initial commit of ebook 24147HEADmain

5 files changed, 3647 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/24147.txt b/24147.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32083e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/24147.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3631 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tecumseh, by Ethel T. Raymond
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Tecumseh
+       A Chronicle of the Last Great Leader of His People; Vol.
+       17 of Chronicles of Canada
+
+Author: Ethel T. Raymond
+
+Release Date: January 3, 2008 [EBook #24147]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TECUMSEH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Gardner Buchanan
+
+
+
+
+
+This ebook was created by Gardner Buchanan.
+
+
+CHRONICLES OF CANADA
+Edited by George M. Wrong and H. H. Langton
+In thirty-two volumes
+
+Volume 17
+
+TECUMSEH
+A Chronicle of the last Great Leader of his People
+
+By ETHEL T. RAYMOND
+TORONTO, 1915
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+I.    THE BOYHOOD OF TECUMSEH
+II.   THE BAPTISM OF FIRE
+III.  A LEADER AMONG HIS PEOPLE
+IV.   THE PROPHET
+V.    A GIFTED ORATOR
+VI.   THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE
+VII.  UNDER THE BRITISH FLAG
+VIII. FIGHTING ON AMERICAN SOIL
+IX.   THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE
+X.    TECUMSEH'S LAST FIGHT
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE BOYHOOD OF TECUMSEH
+
+Three Indian figures stand out in bold relief on the background of
+Canadian history--the figures of Pontiac, Brant, and Tecumseh. The
+Ottawa chief Pontiac was the friend of the French, and, when the
+French suffered defeat, he plotted and fought to drive the English
+from the Indian country. Brant, the Mohawk, took the king's side
+against the Americans in the War of Independence, and finally led
+his defeated people to Canada that they might have homes on British
+soil. And Tecumseh threw in his lot with the British in the War of
+1812 and gave his life in their service. But, while Pontiac fought
+for the French and Brant and Tecumseh for the British, it was for
+the lost cause of their own people that all three were really
+fighting; and it was for this that they spent themselves in vain.
+
+Tecumseh, whose story we are to tell in this volume, sprang from
+the Shawnees, an energetic and warlike tribe of Algonquian stock.
+The Algonquins, whose tribal branches were scattered from Labrador
+to the Rockies and from Hudson Bay to North Carolina, believed that
+a deity presided over each of the four cardinal points of the
+compass. Shawan was the guardian spirit of the South; and, as the
+tribe to which Tecumseh belonged formerly lived south of the
+other tribes, its members became known as Shawanoes, or
+Shawnees--that is, Southerners.
+
+Little is known of the history of the Shawnees, for they were
+restless bands, greater wanderers even than the generality of
+Indians, and their continual change of settlement baffles historical
+research. Upon the southern shores of Lake Erie, on the banks of the
+Ohio, and along the broad Mississippi, at different times they pitched
+their tents. The name of the river Suwanee, or 'Swanee,' corrupted from
+their own, marks their abode at one time in Georgia and Florida.
+
+The Shawnees were originally divided into twelve clans, each clan
+adopting as its totem a reptile, bird, or animal that at some time
+had been regarded as a benign spirit. As a result of continual
+wars and wandering, however, the twelve clans had dwindled to four.
+Only the Mequachake, Chillicothe, Piqua, and Kiscopoke remained. In
+the first of these, which conducted all tribal rites, the chiefship
+was hereditary; in the other three it was the reward of merit.
+
+To the Kiscopoke clan belonged Tecumseh's father, Puckeshinwau
+('something that drops'). He had been elevated to the rank of chief
+by his brother-warriors, and at the time of Tecumseh's birth was
+a powerful leader among his people. The panther was the totem of
+his clan. Tecumseh's mother, named Methoataske ('a turtle laying
+eggs in the sand'), is said to have been noted for wisdom among
+the women of her tribe, and her name shows that she belonged to
+the clan having the turtle as its totem. After much wandering,
+Puckeshinwau settled down in the Ohio country with his family and
+the band that accompanied him in his migrations. It was in the old
+Indian village of Piqua, about six miles south-west of the site of
+the present city of Springfield, Ohio, and within sound of the
+rushing waters of the Mad River, that he set up the wigwam in which,
+in the year 1768, Tecumseh first opened his eyes. We are told that
+a rich, wide plateau, gemmed with wild flowers, extended between
+the village and the river, and that precipitous cliffs rose on one
+side, while rolling hills crowned with tall trees completed the
+circle of the village.
+
+Tecumseh was the fourth child of a family of seven. His elders
+were Cheeseekau, the eldest son, Tecumapease, the only daughter,
+and Sauwaseekau; the younger children were Nehasumo, Laulewasikaw,
+and Kumshakaw. The two last were twins; and twins were held
+in superstitious awe by the Indians, who feared them as
+possessed of occult power, and frequently put one or both to
+death. In this instance no such fate befell the children.
+Kumshakaw evinced none of the dreaded attributes, and lived
+to a ripe old age, but Laulewasikaw, by his practice of magic
+and claims of supernatural knowledge and power, as we shall
+see later, bore out the ancient belief.
+
+Tecumseh in his early days was left largely to the care of his
+sister, Tecumapease. Thus between the two there arose a strong
+attachment which lasted until Tecumseh's death. From the well-known
+Indian practices in relation to the bringing up of young children
+we can imagine how the days of his infancy were passed. When not
+rolling on the ground, the child would be closely confined in his
+curious cradle, a sack made from the skin of an animal and bound
+to a thin, straight board, somewhat larger than his body. Great
+care would be taken to keep straight the infant limbs, that their
+symmetry might be preserved in later life. This was the first stage
+in the making of an Indian stoic. Every part of the cradle was
+symbolical. That the child's life might be preserved, the heart
+of a tree was used for the cradle board. Along the wooden bow above
+the child's head, which symbolized the sky, zigzag furrows were
+cut to represent lightning, the power of which was designated by
+suspended arrows. Through holes in the upper part of the board was
+threaded a leather thong, or burden-strap, which Tecumapease passed
+about her forehead when carrying the papoose on her back, or which
+the mother fastened to the pommel of her saddle when making long
+journeys. It served also to hang the cradle to the branch of a
+tree, when the child swayed backwards and forwards with the motion
+of the bough while the wind crooned him to sleep. The cradle would
+sometimes be placed upright against a tree-trunk, so that Tecumseh's
+eyes might follow Tecumapease as she helped to grind the corn in
+a hollow stone or sift it through baskets; or, again, while she
+mixed the meal into cakes, and carefully covered them with leaves
+before baking them in the ashes.
+
+Sometimes Tecumapease would carry Tecumseh on her back to where
+Methoataske worked in the field with the other women of her tribe.
+Like them, from bearing heavy burdens and doing the drudgery of
+the camp, Tecumapease was strong and sturdy rather than graceful.
+Her hair, black and glossy as a raven's wing, hung below her waist
+in a heavy braid. The short, loose sleeves of her fringed leather
+smock gave freedom to her strong brown arms. A belted skirt,
+leggings, and embroidered moccasins completed her costume. On
+special occasions, like other Indian women, she adorned herself
+with a belt and collar of coloured wampum, weaving strands of it
+into her hair; and sometimes a necklace of polished elk-teeth
+gleamed on her dusky throat. When Tecumseh had learned the use of
+his legs, he would romp about the camp with the other black-eyed
+children of his tribe. He watched his father, Puckeshinwau, make
+the flint arrow-head and split the wooden shaft to receive it, bind
+it firmly with a thong, and tip the other end of the shaft with a
+feather to wing it on its flight; and saw the men build the birch
+canoe, so light that one man could shoulder it, yet strong enough
+to carry a heavy load.
+
+During Tecumseh's childhood the Indians north of the Ohio were in
+a state of unrest. They had been subdued by Bouquet, [footnote:
+See _The War Chief of the Ottawas_ in this Series.] but the leniency
+of that humane leader, in merely exacting that they should return
+their white prisoners and remain at peace, was looked on by the
+tribes as a mark of weakness; and, while no open war broke out,
+young warriors occasionally attacked traders and settlers. By the
+Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1768, the Six Nations had ceded to the
+whites the land between the Ohio and the Tennessee. But this was
+the common hunting-ground of all the tribes, and the Indians both
+south and north of the Ohio resented the action of the Six Nations
+and opposed the entrance of white settlers into this region. They
+were encouraged in their opposition by the action of the British
+government in proclaiming the territory west of the Alleghanies
+Indian country and forbidding settlers to enter it. But the hardy
+Virginians could not be kept out, and slowly but surely ever westward
+the smoke of their woodland huts ascended, and the forests of what
+are now Kentucky and Tennessee were falling beneath the axe of the
+frontiersmen. Resentful of the encroachments of the Virginians on
+their hunting-grounds, frequent war-parties of Shawnees, Delawares,
+Mohicans, Cherokees, and Mingoes crossed the Ohio and crept stealthily
+on some unguarded settlement, to slay and scalp the inhabitants
+and carry off their horses and cattle. The chiefs disclaimed
+responsibility for these raids, but in words which made the settlers
+in a sense responsible for them.
+
+   It was we [they said] who so kindly received Europeans on their
+   first arrival into our own country. We took them by the hand
+   and bade them welcome, to sit down by our side and live with us
+   as brothers; but how did they requite our kindness? They at
+   first asked only for a little land on which to raise bread for
+   their families and pasture their cattle, which we freely gave
+   them. They saw the game in the woods which the Great Spirit had
+   given us for our subsistence, and they wanted it too. They
+   penetrated into the woods in quest of game, they discovered
+   spots of land which they also wanted, and because we were loath
+   to part with it, as we saw they already had more than they had
+   need of, they took it from us by force and drove us to a great
+   distance from our homes.
+
+At this time there was not community of interest or united action
+among the colonies. Pennsylvania and Virginia each claimed authority
+in the Indian country. The Pennsylvanians viewed the country from
+a trading point of view; the Virginians viewed it as a field for
+settlement. So bitter was the feud between the two colonies that
+for a time civil strife was imminent. And while this family quarrel
+was at its height, the Indian scalping raids grew in frequency and
+violence; and the memory of the Pontiac War was still fresh in the
+minds of the frontiersmen. Many Pennsylvanians in the west became
+alarmed, and soon the passes of the Alleghanies were filled with
+fugitive settlers returning to their former homes. The Virginians
+of Kentucky were made of sterner stuff. Lord Dunmore, the royal
+governor of Virginia, was ambitious for his colony, and determined
+to make good by the sword Virginia's claim to the region of which
+Fort Pitt was the centre; and, under leaders like the veteran
+borderers, Michael Cresap and Daniel Boone, and the youthful and
+audacious hunter and surveyor, George Rogers Clark, the Virginians
+strengthened their fortified villages and led successful raids
+against the tribes north of the Ohio.
+
+For some time the Shawnees had been at peace, but in the latter
+part of April 1774, when two Indians suspected of horse-stealing
+were put to death near Wheeling, on the Ohio, they threatened war.
+A little later a party of Virginians fired upon a band of Indians,
+and killed several. Again, thirty-two white men, hitherto friends
+of the Indians, set out to attack a hunting-party of warriors camped
+on the Ohio. A friendly squaw warned them to return, as the Indians,
+who were carousing, had vowed vengeance for the death of their
+tribesmen. But the white men had determined to destroy the band;
+and by the promise of more rum they enticed a number of the Indians
+to cross the river to their camp, where they put all to death, with
+the exception of one child, not even sparing the kindly counsellor.
+Other Indians across the river, alarmed by the sound of shooting,
+sent two canoes to the rescue, but the whites drawn up on shore
+fired upon their occupants, killing twelve and wounding several
+more. The Indians were further incensed by the murder of Bald Eagle,
+a sachem of the Delawares, who was attacked and scalped while
+returning from a visit to a fort at the mouth of the Great Kanawha,
+and whose body, placed in an upright position in his canoe, was
+found drifting down the Ohio by his enraged followers. Even Silver
+Heels, a favourite Shawnee chief, barely escaped death. While
+guiding some white settlers along unfamiliar trails on their way
+to safety, he was severely wounded by the bullets of other whites
+waiting for him in ambush.
+
+Such deeds as these urged on the inevitable war, for which the
+Indians now openly prepared. Even the mighty Mingo chief, Logan,
+who had ever extended the hand of friendship to the white man, now
+appeared with uplifted tomahawk to avenge the unprovoked murder of
+his friends. Some eight hundred warriors were soon assembled,
+thirsting to avenge these recent murders, and eager to establish
+their right to the disputed territory. Logan, Elenipsico, Red Eagle,
+and Puckeshinwau were to lead the Indians, with Cornstalk, 'the
+mighty sachem of the Shawnee, and king of the northern confederacy,'
+in supreme command.
+
+So it happened that in 1774, when the eastern colonies were on the
+verge of revolution, the west was in the throes of an Indian war.
+When Lord Dunmore learned that the Shawnees had declared war, he
+at once proceeded to raise in Virginia an army of fifteen hundred
+men; and he instructed General Andrew Lewis to go to Kentucky and
+recruit among the borderers there an army of the same numerical
+strength, and march to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, where the
+two armies would meet. Meanwhile Dunmore advanced to Fort Pitt;
+but here he changed his plan, marched to the Scioto, and entrenched
+his force not far from the Indian town of Old Chillicothe. [Footnote:
+On Paint Creek, near the present city of Chillicothe, Ohio.]
+
+The 9th of October found Lewis with his troops encamped at Point
+Pleasant, where the Great Kanawha pours its waters into the Ohio,
+when a messenger arrived with new orders directing him to cross
+the Ohio and join Dunmore on the Scioto for an advance against the
+Indian towns to the north. Next morning the camp was astir at
+daybreak, and the soldiers were busily preparing for their intended
+march, when a scout returned with news that, about a mile away, a
+large body of Indians lay in ambush.
+
+These were Cornstalk's warriors, who had arrived at the Great
+Kanawha the night before. Advised by active scouts of every movement
+of the enemy, Cornstalk's Shawnees, Delawares, Mingoes, and Ioways
+had crossed the Ohio on the 9th and had lain all night ambushed in
+the wet woods, impatiently awaiting the dawn. Shortly after sunrise
+they perceived the Americans advancing to the attack in two
+detachments, one at some distance from the Ohio, the other along
+its bank. Presently Cornstalk gave the signal to attack both bodies
+simultaneously, and the piercing war-cry resounded through the
+forest as the Indians rushed upon the advancing foe. In the first
+furious onset the Americans were beaten back, several of them being
+killed and an officer fatally wounded. Cornstalk's commanding voice
+rose high above the clash of arms, cheering on his followers; but
+the Americans, reinforced from their camp, and fighting desperately,
+finally drove the Indians from the field. Tecumseh's father,
+Puckeshinwau, and others among the ablest warriors, had fallen in
+the early onrush.
+
+Cornstalk led his defeated warriors to the valley of the Scioto.
+Here a council-fire was kindled and the chiefs gathered about it.
+Into the middle of the circle stepped Cornstalk with gloomy
+countenance but majestic bearing. Searching the faces of those he
+had led through the long day of battle, he gave voice to the question
+that was in the mind of all--'What is now our course?' The only
+response was the crackling of the fire as its fitful light played
+on the dusky warriors. 'The Long Knives are coming upon us by two
+routes,' he continued. 'Shall we fight them--Yes or No?' The only
+answer was the harsh, ominous cry of a night-bird. 'Shall we kill
+all our women and children and then fight until we ourselves are
+killed?' The chiefs still maintained a gloomy silence. Cornstalk
+wheeled suddenly about; his tomahawk gleamed in the firelight and
+then sank quivering into the war-post which stood in the midst.
+'Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go and make peace!'
+he exclaimed.
+
+Runners bearing belts of white wampum were at once dispatched by
+the Indians to inform Lord Dunmore, who was now encamped not far
+from the Shawnee settlement, of their desire for peace. A conference
+was arranged, only eighteen chiefs, with unarmed escorts, being
+permitted to attend. Logan, although not averse to peace, had
+refused to be present. But as the consent of such an influential
+chief was necessary to any Indian treaty, Dunmore sent a special
+messenger to him in the person of Colonel Gibson. Gibson met Logan
+in the forest, and there Logan gave vent to his pent-up feelings
+with passionate eloquence.
+
+   I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's
+   cabin hungry and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and
+   naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long
+   and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate
+   of peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen
+   pointed as they passed and said, 'Logan is the friend of white
+   men. Colonel Cresap, [Footnote: Logan was mistaken:  Cresap was
+   not the murderer. See Roosevelt's _Winning of the West_, part
+   ii, p. 31.] the last spring and in cold blood and unprovoked,
+   murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women
+   and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins
+   of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have
+   sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance.
+   For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not
+   harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt
+   fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is
+   there to mourn for Logan? Not one.
+
+Gibson recorded the words of Logan, and they were duly presented
+to Dunmore. A treaty of peace was drawn up, by which the Indians
+agreed to give up all white prisoners and stolen horses and to
+surrender all claim to the land south of the Ohio.
+
+The effect of Lord Dunmore's war was to make peace in the hinterland,
+a matter of vast importance to the Americans on the eve of the
+Revolution. Great Britain by the Quebec Act had placed the country
+north of the Ohio and extending to the Mississippi under the
+government of Canada. But Great Britain was soon too busy with the
+war in the east to pay any attention to the west, and the hinterland
+posts remained as they were, feebly guarded and, except for Detroit,
+administered by French creoles. The Indians, it is true, were
+friendly to the British, but the crushing defeat they had received
+at the hands of Lewis and the humiliating terms they were forced
+to make with Dunmore left them impotent. They once more began their
+raids, but they were incapable of concerted action; and when in
+1778 George Rogers Clark, with a feeble force of less than two
+hundred men, advanced against the British posts at Kaskaskia and
+Cahokia on the Mississippi and Vincennes on the Wabash, they were
+unable to hinder his march. These posts fell into the hands of the
+Americans, and the Indians, as we shall see, were doomed.
+
+After the battle of Point Pleasant, Cheeseekau, Tecumseh's eldest
+brother, led his father's warriors back to the village of Piqua,
+where the disasters of the fight were recounted. Still covered with
+the stains of battle, Cheeseekau related to his mother and his
+awestruck brothers and sisters the manner of his brave father's
+death. The dark shadow of mourning fell upon the survivors. Throughout
+the village rose the wail of the death-song, Methoataske's voice
+mingling in the dirge of the widows; and so a new and tragic scene
+was imprinted upon the young Tecumseh's plastic mind.
+
+A father's task now fell upon Cheeseekau, who took much pride in
+instructing his younger brother in the art of war and in hunting,
+and how to endure fatigue and to perform feats of agility and
+daring. He gave him lessons in woodcraft and forest lore, showing
+him how to snare the fish, to stalk the wary deer, to guide the
+frail canoe through treacherous rapids, and, with tightly fastened
+snow-shoe, to traverse the wintry waste. Tecumseh, of course, had
+learned to swim almost as soon as he could walk; in running it is
+said that he could easily out-distance his companions; while his
+skill with the bow excited their admiration and envy. His greatest
+delight, however, was to muster his playmates into rival bands for
+mimic warfare.
