Tecumseh participates in the battle of Brownstown--commands the
Indians in the action near Maguaga--present at Hull's
surrender--general Brock presents him his military sash--attack on
Chicago brought about by Tecumseh.
On the 18th of June, 1812, the congress of the United States made a
formal declaration of war against Great Britain. This gave a new aspect
to affairs on the north-western frontier; and at the first commencement
of hostilities between these two powers, Tecumseh was in the field,
prepared for the conflict. In the month of July, when general Hull
crossed over from Detroit into Canada, this chief, with a party of
thirty Potawatamies and Shawanoes, was at Malden. About the same time
there was an assemblage at Brownstown, opposite to Malden, of those
Indians who were inclined to neutrality in the war. A deputation was
sent to the latter place, inviting Tecumseh to attend this council.
"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." In a
few days he gave evidence of the sincerity of this declaration, by
personally commanding the Indians in the first action that ensued after
the declaration of war.[A]
[Footnote A: Anthony Shane.]
Early in August, general Hull, then in Detroit, was notified by express
that a company of Ohio volunteers, under the command of captain Henry
Brush, with provisions for the army, were near the river Raisin, and
needed an escort, as it had been ascertained that some British and a
considerable body of Indians, under the command of Tecumseh, had
crossed from Malden to Brownstown, with a view to intercept this
convoy. General Hull, after some delay, gave a reluctant consent to the
colonels of the Ohio militia, that a detachment of troops might march
to the relief of colonel Brush. Major Van Horne, with a small body of
men, started as an escort to the mail, with orders to join captain
Brush at the river Raisin. He set off on the fourth of August, marching
that evening as far as the river De Corce. On the next day, captain
McCullough of the spies, was killed by some Indians. In the course of
the succeeding one, near Brownstown, the detachment under major Van
Horne was suddenly attacked by the Indians, who were lying in ambush.
Apprehensive of being surrounded and entirely cut off, the major
ordered a retreat, which was continued to the river De Corce, the enemy
pursuing them to that point. Our loss was seventeen killed, besides
several wounded, who were left behind. Among the former were captains
Ulry, Gilchrist, Boersler, lieutenant Pents, and ensign Ruby. The loss
of so many officers resulted from their attempts to rally the men. The
loss of the enemy was supposed to be equal to that sustained by major
Van Horne. There were about forty British soldiers and seventy Indians
in this engagement, the latter being commanded by Tecumseh in person.
After general Hull had ingloriously retreated from Canada, he detached
colonel Miller, with majors Van Horne and Morrison, and a body of
troops, amounting to six hundred, to make a second effort to reach
captain Brush. They were attended by some artillerists with one six
pounder and a howitzer. The detachment marched from Detroit on the
eighth, and in the afternoon of the ninth the front guard, commanded by
captain Snelling, was fired upon by a line of British and Indians,
about two miles below the village of Maguaga. At the moment of the
attack, the main body was marching in two lines, and captain Snelling
maintained his position in a gallant manner, until the line was formed
and marched to the ground he occupied, where the whole, except the rear
guard, was brought into action. The British were entrenched behind a
breast-work of logs, with the Indians on the left covered by a thick
wood. Colonel Miller ordered his whole line to advance, and when within
a short distance of the enemy, fired upon them, and immediately
followed it up by a charge with fixed bayonets, when the whole British
line and the Indians commenced a retreat. They were vigorously pursued
for near two miles. The Indians on the left were commanded by Tecumseh,
and fought with great bravery, but were forced to retreat. Our loss in
this severe and well fought action was ten killed and thirty-two
wounded of the regular troops, and eight killed and twenty-eight
wounded of the Ohio and Michigan militia. The full extent of the force
of the enemy is not known. There were four hundred regulars and
Canadian militia, under command of major Muir, and a considerable body
of Indians under Tecumseh. Forty of the latter were found dead on the
field: fifteen of the British regulars were killed and wounded, and
four taken prisoners. The loss of the Canadian militia and volunteers,
was never ascertained, but is supposed, from the position which they
occupied in the action, to have been considerable. Both major Muir and
Tecumseh were wounded. The bravery and good conduct of the latter, in
this engagement, are supposed to have led to his being shortly
afterwards appointed a brigadier general, in the service of the British
king.
When Detroit was captured, on the 16th of August, Tecumseh was at the
head of the Indians. After the surrender, general Brock requested him
not to allow his men to ill-treat the prisoners, to which he replied,
"no! I despise them too much to meddle with them."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of the Indians, by S.G. Drake.]
"Tecumseh was an excellent judge of position; and not only knew, but
could point out the localities of the whole country through which he
passed. His facility of communicating the information he had acquired,
was thus displayed before a concourse of spectators. Previously to
general Brock's crossing over to Detroit, he asked him what sort of a
country he should have to pass through, in case of his proceeding
farther. Tecumseh, taking a roll of elm bark, and extending it on the
ground by means of four stones, drew forth his scalping knife, and with
the point presently etched upon the bark a plan of the country, its
hills, rivers, woods, morasses and roads; a plan which, if not as neat,
was for the purpose required, fully as intelligible as if Arrowsmith
himself had prepared it. Pleased with this unexpected talent in
Tecumseh, also by his having, with his characteristic boldness, induced
the Indians, not of his immediate party, to cross the Detroit, prior to
the embarkation of the regulars and militia, general Brock, as soon as
the business was over, publicly took off his sash, and placed it round
the body of the chief. Tecumseh received the honor with evident
gratification; but was next day seen without his sash. General Brock
fearing something had displeased the Indian, sent his interpreter for
an explanation. The latter soon returned with an account, that
Tecumseh, not wishing to wear such a mark of distinction, when an
older, and as he said, abler warrior than himself, was present, had
transferred the sash to the Wyandot chief, Roundhead."[A]
[Footnote A: James' Military Occurrences of the Late War.]
On the 15th of August, the garrison of Chicago, situated in the
south-western bend of lake Michigan,--consisting of about seventy men,
with some women and children,--were attacked by a large body of
Indians, who had been lying around the fort for some time, professing
neutrality. The whole were either murdered or taken prisoners. The
garrison, under the direction of captains Heald and Wells, having
destroyed the fort and distributed the public stores among the Indians,
was about to retreat towards fort Wayne. As the Indians around Chicago
had not yet taken sides in the war, the garrison would probably have
escaped, had not Tecumseh, immediately after the attack upon major
Vanhorn, at Brownstown, sent a runner to these Indians, claiming the
victory over that officer; and conveying to them information that
general Hull had returned to Detroit; and that there was every prospect
of success over him. This intelligence reached the Indians the night
previous the evacuation of Chicago, and led them at once, as Tecumseh
had anticipated, to become the allies of the British army.
At the period of colonel Campbell's expedition against the
Mississinaway towns, in the month of December, Tecumseh was in that
neighborhood, with about six hundred Indians, whose services he had
engaged as allies of Great Britian. He was not in the battle of the
river Raisin on the 22d of January. Had he been present on that
occasion, the known magnanimity of his character, justifies the belief
that the horrible massacre of prisoners, which followed that action,
would not have taken place. Not only the savages, but their savage
leaders, Proctor and Elliott, would have been held in check, by a chief
who, however daring and dreadful in the hour of battle, was never known
to ill-treat or murder a prisoner.