Show at aunt t fe I 1 I 1 A a f 6 r 0 at M lie tv 1 J 14 g 44 W 01 41 JI aa 1101 A 7 V 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 5 Is the anniversary of a battle not nearly so well known to the average american is as a dozen others of less importance but characterized by a number of unusual features which make 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 by gen william henry harrlson harrison defeated the allied british and indian forces led by general proctor and chief tecumseh the victory GO 60 added to the milL military tary prestige of harrison barrison as to aid materially in his election to the presidency by the whig party in in that same year the democratic candidate for vice president was col richard M johnson who had fought under harrlson harrison at the battle of the thames and the chief factor in his bis securing the democratic nomination had been the claim made tor for him by his bis friends that he had bad slain tecumseh with his big own hand band at the battle of the thames thus more than lien t quarter of a century after the death of the great shawnee leader his name was heard in a political campaign curiously enough it vms vas heard in that connection again half a century later at a meeting of the republican national committee in washington to select a city in which to bold a presidential nominating convention one committeeman during an eloquent plea tor for the selection of detroit promised to take the visitors thirty miles over into canada to view the spot where tecum teh seb the greatest indian the american continent ever knew was slain that last quotation atlin affords the best reason why the battle of the thames Is notable for the committeeman committee ioan had the authority of more than one historian tor for his characterization of tecumseh trumbull Trum buil declared unqualifiedly that he was the most extraordinary tra indian that has ever appeared in history in 1708 there was born to chief of the shawnees at the shawnee village of liqua piqua on the mad river near the present site of springfield ohio a son who was given the name of tir or Tecum tha meaning crouching cauther Pa uther or shooting star when the boy was six years old its father was killed in the famous battle of point pleasant W va before he had bad reached beached his bis majority he had distinguished shed himself as a fearless war riot but one who was more humane and chivalrous towards his enemies than was common among the indians of that period tecumseh fought in two great batties of that period against the whites the st claire defeat and the battle of fallen timbers where mad anthony wayne crushed the tribes of the ohio valley the young shawnee refused to take part in the treaty of greenville and gathering about him a band of warriors he spent several years ears roving about before accepting an invitation from the Dela delawarek wares and settled on the white river in indiana this was in 1798 and tor for the next few years tecumseh remained there peacefully occupied in huntin limiting more farseeing than most indians of 0 his time tecumseh early in life real iced that the red man was loomed to go down don before the greater numbers of the whites unless they were stopped so he undertook the formation of a great confederacy of all the western and southern tribes for the purpose of making the ohio river the permanent boundary between the two races dream of an indian con deracy te was not a new one king philip the pontiac Ponti av the ottawa ottana and little turtle lethe alie miami had tried the same scheme and all had failed so perhaps tecumseh the shawnee was doomed to failure from the start but the chances are that his attempt to hold back the tide of white settlement would hane hae come nearer realization than any of these others had it not been for his brother the prophet the prophet a vain boastful charlatan cliar latan nail bad little ot of the greatness of tecumseh in his makeup make up but he was a clever demagogue and through his self asserted powers as a prophet exerted considerable influence over the superstitious savages it was an influence which tecumseh alth although he must have realized that his bis brother was a faker was glad to use nse ln 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 battle of tippecanoe november 7 1811 and his forces were disastrously defeated by G ameral harrison after that historic engagement the influence of the prophet was gone forever more than that it dampened the ardor of most of the a for the cause in which bich they had bad enlisted and tecumseh Tecum seb saw his elaborate plans crash to earth when the war of broke out tecumseh joined the english army in canada nearly kearly all of the war chiefs followed his lead and the shawnee found himself the nominal head of more than loo warriors the value of these allies and especially when directed by the genius of tecumseh was immediately recognized by general brock commander of the british forces and the friendship of the two men based upon mutual respect and admiration continued until the death of general brock at the battle of queenstown Queens town proctor broks successor was a very different sort from brock and lacked all of the qualities had won the high regard of the indian leader for the alie former british commander ni despite the aid of tecum seh and elie 2000 sarri warriors ors of the at al lied tribes under his command proctor proved himself such a bungler if not actually a coward that the indian leader foresaw the eventual triumph of the americans tecumseh Tecum seb covered proctors retreat after perrys decisive victory on lake erie until disgusted chief eagle feather of the chero kees salutes the historic flag with which the british covered the body of 0 the great shawnee chief tecumseh during the military funeral ceremony after the battle of the thames during the war of 1812 tecumseh h held e ld the th rank of brigadier general in the brit ish army after the military funeral the indians took the body down the th thames river and buried it in a secret place the flag is now owned by P W A fitzsimmons of detroit with the british leader and declining to retreat farther fart lier he forced proctol to make a stand on the thames rhet near the present chatham On ontario tatlo even then tecumseh was not dot sur that proctor would tight fight if he could help it and forthal for that reason the indian loader leader took his position at the junction of the british and indian lines so as to have a near arid and direct coin with alth the british leader its his low opinion of Proctor was immediately justified for at the first arst onset of harrisons troops proctor flod fled in his big carriage with his personal staff a few dragoons drag and some mounted indians As the alie american cavalry broke the british line iroc tors fors soldiers surrendered as fast a they could throw down donin their arms and within five minutes after the first shot was fired bred the whole while british force of men was nag beaten and most ol of them were prisoners A more seen engagement took place when mien the foro of mounted kentucky riflemen struck the indians and tecumseh who was in the thick of the fight was shot dow dowa according to one tradition tecum seh had bad wounded colonel johns johnsoa with a rifle ride bullet and was forward to finish liis his work with hie big tomahawk when hen the officer diew a pistol and shot the indian through the head during the political earn cam laign when hen johnson was a candidate for vice president his friends revived the story and made much of this supposed feat johnson himself liim neer ne er affirmed or denied the story it Is true that lie he killed an indian under such circumstances and after the bat tie two indians one of whom born was be bleed to be tecumseh was toun dead there some of the kentuckians Kentuck lans as savage by nature and training as their enemies believing that one of 0 these indians was tecumseh flaked most of the skin from the boily body slid and made it into razor this fad fact Is vouched couched tor for by reputable historians but it Is also pretty definitely established that the elie victim of this example of brutality by the white man was not the great shawnee lender leader with a presentiment of death before the battle tecumseh had discarded his generals uniform and dressed him self in his bis indian deerskin so there was nothing in his appearance to distinguish him from any ally of 0 th the e other dead chief blackhawk of the sees sacs and foxes who was present at the battle of the Th thames aines later declared that Tecum body was carried from the field by his fol followers loners but where lie he was burled no one ever learned to this day the site of his grave Is one of the unsolved mysteries of american history |