 213, 227, 238, 241, 332

Blue Stem, 22

"Board of War," (Ky.), 175, 188

Boone, Daniel, 56, 70, 120, 122

Boonesborough, Kentucky, 115, 117

Boyd, John Parke, Sketch by Lossing, 359

Boyd, John Parke, Colonel U. S. Army 340, 341, 358, 359, 360, 365, 378, 385

Boyd's Bravery at Tippecanoe, 385

Braddock's Defeat, 14, 60, 63, 67, 204, 241

Bradford, Thomas G., Maps of, 53, 55

Brant, Game Bird, 37

Brant, Joseph, Mohawk Chief, 60, 80, 81, 96, 110, 128, 129, 130 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 142, 143, 144, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 212, 213, 215, 216, 217, 218, 221, 224, 238, 293, 332