+
+The history of Tecumseh's nation was not recorded in cold print
+between the covers of a book; it lived in the memories of the elders
+and on the lips of orators and sachems. In impassioned language
+and with graphic gesture the deeds of the past were conjured up
+before the minds of the listeners. By the light of the camp-fire
+the stripling heard, with kindling eye and throbbing pulse, the
+tales of the heroic dead; and he early formed the ambition to become
+a leader of his race. Some sachem would sadly sketch the smiling
+scenes of health and happiness in the days before the pale-face
+came to wrest from the Indians their land, the gift of the Great
+Spirit. And as the boy listened to these stories of encroachment
+and oppression, a fierce impulse fired his blood and bade him check
+the advance of the whites and win back the land of which his people
+had been robbed. Thus was moulded his life's high purpose; thus
+was fanned that spark of eloquence which later burst into flame
+and fired the hearts of his race, from Florida to the Great Lakes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BAPTISM OF FIRE
+
+The populous Indian village of Piqua on the Mad River had prospered
+during six years of peace. The fertile plains about it had been
+cultivated in the rude fashion of the Indian, and the corn now
+stood ripening in the August sun with promise of an abundant harvest.
+Amid such a scene Tecumseh and his young companions, tired of their
+play, threw themselves down one evening to listen to the exciting
+tales of the warriors who lounged smoking in the cool shade. The
+women busied themselves about the camp-fires cooking the game just
+brought in by the men. The voices of the Indian girls rose and
+fell in monotonous song as with nimble fingers they deftly wove
+the rushes into mats, while keeping a watchful eye upon the little
+ones who played near by. The few years of peace had given the
+inhabitants of Piqua a feeling of security, and they did not know
+that the dark cloud of war even then overshadowed them.
+
+The agents of the British commandant at Detroit had been busy among
+the Indians seeking to enlist their aid against the revolutionists.
+And in May of this year (1780) a party of six hundred warriors from
+the country north of the Ohio, accompanied by a few Canadians, had
+raided a number of villages in Kentucky, slain many settlers, and
+carried off horses and prisoners. George Rogers Clark, now holding
+the rank of colonel in the American army, was on a visit to Kentucky.
+The frontiersmen rallied about him; and with a body of 970 crack
+riflemen he crossed the Ohio and advanced on the town of Old
+Chillicothe. The Indians there had been warned and the town was
+deserted. The Americans burnt it to the ground and continued their
+march to Piqua.
+
+At this time there were in Piqua about two hundred warriors
+and two British agents, Simon Girty and his brother, who had
+fought under Dunmore against the Shawnees in 1774, and who
+were now known to the Kentuckians as 'the white renegades.'
+The appearance of Clark and his raiders on the outskirts of
+the village took the inhabitants completely by surprise. At
+the first note of alarm, the women, wild with terror, snatched
+up their infants and fled shrieking to the woods. Tecumseh
+and the older children followed, hastily gathering a few
+treasured possessions. The warriors, awakening the forest
+echoes with their defiant war-cries, took up their position
+in an old fort which commanded the river. From the opposite
+side the Kentucky rifle-men assailed the fort, which, in its
+decayed and ruinous condition, offered but poor shelter. The
+Indians quickly evacuated it, but not before several had been
+killed. While the defenders were occupied by the attack from
+across the river, a detachment of the enemy crept round through
+the wood and suddenly emerged at the rear of the village. The
+red men rushed to the defence of their wigwams, and kept the
+enemy at bay for some time; but the whites being vastly superior
+in number, the Indians were defeated with great loss, and the
+whites applied the torch to the village.
+
+At length, when the cry of battle and the sound of firing had
+ceased, the women and children ventured to creep forth from their
+forest shelter. The enemy had gone, but had left a scene of desolation
+behind. The village was a heap of smoking ruins, and the corn in
+the fields was laid waste. Bodies of dead warriors strewed the
+ground, many of them lying stretched before their own wigwams,
+which they had defended so bravely. A scene of smiling peace had
+indeed been turned into one of deepest mourning. Content and
+happiness had fled before the ruthless destroyer, and he had gone
+forward to the next Indian village on his mission of destruction.
+
+The impression made by this scene upon Tecumseh's youthful
+mind was enduring. The youth gazed with awe at the dead warriors
+and watched with childish wonder the preparations for burial.
+The fallen defenders of Piqua might not have the customary
+funeral dress, for such things had been destroyed by the fire,
+but the survivors did what their resources permitted. About
+the mat whereon each warrior lay were placed his tomahawk,
+scalping-knife, and other weapons of war. By his side lay his
+bow and arrow, wherewith to resume the chase with phantom
+hunters in the Indian paradise. As darkness descended upon
+the village the women stole out to mourn by the new-made
+graves. During four nights they faithfully kept long vigil
+until the lurid light of the funeral fires paled against the
+brightening dawn. Then, after these last solemn tribal rites
+had been performed, the Shawnees gathered together their few
+remaining possessions and followed the trail, leading about
+thirty miles in a north-westerly direction, to the Great Miami,
+where they rebuilt their houses. [Footnote: See _Handbook of
+American Indians_, vol. ii, p. 260.] A modern American city,
+with its great mills and costly residences, preserves the
+Shawnee name of Piqua, and marks the site where these poor
+Indian fugitives set up their wigwams in the autumn of 1780.
+
+The feud between the Indians and the whites continued with unabated
+fury. Cheeseekau was now as noted a warrior as his father had been,
+and became the leading spirit in many fierce frontier encounters.
+At the camp-fire Tecumseh listened eagerly as his brother told his
+thrilling tales. So persistent was Tecumseh's plea to be allowed
+to go on the war-path that Cheeseekau promised to let him taste
+real fighting in an attack on a party of whites encamped a few
+miles south of Piqua. The youth, impatient for the fray, set out
+bravely with Cheeseekau and his warriors, but when the actual
+horrors of war, with its blood and confusion, burst upon him, he
+fled from the field. It may be recalled that Frederick the Great,
+when first under fire, did the same.
+
+The time soon came when, according to Indian custom, Tecumseh must
+undergo the solemn ordeal of initiation. He must establish his
+personal relationship with the unseen world before taking rank as
+a warrior in his tribe. For this purpose he must go into the
+solitary woods or ascend some lonely mountain, where, by virtue of
+fasting, he should receive supernatural help and a revelation of
+the unknown. He entered alone into the green gloom of the forest.
+Wild things at which he had been wont to draw his bow now peered
+at him from the bushes and crossed his path unharmed. For many days
+he saw the rising sun shine through the dewy woods and watched it
+sink in splendour below the tree-tops. He slept the tired sleep of
+youth, and woke refreshed to resume his sacred quest. One day,
+weary with continual wandering and exhausted from persistent fasting,
+he threw himself down where a little stream poured its waters into
+a rocky basin. Lulled by the music of the waterfall, he fell asleep.
+Then in a dream was revealed to him the unseen world. Suddenly,
+out of a cluster of stars shot one, brighter than the rest, with
+shining train. Its brilliance startled him from sleep. About him
+were the familiar trees, and placid moonlight silvered the waterfall.
+Across his passive mind flitted half-remembered tales of strange
+monsters of the sky. The flaming meteor now assumed the crouching
+shape of a panther about to spring on its prey; now that of a dragon
+taking its flight across some midnight sky to seek the dark waters
+of a lake, where it was condemned to dwell, lest it should set the
+world on fire. Wooed by the slumberous music of the fall, sleep
+once more closed the dreamer's heavy eyes. Scarcely had he crossed
+the threshold of this unknown world when the bright symbol again
+traced its path. So often did the strange messenger appear that he
+accepted it as the radiant guardian of his destiny. When he returned
+to his people they were filled with rejoicing that his dream had
+been of things above, for this augured well. Henceforth they called
+him 'the shooting star,' or, in their own soft tongue, 'Tecumtha.'
+
+When the elaborate religious ceremonies customary to the initiation
+of a warrior had been performed, Tecumseh's power of physical
+endurance was put to a severe test. He presented himself for public
+torture before the chiefs and warriors of his tribe. Sharp skewers
+were thrust through the muscles of his back, and from these he was
+suspended by thongs to a pole. Had he flinched or evinced any sign
+of anguish during this painful ordeal, he would have been rejected
+as unworthy to take his place among his tribesmen. With stoic
+fortitude, however, he endured the torture, and when it was ended
+took a warrior's rank among his people.
+
+Tecumseh was not content with the narrow territory which satisfied
+his tribesmen. He desired to explore regions far remote from the
+hunting-grounds of the Shawnees. The same wandering instinct that
+had led his father to the Ohio country awakened within him. His
+fancy roamed beyond the familiar trails and peopled foreign regions
+with strange tribes. By his eloquence he played upon the responsive
+minds of his companions until they were fired with the same restless
+spirit. A wandering life became the theme of general interest as
+they smoked round the evening camp-fire. When finally fifty of the
+boldest expressed a desire to go on such an expedition as Tecumseh
+had planned, a party was organized. With due ceremony Cheeseekau
+was appointed leader, to decide each day's journey and choose the
+camping-ground; and he bore with him a tribal talisman to ensure
+safety and success and to be consulted when they were uncertain as
+to their course.
+
+Along the well-worn trail Cheeseekau started forth, followed in
+Indian file by his young adventurers, none more eager than Tecumseh.
+The narrow path, worn smooth by the feet of runners, followed high
+ground to avoid the dense brush, and led to points where the streams
+were shallowest and most easily fordable. Every day soon after
+sunrise the party was journeying through new regions which unfolded
+beauties ever fresh. At sunset they pitched their tents, lighted
+their fires, and gathered about them to discuss the day's adventures.
+Thus they journeyed until they came to the waters of the Mississinewa,
+in what is now northern Indiana. By its bank Cheeseekau chose a
+favourable spot whereon to pitch the tents. Here they remained
+until their interest in the surrounding country was exhausted.
+Then they took a westward trail. Signs of Indian occupation were
+everywhere visible. Where the path abruptly mounted a steep ascent,
+a mound of pebbles would be heaped in the ravine. Each passer-by
+had cast his tribute on the pile as an offering to good spirits
+that they might lessen his fatigue in the toilsome climb. At last
+they reached the broad Mississippi. By its waters the adventurous
+band remained until the sun had made a complete course. Then they
+took a southerly route through the Illinois country, where the
+trail had been made by the countless hoofs of the bison, through
+whose haunts it led. Presently the prairies stretched before them,
+and they saw the skin-covered 'teepees' of the dwellers of the
+plains. They joined a party of Mandans and soon were free to follow
+with them the exciting chase of the buffalo. A hunting-party was
+organized and a leader was chosen with due ceremony according to
+tribal rites. Those engaging in this dangerous pastime were mounted.
+They spread out so as to form a circle round the dense herd of
+buffaloes. By this means an equal chance was ensured to each hunter.
+Turn what way they would, the confused and struggling animals were
+confronted by hunters with gun and bow. When the sport was at its
+height misfortune befell Tecumseh. When an infuriated bull escaped
+from the ring, Tecumseh rode after him in hot pursuit. But his
+horse suddenly stumbled and threw him heavily to the ground. Those
+nearest galloped to rescue him from the trampling hoofs of the
+following herd, but they found him unable to rise, for his thigh
+had been broken by the fall. He was borne back to camp, and there
+was carefully tended. Everything known to the Indian doctor's art
+was done to heal him, but owing to his mishap the band were forced
+to prolong their stay at the hunting-place. When at last Tecumseh
+was fit for the trail the party moved southward. After a time they
+saw the smoke of distant camp-fires. Thereupon Cheeseekau halted
+his men and dispatched two messengers with a packet of tobacco and
+a belt of wampum to signify his friendly intent. The rest donned
+their gala garments and painted their faces in readiness to receive
+visitors. With the messengers came two Cherokees to conduct the Shawnees
+to their settlement, where the chief warriors of the tribe welcomed
+Cheeseekau and his braves. After the calumet had gone the rounds in
+token of goodwill, the Cherokee chief explained that their hatchet was
+raised against the white settlers, and that they were on the eve of
+setting out on the war-path. This was good news for the Shawnees, who
+promptly agreed to cast in their lot with the Cherokees.
+
+While Tecumseh and his companions were making ready for war,
+Cheeseekau withdrew to fast and thus to prepare himself to consult
+worthily the sacred talisman of the tribe. The future was revealed
+to him in a trance. He saw the Cherokees and his own band, brightly
+painted for war, move forward to battle under the leadership of a
+ghostly semblance of himself. Suddenly a musket rang out and a
+bullet sped from the enemy's line. His wraith was struck full in
+the forehead and fell to earth in the agony of death. On rejoining
+his comrades he related his vision and foretold that in the battle
+about to take place he should meet death. He said also, however,
+that, if the Indians fought on, victory would crown their efforts.
+
+Cheeseekau remained undaunted by his evil vision, and when the day
+of battle arrived led his warriors forth as usual. Incited by the
+Shawnees, the Cherokees fought stubbornly, and success seemed about
+to be achieved. But at the hour foretold, in the thickest of the
+fight, the fatal bullet found its mark, and Cheeseekau fell pierced
+through the forehead. The second part of the prophecy was unheeded.
+Deaf to Tecumseh's loud avenging cry, and heedless of his rallying
+shout, the superstitious Indians fled in a panic.
+
+Tecumseh felt keenly the death of his noble brother, who had guided
+his youthful mind in all things, and deeply his followers mourned
+the loss of their dauntless leader, who had directed them safely
+through all their wanderings. Tecumseh was now chosen leader
+unanimously. For nearly two years he and his comrades remained in
+the south, taking an active part in many forays.
+
+Exciting incidents were not lacking. For a time Tecumseh's band
+dwelt near a cane thicket on the Tennessee, whither they had gone
+in quest of booty. Here they were frequently attacked. On one
+occasion, under cover of darkness, thirty whites stealthily surrounded
+the Shawnees, thinking to take them by surprise. Tecumseh was
+occupied in flaying the last of the day's quarry, when his quick
+ear caught the sound of their approach. With a shrill war-cry he
+summoned his sleeping band. Without pausing to consider the numbers
+of the foe, he charged them fearlessly and his men followed him
+impetuously. The enemy were routed by the furious attack, and the
+Indians bore two scalps back to their camp in triumph. By such
+exploits Tecumseh won great renown among the southern tribes as a
+warrior. Unlike his followers, he cared little for plunder: his
+ruling passion was the love of glory.
+
+In the end the adventurers turned their faces homeward. They
+travelled through West Virginia, crossed the Ohio near the mouth
+of the Scioto, and visited the Indian villages scattered along that
+river. And as the verdure of summer was changing into the tints of
+autumn in the year 1790, they passed familiar scenes along the
+Great Miami. Tecumseh, who had gone out as a follower of his brother
+but was now leader, brought eight survivors back to Piqua, where
+he was received with clamorous rejoicing.
+
+Such apparently aimless wanderings were slowly but surely shaping
+Tecumseh's life for future action. By his intercourse with the
+various tribes, by learning their languages and customs, he had
+gleaned knowledge which was later to be of the greatest use to him;
+and his widespread reputation as a warrior was to count with telling
+effect in that great plan and purpose of his life--the formation
+of his Indian confederacy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A LEADER AMONG HIS PEOPLE
+
+After the feast of welcome at Piqua the villagers gathered round
+the camp-fire and plied the adventurers with many questions. The
+wanderers recounted the exciting exploits of their band and told
+of Cheeseekau's summons to the spirit-world and of his brave death
+on the distant battlefield. Then they in turn listened eagerly as
+an old chief rose and dramatically related the important events
+that had taken place in their absence. He told how General Harmar,
+with three hundred troops of the Thirteen Fires and eleven hundred
+Kentucky volunteers, had advanced into the Miami country and laid
+waste all their cornfields; how he and his followers had watched
+from a distant hill the soldiers at their work of destruction; and
+how Colonel Hardin, spying them in the distance, had suddenly turned
+and attacked them. With rapid gestures the chief described the
+pretended flight of the Indians. He told how, when out of sight of
+the enemy, they had divided their force and marched back some
+distance on either side of their trail. Assuming a crouching attitude
+and cunning mien, he pictured them as they crept back through the
+tall grass towards the place where they waited for the enemy. Then
+he recalled their loud, triumphant yells as they rushed upon the
+foe. He snatched his tomahawk from his belt to go through the
+movements of the Indians striking and cutting down the white men
+on all sides, and told how the white leader escaped with but a
+handful of his men. He depicted further victories of the Indians.
+Colonel Hardin had returned with five hundred militia and sixty
+regulars to take vengeance on his savage foes. The regulars remained
+at the village, while the militia, bent on revenge, routed the few
+Indians whom they found lurking about. But the Indians were not
+really beaten. Blue Jacket of the Shawnees and Little Turtle of
+the Miamis concealed their assembled warriors in another ambush.
+At the critical moment the Indians rushed from their ambuscade,
+fell upon both regulars and militia, and pitilessly drove them ever
+farther back.
+
+Tecumseh had not long to wait for the time when he should again
+embark on active service. In the autumn of 1791 news came that
+Generals St Clair and Butler were advancing from the south with an
+army of some fourteen hundred men. Tecumseh was placed in command
+of a party of scouts to watch the movements of the enemy. On November
+3 he discovered the American army encamped at the upper waters of
+the Wabash about twenty miles north of Greenville. At once he
+dispatched runners to tell the war chiefs Blue Jacket and Little
+Turtle of the enemy's position. On the following morning the
+Americans awoke to find their camp surrounded by whooping savages.
+A frightful slaughter ensued. General Butler and many of the officers
+were slain, together with nearly half the troops. The remainder
+fled in disorder. General St Clair himself escaped on a pack-horse
+after having had three horses killed under him in the battle.
+
+The next winter, when the snow lay deep in the forest, Tecumseh,
+while on a hunting expedition with ten warriors and a boy, made
+his camp near Big Rock, not far from Piqua. One morning after
+breakfast, as they sat about the fire smoking and discussing plans
+for the day, they were suddenly assailed by a storm of bullets. A
+party of whites, three times their number, under Robert McClelland,
+had attacked them. Instantly the Indian war-cry rang out on the
+clear, frosty air. Tecumseh called to the boy to run to shelter,
+and he and his companions returned the fire of their assailants.
+Black Turkey, one of the Indians, took to his heels and was running
+away at full speed, but in obedience to Tecumseh's angry command
+he halted and returned to join in the battle. On came the whites
+with challenging shout, answered by defiant war-whoops. The
+assaulting party was finally beaten back; and Tecumseh, with his
+men, pursued them through the woods, driving them from every
+sheltering tree and cover.
+
+Shortly after this, Tecumseh, with a party of chiefs and warriors,
+established his headquarters on a southern tributary of the Little
+Miami. From this point they made frequent inroads upon the property
+of white settlers, plundering flat-boats on the Ohio, and capturing
+some of the finest horses belonging to Kentuckians. It was here
+that Tecumseh had more than one encounter with Simon Kenton, the
+well-known American pioneer. Hearing of the exploits of the marauders,
+Kenton quickly mustered thirty-six men and set out to punish them.
