Siege of fort Meigs--Tecumseh commands the Indians--acts with
intrepidity--rescues the American prisoners from the tomahawk and
scalping knife, after Dudley's defeat--reported agreement between
Proctor and Tecumseh, that general Harrison, if taken prisoner,
should be delivered to the latter to be burned.
Fort Meigs, situated on the south-east side of the Miami of the lakes,
and at the foot of the rapids of that stream, was an octagonal
enclosure, with eight block houses, picketed with timber, and
surrounded by ditches. It was two thousand five hundred yards in
circumference, and required, to garrison it with efficiency, about two
thousand men. It was constructed under the immediate superintendence of
colonel E. D. Wood, of the corps of engineers, one of the most
scientific and gallant officers of the late war. This post, which was
established in the spring of 1813, was important not only for the
protection of the frontiers, but as the depot for the artillery,
military stores and provisions, necessary for the prosecution of the
ensuing campaign. These circumstances could not fail to attract the
attention of the enemy; and the commander of the American army was not
disappointed in supposing that fort Meigs would be the first point of
attack, upon the opening of the spring, by the combined forces of
Proctor and Tecumseh.
In the latter part of March, intelligence reached this post that
Proctor had issued a general order for assembling the Canadian militia
at Sandwich, on the 7th of April, to unite in an expedition against
fort Meigs. This information gave a fresh impulse to the efforts then
making to render the fort, which was still in an unfinished state, as
strong as possible. On the 8th of April, colonel Ball arrived with two
hundred dragoons; and on the 12th general Harrison reached the fort
with three hundred men from the posts on the Auglaize and St. Mary's.
Vigorous preparations were now made for the anticipated siege. On the
19th, a scouting party returned from the river Raisin, with three
Frenchmen, who stated that the British were still making arrangements
for an attack on this post; and were assembling a very large Indian
force. They informed general Harrison that Tecumseh and the Prophet had
reached Sandwich, with about six hundred Indians, collected in the
country between lake Michigan and the Wabash. This intelligence removed
the apprehension entertained by the general, that the Indians intended
to fall upon the posts in his rear, while Proctor should attack fort
Meigs. On the 26th, the advance of the enemy was discovered at the
mouth of the bay; and on the 28th, the British and Indian forces were
found to be within a few miles of the fort. At this time, only a part
of the troops destined for the defence of the place, had arrived; but
the remainder, under the command of general Green Clay, of Kentucky,
were daily expected. So soon as the fort was actually invested by the
Indians, an express was sent by the commander-in-chief, to inform
general Clay of the fact, and direct his subsequent movements. This
dangerous enterprise--for the Indians were already in considerable
numbers around the fort--was undertaken and successfully executed by
captain William Oliver,[A] a gallant young officer belonging to the
commissary's department, who, to a familiar acquaintance with the
geography of the country, united much knowledge of Indian warfare.
Attended by a white man and a Delaware Indian, Oliver traversed the
country to fort Findlay, thence to fort Amanda, and finally met with
general Clay at fort Winchester, on the 2d of May, and communicated to
him general Harrison's instructions.
[Footnote A: Now Major William Oliver, of Cincinnati. It is but an act
of justice to this gentleman to state that, for the voluntary
performance of this service, he refused all pecuniary compensation.
General Harrison subsequently, in a letter to major Oliver, in relation
to this service, says, "To prevent the possibility of these orders
coming to the knowledge of the enemy, they could not be committed to
writing, but must be communicated verbally, by a confidential officer.
The selection of one suited to the performance of this important trust
was a matter of no little difficulty. To the qualities of undoubted
patriotism, moral firmness, as well as active courage, sagacity and
prudence, it was necessary that he should unite a thorough knowledge of
the country through which the troops were to pass, and of all the
localities of the position upon which they were advancing. Without the
latter, the possession of the former would be useless, and the absence
of either of the former might render the latter not only useless, but
in the highest degree mischievous. Although there was no coincidence
between the performance of this duty and those which appertained to the
department of the staff in which you held an appointment, [the
commissariat] I did not long hesitate in fixing on you for this
service."]
Soon after Oliver had started on this enterprise, the gunboats of the
enemy approached the site of old fort Miami, on the opposite side of
the river, about two miles below fort Meigs. In the course of the
ensuing night they commenced the erection of three batteries, opposite
the fort on a high bank, about three hundred yards from the river, the
intermediate space of ground being open and partly covered with water.
Two of them were gun batteries, with four embrasures, and were situated
higher up the river than the fort; the third was a bomb battery, placed
a short distance below. Early the next morning, a fire was opened upon
them from the fort, which, to some extent, impeded the progress of the
works. On the morning of the 30th, the enemy, under a heavy and
somewhat fatal fire from the guns of the fort, raised and adjusted
their cannon, while at the same time, a number of boats filled with
Indians were seen crossing to the south-eastern side of the river.
