Harrison, with his aid, Colonel Owen, hastened to the point first attacked, where the troops had bravely held their ground, though suffering severely, and at once ordered up a reinforcement. Called immediately to another quarter, he observed heavy firing from some trees in front, and ordered Major Daviess, with some dragoons, to dislodge the enemy. This was gallantly attempted, but with too small a force. The gallant Daviess fell, and his men were driven back. Captain Snelling, with his company of regulars, then drove the savages from their advantageous position, Snelling himself making prisoner of a chief.

The battle then became general, the camp being assailed on all sides. The Indians advanced and retreated by the aid of a rattling noise made with deer hoofs, and fought with the utmost fury and determination. It was important to maintain the lines of the encampment unbroken till daylight, when the assailed would be able to make a general charge upon a visible foe. To do this Harrison was compelled to be constantly in motion, riding from point to point, and keeping the assailed positions reinforced.

When day dawned, a charge was gallantly and effectively executed. The Indians were driven at the point of the bayonet, and were pursued by the horsemen until the wet prairie stopped their further progress, and enabled the fugitives, who scattered in all directions, to escape. The Prophet's town was reduced to ashes.

When at last the beaten cunningly told them that

While the fight was going on, the Prophet, who kept out of harm's way, sung a war-song and performed some religious exercises. When told that his followers were falling under the fire of the white men, he said, "Fight on; it will soon be as I told you." warriors assailed him bitterly for the failure, he it was because, during his incantations, his wife had touched the sacred vessels and broke the charm. This was too much even for Indian credulity. "You are a liar!" said one of the warriors to him after the action, "for you told us that the white people were dead or crazy, when they were all in their senses and fought like devils." His followers deserted him, and he sought a refuge with a small band of Wyandots on Wildcat Creek.

In this severe and well-fought battle the victor acquired the title of "Old Tippecanoe." We shall again hear from Harrison in the war of

1812.

Tecumseh was absent among the Southern Indians when the battle of Tippecanoe was fought. He returned soon afterwards, only to learn that his great scheme had been totally ruined by his brother's precipitate folly. In his anger he seized the Prophet by the hair, shook him violently, and threatened to take his life. His zealous and patriotic labors, to which so much of his life had been devoted, had been thrown away, and his hopes for the future of his race had in a moment been destroyed. Failing to receive permission to visit the President with a deputation of chiefs, mortified and exasperated, he became thenceforward a firm ally of the British.

In July, 1812, a deputation from those Indians who were inclined to neutrality was sent to Malden to invite Tecumseh to attend their council at Brownstown.

"No!" said he, indignantly, "I have taken sides with the king, my father, and I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this shore before I will recross that stream to join in any council of neutrality."

Immediately after the battle of Tippecanoe, the inhabitants of Detroit, alarmed at the threatening aspect of our relations with England, petitioned Congress to strengthen their defences. The imJau. 18, 1812. pressment of American seamen, and the depredations of British cruisers upon American commerce, caused war to be soon afterwards declared by the United States against England.

Michigan Territory was at this time sparsely populated, and greatly exposed to savage inroads. Preparations for war were going on, the in

vasion of Canada was talked of, and General William Hull, governor of the territory, while opposing this project, urged the President to increase the military force in the territory, and to place a small fleet on Lake Erie.

Hull knew that the British authorities in Canada had sent messengers to all the principal Indian tribes in the North-west with arms and presents, exhorting them to become the allies of Great Britain in the event of war. He knew that the savages could desolate the territory, and that the British had control of the lake, and that, with the small force at his disposal, the idea of a successful invasion of Canada was preposterous. It was ordered, nevertheless.

Detroit at that time stretched along the bank of the river. The present Jefferson Avenue was its principal street. It contained one hundred and sixty houses and about eight hundred inhabitants, principally of French origin. On a hill in the

rear, about two hundred and fifty
yards from the river, stood Fort
Detroit, built by the English af-
ter the conquest of Canada. It
was quadrangular in form, with
bastions and barracks, and cov-
ered about two acres of ground.
The embankments were nearly
twenty feet in height, with a
deep, dry ditch, and were sur-
rounded by a double row of
pickets. The town
The town was sur-
rounded by strong pickets, four-
teen feet high, with loop-holes
to shoot through. These pick-
ets, which had been erected as
defences against Indian incur-

WILLIAM HULL.

sions, were still in good condition. The fortifications which the British were erecting on the opposite side of the river would, if completed, not only command the town, but seriously menace the fort, and Hull prepared to cross, and drive the enemy towards Malden.

With about two thousand two hundred effective men he crossed the river at Detroit (July 12, 1812), and landed unopposed, just above the present town of Windsor.

By the unpardonable remissness of Eustis, Secretary of War, our officers on this exposed frontier were not notified of the declaration of war

until after the intelligence had reached the enemy. One of the immediate consequences of this strange blunder was the capture by the British and

August 7.

gency of McArthur, Cass, and other officers, and the troops were preparing to execute them with alacrity, when the intelligence came that Brock, with a large force of regulars, Canadians, and Indians, was approaching. The order to recross the river to Detroit and abandon Canada was given by the

DUNCAN MACARTHUR.

on the field. Brock, on reach-
ing Sandwich, op-
posite Detroit, sum-

August 15.

moned Hull to surrender, intimating that in the event of a refusal, the blood-thirsty savages who accompanied him would be let loose upon the town and garrison.

Hull refused to surrender, but at the same time neglected to erect batteries or take other necessary steps to prevent the landing of the enemy, who at once opened a cannonade, which the Americans returned with spirit.

Next morning the enemy

landed without molestation, the Indians, under Tecumseh, taking a position in the woods. The British column, seven hundred and seventy strong, moved towards the fort, their left flank covered by the Indians; their right rested on the river, and was covered by the guns of the Queen Charlotte. The Amer

COLONEL JAMES MILLER.