+He came upon the Indians at night, divided his force into three
+detachments, and surrounded the encampment. That night Tecumseh
+had flung himself down by the camp-fire. The flickering light threw
+into fitful relief the bark tents of his sleeping companions. It
+did not penetrate, however, the gloom where lurked the watchful
+Americans. One of the Indians rose to stir the smouldering embers.
+A rifle cracked sharply, and the warrior fell forward into the
+fire. At the same moment a body of the Americans made a rush for
+the camp. Tecumseh leaped up and called loudly to his companions.
+He felled his first assailant with his war-club and dealt savage
+blows to all within reach. A shower of bullets rained upon the
+tents, but the Indians were now aroused and ready to return the
+fire. Presently reinforcements came from the Indians of a nearby
+camp who had heard the yelling and shooting; and the whites were
+dispersed.
+
+Tecumseh's next skirmish with Kenton was in 1793. He was
+hunting in the Scioto valley with a few followers and
+their families. Shortly before dawn, when it was supposed
+that the Indians would not be on their guard, Kenton's
+men surrounded the camp and cautiously closed in upon
+it. The loud barking of a dog gave the alarm to the
+Indians. When the whites charged, the Indians sought
+shelter behind trees. Though Tecumseh was surrounded by
+a superior force, he maintained his presence of mind. He
+ordered some of his men to bring up the horses while he
+and others defended the camp. In the end the Indians adroitly
+managed to escape with their women and children. In the
+engagement they had sustained a loss of but one warrior.
+
+Two years passed in this desultory fighting, after the
+defeat of St Clair's army, before the Americans made any
+organized attempt to retrieve their fortunes. But in the
+autumn of 1793 General Anthony Wayne marched into the
+Indian country with a strong and thoroughly disciplined
+army. He encamped for the winter at Greenville and built
+several forts: one, which he erected at the place of St
+Clair's disaster, he hopefully named Fort Recovery. In
+the summer of 1794 the Indians watched three hundred
+pack-horses laden with flour making their way towards
+this fort, under the protection of an escort of ninety
+riflemen and fifty dragoons. The savages hovered about,
+but they found the force too strong to attack. Their
+chance came later. By the time the escort was ready to
+return, one thousand tribesmen had assembled. The Americans
+had proceeded only about four hundred yards from the fort
+when they found themselves surrounded. The dragoons
+charged the Indians, but were repulsed with heavy loss.
+Then they manoeuvred to regain the fort, but the Indian
+forces cut them off. An American officer, with twenty
+volunteers, now rushed from the fort to the assistance
+of his comrades, and the Indians gave way before a
+determined attack. The white men brought their wounded
+off the field; and although two officers had been captured
+by the Indians, they afterwards escaped to the fort. In
+the fight twenty-two white men were killed and thirty
+wounded. The Indians had suffered much greater loss. The
+warriors rallied, however, and kept up an incessant fire
+against the fort until a heavy fog fell and night closed
+in. Then with flaring torches they sought their dead.
+This made them an easy mark for the soldiers, who fired
+on them from the fort. When daylight appeared eight or
+ten more bodies were found lying near the walls.
+
+In July the American army was reinforced by two thousand
+Kentucky volunteers under Major-General Scott, and Wayne
+was now ready to strike. He manoeuvred as though he
+intended to attack the Miami villages to the south, but,
+suddenly changing his course, he marched his troops
+northward, straight into the Indian settlements on the
+Au Glaize. At the mouth of this river, where it enters
+the Maumee, he built Fort Defiance.
+
+The Indians had followed Wayne's march down the Au Glaize,
+hovering on the flanks of his army, and they were now
+mustered some two thousand strong on the Maumee river.
+From Fort Defiance Wayne sent them a final offer of peace; but,
+without waiting for an answer, he marched his forces down
+the Maumee and encamped at the foot of the rapids, about
+fifteen miles from the site of the present city of Toledo.
+
+The war chiefs of the Miami, Potawatomi, Delaware, Shawnee,
+Chippewa, Ottawa, and Seneca tribes held a great council
+to consider the proposal of peace sent them by the general
+of the Long Knives. Little Turtle of the Miamis advised
+peace. 'We have beaten the enemy twice,' said he. 'We
+cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us.
+The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps.
+The day and night are alike to him, and he has been ever
+marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness
+of our young men. We have never been able to surprise him.
+Think well of it,' he cautioned; 'there is something that
+whispers to me it were well to listen to his offers of peace.'
+
+Profound silence followed this speech. Then rose Blue
+Jacket, the Shawnee, who commanded the entire Indian
+forces. Blue Jacket strongly favoured battle; and his
+counsel prevailed. The chiefs decided on war. A plan of
+action was quickly formed. The Indian forces were to be
+drawn up in three detachments within supporting distance
+of each other behind the Fallen Timbers. This was a place
+some distance up the river from Wayne's encampment, where
+the forest had been levelled by a hurricane, the fallen
+trees forming a natural barricade.
+
+On August 20, 1794, shortly after daybreak, Wayne ordered
+his troops to advance. He was still uncertain whether
+the Indians were hostile or friendly. But before he had
+proceeded far his soldiers were fired upon by a body of
+red men secreted in the tall grass. In the battle which
+followed Tecumseh led the Shawnees, and, with two of his
+brothers, was in the advance-guard when the fighting
+began. The Indians fought stubbornly, but to no purpose.
+The American force of mounted volunteers advanced, while
+the infantry with fixed bayonets drove the red men from
+cover and compelled them to retreat. In the latter part
+of the action Tecumseh lost the use of his gun by having,
+in his excitement, rammed a bullet into it before putting
+in powder. Falling back until he met another body of
+Shawnees, he secured a fowling-piece, and then fought on
+bravely until again forced to give ground. In spite of
+his desperate efforts to rally his followers, the Indians
+were beaten and were fleeing in disorder through the
+woods. When night fell and the Indians stole back to bury
+or hide their dead, Tecumseh gazed on the familiar
+features, now fixed in death, of Sauwaseekau, his second
+brother to fall in battle; and another battlefield, in
+which Cheeseekau had in like manner beheld the silent
+face of his father, arose before his mind. He remembered
+his eldest brother's return from the battle, with tidings
+that had burned into his very soul, while he was yet too
+young to take up arms in defence of his race.
+
+The Indian warriors were defeated and scattered, and the
+Americans proceeded to lay waste their villages and
+cornfields in the valley of the Au Glaize. The blow to
+Indian power was irrevocable. On August 3 of the following
+year, 1795, was concluded the Treaty of Greenville, by
+which large tracts of Indian territory in what are now
+the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan were
+surrendered to the Americans. The treaty was signed by
+Blue Jacket for the Shawnees, by Little Turtle for the
+Miamis, and by chiefs representing the Wyandots, the
+Delawares, the Ottawas, the Potawatomis, and other tribes.
+Tecumseh, however, had refused to attend Wayne's council,
+and when he heard from Blue Jacket of the terms of the
+treaty, he disputed its validity. Indian land, he said, was
+common property; all the chiefs had not been consulted, and
+many of them would refuse to accept the loss of their lands.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE PROPHET
+
+Tecumseh was now pondering a great plan. Year after year
+he had seen his people pushed farther and farther back
+from their streams and hunting-grounds. When he looked
+into the future, he saw that the red race was doomed
+unless a strong and united effort was made to check this
+aggression. He did not at once take his followers into
+his confidence, but meditated long on a plan to gather
+the tribes into one great confederacy to oppose the
+encroachments of the whites and to prevent the extermination
+of the Indian race. Pontiac, that towering figure in
+Indian speech and legend, was ever in his mind. Before
+Tecumseh's birth Pontiac had formed an Indian confederation
+against the English in America. But his was only a
+temporary union of the Indians, while Tecumseh planned
+to unite the tribes in a great and permanent empire.
+
+To further his great plan of bringing about a confederation
+of the tribes, Tecumseh resolved to take advantage of
+the superstitions of the people. An Indian familiar with
+the lore of his tribe believes himself to be continually
+surrounded by spirits, of whose power he is in constant
+dread. He sees them dimly in visions and recognizes them
+in many signs and omens--in gliding snake, flying bird,
+the lightning, the wind, the rustling of leaves, the
+noise of the tempest, the roaring cataract, the sound of
+thunder. To the hunter roaming through the forest the
+trees take on weird shapes, and ghostly shadows lurk in
+dark defiles. At twilight he sees gnomelike figures
+dancing before him and anon swallowed up in the darkness;
+again he sees them, holding their elfin revels on some
+moonlit cliff. Thus it is that the Indian imagination
+peoples the gloom of the ancient forests.
+
+It has been mentioned that Tecumseh had a younger brother
+named Laulewasikaw, who had been born a twin, and, in
+consequence, would be supposed by the Indians to possess
+supernatural power. One day, while Laulewasikaw was
+smoking in his wigwam, his pipe dropped from his hand,
+and he fell prone upon the ground. His body remained so
+long without sign of life that his friends assembled to
+administer the last rites for the dead. Suddenly, however,
+he awoke from his deathlike trance, and announced to the
+startled mourners that he had been transported to the
+spirit-world, where marvellous things had been revealed
+to him. After this he frequently retired to secret places
+to hold converse with the Great Spirit, and from his
+knowledge of the spirit-world he became an object of
+reverence and awe to his fellow-tribesmen.
+
+It thus came about that on the death of Pengashega, an
+aged and influential prophet of the Shawnees, this brother
+of Tecumseh, Laulewasikaw, or 'the Prophet,' was made
+his successor. From his conical-shaped lodge, with its
+stout poles bound about by skins of animals, the Prophet
+gave forth his oracles. He was often consulted, and a
+well-worn path soon marked the way to his abode. It was
+believed that he could foretell the future, reveal the
+haunts of animals of the chase, and inform anxious
+inquirers about the fate of friends. He evaded impossible
+requests skilfully, and by moderation in his pretensions
+he was able to maintain the respect of his many suppliants.
+He jealously guarded in his lodge a bowl credited with
+miraculous powers, which he claimed the Great Spirit had
+bestowed upon him. He had also a mystic torch, the gift,
+as he said, of Manabozho, keeper of the sacred fire. He
+had also singular belt made of beans, which he assured
+his credulous followers had grown from his flesh and
+would render invulnerable all who touched it. To widen
+his influence the Prophet had this belt carried by Indian
+runners far and wide.
+
+Laulewasikaw, who had already many names, now wished to
+be known as Tenskwatawa, 'the Open Door,' to intimate
+that he was to be the deliverer of his people. Unlike
+other Indian prophets, he preached to his followers after
+the manner of the white missionaries. Upon him, as upon
+Tecumseh, had descended the gift of oratory. But he lacked
+Tecumseh's dignity. He was ugly, and had lost an eye. On
+account of his dissolute habits he appeared much older
+than his distinguished brother. In spite of his bad
+character his persuasive eloquence gained the attention
+of the Shawnees, and he flattered their pride by reminding
+them of their ancient belief that they were the first
+people created by the Master of Life and the greatest of
+all his children. At Wapakoneta, on the Au Glaize, he
+gathered about him Shawnees, Wyandots, Ottawas, and
+Senecas, and announced himself as a bearer of new
+revelations from the Master of Life. He claimed to have
+been taken up into the spirit-world, and that there the
+veil of the future had been lifted to him. He had seen
+the suffering of evil-doers and also the happiness that
+would reward those who heeded his words. Radical reform,
+he declared, must be made in the manners of the red
+people. They must eschew all habits learned from the
+whites. Linen or woollen clothing must be replaced by
+the old-time buckskin; the 'fire-stick' of the white man
+must be abandoned and the bow and arrow must be used in
+its stead; the flesh of sheep and bullocks must no longer
+be eaten, but only that of deer and buffalo; bread should
+no more be made of wheat, but of Indian corn. Every tool
+and custom of the whites must be relinquished, and the
+Indian must return to the ways taught by the Master of
+Life. The Prophet exhorted the young to help the aged
+and the infirm; he forbade Indian women to intermarry
+with the whites, since the outcome would be inevitable
+misery; he condemned the accursed fire-water, which had
+caused such contention among the Indians, and threatened
+with never-ending flames all those who should persist in
+its use. He referred in glowing terms to the boundless
+hunting-ground of the red men before the coming of the
+whites, and contrasted it with their rapidly narrowing
+territory. The Indians, he said, should hold all their
+lands in common. Having outlined these reforms, he declared
+that when the Indians had carried them out, they should
+enjoy the long and peaceful lives of their ancestors and
+regain their ancient happiness. To assure his hearers of
+the divine character of his mission, he announced that
+power had been given him to cure all diseases and to
+arrest death as a result of sickness or on the battlefield.
+
+Encouraged by the hope of regaining their lost liberty
+and happiness, many flocked about the new prophet. The
+Kickapoos and Delawares believed in him without reserve.
+His stoutest opponents were some of his own people, who
+resented the sudden rise to power and influence of one
+hitherto regarded with disfavour as stupid and intemperate.
+Shawnee chiefs, jealous of his position, made a plot to
+overthrow him. But Tenskwatawa, as he was now called,
+turned the tables upon them, and, accusing several of
+his most outspoken enemies of witchcraft, caused them to
+be put to death, with torture.
+
+In 1806 the governor of Indiana Territory sent an envoy
+to the Delawares to deliver the following message:
+
+   The dark and thorny road you are now pursuing certainly
+   will lead you to endless woe and misery. And who is
+   this pretended prophet, who dares to speak in the name
+   of the Great Creator? Examine him. Is he more virtuous
+   than you are yourselves that he should be selected to
+   convey to you the orders of your God? Demand of him
+   some proof at least of being the messenger of the
+   Deity. If God has really employed him, He has doubtless
+   authorized him to perform miracles, that he may be
+   known and received as a prophet. If he is really a
+   prophet, ask him to cause the sun to stand still, the
+   moon to alter its course, the rivers to cease to flow, or
+   the dead to rise from their graves. If he does these
+   things, you may then believe that he has been sent from God.
+
+In reply to this unexpected attack Tenskwatawa assured
+his followers that he would give them convincing proof
+of his being the true messenger of the Great Spirit, and
+he boldly predicted that on a certain day he would draw
+a veil of darkness over the sun. Many Indians assembled
+to witness the test of his supernatural power. If it
+succeeded, it would establish his position beyond doubt;
+if it failed, the faith of his followers would be sadly
+shaken. Scoffers pointed to the brightness of the summer
+sun, and openly questioned the power of the Prophet to
+dim its rays. Believers furtively watched the entrance
+of the Prophet's lodge, which was decorated with strange
+symbols. From it at the time appointed the familiar form
+of the one-eyed wizard emerged, clad in his prophet's
+robe with outspread raven's wings. At his appearance the
+noonday brilliance of the sun began to wane. Sudden
+silence fell upon the awestruck throng, and faces took
+on a look of fear as the darkness deepened about them.
+The Prophet's voice thrilled through the gloom. 'Did I
+not prophesy truly? Behold, darkness has shrouded the
+sun.' The apparent miracle convinced many unbelievers
+and established the influence of Tenskwatawa more strongly
+than ever. The Indians were completely deceived. The
+achievement had, of course, a very simple explanation:
+the Prophet had overheard some white missionaries predicting
+an eclipse of the sun, and had used this information very
+adroitly for his purpose.
+
+In April 1807 some four hundred redskins had gathered
+near Greenville, ready to do the Prophet's bidding.
+Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh were invited by Captain Wells,
+the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, to visit the fort with
+a few chiefs, to learn the news contained in a recent
+letter from the president of the Seventeen Fires. [Footnote:
+The United States. Four new states had been added to the
+original thirteen, making, in Indian terms, seventeen
+council fires.] Tecumseh peremptorily commanded the
+messenger to 'go back to Fort Wayne and tell Captain
+Wells that my fire is kindled on the spot appointed by
+the Great Spirit above, and, if he has anything to
+communicate to me, he must come here; I shall expect him
+in six days from this time.' At the time appointed the
+messenger returned, bearing a copy of a letter from the
+United States government, in which Tecumseh and his
+followers were charged with still occupying land that had
+passed out of their possession by the Treaty of Greenville.
+Tecumseh vented his feelings in vehement speech.
+
+   These lands are ours, and no one has the right to
+   remove us, because we were the first owners; the Great
+   Spirit above has appointed this place for us on which
+   to light our fires, and here we will remain. As to
+   boundaries, the Great Spirit above knows no boundaries,
+   nor will His red people know any... If my great father,
+   the President of the Seventeen Fires, has anything
+   more to say to me, he must send a man of note as his
+   messenger; I will hold no further intercourse with
+   Captain Wells.
+
+The American settlers saw with increasing anxiety the
+unending stream of Indians on their way to the Prophet.
+The strange garb of many of them denoted that they had
+journeyed from distant regions. Runners continually passed
+to and fro, bearing pipes and belts of wampum from tribe
+to tribe. Council fires were frequently kindled. It was
+commonly believed that this unwonted activity was due to
+the secret plottings of British agents from Canada. By
+the autumn of 1807 the Prophet had assembled near Greenville
+about eight hundred Indians, many of whom were equipped
+with new rifles.
+
+On September 12 came two commissioners from the governor
+of Ohio. These were received by the Indians in a friendly
+manner, and a council was immediately called to hear
+their message. The governor, the commissioners said,
+desired to know why so many Indians were gathered on land
+no longer theirs. He wished to remind the Indians of
+their former relations with the Seventeen Fires, and of
+the importance of remaining neutral in the event of war
+with the British. After hearing the commissioners the
+council adjourned until the following day, when Blue
+Jacket, who was unanimously chosen to voice the sentiment
+of his people, spoke as follows:
+
+   Brethren, we are seated who heard you yesterday. You
+   will get a true relation as far as we and our connections
+   can give it, who are as follows: Shawnees, Wyandots,
+   Potawatomis, Tawas, Chippewas, Winnepaus, Malominese,
+   Malockese, Sacawgoes, and one more from the north of
+   the Chippewas. Brethren, you see all these men sitting
+   before you, who now speak to you.
+
+   About eleven days ago we [the Indians] had a council,
+   at which the tribe of Wyandots [the elder brother of
+   the red people] spoke and said God had kindled a fire
+   and all sat around it. In this council we talked over
+   the treaties with the French and the Americans. The
+   Wyandot said the French formerly marked a line along
+   the Alleghany mountains, southerly, to Charleston. No
+   man was to pass it from either side. When the Americans
+   came to settle over the line, they told the Indians
+   to unite and drive off the French, until the war came
+   on between the British and the Americans, when it was
+   told them that King George, by his officers, directed
+   them to unite and drive the Americans back.