On the morning of the first of May, the British batteries were
completed; and about ten o'clock, the enemy appeared to be adjusting
their guns on certain objects in the fort. "By this time our troops had
completed a grand traverse, about twelve feet high, upon a base of
twenty feet, three hundred yards long, on the most elevated ground
through the middle of the camp, calculated to ward off the shot of the
enemy's batteries. Orders were given for all the tents in front to be
instantly removed into its rear, which was effected in a few minutes,
and that beautiful prospect of cannonading and bombarding our lines,
which but a few moments before had excited the skill and energy of the
British engineer, was now entirely fled; and in its place nothing was
to be seen but an immense shield of earth, which entirely obscured the
whole army. Not a tent nor a single person was to be seen. Those canvas
houses, which had concealed the growth of the traverse from the view of
the enemy, were now protected and hid in their turn. The prospect of
_smoking us out,_ was now at best but very faint. But as neither
general Proctor nor his officers were yet convinced of the folly and
futility of their laborious preparations, their batteries were opened,
and five days were spent in arduous cannonading and bombarding, to
bring them to this salutary conviction. A tremendous cannonading was
kept up all the rest of the day, and shells were thrown until 11
o'clock at night. Very little damage, however, was done in the camp;
one or two were killed, and three or four wounded; among the latter was
major Amos Stoddard, of the first regiment of artillery, a survivor of
the revolution, and an officer of much merit. He was wounded slightly
with a piece of shell, and about ten days afterwards died with the
lock-jaw.
"The fire of the enemy was returned from the fort with one eighteen
pounder with some effect, though but sparingly, for the stock of
eighteen pound shot was but small, there being but three hundred and
sixty of that size in the fort when the siege commenced; and about the
same number for the twelve pounders."[A]
[Footnote A: M'Affee.]
Throughout the whole of the second day the firing was continued with
great spirit, but without doing much damage on either side. General
Harrison, in anticipation of a transfer of the enemy's guns to the
other side of the river, and the establishment of batteries to play
upon the centre or flanks of the camp, had directed the construction of
works calculated to resist such an attack; and they were in a state of
considerable forwardness on the morning of the third, when, from the
bushes on the left of the fort, three field pieces and a howitzer were
suddenly opened upon the camp by the enemy. The fire was returned with
such effect, that general Proctor was soon compelled to change his
position. His batteries were again opened on the camp from another
point, but without doing much injury. On the fourth, the fire of the
enemy was renewed, but with less energy than on the previous days, the
result, it is supposed, of a belief that their efforts to reduce the
fort would fail. General Harrison was waiting the arrival of general
Clay with his reinforcements. Late in the night of the fourth, captain
Oliver, accompanied by majors David Trimble and ---- Taylor, with
fifteen Ohio militia, having left general Clay above the rapids,
started in a boat for the fort, that the commanding general, by knowing
the position of the reinforcements, might form his plans for the
ensuing day. The effort to reach the fort under the existing
circumstances was extremely dangerous. Captain Leslie Combs had already
attempted it, and failed. He had been sent by colonel Dudley, upon his
arrival at Defiance, to inform general Harrison of the fact. With five
men, the captain approached within a mile of the fort, when he was
attacked by the Indians, and compelled to retreat after a gallant
resistance, in which nearly all his companions were killed. When Oliver
drew near the fort, the night was extremely dark, and he was only
enabled to discover the spot by the spreading branches of a solitary
oak tree, standing within the fortification. The boat was fired upon by
the sentinels of the fort, but on their being hailed by captain Oliver,
no further alarm was given. After landing and wading over a ravine
filled with water, the party groped their way to one of the gates, and
were admitted. Tecumseh and his Indians were extremely vigilant, and,
at night, usually came close to the ramparts for the purpose of
annoying our troops, as opportunity might offer. So soon as general
Harrison had received the information brought by captain Oliver and his
companions, he made his arrangements for the ensuing day. Captain
Hamilton, attended by a subaltern, was immediately despatched up the
river in a canoe with orders to general Clay. The captain met him at
daylight five miles above the fort, the boats conveying the
reinforcements having been delayed by the darkness of the night.
