Show by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 6 la the annl of a battle not nearly b well known to the average american as c dozen others of less importance but charac by a of unusual features hleb anke it one of the most interesting engagements in american history it Is the battle of the thames fought in canada on october when american troops led oy gen william henry harreson Harrt son defeated the allied british and indian forces led by general proctor and chief tecumseh the victory so added to the military prestige of har alson as to aid materially in his elec alon to the presidency by the whig party in 1840 in that same year the democratic candidate tor vice president was col richard M john eon who had fought under harrison at the battle of the thames and the chief factor in his securing the dem nomination had been the made for him by his friends that he had slain tecumseh with his own hand at the battle of the thames thus more than a quarter of a cen tury after the death of the great leader his name was heard in a political campaign curiously enough it was heard in thai connect alon again halt a century later at a meeting of the republican national committee in washington to select a city in which to hold a presidential nominating convention one committeeman during an eloquent plea for the selection of detroit promised to take the visitors thirty miles over into canada to view the spot where lecam ben the greatest indian the amerl can continent ever knew was that last quotation affords the best reason why the battle of the thames is notable for the committeeman had the authority of more than one historian tor his characterization of tecumseh trumbull declared that he was the most ex indian that has ever appeared in history in there was born to chief of the shawnees at the Sli awnee village of alqua on the mad rive near the pres cut site of springfield ohio a son who was given the nime of or Tecum tha meaning crouching panther or shooting star when the boy was six years old his father was killed in the famous battle of point pleasant W va before he had i cached his majority be had als himself as a fearie si war but one who ans more humane and chivalrous towards his enemies thau was common among the indians ol 01 that period tecumseh fought in two great bat lies of that period the the st claere defeat and the battle of t alien timbers where mad an wayne crushed the tribes of the ohio valley the young Sli awnee refused to take part in the treaty of greenville and gathering about him a band of warriors he spent several years roving about before accepting an invitation from the delawarek Dela waree and settled on the white river in in dlana this va la 1703 and for the few years remained there peacefully occupied in hunting more of his time tecumseh eirby to life real teed that the red man was doomed to KO down before the greater numbers of the whites unless they were stopped so he undertook the formation of a great confederacy vt all the west ern and southern tribes for the pur pose of mal ing the ohio river the permanent boundary between the two races tecumseh s dreach of an indian con was not a new one king philip the Pont lai the ottawa and little turtle the miami had tried the same scheme and all had failed so perhaps tecumseh the shaw nee was doomed to failure from the start but the chances are hat his attempt to hold back the tide of settlement would have come nearer realization than any of these others had it not been for Us brother the prophet the prophet a vain boastful charlatan had little of the greatness of tecum seh in his makeup but he was a clever demagogue and through his self asserted powers as a prophet ei arted considerable influence over the superstitious savages it was an in fluence which tecumseh although he must have realized that bis brother was a faker was glad to use in his grand scheme for uniting the tribes the only thing which he could not foresee was that the character of his brother might make him a liability as well as an asset to his cause and this was exactly what happened while tecumseh was absent among the southern tribes organizing them the prophet precipitated the battle of tippecanoe v ember 7 1811 and his forces were disastrously defeated by general harrlson after that historic engagement the influx ence of the prophet was gone tor ever more than that it dampened the ardor of most of the arlt s for the cause in which they had enlisted and saw his elaborate plans crash to earth when the war of 1812 broke out tecumseh joined the english army in canada hearty all of the war fol lowed his lead and the shawnee found himself the nominal head of more than warriors the value of these allies and especially when dl erected by the genius of tecumseh was recognized by gen era brock commander of the british forces and the friendship of the two men baad upon mutual respect and admiration continued until the death of general brock at the bittle of queenstown Queens town proctor brocks successor was a very different sort from brock and lacked all of the qualities which had won the high regard of the indian leader for the former british corn mander the aid of tecum seh and the 2000 warriors of the al lied tribes under his command proc tor proved himself such a bunjer if not actually a coward that the indian foresaw the eventual triumph of the americans tecumseh covered proctors retreat after perry a decisive victory on lake erie until chief eagle feather of the chero kees salutes the historic flag with which the british covered the body of the great S fawnee chief tecumseh during the military funeral ceremony after the battle of the thames during the war of 1812 tecumseh held th rank of brigadier general in the brit ish army after the military funeral the indians took the body down the thames river and burled it in a secret place the flag is now owned by R W A fitzstmmons cf detroit with the british leader and declining to retreat farther he forced proctor to make a stand on the thames rivet near the present chatham ontario even then tecumseh was not sur that proctor would fight if he could help it and for that reason the indian leader took his position at the june alon of the british and indian lines so as to have a near and direct corn with the british leader his low opinion of proctor was im mediately justified for at the first onset of ll arrison s troops proctor fled in his carriage with his personal staff a few dragoons and some mounted indians As the american cavalry broke the british line iroc tors soldiers surrendered as fast sn chev could throw down their and within five minutes after the shot was fired the whole british force of men was beaten and most ol 01 them were prisoners A more seven engagement took place when alie forc of mounted kentucky riflemen struck the indians and alio was in the thick of the fight was shot down according to one tecum sen had wounded colonel johnsoa with a rifle bullet and was springing forward to finish his work with bit tomahawk when the officer drew a and shot the indian through the head during the political cam palan when johnson was a for vice president his friends revived the story anu made much of this supposed feat johnson nev er affirmed or denied the story II 11 Is true that he killed an gindlin under such circumstances and after the bat tie two indians one of whom casbe cleved to be tecumseh was foun dead there some of the kentuckian lan as savage by nature and training as enemies that one ol 01 these indians was flavid most of the skin from the holy tine made it into razor strops this fact Is couched vouched for by reputable historians but it is aloo pretty definitely lashed that the victim of this example of brutality by the white man was not the great shawnee leader tb a presentiment of death before the battle tecumseh had discarded hag general s uniform and dressed him self in his indian de so there was nothing hi his to distinguish him from any of the other warrior dead chief blackhawk Black hawl of the sacs and foes who was present at the battle of the thames later declared that body wai carried from the field by bis followers but where lie was buried no one ever learned to this day the site of his grave Is one of the unsolved mysteries of american history |