+
+   After the treaty of peace between the English and
+   Americans, the summer before Wayne's army came out,
+   the British held a council with the Indians and told
+   them if they would turn out and unite as one man, they
+   might surround the Americans like deer in a ring of
+   fire and destroy them all. The Wyandot spoke further
+   in the council. We see, said he, there is like to be
+   war between the English and our white brethren, the
+   Americans. Let us unite and consider the sufferings
+   we have undergone, from interfering in the wars of
+   the English. They have often promised to help us, and
+   at last when we could not withstand the army that came
+   against us, and went to the English fort for refuge,
+   [Footnote: He is referring to what happened in 1794
+   at the Fallen Timbers. There was a British post on
+   the Maumee not far from the scene of the battle. At
+   this time, it will be remembered, Detroit and other
+   western posts, which passed to the United States in
+   1796, were still held by the British.] the English
+   told us, 'I cannot let you in; you are painted too
+   much, my children.' It was then we saw the British
+   dealt treacherously with us. We now see them going to
+   war again. We do not know what they are going to fight
+   for. Let us, my brethren, not interfere, was the speech
+   of the Wyandot.
+
+   Further, the Wyandot said, I speak to you, my little
+   brother, the Shawnees at Greenville, and to you our
+   little brothers all around. You appear to be at
+   Greenville to serve the Supreme Ruler of the universe.
+   Now send forth your speeches to all our brethren far
+   around us, and let us unite to seek for that which
+   shall be for our eternal welfare, and unite ourselves
+   in a band of perpetual brotherhood. These, brethren,
+   are the sentiments of all the men who sit around you:
+   they all adhere to what the elder brother, the Wyandot,
+   has said, and these are their sentiments. It is not
+   that they are afraid of their white brethren, but that
+   they desire peace and harmony, and not that their
+   white brethren could put them to great necessity, for
+   their former arms were bows and arrows, by which they
+   got their living.
+
+The Prophet then arose and launched forth into one of
+the lengthy harangues so familiar to his followers. Three
+years ago, he said, he had been called upon by powers he
+could not disobey to follow the course which had been
+revealed to him by the Great Spirit. In accordance with
+this divine guidance he had earnestly endeavoured ever
+since to teach the Indians how to live sober, industrious,
+and peaceful lives. He had been persecuted by chiefs of
+his own tribe who had refused to listen to his preaching.
+He had been driven from his own village. But the Great
+Spirit had directed him to this place, which the Americans
+now claimed as their own, Here he desired to remain, not
+for the value of the land or the natural beauty of the
+surroundings, but to obey the divine command, and by his
+exemplary life to prove to the complete satisfaction of
+the white people his genuine honesty of purpose. By this
+adroit speech the Prophet succeeded in allaying suspicion,
+and thus under the guise of peace and religion Tecumseh
+was enabled to continue his preparations for war. When
+the council had terminated, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket,
+Roundhead, and Panther accompanied the messengers to
+Chillicothe, then the capital of Ohio, and assured the
+governor of their peaceful intentions towards the Americans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A GIFTED ORATOR
+
+Indian oratory, like that of most savage races, is poetical
+and picturesque in thought and expression. It abounds in
+imagery and is not without touches of pathos and humour.
+The unlettered Indian has no rich store of written history
+from which to draw his illustrations. He takes them from
+Nature's ever-open book--the sheltered lake, the winding
+stream, the storm-swept forest--and from the legendary
+lore of his tribe. Tecumseh was one of the most renowned
+of a race of orators. The stately Algonquian language
+displayed its greatest beauty when spoken by him. His
+eloquence flowed as freely as a mighty river, or again,
+thundering like a cataract, it swept everything along on
+its tempestuous tide. Tecumseh's speech can never reach
+our ears; we cannot see the light flash from his hazel
+eye or the smile play upon his bronzed cheek. We cannot
+watch his graceful gestures. His personal presence we
+may not feel; but behind his recorded words we are still
+aware of living force and power. We can picture his manly
+form in its simple attire, as he paces up and down,
+dominating his hearers by his persuasive speech, convincing
+their reason, controlling their judgement, compelling
+their action. None knew the untaught and unteachable art
+of oratory better than Tecumseh. Throughout his life it
+ever played an important part, from his first outburst,
+which was in defence of a helpless captive, until his
+last appeal to the courage of a British general. Tecumseh
+acquitted himself gallantly upon the field of battle,
+where he was always conspicuous for his courage; but in
+the council-chamber there were also battles to be fought,
+in which words were weapons, and there Tecumseh was no
+less conspicuous and successful.
+
+After the arrival of the commissioners and Indian chiefs
+at Chillicothe the governor summoned them to a great
+council. Tecumseh was to speak on behalf of the red men.
+Upon him was centred the attention of all. He spoke for
+three hours, during which he held his listeners spellbound.
+He assured them that it was far from his intention to
+take up the hatchet against the pale-face, but that he
+would sternly resist any trespass upon his people's
+rights. Rapidly reviewing all the treaties between the
+western tribes and the whites, he boldly denied the
+validity of the Treaty of Greenville. At the same time,
+he pleaded for conciliation and peace. His speech made
+a great impression. The governor's fear of an uprising
+at Greenville was allayed, and the militia, which had
+been hastily summoned, were dismissed.
+
+Tecumseh's oratory was called into play again in the
+autumn of 1807, when the Americans were thrown into a
+state of terror by the murder of a white man near the
+site of the present town of Urbana. This deed of violence,
+coupled with the constant increase of the Prophet's band
+at Greenville, caused the wildest alarm among the settlers.
+Tecumseh and his brother disclaimed all knowledge of the
+murder, which had been committed by some wandering Indians,
+and they agreed to attend a council at Springfield to
+reassure the whites. The Indians who attended the council
+were asked to lay aside their arms. Tecumseh haughtily
+refused, thinking it unbecoming the dignity of a warrior
+chief. When the request was repeated, the wily Indian
+replied that his tomahawk was also his pipe and that he
+might wish to smoke. Thereupon a gaunt American advanced
+and offered Tecumseh his own pipe. Taking the earthen
+bowl with its long stern into his fingers, Tecumseh eyed
+it curiously; his gaze then travelled to the owner, who
+stood half fearful of the result of this offer. Then with
+an indignant gesture the chief tossed the pipe into the
+bushes behind him. Nothing more was said about the tomahawk.
+
+The council was held in the shade of spreading maples.
+The chiefs and their warriors ranged themselves in a
+semicircle on the grass. The pipe of peace slowly made
+its round in token of goodwill. Several chiefs spoke in
+turn, expressing the pacific intentions of the Indians.
+Tecumseh referred to the recent murder, and denied that
+it had been the act of any of the tribes under his
+influence. He explained that the motive for the gathering
+of so many red men at Greenville was purely religious,
+and that all were friendly towards the whites. His wards
+and manner again carried conviction, and the council
+terminated peacefully.
+
+The Americans, however, still continued to regard the
+Prophet's settlement at Greenville as a real menace.
+During the same autumn came another message to all the
+tribes under the Prophet's influence from the governor
+of the territory of Indiana, William Henry Harrison,
+afterwards president of the United States, and an active
+and successful leader of the Americans in the War of
+1812. The message closed with these words:
+
+   My children, I have heard bad news. The sacred spot
+   where the great council fire was kindled, around which
+   the Seventeen Fires and ten tribes of their children
+   smoked the pipe of peace--that very spot, where the
+   Great Spirit saw His red and white children encircle
+   themselves with the chain of friendship,--that place
+   has been selected for dark and bloody councils. My
+   children, this business must be stopped. You have
+   called in a number of men from the most distant tribes,
+   to listen to a fool, who speaks not the words of the
+   Great Spirit, but those of the devil and of the British
+   agents. My children, your conduct has much alarmed
+   the white settlers near you. They desire that you will
+   send away those people, and if they desire to have
+   the impostor with them, they may carry him. Let him
+   go to the lakes; he can hear the British more distinctly.
+
+Tecumseh was absent from Greenville when this message
+was received, and it fell to the Prophet to make a reply.
+He was sorry, he said, that his father listened to the
+advice of bad birds. He denied that the Indians had any
+intercourse with the British, or that they desired anything
+but peace and to hear the words of the Great Spirit.
+
+Early in the spring of 1808 Tecumseh and the Prophet,
+with their band of followers, left Greenville and set
+out in a westerly direction, across what is now the state
+of Indiana. Land had been granted to them by the Potawatomis
+and Kickapoos on the banks of the Tippecanoe, near its
+junction with the Wabash, and here they intended to make
+a new town, which should be the headquarters of their
+proposed confederacy. No more desirable spot could have
+been chosen. It was almost central in relation to the
+tribes they were endeavouring to bring together, and it
+had convenient communication with Lake Erie by means of
+the Wabash and Maumee rivers, and with Lake Michigan and
+the Illinois country by way of the Tippecanoe and other
+connecting waters. On one side an almost impenetrable
+stretch of wilderness formed a natural defence. From
+this position, also, Tecumseh was able to watch carefully
+the country from which he wished to exclude white settlers.
+
+The Prophet's influence soon extended Among the neighbouring
+tribes, and the American authorities again became alarmed,
+the more so as they learned that among his followers
+warlike sports were now being practised along with
+religious rites. To counteract the effect of such reports
+the Prophet sent a message to Governor Harrison to say
+that he had been misrepresented, and followed it up by
+a personal visit along with a number of his followers,
+to explain his attitude towards the Americans. The visit
+lasted for a fortnight and frequent conferences took
+place between Harrison and the Prophet. The governor also
+questioned many of the Indians, but could learn nothing
+from them derogatory to their leader. Desiring to know
+to what extent the Prophet's teachings controlled his
+followers, he tempted them with liquor, but they remained
+true to their vow of total abstinence.
+
+Before taking his leave Tenskwatawa thus addressed himself
+to the governor:
+
+   I told all the redskins, that the way they were in
+   was not good, and that they ought to abandon it. That
+   we ought to consider ourselves as one man; but we
+   ought to live agreeably to our several customs, the
+   red people after their mode, and the white people
+   after theirs; particularly that they should not drink
+   whisky; ... do not take up the tomahawk should it be
+   offered by the British, or by the Long Knives; do not
+   meddle with anything that does not belong to you, but
+   mind your own business and cultivate the ground, that
+   your women and your children may have enough to live on.
+
+   I now inform you, that it is our intention to live in
+   peace with our father and his people for ever.
+
+This harangue ended with the customary begging for
+presents, after which the Prophet and his company took
+their departure.
+
+Meanwhile Governor Harrison was planning to take more
+territory from the Indians and add it to the United
+States. By a treaty with some of the tribes made at Fort
+Wayne on September 30, 1809, he obtained a tract of about
+three million acres, extending nearly one hundred miles
+on each side of the Wabash. By this treaty the Indians
+found that they were deprived of much of their best
+hunting-ground. Their indignation rose to fighting pitch,
+and many who had been holding back now accepted Tecumseh's
+scheme of a great confederation by means of which they
+might, with some hope of success, battle for their rights.
+The powerful Wyandots, keepers of the great wampum belt
+of tribal union, turned to the Prophet. Many of the lesser
+tribes followed their example, and refused to recognize
+the American claims to this newly ceded territory. For
+lands acquired under various treaties, the Indians were
+receiving from the Americans certain annuities in goods.
+That year, when their annual portion of salt arrived at
+Tippecanoe, the Indians refused to take it and drove the
+boatmen away. They accused the Americans of deception,
+demanding that the land should be given back, and that
+no more should be taken without the unanimous consent of
+all the tribes.
+
+War between the British and the Americans now seemed
+inevitable, and everything pointed to an alliance between
+the British and the Indians of Tecumseh's confederacy.
+British interests required that the confederacy should
+not be weakened by premature outbreaks. Gifts of clothing,
+food, and weapons were lavishly bestowed upon Tecumseh,
+who was encouraged to unite the tribes, but not to declare
+war until word came from Canada. 'My son,' said a British
+agent, 'keep your eyes fixed on me; my tomahawk is now up;
+be you ready, but do not strike until I give the signal.'
+
+The governor of Indiana, desiring to learn the Prophet's
+strength and, if possible, to avert war, sent the following
+message to Tippecanoe:
+
+   There is yet but little harm done, which may be easily
+   repaired. The chain of friendship, which united the
+   whites with the Indians, may be renewed and be as
+   strong as ever. A great deal of that work depends on
+   you--the destiny of those who are under your direction
+   depends upon the choice you may make of the two roads
+   which are before you. The one is large, open and
+   pleasant, and leads to peace, security, and happiness;
+   the other, on the contrary, is narrow and crooked,
+   and leads to misery and ruin. Do not deceive yourselves;
+   do not believe that all the nations of Indians united
+   are able to resist the force of the Seventeen Fires.
+   I know your warriors are brave, but ours are not less
+   so; and what can a few brave warriors do against the
+   innumerable warriors of the Seventeen Fires? Our blue
+   coats are more numerous than you can count; our hunters
+   are like the leaves of the forest, or the grains of
+   sand on the Wabash.
+
+   Do not think the red coats can protect you; they are
+   not able to protect themselves. They do not think of
+   going to war with us. If they did, you would in a few
+   moons see our flag wave over all the forts of Canada.
+
+To this the Prophet made no direct reply, but said
+that Tecumseh, as his representative, would visit the
+governor shortly.
+
+True to this promise, early in August 1810, Tecumseh,
+with four hundred warriors grotesquely painted for the
+occasion, swept down the Wabash in canoes. Captain Lloyd,
+then at Fort Knox, writes of their passing:
+
+   The Shawanoe Indians have come; they passed this
+   garrison, which is three miles above Vincennes, on
+   Sunday last, in eighty canoes. They were all painted
+   in the most terrific manner. They were stopped at the
+   garrison by me, for a short time. I examined their
+   canoes and found them well prepared for war, in case
+   of an attack. They were headed by the brother of the
+   Prophet (Tecumseh), who, perhaps, is one of the
+   finest-looking men I ever saw--about six feet high,
+   straight, with large, fine features, and altogether
+   a daring, bold-looking fellow. The governor's council
+   with them will commence to-morrow morning.
+
+Tecumseh and his warriors encamped at Vincennes, the
+capital at that time of the territory of Indiana, where
+many had assembled for the council, which was fixed for
+August 12. At the hour appointed Tecumseh, attended by
+forty followers, proceeded to the governor's house. Seated
+in state on the portico was the governor, surrounded by
+judges of the Supreme Court, officers, and citizens.
+About forty yards from the house Tecumseh halted abruptly.
+An interpreter advanced with the request that the chief
+and his warriors should take seats on the portico. To
+this Tecumseh signified strong disapproval, saying that
+he preferred a neighbouring grove. The governor objected
+that there were no chairs there. 'The earth is my mother,
+and on her bosom will I repose,' was the rejoinder. The
+chief carried his point, and chairs for the governor and
+his suite were removed to the grove.
+
+Tecumseh put forth all the powers of his eloquence. He
+traced the course of relations between the two races from
+the time when only the moccasined foot of the red man
+trod the wilderness. He depicted vividly the evils suffered
+by his race since their first contact with the whites.
+The ruthless destruction of his birthplace, the sufferings
+of his childhood, the conflicts of his early manhood--all
+these he passed over in rapid review. And he closed his
+address by contending that the Treaty of Fort Wayne was
+illegal, since it had not been agreed to by all the
+tribes, who constituted a single nation and who had joint
+ownership in the land. Governor Harrison in his reply
+disputed Tecumseh's statement that all the Indians were
+as one nation, using as his main argument the fact that
+they spoke different tongues. He contended that if the
+Miamis desired to sell their land, the Shawnees had no
+right to interfere. On the following day he inquired
+whether Tecumseh intended to prevent a survey of the
+disputed land. The chief replied that it was the intention
+of the united tribes to recognize the old boundary only,
+and that, while he had no desire to provoke war, he would
+oppose further aggression. If the Americans gave up this
+land, he would serve them faithfully; if not, he would
+cast in his lot with the British. The governor promised
+to notify the president of Tecumseh's views, without
+holding out much prospect of a decision to surrender the
+land to its former owners.
+
+'Well,' returned Tecumseh, 'as the great chief is to
+decide the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put enough
+sense into his head to induce him to direct you to give
+up this land. It is true he is so far off he will not be
+injured by the war; he may sit still in his town and
+drink his wine, while you and I shall have to fight it out.'
+
+In the following spring (1811), when the Americans were
+distributing the annuity of salt to the Kickapoos and
+Shawnees, the Prophet's Indians at Tippecanoe, on being
+offered their share of five barrels, forcibly seized the
+whole boat-load. This angered the Americans, who were
+further incensed by the murder on the Missouri of four
+white men by two Indians of the Potawatomi tribe. Tecumseh,
+who was absent at the time either on a hunting expedition
+or for the purpose of strengthening his confederation,
+was summoned to Vincennes shortly after his return. He
+arrived on July 27, attended by a party of three hundred
+warriors. The governor referred to the recent seizure of
+the salt by the Prophet's warriors and demanded an
+explanation. Tecumseh replied that it was indeed difficult
+to please the governor, since he seemed equally annoyed
+if the salt were taken or rejected. When asked to deliver
+up the Indians guilty of the murder, he replied that he
+had no jurisdiction over them, since they were not of
+his town. The white people, he said, were needlessly
+alarmed at his active measures in uniting the northern
+tribes; for he was but following the example which the
+Seventeen Fires had set him when they joined the Fires
+in one confederacy, and he boldly declared that he would
+endeavour also to unite the various tribes of the south
+with those of the north. The land question he hoped would
+be left in abeyance until his return in the spring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE
+
+Tecumseh was soon on his southern journey, with twenty
+warriors to aid in the work which was now apparently
+nearing completion. Inspired by patriotic zeal, he passed
+from tribe to tribe, incessantly active. Through dismal
+swamps and across wide plains he made his way, and in
+his light canoe shot many a dangerous rapid. He laboured
+diligently among the Indians to make them sensible of
+their wrongs and induce them to sink their petty tribal
+jealousies in a grand and noble patriotism. He braved
+the dangers and difficulties of winter travel over the
+crusted snow and through the white forests. From sunrise
+to sunset he journeyed, passing from camp-fire to camp-fire,
+binding together the scattered tribes by the fire and
+force of his eloquence.
+
+In Tecumseh's absence the Prophet reigned at Tippecanoe,
+performing his mysterious rites, seeing visions, and
+dreaming dreams. Indians from the most remote tribes were
+drawn by tales of his miraculous deeds to this chosen
+seat of the Great Spirit, the centre from which radiated
+the Prophet's influence. The ever-increasing number of
+red men there assembling was evidence also of the success
+of Tecumseh's mission. The Americans had heard with
+uneasiness his bold avowal before starting on his southern
+journey, and their alarm was increased by the reports
+from Harrison's spies, posted near the Prophet's town.
+
+On August 7, 1811, the United States government demanded
+the surrender of all Indians who were in any way connected
+with the murder of American citizens, and threatened to
+exterminate those tribes which raised the hatchet. In
+response the Prophet promised to comply with the president's
+demands, and reiterated his earnest desire to avert war.
+But, in spite of such pacific protesting, the Indians
+continued their acts of hostility. Some horses were
+stolen, and the thieves were tracked to Tippecanoe. The
+owners hastened thither to reclaim their property, and
+on nearing the town were fired upon by Indians. Similar
+incidents were common.
+
+Harrison was well aware of the important and extensive
+nature of the work in which Tecumseh was engaged, and
+viewing with alarm the rapid growth of the confederation
+on the western frontier, he resolved on action. The
+destruction of Tippecanoe would be of the utmost strategic
+importance, but, if such a drastic measure were determined
+upon, it would have to be accomplished before Tecumseh's
+return. On the other hand, the president's commands had
+been to maintain peace. The governor reconciled the
+two opposing courses of action by the thought that a
+large army advancing upon the Indians might intimidate
+them into submission. Failing that, the alternative
+war became inevitable.
+
+On October 5 Harrison set out from Vincennes with over
+one thousand men. This army encamped for a brief period
+on the Wabash, where the city of Terre Haute now stands,
+and erected a fort which, in honour of the leader, was
+named Fort Harrison. Leaving about one hundred men as a
+guard, Harrison, with the remaining nine hundred, set
+out for Tippecanoe on October 29. Two well-worn trails
+made by the Prophet's disciples led along the Wabash,
+one on either side of the river. Harrison chose that
+along the eastern side, then forded the river and struck
+the other trail. He safely crossed the dangerous pass at
+Pine Creek, where fatal havoc had been wrought upon the
+troops of General Harmar. Worn out by their tedious and
+difficult march, the soldiers encamped on the evening of
+November 5 within ten miles of the Prophet's headquarters.
+Next morning they were early on the march; and, after
+having gone about five miles, they sighted a party of
+reconnoitring Indians, with whom they endeavoured to
+communicate, but the red men ignored their advances and
+assumed an unfriendly attitude. Within a mile and a half
+of the town several of the officers impatiently urged an
+immediate attack; but as the president's commands were
+to keep peace as long as possible, Harrison decided to
+send an officer with a small guard to arrange for a
+conference. This overture, however, did not succeed; the
+Indians were hostile, and even made an attempt to capture
+the officer and his men. And Harrison then ordered his
+army to advance upon the town.
+
+Suddenly three Indians appeared, making their way directly
+towards the army. The Prophet's chief counsellor, with
+two interpreters, had come to demand the reason of this
+warlike advance. Peace, they declared, was their one
+desire. With much gesticulation they explained that
+messages to that effect had been sent by certain chiefs,
+who must have taken the other trail and so missed the
+general of the Seventeen Fires. The governor agreed to
+suspend hostilities in order that terms of peace might
+be arranged in council on the following day, and then
+set his men in motion towards Tippecanoe. This unlooked-for
+action startled the Indians, who immediately assumed the
+defensive. The governor, however, assured them that he
+had no hostile intentions, and asked whether there was
+a near-by stream by the side of which his troops might
+encamp. He was directed to a creek about a mile distant
+which ran through the prairie to the north of the town.
+Thither the Americans at once proceeded, and finding it
+a most desirable camping-ground, the soldiers were soon
+busily engaged in pitching their tents and gathering
+brushwood to make fires, for the November air was chill.
+Although no attack was anticipated, Harrison arranged
+his camp as if expecting battle, and posted around it a
+thin line of sentries.
+
+Darkness fell upon the two encampments. The weary soldiers
+were sleeping on their arms; the Prophet and his counsellors
+sat about their council fire, eager and alert, earnestly
+discussing the situation. Tecumseh's parting injunction
+had been to maintain peace at all hazards until his
+return. But the Prophet saw himself surrounded by intrepid
+warriors who would dare anything at his command, and his
+ambition was sorely tempted. In point of numbers his
+force was equal to that of the Americans, and the latter,
+moreover, were without the protection of fortifications.
+Visions of certain victory passed before his mind. He was
+still smarting from Harrison's stinging message to the
+tribes five years before, and not too well pleased with
+Tecumseh's rising fame, which threatened to eclipse his
+own. Moved by these thoughts, the Prophet yielded to the
+counsel of his boldest warriors and decided upon battle.
+
+Hurried preparations were then made to take the enemy by
+surprise. There was no moon and the sky was clouded.
+Nature herself apparently was aiding the Prophet's plans.
+All being ready, he concocted some charmed fluid, over
+which he muttered curious incantations. He assured his
+credulous followers that half the enemy were mad and the
+remainder dead; and he solemnly promised them that bullets
+would glance harmlessly from their own bodies. The
+superstitious Indians, thus excited to an intense pitch
+of religious fanaticism, were prepared to dare anything.
+
+Shortly before daylight on November 7 the whole Indian
+force crept stealthily through the grass towards the
+fires of Harrison's camp. The hush that precedes the dawn
+was broken only by the soft patter of rain. A watchful
+sentinel discerned in the dawning light the spectre-like
+form of the foremost savage. He fired at once, and the
+shot roused the sleeping camp. It told the Indians that
+they were discovered, and with wild war-whoops they rushed
+against the American position. The line of sentries was
+quickly broken through; but the soldiers sprang to arms;
+camp-fires were trodden out; and Indians and whites fought
+furiously in the darkness. Perched on a safe eminence,
+the Prophet looked down upon the fight, chanting his
+war-song further to excite the savages, and rattling
+deers' hoofs as signals for advance or retreat. Under
+the influence of their fierce fanaticism the Indians
+abandoned their usual practice of fighting from behind
+cover, and braved the enemy in open conflict. In spite
+of Tenskwatawa's prophecies, the American bullets wrought
+deadly havoc among the warriors, who, seeing that they
+had been deceived, began to waver. Finally, the Indians
+gave way before a terrific charge and fled to the woods,
+while the soldiers applied the torch to their village.
+
+On the head of the Prophet fell the blame for this
+disastrous reverse. 'You are a liar,' said a Winnebago
+chief to his former spiritual adviser, 'for you told us
+that the white people were all dead or crazy, when they
+were in their right mind and fought like the devil.' The
+Prophet vainly endeavoured to give reasons for the failure
+of his prophecy; it was, he declared, all due to some
+error in compounding his concoction; but the wizard's
+rod was broken, his mysterious influence shattered. His
+radiant visions of power had vanished in the smoke of
+battle, and he slipped back into the oblivion from which
+he had so suddenly sprung.
+
+Meanwhile Tecumseh was pursuing his mission with
+determination and vigour. After travelling many weary
+miles, he turned again homeward, pleased with his success,
+his thoughts soaring hopefully as he neared the little
+town which owed its existence to him. But he arrived
+there to find his headquarters demolished, his followers
+disbanded, his brother humiliated. Hardest of all to bear
+was the knowledge that his own brother, on whose
+co-operation he had so firmly relied, had caused this
+great disaster to his people. The Prophet's miserable
+excuses so enraged him that he seized him by the hair
+and shook him violently. Tecumseh mused upon his years
+of patient and careful organization, and thought sorrowfully
+of his town, so laboriously fortified, and peopled at
+the cost of so many dangers risked and privations endured.
+It was a blow almost too great to be borne. Should he accept it as
+a total defeat and abandon his purpose? No!  The courageous chief,
+as he stood amid the charred remains of Tippecanoe, resolved to
+persevere in his struggle for the freedom of his race.
+
+Tecumseh now informed the governor of his return and
+expressed his willingness to visit the president of the
+United States. Permission was granted him to go to
+Washington, but it was stipulated that he must do so
+unattended. This offended Tecumseh's pride and dignity.
+He was the most powerful American Indian living, with
+five thousand warriors at his command; holding in one
+hand an alliance with Great Britain, and in the other an
+alliance with the Indians of the south-west. Such was
+the position he had reached, and he intended to maintain
+it. Was so great a chief, ruler over a confederacy similar
+to that of the white man, to visit the chief of the
+Seventeen Fires without a retinue! No! He haughtily
+refused to go to Washington under such conditions.
+
+In the early spring of 1812 two settlers were put to
+death near Fort Dearborn, several others near Fort Madison,
+and a whole family was murdered near Vincennes. These
+acts of violence threw the settlers into a panic. A
+general Indian rising was feared; but at this critical
+moment Tecumseh attended a grand council at Mississinewa,
+on the Wabash, between Tippecanoe and Fort Wayne, and
+succeeded in calming the excited fears of the Americans.
+He was not yet prepared for open war. On this occasion,
+in the course of his address, he said:
+
+   Governor Harrison made war on my people in my absence;
+   it was the will of the Great Spirit that he should do
+   so. We hope it will please the Great Spirit that the
+   white people may let us live in peace; we will not
+   disturb them, neither have we done it, except when
+   they came to our village with the intention of destroying
+   us. We are happy to state to your brothers present,
+   that the unfortunate transaction that took place
+   between the white people and a few of our men at our
+   village has been settled between us and Governor
+   Harrison; and I will further state, had I been at
+   home, there would have been no blood shed at the time.
+
+In speaking of the recent murders, Tecumseh said he
+greatly regretted that the ill-will of the Americans
+should be exercised upon his followers, when the
+Potawatomis, over whom he had no power, alone were guilty.
+
+To a message from the British agent Tecumseh replied:
+
+   You tell us to retreat or turn to one side should the
+   Long Knives come against us. Had I been at home in
+   the late unfortunate affair [the attack on Tippecanoe]
+   I should have done so, but those I left at home were
+   (I cannot call them men) a poor set of people, and
+   their scuffle with the Long Knives I compare to a
+   struggle between little children, who only scratch each
+   other's faces. The Kickapoos and Winnebagoes have since
+   been at Post Vincennes and settled the matter amicably.
+
+If Tecumseh regarded the Tippecanoe battle lightly, the
+Americans considered it a serious event. It was magnified
+into an important victory, and cited to rouse feelings
+of enmity against Great Britain, whose agents were held
+to be responsible for the conduct of the Indians. Occurring
+at a crisis of affairs, it was made a strong argument
+for a declaration of war against England.
+
+When June came Tecumseh demanded ammunition from the
+Indian agent at Fort Wayne. The agent presented many
+reasons why the chief should now become friendly to the
+Seventeen Fires. Tecumseh listened with indifference. He
+then bitterly expressed his resentment at Governor
+Harrison's advance in his absence, and maintained his
+right to the lands the Americans had invaded, but he
+still declared that he had no intention of taking up arms
+against the United States. The agent refused the ammunition.
+'My British father will not deny me; to him will I go,'
+retorted Tecumseh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+UNDER THE BRITISH FLAG
+
+We now leave the Wabash for the Detroit, and the interior
+of Indiana for the frontiers of Canada. Early in June
+1812 Tecumseh, with a small band of chosen warriors, left
+his wigwam and set out through the forest for the British
+post at Amherstburg on the Canadian side of the Detroit
+river, solemnly vowing not to bury the tomahawk until
+the Long Knives were humbled. At Amherstburg he sought
+out Colonel Matthew Elliott, the Canadian superintendent
+of Indian Affairs, and formally pledged his allegiance
+to the king of Great Britain. In front of Fort Malden at
+Amherstburg, near the mouth of the Detroit river, lay
+Bois Blanc Island, upon which several blockhouses had
+been erected. This island was fixed upon as the headquarters
+of the Indians, and here Tecumseh and his warriors encamped.
+
+The fidelity of the great chief was put to the test even
+before active hostilities began. A band of neutral Indians,
+encamped at Brownstown, on the American side, opposite
+Amherstburg, invited him to a council they were about to
+hold. His decision was quickly made. He had cast in his
+lot with the British and would not falter in his allegiance.
+'No,' he replied to the runner that awaited his answer;
+'I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this shore before
+I engage in any council of neutrality.' He soon gave
+proof of his sincerity by leading his intrepid little
+band in one of the initial engagements of the war, an
+engagement, as we shall learn, of the greatest importance
+in this early stage of the conflict.
+
+Tecumseh had taken his stand for the coming war: the flag of
+Britain should be his flag, and her soldiers his comrades-in-arms.
+To him, indeed, it was that Britain owed her Indian allies in the
+War of 1812. Canadians and Indians stood side by side in face of
+a common peril and were inspired by a common purpose. To Canada
+defeat meant absorption in the United States and the loss of national
+life; to the red men it meant expulsion from their homes and
+hunting-grounds and the ultimate extinction of their race.
+
+Long before the formal declaration of was by the United
+States (June 18, 1812) the inevitable conflict had been
+foreseen. The Democrats, then in power in the United
+States, were determined to have it. To many Americans it
+appeared as a necessary sequel to the Revolution, a second
+War of Independence; to others it seemed a short and easy
+means of adding to the United States that northern territory, the
+inhabitants of which had refused the opportunity to join the Thirteen
+Colonies in the War of the Revolution. But the causes of this
+unhappy war are too complex and manifold to be discussed here.
+[Footnote:  See _The War with the United States_ in this Series.]
+
+Canada's position at the opening of hostilities was far from
+reassuring. The population of all British North America was only
+half a million of whites at most, as compared with about eight
+million in the United States. Great Britain was engaged elsewhere
+in a life-and-death struggle and could spare but few troops to
+support the Canadian militia. Indeed, there were not fifteen hundred
+British soldiers along the whole Canadian frontier; while, even
+before the declaration of war, to Detroit alone had been dispatched
+more than two thousand American troops. The Americans had, therefore,
+reasonable grounds for confidence in the ultimate result,
+notwithstanding a somewhat depleted treasury and the opposition of
+a considerable party in the northern, especially the New England,
+States. Canadians, however, loyally answered the call to arms, and
+proved the truth of the words that 'a country defended by free men
+enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their king and constitution
+can never be conquered.' Canada, too, had a tower of strength in
+Isaac Brock, a distinguished British soldier, who had seen active
+service in the West Indies and in Holland, and had been with Nelson
+at Copenhagen.
+
+On July 11, 1812, General William Hull, commander of the American
+army of the north-west, invaded Canada and occupied Sandwich, a
+small town almost directly opposite Detroit. On the following day
+he issued a proclamation with the intent of detaching Canadians
+from their allegiance. In this proclamation he protested against
+the employment of Indians as combatants, although the persistent
+endeavours of the Americans to win the Indians over to their cause
+must have been known to him. The words of the proclamation are as
+follows:
+
+   If the barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain
+   be pursued, and the savages let loose to murder our
+   citizens, and butcher our women and children, this
+   war will be a war of extermination. The first stroke
+   of the tomahawk, the first attempt with the
+   scalping-knife, will be the signal for one indiscriminate
+   scene of desolation! No white man found fighting by
+   the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner; instant
+   destruction will be his lot.
+
+To this Brock replied:
+
+   This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing
+   quarter, for such a cause as being found in arms with
+   a brother sufferer in defence of invaded rights, must
+   be exercised with the certain assurance of retaliation,
+   not only in the limited operation of war in this part
+   of the King's Dominions, but in every quarter of the
+   globe. For the national character of Britain is not
+   less distinguished for humanity than strict retributive
+   justice, which will consider the execution of this
+   inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every
+   subject of the offending power must make expiation.
+
+Tecumseh, with the aid of the British agents, had assembled six
+hundred warriors on Bois Blanc Island, and his scouts were soon
+out watching the movements of the enemy in the surrounding country.
+The only way of communication open to the Americans who were
+advancing towards Detroit was along the west side of the Detroit
+river by a road which passed through Brownstown from the river
+Raisin. This road was kept under the strictest surveillance by the
+Indians. On August 5 the scouts reported that Major Van Horne, with
+two hundred cavalry of Hull's army, was on his way from Detroit to
+meet Captain Brush, who was near the Raisin with a company of Ohio
+volunteers, bringing official dispatches and provisions for Hull
+at Sandwich. On receiving this news Tecumseh mustered seventy of
+his boldest warriors at Brownstown and started through the woods
+towards Detroit to meet Van Horne. About three miles out he secreted
+his men on each side of the road and awaited the enemy. Apparently
+Van Horne, little dreaming that a trap would be set for him, had
+not sent out scouts; and as he marched down the road the quiet
+forest gave no indication of the foe lurking on his flanks, until
+Tecumseh and his band, suddenly springing from their ambuscade and
+sounding the war-whoop, leaped upon his horsemen. The terrified
+Americans thought the woods alive with Indians. Officers tried in
+vain to rally their men, who turned and sought safety in flight,
+while Tecumseh and his warriors followed in pursuit. A Parthian
+shot from one of the Americans killed a young chief; this was
+Tecumseh's only loss. The enemy lost about a hundred in killed,
+wounded, and missing; and, what was of the greatest importance, a
+packet, containing official dispatches from Hull to the secretary
+of War and other papers, was captured. This was Tecumseh's first
+engagement in the British cause.
+
+The Indian leader knew that the majority of Indians would incline
+towards the side which was first victorious. When, therefore, the
+encouraging news was now received that the American fort on Mackinaw
+Island had been captured, Tecumseh sent runners in all directions
+to tell the Indians of his recent victory and of the fall of Fort
+Mackinaw. He announced that British success was assured, and adroitly
+added that, if they desired to share the plunder, they must
+immediately join the conquerors. One of these light-footed messengers
+reached the famous chief of the Potawatomis, Shaubena, as he was
+about to start on a hunting expedition. The runner distributed
+presents of bright-coloured beads and other ornaments among the
+women of the tribe, and to Shaubena he delivered a belt of wampum
+with Tecumseh's message. The hunting expedition was abandoned,
+Shaubena with his warriors set out at once for Amherstburg, and
+became Tecumseh's trusty aide, fighting henceforth by his side
+until the hour of the great Shawnee's death.
+
+Meanwhile General Hull had come to the conclusion that he could
+not maintain his position on the soil of Canada. On the night of
+August 7 he withdrew his troops from Sandwich and crossed the river
+to Detroit. It was of the utmost importance, however, that he should
+make a juncture with Captain Brush and reopen his communications
+with the country beyond Lake Erie. To effect this object he sent
+out a force of six hundred men under Colonel James Miller, with
+cavalry and artillery. At this time Tecumseh was at Brownstown with
+about two hundred warriors, and Major Muir of the British Army, in
+command of about one hundred and sixty regulars and militia, was
+also stationed there. On the morning of August 9 some Indians
+emerged from the forest and reported that the American troops under
+Miller were about eight miles distant, and, on account of the
+difficulty of transporting the guns over the heavy roads, were
+making but slow progress. It was evident that they could not reach
+Brownstown before night, and Major Muir, after a hasty consultation
+with Tecumseh, decided to meet the enemy at Maguaga, a small Indian
+village between Brownstown and Detroit. The Indians in their scant
+habiliments of war, their dark bodies grotesquely painted in varied
+colours, strode silently by the side of the British soldiers. The
+allies rapidly pushed their way along the muddy road, past the
+scene of the recent attack, where carcasses of men and horses still
+lay by the roadside. A halt was called within a quarter of a mile
+of Maguaga, at a place favourable for an ambuscade, and preparations
+were made for battle. The British took up a position behind a
+slightly rising bit of ground. Tecumseh disposed his men in a
+meadow, about six hundred yards in extent, which bordered the road
+along which the Americans were advancing. The wild grass grew rank
+and high and afforded sufficient concealment. The Indians threw
+themselves down to await the enemy, and their example was followed
+by the British. Tecumseh and his men, peering from their covert,
+soon distinguished the main body of the enemy marching in two lines,
+slowly and steadily. As they came within range a single shot rang
+out--the signal for battle. The Indians fired one deadly volley,
+and, with the blood-curdling cry that the Americans had learned to
+dread, burst wildly from their hiding-place. The enemy replied with
+a crackling fire and, as Tecumseh and his men sprang bravely forward,
+followed it up with a bayonet charge.
+
+The bright uniforms of the British now revealed their position,
+and the action became general. Unknown to the regulars, a body of
+Indians had been posted at the extremity of a neighbouring wood,
+and; being subjected to a hot fire and unable to endure the hail
+of bullets, they endeavoured to gain the British rear. Appearing
+in this unexpected quarter they were mistaken for the foe, and as
+they emerged from the wood were fired upon by their comrades-in-arms.
+The red men in turn mistook the British for Americans and promptly
+returned the fire, and for some time disorder and confusion reigned.
+The loud remonstrances of the officers were lost in the din and
+confusion of battle. Hard pressed in front and, as he imagined,
+attacked in the rear, Major Muir ordered a retreat; he then reformed
+his men on the crest of a hill to await the appearance of the enemy.
+This position commanded a small bridge over which the American
+artillery would have to pass. Here, about a quarter of a mile
+distant from their former position, the British waited for a quarter
+of an hour, after which, as the enemy did not reappear, Muir again
+ordered a retreat. His communication with Tecumseh had been broken,
+and, hearing sounds of firing from the woods to his left, he inferred
+that the Americans were driving the Indians in that direction with
+the object of reaching the road to cut him off from his boats. He
+gained the shore of the river, however, without interference from
+the enemy, found his boats intact, and pulled swiftly towards
+Amherstburg.
+
+Tecumseh and his warriors had borne the brunt of the battle and
+displayed magnificent courage. After the firing of Muir's men had
+ceased, they still fought stubbornly, in spite of the vast numerical
+superiority of the enemy, and retreated slowly through the woods
+in a westerly direction. Then, turning about, they succeeded in
+regaining their canoes, and followed in the wake of the British.
+The Americans were unaware of the extent of their success, and
+fearing a renewed attack, they abandoned their march and retreated
+to Detroit. And it was not until several days after this lively
+encounter that they again attempted to reopen communications with
+their army to the south.
+
+Four uneventful days followed. The night of the 13th was calm and
+cloudless. About Fort Malden sentries paced their ceaseless round.
+Camp-fires glowed about the wigwams and blockhouses of Bois Blanc.
+Tecumseh lay in the open, surrounded by his sleeping warriors.
+Although it was past midnight, his sleepless eyes scanned the
+heavens. The moon cast a shimmering path upon the water, in whose
+depths myriads of stars were reflected. Even as Tecumseh gazed a
+bright star sped like a golden arrow across the sky. He marked its
+flight until it fell afar and seemed to cleave the dark depths of
+the river. What did this fiery messenger portend? Again a youth,
+he threaded his way through the gloom of the forest, seeking the
+guiding spirit of his manhood, until a bright star fell across his
+path. Then, in vivid memory, came the tortures of initiation. A
+man, he journeyed in strange lands beneath a scorching sun, or felt
+the biting winter blasts. Again his heart beat high with hope, only
+to be cast down by the crushing defeat of his plans. But still,
+upborne by almost superhuman strength, urged by some strange,
+impelling power, he must battle for his race. The restless river,
+as it fretted the sides of the little island placed so protectingly
+against the Canadian shore, sang of battle, whose outcome none
+might guess. Suddenly he was aroused from his waking dream by shouts
+of joy and the booming of cannon from the decks of the _General
+Hunter_, which lay at anchor in the river. It was a salute in honour
+of the arrival of General Brock. A vigorous cheer announced his
+appearance at Fort Malden. The Indians joined in the welcome and
+fired off their muskets. A boat made its way towards the island,
+and the warriors crowded about it as Colonel Elliott stepped ashore.
+He gave them official information of Brock's arrival, and warned
+the Indians to save their scanty ammunition. Notwithstanding the
+lateness of the hour, Tecumseh with his attendant chiefs accompanied
+Elliott back to the fort to meet the commander in whose hands he
+had placed the fate of his people. Arrived at Amherstburg, Elliott
+replied to the sentry's challenge, and they entered the fort. On
+reaching the room in which Brock sat, they found him deeply engrossed
+in the contents of the captured mail packets, which were strewn on
+the table before him, for these told him that General Hull had lost
+the confidence of his garrison at Detroit, and that dissensions
+had destroyed all unity of purpose among the officers. The candlelight
+streamed on his red-brown hair and shone on the gold-fringed epaulets
+of his scarlet uniform. Elliott at once presented Tecumseh to Brock.
+The latter raised his eyes to behold 'the king of the woods,' whose
+very presence seemed to exhale the freedom of the forest.
+
+One of the best pen-portraits extant of Tecumseh is by Captain Glegg,
+who thus describes him upon this occasion of his presentation to Brock:
+
+   Tecumseh was very prepossessing, his figure light and finely
+   proportioned, his age I imagined to be about five-and-thirty,
+   his height five feet nine or ten inches, his complexion light
+   copper, his countenance oval, with bright hazel eyes beaming
+   cheerfulness, energy and decision. Three small crowns or coronets
+   were suspended from the lower cartilage of his aquiline nose,
+   and a large silver medallion of George the Third, which I believe
+   his ancestor had received from Lord Dorchester when governor-general
+   of Canada, was attached to a mixed coloured wampum string which
+   hung round his neck. His dress consisted of a plain, neat uniform,
+   a tanned deer-skin jacket with long trousers of the same material,
+   the seams of both being covered with neatly cut fringe, and he
+   had on his feet leather moccasins much ornamented with work made
+   from the dyed quills of the porcupine.
+
+Tecumseh regarded Brock calmly, noting with admiration the athletic
+form as it towered to its full height. Thus stood the two commanding
+figures, both born to lead, alike bold in purpose and ready in
+resource. With the same intuitive perception each trusted the other.
+They were akin--both of the 'brotherhood that binds the brave of
+all the earth.' The brown hand of Tecumseh met the strong white
+hand of Brock in a warm clasp, the seal of a firm friendship. Brock
+thanked Tecumseh for his salute of welcome, and like Colonel Elliott
+mentioned the shortage of ammunition. With warm words of praise he
+referred to the work of the warriors in the recent engagements,
+commending Tecumseh's leadership and courage in the highest terms.
+The chief listened with characteristic calm. Brock continued: 'I
+have fought against the enemies of our great father, the king beyond
+the great lake, and they have never seen my back. I am come here
+to fight his enemies on this side the great lake, and now desire
+with my soldiers to take lessons from you and your warriors, that
+I may learn how to make war in these great forests.' After a pause
+Tecumseh, turning round to his attendant chiefs, stretched out his
+hand and exclaimed, 'Ho-o-o-e; this is a man!'
+
+Brock was particularly pleased with the contents of the mail taken
+at Brownstown. In striking contrast to Hull's high-sounding
+proclamation, it revealed that general's real attitude of dejection.
+Communication from the rear had been cut off; he feared starvation
+and despaired of being able to withstand attack. The contents of
+these dispatches prompted Brock to invade American territory without
+delay. Rapidly he unfolded a daring plan against Fort Detroit, but
+his officers shook their heads and strongly dissented. Not so
+Tecumseh, who, as Brock sketched his scheme, had listened with
+gleaming eye, and who now enthusiastically supported it. The
+commander inquired as to the character of the country through which
+they must pass to reach Detroit. For answer the chief unrolled a
+piece of elm bark, which he held flat with four stones; and, drawing
+his scalping-knife from its sheath, he traced with its point the
+roads, ravines, groves, and streams. Brock intently followed the
+blade of Tecumseh, beneath whose hand a fine military map rapidly
+took shape. Was ever before Indian scalping-knife put to so good
+a use!  This unexpected skill surprised and delighted Brock. When
+the map was completed, clear in outline, intelligent in detail,
+any misgivings he may have had vanished. In the face of all opposition
+and dissent Brock resolved to attempt the capture of Detroit.
+Thanking Tecumseh for his invaluable aid and promising to address
+his followers at noon the next day, the commander retired for a
+few hours of much-needed rest. Accompanied by his chiefs, the Indian
+leader made his way back over the water to the little island. It
+was now almost morning, and as he scanned the brightening sky he
+wondered within himself whether it heralded a hopeful dawn for his
+unhappy people.
+
+At noon of that day one thousand Indians of various tribes assembled
+beneath the trees about Fort Malden. After the customary opening
+ceremonies Brock addressed them, telling them he had come across
+the great salt lake (the Atlantic ocean), at the request of their
+great father, to help them, and that with their assistance he would
+drive the Americans from Fort Detroit. His words were greeted with
+noisy approval. Tecumseh then replied that he was pleased that
+'their father beyond the great salt lake had at last consented to
+let his warriors come to the assistance of his red children, who
+had never ceased to remain steadfast in their friendship and were
+now all ready to shed their last drop of blood in their great
+father's service.'
+
+Seeing Tecumseh surrounded by his warriors, who, fiery and indomitable,
+but unstable as water, were united by his leadership alone, Brock
+realized the powerful personality of his new and valuable ally.
+Here is an extract from one of Brock's letters written soon afterwards:
+
+   Among the Indians whom I found at Amherstburg and who arrived
+   from different parts of the country there were some extraordinary
+   characters. He who most attracted my attention was a Shawnee
+   chief--brother of the Prophet, who for the last two years has
+   carried on, contrary to our remonstrance, an active war with
+   the United States. A more sagacious or a more gallant warrior
+   does not, I believe, exist. He was the admiration of every one
+   who addressed him.
+
+Preparations were rapidly made for a movement against Detroit, and
+on the morning of the next day, August 15, the British and Indians
+marched towards Sandwich. Brock sent Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell
+and Captain Glegg to General Hull, under a flag of truce; demanding
+the surrender of Detroit. Adroitly embodied in his dispatch were
+the following words: 'You must be aware that the numerous bodies
+of Indians who have attached themselves to my troops will be beyond
+my control the moment the contest commences.' Hull replied that he
+was prepared to meet any force at Brock's command; whereupon the
+British batteries at Sandwich opened fire, which continued until
+evening. Under cover of darkness Colonel Elliott and Tecumseh led
+six hundred Indian warriors to the shore of the river on the night
+of the 15th, where they silently launched their canoes and gained
+the American side, prepared to protect the crossing of the main
+army in the morning.
+
+In the quiet early dawn 320 British regulars and 400 Canadian
+militia were in readiness to embark; and, as sunrise coloured the
+sky, a motley fleet pushed off from the Canadian shore. The war
+vessel _Queen Charlotte_ and the batteries at Sandwich opened fire,
+while the wooded shores re-echoed to the savage yells of 600 painted
+braves. Brock stood erect in the foremost boat, which steered
+towards Springwells, about four miles below Detroit, where Tecumseh
+awaited his landing. Scarcely had Brock stepped ashore when a scout
+rushed up with the news that a large body of American troops, who
+had left the fort two days before for another attempt to reach the
+army at the Raisin, were approaching from the rear, and were now
+but a few miles distant. The attack must, therefore, be made at
+once. The forces were rapidly formed in two columns, an advance
+was sounded, and the allies pressed forward towards Fort Detroit.
+
+That formidable stronghold bristled with cannon, which could be
+trained on any part of the advancing army. Yet steadily forward
+marched the British, while the Indians shouted their wild war-cry,
+which doubtless struck terror to the heart of Hull. The gunners in
+Detroit stood at their posts with lighted fuses, but the British and
+Indians dauntlessly advanced till they could see the black, yawning
+mouths of the guns, whose thunder each moment they thought to hear.
+
+At some distance from the fort Brock and Tecumseh ascended an
+elevated bit of ground to reconnoitre. Scarcely had they done so
+when a messenger was seen speeding from the fort with a white flag.
+Colonel Macdonell and Captain Glegg were sent to meet him. The news
+they brought back was that Hull was prepared to surrender. The fire
+from the batteries at Sandwich and from the _Queen Charlotte_, with
+the bold advance of the British and the Indian war-cry, had done
+their work. The commanders rode forward and took possession of the
+fort. Hull's twenty-five hundred men became prisoners of war, and
+all the armaments and stores, along with the territory of Michigan,
+passed into the hands of the British. The Stars and Stripes were
+lowered, and the Union Jack streamed out upon the breeze.
+
+Tecumseh was elated and amazed at this bloodless victory over the
+Long Knives. Shortly after the surrender of Detroit, he is reported
+to have said to Brock:
+
+   I have heard much of your fame and am happy again to shake by
+   the hand a brave brother warrior. The Americans endeavoured to
+   give us a mean opinion of British generals, but we have been
+   witnesses of your valour. In crossing the river to attack the
+   enemy, we observed you from a distance standing the whole time
+   in an erect position, and when the boats reached the shore you
+   were among the first who jumped on land. Your bold and sudden
+   movements alarmed the enemy and compelled them to surrender to
+   less than half their own force.
+
+Brock, realizing the value of Tecumseh's services, honoured him
+publicly. Removing his silken sash, he fastened it about the chief's
+shoulders, presenting him at the same time with a pair of pistols.
+Stoic though Tecumseh was, he could not conceal his pride and
+gratification at Brock's gift. Next day, however, he appeared
+without the sash; and when the British general sent to inquire the
+reason, he explained that he had given it to Roundhead of the
+Wyandots, an older and more valiant chief than himself.
+
+In his general order from Detroit, August 17, Brock wrote:
+
+   The conduct of the Indians, joined to that of the gallant and
+   brave chiefs of their respective tribes, has since the commencement
+   of the war been marked with acts of true heroism, and in nothing
+   can they testify more strongly their love to the king, their
+   great father, than by following the dictates of honour and
+   humanity by which they have been hitherto actuated. Two
+   fortifications have already been captured from the enemy without
+   a drop of blood being shed by the hands of Indians. The instant
+   the enemy submitted, his life became sacred.
+
+That such was the case at Detroit was almost entirely due to the
+dominating influence of Tecumseh over his followers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FIGHTING ON AMERICAN SOIL
+
+After Brock had accomplished his work at Detroit, he hastily returned
+to the seat of government at York to make preparations for guarding
+the Niagara frontier; and here we must take our leave of the great
+soldier, for another writer in these Chronicles is to tell of his
+subsequent movements, and of his glorious death on Queenston Heights.
+Colonel Procter was left in command of the western forts, to which
+Tecumseh was attached. Owing to an unfortunate armistice arranged
+between the belligerent nations, the energetic Indian chief could
+do nothing more than exert his powers in persuading many undecided
+warriors to become Britain's allies. In this business he moved
+through the Indian country between Lake Michigan and the Wabash,
+daily increasing his forces.
+
+In the meantime General Harrison, of whom we learned something in
+a preceding chapter, was given command of the north-western army
+of the United States. He was invested with wide authority, and
+instructed, first of all, to provide for the defence of the western
+frontiers and then to 'retake Detroit, with a view to the conquest
+of Canada.' The first part of these instructions he proceeded to
+carry out by raiding Indian villages and burning their cornfields.
+Next he arranged his autumn campaign, which had in view the recapture
+of Detroit and, if possible, the capture of Fort Malden and the
+invasion of Canada. His troops occupied Fort Defiance, on the
+Maumee, as a base of supplies, and Sandusky, on the south shore of
+Lake Erie, as an observation post. Before much could be done,
+however, the autumn waned, and Harrison, with seventeen hundred
+men, encamped for the winter on the right bank of the Maumee, at
+the foot of the rapids, near the place where Wayne had fought the
+battle of the Fallen Timbers sixteen years before.
+
+In January 1813 Major Reynolds, of the British forces on the Detroit,
+marched into Frenchtown with fifty soldiers and two hundred Indians.
+Frenchtown stood on the site of the present city of Monroe (Mich.)
+on the river Raisin, about midway between Detroit and Harrison's
+camp on the Maumee. On the 18th scouts reported the approach of an
+American force of some five hundred and fifty regulars and Kentucky
+volunteers. Reynolds made a judicious disposition of his men to
+meet this superior force, but the enemy fell suddenly upon him,
+driving him back about a mile. When the British had gained the
+shelter of a wood their three-pounder did effective work, causing
+the enemy considerable loss, and a continuous fire from militia
+and Indians held the Americans in check for a time. But the contest
+was hopeless, and Reynolds retreated to Brownstown, about eighteen
+miles distant, having lost one militiaman and three Indians, and
+having killed twelve Americans and wounded fifty-five. The American
+captain made no attempt to pursue the British, but established
+himself at Frenchtown, and two days later General Winchester marched
+in with a large body of American troops.
+
+During the night of the 18th word of Reynolds's repulse was brought
+to Procter, who, with unaccustomed alacrity, hastened from Amherstburg
+with all his available force, leaving but a few men to guard the
+fort. Early on the morning of the 20th he led five hundred militia
+and regulars and eight hundred Indians across the frozen waters of
+the Detroit river. The troops were soon winding their way along
+the road on the western shore. At nightfall they encamped in the
+open about five miles from the enemy, and lighted huge fires to
+protect themselves from the bitter winter cold. Before daybreak of
+the 21st they were again on the march and sighted the American camp
+while all was darkness and silence. No outpost guarded the slumbering
+encampment, and the British approached unchallenged. They had
+brought three three-pounders with them, and these were swiftly but
+silently placed in commanding positions. The line for attack was
+being formed when the musket-shot of a sentinel rang out through
+the crisp air, and was immediately followed by the roar from a
+three-pounder, which startled the sleeping camp into activity. Thus
+the British lost some of the advantage of a surprise attack. Instead
+of making a rapid advance and bayonet charge, or an attack upon
+the surrounding parapet, from which the enemy wrought such havoc
+later, Procter ordered the three-pounders to be brought into action,
+and while this was being done, the Americans had seized their arms
+and prepared for a stubborn defence.
+
+Procter attacked with the regulars in the centre and the militia
+and Indians on the flanks. The American centre fought from behind
+defences, and their fire caused great havoc in the ranks of the
+regulars, where the fire was hottest and the loss most severe.
+After the fight had continued for upwards of an hour, the Indians
+decided the issue. Outflanking the enemy on each side, they gained
+the rear, and fiercely assailed and drove in the enemy's right,
+which gave way and fled in terror to the farther side of the river
+Raisin, seeking shelter in the woods. The Indians followed across
+the ice in swift pursuit, eager for slaughter. The blood-stained
+snow and the bodies of those overtaken marked the direction of
+their flight for almost two miles. Only a few prisoners were
+captured, but among them were Colonel Lewis, General Winchester,
+and his son, a lad of sixteen years of age. So complete had been
+the surprise of the American camp that when Winchester was led into
+the British lines he was clothed only in his night-shirt.
+
+The American left and centre, however, still held out stubbornly,
+fighting desperately through fear of falling into the hands of the
+Indians and sharing a fate similar to that of their comrades. On
+learning that the conflict was still in progress, Winchester
+pencilled an order to the commanding officer to surrender, in order
+to prevent further loss of life. The command was immediately obeyed,
+and the action ceased. A number of the Americans made good their
+escape to Harrison's camp on the Maumee, where Fort Meigs was
+erected immediately afterwards. 'The zeal and courage of the Indian
+department were never more conspicuous than on this occasion,'
+wrote Procter, 'and the Indian warriors fought with great bravery.'
+Tecumseh himself was not present at the battle of Frenchtown, as
+he was busy seeking recruits among the Indian allies of the British.
+The leader of the Indians on that occasion was Roundhead of the
+Wyandots.
+
+Learning that Harrison had reorganized his army and brought up
+artillery and stores to strengthen his position at Fort Meigs,
+Procter decided to attack the American general in force. Harrison,
+as we have seen, had about 1700 men and expected an equal reinforcement
+under General Green Clay. Procter, now a brigadier-general, embarked
+at Amherstburg with 1,000 white troops and all available artillery.
+Tecumseh, who had returned to headquarters, led his Indians overland.
+The result of his mission among the tribes now manifested itself.
+As he advanced, his force was greatly augmented, many warriors
+joining him at the mouth of the Maumee, until at last he commanded
+not fewer than 1,200 men. The British forces reached the vicinity
+of Fort Meigs on April 28, and went into camp opposite the fort;
+but heavy rains delayed operations until the 1st of May. Procter
+erected a battery a short distance above his camp; another battery
+was soon added:  but the fire from both proving ineffective, a
+third was established across the river just below Fort Meigs.
+
+The expected American reinforcements reached the head of the rapids,
+and on the night of May 4 a messenger from Harrison made his way
+through the British lines to Clay, instructing him to land eight
+hundred men on the left bank of the Maumee to carry the British
+batteries there, and spike the guns, afterwards crossing to the
+fort. The remainder of the troops were to land on the right side
+of the river and make their way through the Indians to the fort.
+According to orders, Colonel Dudley landed with the specified force,
+rushed the batteries, which were manned only by a few gunners, and
+spiked the guns. The main body of British were at the camp a mile
+and a half distant. But, contrary to orders, Dudley did not return
+immediately to his boats and cross to the fort; instead, he left
+the greater part of his men at the batteries under Major Shelby
+and set off with the rest in pursuit of some Indians.
+
+The routed artillerymen, reaching the British camp, made known the
+loss of guns, and Tecumseh led his warriors to retake them through
+a downpour of rain. Dudley and the smaller body that accompanied
+him were drawn into an ambuscade and annihilated, Dudley himself
+falling beneath the tomahawk; while the larger force left in
+possession of the captured batteries was assailed by Major Muir,
+with fewer than two hundred men, and put to rout. The Americans
+fled for refuge to the woods, only to be confronted there by the
+Indians. Thus caught between two fires, they were utterly destroyed.
+
+Clay's force of 450 men had landed on the opposite side of the
+river, where they were attacked by the Indians. But they were soon
+reinforced by a detachment sent from the fort to meet them, whereupon
+they turned upon the British position, captured one gun, and took
+prisoner forty of the 41st regiment. The remainder of the British
+at this point, strengthened by a small detachment of militia and
+Indians, advanced and retook the battery, and the Americans were
+driven back into the fort.
+
+A white flag now fluttered from the walls of Fort Meigs. Harrison
+proposed an exchange of prisoners, in the hope that during the
+delay caused by these proceedings he would be able to get much-needed
+baggage, stores, and ammunition into the fort. But the boats
+containing his supplies were captured by the Indians, who took
+childish pleasure in their rich plunder. When the prisoners had
+been exchanged Harrison again opened fire, and the contest continued
+until the 9th with little result.
+
+Unaccustomed to this prolonged warfare and weary of fighting, the
+greater part of the Indians now returned to their villages to
+celebrate their recent victory; but Tecumseh, although his force,
+so laboriously brought together, had dwindled to fewer than twenty
+warriors, remained with the British. The militia also grew restless
+and discontented and desired to return to their homes, to attend
+to the spring seeding of their fields. Under these conditions
+Procter was obliged to abandon the siege of Fort Meigs and withdraw
+his forces.
+
+During this affair an event occurred which illustrates the marvellous
+power of Tecumseh's personality. While some of the American prisoners
+were being conducted to the boats, they were savagely attacked by
+a band of strange Indians. These warriors, who had taken no part
+in the engagement, greatly outnumbered the guard. Forty of the
+prisoners had already been put to death before a messenger set off
+at full speed to Tecumseh with news of this horrible outrage. The
+Indian leader rode rapidly towards the scene of the massacre, which
+was then at its height. Throwing himself from his horse, he grasped
+the two nearest savages and hurled them violently to the ground.
+Brandishing his tomahawk, he rushed among the Indians, and in a
+voice of thunder forbade them to touch another prisoner. The massacre
+ceased instantly, and, awed by Tecumseh's presence and threatening
+manner, the savages disappeared into the woods.
+
+Towards the latter part of July Tecumseh persuaded Procter to make
+another attempt to take Fort Meigs. After much deliberation the
+British general finally started up the Maumee with a force of four
+hundred white soldiers and about three hundred Indians. He took
+with him also several six-pounders. The troops disembarked on the
+right bank not far from the fort. Tecumseh, fertile in strategy,
+had devised a plan by which he hoped to lure the garrison from the
+fort. His scouts had apprised him that Harrison with a large force
+was at Sandusky, about sixty miles distant. The chief proposed that
+the Indians should gain the road which led from Sandusky to Fort
+Meigs and that a sham battle should be enacted there to deceive
+the garrison, who would naturally suppose that some of Harrison's
+force, coming to the fort, were being attacked. They would hasten
+to the assistance of their comrades, and the British would fall
+upon them in the rear, while a strong force assailed the fort. The
+plan met with Procter's approval, and the Indians proceeded to
+carry it out. Heavy firing was soon heard, and it became so animated
+that even some of Procter's men believed that a real engagement
+was in progress. But the garrison made no response, and the mock
+battle, which lasted about an hour, was finally terminated by a
+heavy downpour of rain.
+
+Tecumseh's plan for the capture of Fort Meigs had miscarried, but
+he still hoped for victory. He induced Procter to make an attack
+upon Fort Stephenson (now Fremont in the state of Ohio), about ten
+miles from the mouth of the Sandusky river. On July 28 the British
+troops embarked with artillery and stores and entered Sandusky Bay.
+Most of the Indians marched through the woods between the Sandusky
+and the Maumee. On August 1 Procter, having ascended the river,
+demanded the surrender of Fort Stephenson from Major Croghan, the
+officer in command. The garrison consisted of only one hundred
+and sixty men, and they had but one gun; yet Croghan refused to
+surrender. Procter then landed his men and opened fire on the
+north-west angle of the fort; but his guns were light, and the
+cannonade, which continued for thirty hours, had but little effect.
+
+Fort Stephenson was built on the edge of a deep ravine filled with
+brushwood. Before the main building was a ditch, the sides of which
+were crowned with palisades. About four o'clock in the afternoon
+Procter ordered an assault. He divided his men into two parties,
+one to attack the fort from the north-west, the other to assail
+the southern side. Armed with axes, which, however, were so blunt
+as to be almost useless, the men of the first party broke through
+the outer palisades and gained the ditch. Here they found further
+advance impossible, as they had no scaling-ladders. In this position
+they were raked by a deadly fire of musketry from the fort. The
+men at the southern side were not so severely pressed; but after
+two hours' hard fighting the British were forced to withdraw, having
+suffered a loss of about one hundred killed and wounded. Under
+cover of darkness Procter and his men regained their boats and
+returned to Amherstburg. Greatly disheartened at these repeated
+failures, Tecumseh and his warriors marched overland to the head
+of Lake Erie and again went into camp on Bois Blanc Island.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE
+
+The hope of the British now centred in their fleet, which commanded
+Lake Erie. It was known that Harrison was anxious to regain Detroit
+and invade Canada, but he could do nothing until the control of
+the lake had been won. Towards this object the Americans now bent
+their energies, sparing no expense in their effort to equip a lake
+fleet superior to that of the British. Several new ships were
+building in the port of Presqu'isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania, under
+the direction of Captain Oliver Perry, the young officer in command
+on Lake Erie. At length nine American vessels were fitted
+out--_Lawrence_, twenty guns; _Niagara_, twenty guns; _Caledonia_,
+three guns; _Ariel_, four guns; _Scorpion_, two guns; _Somers_,
+two guns; _Trippe_, one gun; _Porcupine_, one gun; _Tigress_, one
+gun. These boats were commanded by able officers and were manned
+chiefly by experienced seamen taken from the crews of frigates
+which were blockaded in the seaports.
+
+Opposed to this fleet Canada had on Lake Erie a squadron consisting
+of six vessels--_Queen Charlotte_, seventeen guns; _Lady Prevost_,
+thirteen guns; _Hunter_, ten guns; _Little Belt_, three guns;
+_Chippewa_, one gun; _Detroit_, still on the stocks at Amherstburg,
+nineteen guns. Captain Robert Barclay, one of Nelson's heroes at
+Trafalgar, was in command. Like the great admiral under whom he
+served, he had lost an arm in naval conflict, which gained for him
+the Indian title of 'our father with the one arm.'
+
+The American ships had been in readiness since the early part of
+July, but were blockaded in Presqu'isle. There were but seven feet
+of water on the bar at the entrance to the harbour, which made it
+impossible for the larger ships to sail out with their heavy armament
+on board and in face of a fire from the British ships. Barclay,
+assured of his mastery of the situation, frequently visited places
+along the coast in search of provisions. The enemy, who maintained
+constant and careful watch, took advantage of his absence on one
+of these occasions and skilfully slipped their vessels over the
+bar. Barclay, on returning, saw with dismay that the American fleet
+had escaped from Presqu'isle, and, realizing that the control of
+the lake had passed from his hands, he directed his course towards
+Amherstburg to hasten the completion of the _Detroit_.
+
+Starvation threatened the garrison at Amherstburg. Indians swarmed
+about the fort, their numbers seeming to increase as the food supply
+diminished. Barclay writes, 'There was not a day's flour in the
+store and the squadron was on half allowance of many things,' and
+'it was necessary to fight the enemy to enable us to get supplies
+of every description.' Immediate battle was inevitable, and on the
+efforts of the navy hung a momentous issue. Should it fail, supplies
+from Niagara would be cut off and Harrison's forces, which were
+stationed in readiness for this opportunity, would march in and
+crush Procter's command.
+
+From Bois Blanc Island Tecumseh and his warriors followed with
+interest the manoeuvres of the American ships. They watched with
+wonder the spreading sails, which in the morning sun looked like
+a flock of huge white sea-gulls. Naval warfare was new to many of
+the Indians, and they gazed in silent awe as the ships sailed
+towards Amherstburg. Tecumseh, who closely followed their movements,
+assured the Indians crowded about him on the beach that these
+vessels with their proud white sails would soon be destroyed by
+'their father with the one arm.' But there were no signs of immediate
+battle, and Tecumseh grew impatient. Launching his canoe, he paddled
+over to Amherstburg to discover the reason of delay. 'A few days
+since you were boasting that you commanded the waters; why do you
+not go out and meet the Americans?' he demanded of Procter. 'See,
+yonder they are waiting for you and daring you to meet them.'
+Procter assured Tecumseh that the delay would not be long; the
+British were waiting for the completion of the _Detroit_. The chief
+returned to the island to inform his warriors that the big canoes
+of their great fathers were not yet ready and that the destruction
+of the American fleet must be delayed a few days.
+
+Barclay remained in Amherstburg to hasten the completion of the
+Detroit, his largest vessel. But, at length, as further delay was
+dangerous, she had to be launched as she was, in a rough and
+imperfect condition. In default of other guns, she was armed with
+long battering pieces taken from the ramparts of the fort. Every
+calibre of gun was used, and so incomplete was her equipment that
+her cannon had to be discharged by flashing pistols at the touch-holes.
+
+Long and vainly had Barclay waited for the arrival of the promised
+seamen from Lake Ontario, with whom he hoped to man his ships. His
+insistent appeal and final remonstrance were treated with indifference.
+There were but fifty experienced seamen in the British ships, the
+remainder of the crews consisting of two hundred and forty soldiers
+and eighty Canadian volunteer sailors, who had no proper training
+in seamanship and gunnery. While Barclay was obliged to enter the
+contest with his fleet thus wretchedly equipped, Perry had a force
+of over five hundred men, hardy frontiersmen and experienced
+soldiers, and a sufficiency of trained seamen to work his squadron
+in any weather or circumstance. On the night of September 9 the
+British commander ran up his flag, weighed anchor, and set sail,
+hoping to encounter early next morning the American fleet, which
+lay thirty or more miles distant at Put-in-Bay.
+
+The grey curtain of morning mist rolled up from Lake Erie, where
+the British fleet stood out in battle array. A light breeze rippled
+the surface of the lake and filled the swelling sails. Barclay took
+advantage of the favourable wind and bore towards the American
+vessels, which were lying among a cluster of islands. He put forth
+every effort to reach them before they could sail clear of the
+islands to form their line. But the wind was so light that they
+had got away from their cramped quarters before Barclay could come
+near them.
+
+The enemy's fleet now bore towards the British, Perry leading in
+his flagship the _Lawrence_. From his mast-head flew a flag with
+the motto, 'Don't give up the ship'--the dying words of Captain
+James Lawrence of the _Chesapeake_, after whom the vessel was named.
+The British fleet, compactly formed and under easy sail, awaited
+the enemy's approach. Captain Barclay in his flagship _Detroit_
+headed towards the south-west. The _Chippewa_, _Hunter_, _Queen
+Charlotte_, _Lady Prevost_, and _Little Belt_, in close column,
+followed in his wake. The breeze, still light, veered to the
+north-east, giving the Americans the weather gauge.
+
+About noon the action began. The roar of the _Detroit's_ twenty-four
+pounder, reverberating over the lake, told the anxious watchers on
+land that the battle had begun. The first shot fell short, but
+the second struck the decks of the _Lawrence_, dealing death and
+destruction. Perry's _Scorpion_ now opened fire with her long
+thirty-two, and the _Lawrence_ with her long twelves and her
+carronades. As soon as the two flagships were engaged, the battle
+was taken up by the _Scorpion_, _Ariel_, and _Caledonia_ opposed
+to the _Chippewa_, _Queen Charlotte_, and _Hunter_.
+
+For over two hours Barclay engaged Perry, until brace and bowline
+of the _Lawrence_ had been shot away. The American flagship's hull
+was rent by shot and shell and every gun on her fighting side
+dismounted. The condition of the Detroit was equally perilous.
+Masts and rigging were cut to pieces and her decks torn and splintered
+from the heavy fire of the _Lawrence_. Captain Barclay's remaining
+arm had been disabled in the early part of the action, and, weak
+from his wounds, he had been carried below. But the valiant crew,
+inspired by the courage and determination of their officers,
+stubbornly continued the fight.
+
+Perry's ship being reduced to a wreck, that gallant young commander,
+still undaunted, determined to abandon her. Hauling down his flag,
+he bade four stout seamen row him to the _Niagara_. The little boat
+sped swiftly on her way; all about her the water was churned to
+foam by shot and shell. Those on the flagship anxiously watched
+the dangerous passage, and broke into cheers as their commander
+reached the Niagara's deck in safety and ran up his flag on that
+ship. The _Lawrence_ now struck to the _Detroit_, but the latter's
+small boats had been so damaged by the enemy's fire that they were
+not seaworthy, The British, therefore, were unable to take possession
+of their prize before the action recommenced.
+
+A fresh breeze sprang up, and the fortunes of the fight changed.
+The Americans still had the advantage of the wind, for Perry was
+able to choose both position and distance, while Barclay's ships
+became unmanageable for lack of proper seamen. The American fleet
+was now drawn up in line. The _Niagara_ bore up to pierce the
+British line. Passing between the _Lady Prevost_, _Little Belt_,
+and _Chippewa_ on the port side and the _Detroit_, _Queen Charlotte_,
+and _Hunter_ upon the starboard, she fired heavy broadsides both
+ways. The Detroit, anticipating the manoeuvre, attempted to wear,
+but in so doing ran foul of the _Queen Charlotte_. In this helpless
+condition the two British ships remained for some time. Perry,
+promptly availing himself of this accident, bore down upon the
+distressed vessels, pouring in broadside after broadside with deadly
+effect. The _Detroit_ had already received rough treatment in combat
+with the _Lawrence_; and the smaller vessels now also made her a
+target, the _Somers_, _Porcupine_, _Tigress_, and _Caledonia_,
+which had closed up in the rear, keeping up a deadly fire astern.
+
+Never in any naval action was the loss greater in proportion to
+the number of men engaged. The encounter had been so severe that
+every officer on the _Detroit_ was either killed or wounded.
+Barclay's thigh was badly shattered and he had also been severely
+wounded in the shoulder. So deadly had been the fire from the
+American guns that three-fourths of his men were disabled. Without
+officers to direct or men to fight, resistance was no longer
+possible. All that perseverance and courage could do had been done.
+The brave Barclay was compelled to yield at last to a superior
+force and to double the weight of metal. The two ships so helplessly
+entangled were the first to strike their colours, and their example
+was followed by the _Hunter_ and _Lady Prevost_. The _Little Belt_
+and the _Chippewa_ endeavoured to escape, and led the _Trippe_ and
+_Scorpion_ a lively chase before they were eventually captured.
+
+Cooper in his naval history remarks:
+
+   Stress was laid at the time on the fact that a portion of the
+   British crews were Provincials, but the history of this continent
+   is filled with instances which went to increase the renown of
+   the mother country without obtaining any credit for it. The
+   hardy frontier men of the American lakes are as able to endure
+   fatigue, as ready to engage and as constant in battle as the
+   seamen of any marine in the world. They merely require good
+   leaders, and this the English appear to have possessed in Captain
+   Barclay and his assistants.
+
+It was three o'clock in the afternoon when the flag of the _Detroit_
+was lowered, and Captain Barclay with his officers, amidst the dead
+and dying who cumbered her decks, gave up their swords to Perry on
+the _Niagara_. The American commander could not but feel the greatest
+admiration for his courageous opponent. Courteous as he was brave,
+Perry begged the British officers to retain their swords.
+
+For three hours the cannon had thundered over Lake Erie on that
+fateful day, but, after the opening encounter, the manoeuvres of
+the ships were lost to those on shore in the heavy clouds of smoke
+that hung over the water. When these had cleared away, a scene
+was revealed that contrasted sadly with that disclosed by the
+lifting of the morning mist. Crippled and dismantled, the brave
+ships, whose sails had swelled so proudly in the morning breeze,
+now made their way towards Put-in-Bay.
+
+The Indians, marvelling at the roar of the guns, watched intently
+the heavy smoke of battle drifting over the lake. When the thunder
+had ceased and the sky was clear they eagerly inquired as to the
+result of the fight; and Tecumseh demanded the reason for the
+vessels sailing in the direction of the American shore. Procter,
+fearing that the news of defeat might cause the chief and his
+warriors to desert, craftily explained that his vessels had beaten
+the Americans, but had gone to refit and would return in a few
+days. But Tecumseh's keen eyes soon detected signs on land which
+aroused his suspicions, for hasty preparations were being made for
+retreat. He was indignant at what seemed to him the cowardice of
+Procter, and demanded to be heard in the name of all his warriors.
+At a council of war held on September 18 the great orator delivered
+his last powerful speech. With flashing eye and rapid gesture he
+thundered forth to Procter:
+
+   Father, listen to your children! You have them now all before you.
+
+   The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his
+   red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead.
+   In that war our father was thrown on his back by the Americans;
+   and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge; and
+   we are afraid our father will do so again at this time.
+
+   Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren
+   and was ready to take up the hatchet in favour of our British
+   father, we were then told not to be in a hurry--that he had
+   not yet determined to fight the Americans.
+
+   Listen! When war was declared our father stood up and gave us
+   the tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to strike the
+   Americans; that he wanted our assistance, and that he certainly
+   would get us back our lands, which the Americans had taken from us.
+
+   Listen! You told us at that time to bring forward our families
+   to this place, and we did so, and you promised to take care of
+   them and that they should want for nothing, while the men would
+   go and fight the enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about
+   the enemy's garrisons; that we knew nothing about them and that
+   our father would attend to that part of the business. You also
+   told your red children that you would take good care of your
+   garrison here, which made our hearts glad.
+
+   Listen! When you were last at the Rapids, it is true we gave
+   you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like
+   ground hogs.
+
+   Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought;
+   we have heard the great guns; but we know nothing of what has
+   happened to 'our father with the one arm.' Our ships have gone
+   one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up
+   everything and preparing to run away the other, without letting
+   his red children know what his intentions are. You always told
+   us to remain here and take care of your lands; it made our hearts
+   glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king,
+   is the head, and you represent him. You always told us you would
+   never draw your foot off British ground; but now, father, we
+   see that you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father
+   doing so, without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's
+   conduct to a fat dog that carries its tail on its back, but when
+   affrighted drops it between its legs and runs off.
+
+   Father, listen! The Americans have not yet defeated us by land,
+   neither are we sure they have done so by water; _we, therefore,
+   wish to remain here and fight our enemy should they make their
+   appearance_. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our
+   father.
+
+   At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly
+   defeated us; and when we returned to our father's fort at that
+   place, the gates were shut against us. We were afraid it would
+   again be the case, but instead of closing the gates we now see
+   our British father preparing to march out of his garrison.
+
+   Father, you have the arms and ammunition which our great father
+   sent for his red children. If you intend to retreat, give them
+   to us, and you may go, and welcome, for us. Our lives are in the
+   hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands,
+   and if it be His will, we wish to leave our bones upon them.
+
+This challenging, straightforward, and heroic speech failed to move
+Procter. He stubbornly refused to make a stand at Amherstburg,
+which, indeed, would have been fatal. Tecumseh, however, accused
+him of cowardice, contrasting his conduct with that of the courageous
+Barclay, and expressed his own fixed determination to remain and
+meet the enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+TECUMSEH'S LAST FIGHT
+
+Tecumseh felt that the great purpose of his life was
+about to fail. He had been champion not only of the rights
+of the Indians, but of their very existence as a nation.
+Dear to his heart was the freedom of his people, and to
+achieve this had been his sole ambition. All the powers
+with which he had been endowed--his superb physical
+strength, his keen intellect, his powerful oratory--had
+been used to this one end. But now the cause for which
+he had fought so heroically in the face of frequent
+disaster seemed about to be overthrown by Procter's
+weakness and irresolution. Tecumseh was born to command,
+and his proud spirit, naturally intolerant of control,
+chafed at following the dictates of a leader who had
+deceived him. The Indians had lost faith in Procter.
+There were daily desertions, and Tecumseh bitterly
+meditated following the example of other chiefs. But his
+courageous spirit revolted at the thought of retreat: to
+fly before the enemy without striking a blow seemed to
+him the action not of warriors but of cowards.
+
+Procter pointed out that the fort, which had been dismantled
+to equip the _Detroit_, was open to attack from the river;
+that the hospital was filled with sick soldiers; and that
+starvation stared the British in the face. But the argument
+which weighed most with Tecumseh was that they would be
+able to find along the river Thames a place much better
+suited for battle. And at last the Indian leader reconciled
+his mind to the thought of retreat.
+
+The troops were soon busily engaged in loading the baggage.
+Part was stowed in boats to be sent inland by way of the
+Detroit river, Lake St Clair, and the Thames; the remainder
+was placed in heavy wagons to be taken overland. The
+women and children, among whom were the general's wife
+and his sick daughter, were sent on ahead, the squaws
+trudging along bearing their papooses on their backs.
+The troops set fire to the shipyards, fortifications,
+and public buildings on September 24, and marched out
+leaving Amherstburg a mass of flames. Tecumseh seemed sad
+and oppressed; and as he gazed at the rolling clouds of smoke
+he said to Blue Jacket: 'We are now going to follow the
+British, and I feel well assured we shall never return.'
+
+Procter halted at Sandwich, where he was joined by the
+garrison of Detroit, now also abandoned by the British,
+its fortifications and public buildings having been
+destroyed. On the morning of the 27th the column moved
+out of Sandwich. The lumbering wagons, encumbered with
+much heavy and unnecessary baggage, made slow progress.
+Procter's energy had vanished, and he displayed none of
+the forethought that a commander should have in the
+performance of his duty. He took no precaution to guard
+the supply-boats; his men were indifferently fed, and no
+care was taken for their safety. Even the bridges, which
+should have been cut down to hamper the progress of the
+enemy in pursuit, were left standing.
+
+Three days after Procter's flight from Amherstburg Harrison
+landed below the town from Perry's vessels an army about
+five thousand strong. Finding Fort Malden a smoking ruin,
+and no enemy there, he pressed on to Sandwich, with his
+bands playing _Yankee Doodle_, and encamped. Two days
+later he was joined by Colonel Johnson with fifteen
+hundred cavalry, and on the same day (September 29) a
+flotilla under Perry sailed up the river and stood off
+Detroit. After taking possession of Detroit, Harrison
+resolved to hasten in pursuit of the British. On October
+2 he left Sandwich with four thousand men, sending his
+baggage by water under the protection of three gunboats
+which Perry had provided. Thus unencumbered, his troops
+marched rapidly. On the morning of the 3rd they overtook and
+captured a small cavalry picket of the British; and keeping
+in motion throughout the day, they encamped that night not
+far below the place known as Dolsen's, on the south side of
+the Thames river, about six miles below Chatham.
+
+The main body of the British had left Dolsen's just a
+day in advance of the enemy, having travelled only
+forty-five miles in five days. All along the route Tecumseh
+had persistently urged that a stand should be made.
+Procter had promised that this should be done, first at
+one place, then at another; but each time he had made
+some excuse. At length, when they came to the site of
+the present city of Chatham, where McGregor's Creek falls
+into the Thames, Tecumseh pointed out to Procter the
+natural advantages of the ground and appealed to him to
+prepare for battle. The general approved of making a
+stand at this point, and declared that the British would
+either defeat Harrison here or leave their bones on the
+field of conflict. After the leaders had completed their
+survey of the proposed battle-ground, Tecumseh gazed
+musingly at the swiftly flowing waters. 'When I look at
+those two streams,' he said, 'they remind me of the Wabash
+and the Tippecanoe.' A gentler light shone in the warrior's
+eyes; his thoughts were far away among the scenes of his
+Indian village--the village that he had hoped to make
+the centre of a great confederacy of red men.
+
+Meanwhile the main body of the British troops were at
+Dolsen's, where they had arrived on the 1st of October.
+Leaving his troops at their camp, and Tecumseh and his
+Indians at Chatham, Procter set out with a guard to escort
+his wife and daughter to Moraviantown, a village of the
+Delaware Indians, twenty odd miles farther up the river.
+He was still absent on October 3, when scouts returned
+with news of the capture of the cavalry picket. Procter
+had left no orders; and Warburton, the officer in command,
+was at a loss what action to take. After consulting with
+Tecumseh, who had come down from Chatham, he ordered a
+retreat for two miles up the river; there the troops
+formed up, fully expecting attack. But as the enemy failed
+to appear, they proceeded to Chatham. Tecumseh desired
+the troops to halt and encamp with his Indians on the
+opposite side of the river. Warburton, however, desired
+to continue the retreat. But Tecumseh would not yield,
+and Warburton ordered his men across the stream, where
+the entire force camped for the night. Next morning,
+before the troops had breakfasted, scouts rushed into
+the camp bringing word of the rapid advance of the enemy.
+Immediately Warburton ordered his men to march, not
+allowing them time even to take food. About six miles up
+from Chatham Procter joined the army and took command. The
+retreat continued until nightfall, when the troops encamped
+about five miles below Moraviantown, on the north bank of
+the Thames, where the village of Thamesville now stands.
+
+But Tecumseh and his band had not accompanied the retreating
+party; and when Harrison reached McGregor's Creek at
+Chatham, he found his progress checked. The bridge there
+had been destroyed, and Tecumseh with his warriors disputed
+the passage. Harrison, thinking he was opposed by the
+whole British force, marshalled his army and brought up
+his artillery. After a slight skirmish, in which Tecumseh
+was wounded in the arm, the Indians were forced to fall
+back. A second bridge was similarly contested, with a
+like result. Then Tecumseh and his Indians retreated and
+joined Procter's forces near Moraviantown, while the
+Americans pushed eagerly forward. Drifting down-stream
+were seen several British boats, which had been deserted
+by their occupants and set on fire.
+
+The morning of the 5th found Harrison near Arnold's Mills,
+where he overtook and captured two gunboats and some
+bateaux laden with supplies and ammunition. A few of the
+occupants escaped and fled overland towards the British
+camp. Harrison's men then crossed the Thames, some of
+them in boats and canoes and others on horseback. By noon
+the entire American army had reached the opposite shore,
+where, farther up, the British were bivouacked, only a
+short march distant.
+
+On the morning of the same day, while the soldiers were
+waiting for their rations to be meted out, the fugitives
+from Arnold's Mills arrived at Procter's camp and informed
+him of the capture of the gunboats and of Harrison's near
+approach. Tecumseh was sitting on a moss-covered log,
+smoking and discussing the situation with Shaubena and
+a few of his chief warriors, when a messenger summoned
+the Indian leader to the general's headquarters. He
+returned after a short absence, with clouded brow and
+thoughtful mien, and silently resumed his pipe. One of the
+chiefs finally asked, 'Father, what are we to do? shall we
+fight the Americans?' 'Yes, my son,' slowly replied
+Tecumseh. 'We will be in their smoke before sunset.'
+
+The dark shadow of his fate stole across Tecumseh's
+consciousness. He had the same strange presentiment of
+death as his brother Cheeseekau, but he entered upon his
+last battle just as fearlessly. 'Brother warriors,' he
+said to those about him, 'we are now about to enter into
+an engagement from which I shall never come out. My body
+will remain upon the field of battle.' His followers
+gazed at their leader in superstitious awe, as if they
+were listening to a prediction that must inevitably be
+fulfilled. He removed his sword, and presented it to the
+Potawatomi chief Shaubena, saying, 'When my son becomes
+a noted warrior, give him this.'
+
+Again the troops, tired and hungry, were ordered to march
+without being permitted to eat their morning meal. They
+now numbered less than four hundred, without counting
+the Indians. Many were sick; all were worn out with
+marching and much disheartened. Retreat has a depressing
+effect upon the best of soldiers, but in this instance
+the troops, in addition, had lost faith in their leader and
+entertained only slight hope of victory. The boats that
+carried their ammunition had been taken--all they had
+left was what their pouches contained. Five of their cannon
+were at a ford behind Moraviantown, and the one remaining
+gun--a six-pounder--was useless for lack of ammunition.
+
+The British took up their position about two miles below
+the village of Moraviantown, across the travelled road
+which lay along the Thames some two hundred yards from
+its banks. Their left flank was protected by the river
+and their right by a cedar swamp. By about one o'clock
+the troops were drawn up in order of battle between the
+swamp and the river. A double line was formed extending
+across the road into the heart of a beech wood, the second
+line about two hundred yards to the rear of the first.
+The six-pounder mounted guard on the road, threatening,
+but useless. Procter, on a fleet charger and surrounded
+by his staff, had taken up his position far back on the
+road, as if prepared for flight.
+
+Tecumseh had sagaciously disposed his thousand warriors
+behind the swamp on the right of the British lines; and,
+when all was in readiness, the Indian leader visited
+Procter and, expressing his approval of the arrangement
+of the forces, passed down the British line. All eyes
+followed admiringly the familiar figure in its tanned
+buckskin. In his belt was his silver-mounted tomahawk,
+and his knife in its leathern case. About his head a
+handkerchief was rolled like a turban, and surmounted by
+a white feather. He addressed each officer in Shawnee,
+accompanying his speech with expressive gestures. Whatever
+doubts were in his mind, he maintained the dignity of a
+warrior to the end, and endeavoured to instil courage
+into the hearts of those about him. 'Father, have a big
+heart,' were his last words to Procter. He then joined
+his warriors and awaited the attack.
+
+Clear and distinct sounded the American bugles through
+the autumn wood, and in a few moments the enemy came into
+view. As soon as Harrison caught sight of the British
+formation he halted his troops, and spurred his horse
+forward to consult with Colonel Johnson, one of his
+cavalry leaders. It was quickly decided to break through
+the British line with cavalry. Only one cavalry battalion,
+however, could manoeuvre between the river and the swamp;
+but Johnson was to lead another in person across the
+swamp against the Indians. The order to charge was given,
+and the American horsemen swept towards the British
+position. A loud musketry volley rang out along the first
+scarlet line, and the cavalry advance was checked for
+the moment. Horses reared and plunged, and many of the
+riders were thrown from their saddles. The British
+delivered a second volley before the Americans recovered
+from their confusion. But then, through the white, whirling
+smoke, sounded the thunder of trampling hoofs. With
+resistless force the American horsemen dashed against
+the opposing ranks and fired their pistols with telling
+effect. The first line of the British scattered in headlong
+flight, seeking shelter behind the reserves. The second
+line stood firm and delivered a steady fire; but the men
+of the first line were thrown into such disorder by the
+sudden attack that they could not be rallied. The Americans
+followed up their first charge and pressed hard upon the
+exhausted British, for whom there was now no alternative
+but to surrender. Those not killed were taken prisoners,
+with the exception of about fifty who effected their
+escape through the woods. Procter and his staff had taken
+flight at the first sight of the enemy.
+
+Behind the swamp, where the Indians were posted, the
+battle went no more favourably. Tecumseh and his warriors
+had lain silent in their covert until Johnson's cavalry
+had advanced well within range. Then the leader's loud
+war-cry rang out as the signal for battle. The enemy
+shouted a derisive challenge, and the Indians replied
+with a well-directed volley. So destructive was the fire
+of the Indians that the front line of the Americans was
+annihilated. The horses were struggling in the swamp,
+and Johnson, himself wounded, ordered some of the horsemen
+to dismount, hoping to draw their foe out of cover, while
+he and a few of the boldest soldiers led the attack.
+Tecumseh's keen eye singled out the American leader. He
+rushed through his warriors to strike him down. Johnson
+levelled his pistol. Like lightning Tecumseh's tomahawk
+gleamed above his head. But before it could whirl on its
+deadly flight, there was a flash and a report. Johnson,
+weakened by the wound he had already received, but still
+clutching the smoking weapon, reeled from his saddle.
+Tecumseh's tomahawk dropped harmless to the earth, and
+the noblest of red patriots, the greatest and truest of
+Indian allies, fell shot through the breast. The Indians
+lost heart and fled into the depths of the forest, leaving
+many of their bravest warriors dead on the field.
+
+Sunset faded into darkness. The body of Tecumseh lay on
+the battlefield in the light of the American camp-fires.
+Like spectres his faithful followers stole swiftly through
+the wood and bore it away. On the dead face still lingered
+the impress of the proud spirit which had animated it in
+life. But silent was the war-cry that had urged his
+followers to battle; stilled was the silver eloquence
+that had won them to his purpose.
+
+Tecumseh was no more; but his memory was cherished by
+the race for whose freedom he had so valiantly fought.
+In the light of the camp-fire his courageous deeds were
+long extolled by warriors and handed down by the sachems
+of his people. Many an ambitious brave felt his heart
+leap as he listened--like Tecumseh when as a boy he drank
+in the stories of the heroic deeds of his ancestors.
+
+The white men respected Tecumseh as the Indians revered
+Brock. But how different the obsequies of the two heroes!
+For Brock flags floated at half-mast. He was borne to
+the grave to the sound of martial music, followed by a
+sorrowing multitude. His valour was the theme of orators.
+A stately monument perpetuates his memory and attracts
+pilgrims to his burial-place. The red hero fell fighting
+for the same flag-fighting on, though deserted by a
+British general in the hour of direst need. But no flag
+drooped her crimson folds for him. A few followers buried
+him stealthily by the light of a flickering torch. No
+funeral oration was uttered as he was lowered to his last
+resting-place. Night silently spread her pall; softly
+the autumn leaves covered the spot, and the wind chanted
+a mournful requiem over his lonely grave. No towering
+column directs the traveller to Tecumseh's burial-place;
+not even an Indian totem-post marks the spot. The red
+man's secret is jealously guarded and to no white man
+has it ever been revealed.
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+The principal books dealing with Tecumseh are Drake's
+_Life of Tecumseh_, Eggleston's _Tecumseh and the Shawnee
+Prophet_, and _The Story of Tecumseh_, by Norman S. Gurd.
+The last mentioned is a vividly written, interesting book.
+
+The following general books on the Indians contain short
+sketches of, or reference to, the subject of this story:
+Thatcher's _Indian Biography_; Drake's _Indians of North
+America_; Hodge's _Handbook of American Indians_; White's
+_Handbook of Indians of Canada_ (based on Hodge); Roosevelt's
+_Winning of the West_; Trumbull's _Indian Wars_; Brownell's
+_The Indian Races of North and South America_; and Tupper's
+_Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock_.
+
+All works dealing with the War of 1812 contain matter
+essential to the student of the career of Tecumseh. Chief
+among these are: David Thompson's _War of 1812_;
+Richardson's _War of 1812_ (the edition edited by A. C.
+Casselman (1902) contains many valuable notes); Coffin's
+_1812: The War end its Moral; a Canadian Chronicle_;
+Auchinleck's _History of the War_; Hannay's _War of 1812_;
+Lucas's _Canadian War of 1812_; Roosevelt's _Naval War
+of 1812_; and Adams's _History of the United States during
+the Administration of Jefferson and Madison_.
+
+The life and character of Tecumseh have formed the subject
+of three somewhat ambitious poems: Richardson's _Tecumseh_;
+Jones's _Tecumseh_, a tragedy in five acts; and Mair's
+_Tecumseh_, a drama.
+
+
+END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tecumseh, by Ethel T. Raymond
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TECUMSEH ***
+
+***** This file should be named 24147.txt or 24147.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/1/4/24147/
+
+Produced by Gardner Buchanan
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/24147.zip b/24147.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a2347c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/24147.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab16cfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #24147 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24147)