Captain Hamilton delivered the following order to general Clay. "You
must detach about eight hundred men from your brigade, and land them at
a point I will show you about a mile or a mile and a half above camp
Meigs. I will then conduct the detachment to the British batteries on
the left bank of the river. The batteries must be taken, the cannon
spiked, and the carriages cut down; and the troops must then return to
their boats and cross over to the fort. The balance of your men must
land on the fort-side of the river, opposite the first landing, and
fight their way into the fort through the Indians. The route they must
take will be pointed out by a subaltern officer how with me, who will
land the canoe on the right bank of the river to point out the landing
for the boats."[A] As soon as these orders were received by general
Clay, who was in the thirteenth boat from the front, he directed
captain Hamilton to go to colonel Dudley, with orders to take the
twelve front boats and execute the plan of the commanding general on
the left bank of the river; and to post the subaltern with the canoe on
the right bank, at the point where the remainder of the reinforcement
was directed to land. It was the design of general Harrison while the
troops under Dudley were destroying the enemy's batteries on the
north-west side of the river, and general Clay was fighting the Indians
above the fort on the south-east side, to send out a detachment to take
and spike the British guns on the south side.
[Footnote A: M'Affee.]
General Clay ordered the five remaining boats to fall behind the one
occupied by him; but in attempting to do so, they were driven on shore,
and thus thrown half a mile into the rear. The general kept close to
the right bank, intending to land opposite to the detachment under
Dudley, but finding no guide there, and the Indians having commenced a
brisk fire on his boat, he attempted to cross to the detachment. The
current, however, was so swift, that it soon carried him too far down
for that project; he therefore turned back, and landed on the right
bank further down. Captain Peter Dudley, with a part of his company,
was in this boat, making in the whole upwards of fifty men, who now
marched into camp without loss, amidst a shower of grape from the
British batteries and the fire of some Indians. The boat with their
baggage and four sick soldiers, was left, as the general supposed, in
the care of two men who met him at his landing, and by whom he expected
she would be brought down under the guns of the fort. In a few minutes,
however, she fell into the hands of the Indians. The attempt which he
had made to cross the river, induced colonel Boswell, with the rear
boats, to land on the opposite side; but as soon as captain Hamilton
discovered the error under which he was acting, he instructed him to
cross over and fight his way into camp. When he arrived at the south
side, he was annoyed on landing by the Indians; and as soon as his men
were on shore, he formed them and returned the fire of the enemy; at
the same time he was directed by captain Shaw, from the commanding
general, to march in open order, through the plain, to the fort. As
there was now a large body of Indians on his flank, general Harrison
determined to send out a reinforcement from the garrison to enable him
to beat them. Accordingly, Alexander's brigade, a part of Johnson's
battalion, and the companies of captains Nearing and Dudley, were
ordered to prepare for this duty. When the Kentuckians reached the
gates of the fort, these troops were ready to join them. Having formed
in order--colonel Boswell being on the right,--they marched against the
Indians, who were superior to them in numbers, and at the point of the
bayonet, forced them into the woods to the distance of half a mile or
more. Such was the ardor of our troops, in the pursuit, that it was
difficult, especially for the Kentucky officers, to induce their men to
return.
General Harrison had now taken a position on one of the batteries of
the fort, that he might see the various movements which at this moment
claimed his attention. He soon perceived a detachment of British and
Indians passing along the edge of the woods, with a view to reach the
left and rear of the corps under Boswell: he forthwith despatched his
volunteer aid, John T. Johnston, to recall the troops under Boswell
from the pursuit. Johnston's horse having been killed before he
delivered this order, it was repeated through major Graham, and a
retreat was commenced: the Indians promptly rallied and boldly pursued
them for some distance, killing and wounding a number of our troops. So
soon as the commanding general perceived that colonel Dudley and his
detachment had reached the batteries on the northern bank of the river,
and entered successfully upon the execution of the duty assigned them,
he ordered colonel John Miller of the regulars to make a sortie from
the fort, against the batteries which the enemy had erected on the
south side of the river. The detachment assigned to colonel Miller,
amounted to about three hundred and fifty men, composed of the
companies and parts of companies of captains Langham, Croghan,
Bradford, Nearing, Elliott, and lieutenants Gwynne and Campbell of the
regular troops; the volunteers of Alexander's battalion; and captain
Sebree's company of Kentucky militia. Colonel Miller and his men
charged upon, the enemy, and drove them from their position; spiked the
cannon at their batteries, and secured forty-one prisoners. The force
of the enemy, thus driven and defeated, consisted of two hundred
British regulars, one hundred and fifty Canadians and about five
hundred Indians, under the immediate command of Tecumseh, in all more
than double the force of the detachment under colonel Miller. In this
sortie, captain Sebree's company of militia, was particularly
distinguished. With the intrepid bravery and reckless ardor for which
the Kentucky troops are noted, they plunged into the thickest ranks of
the enemy, and were for a time surrounded by the Indians, who gallantly
pressed upon them; but they maintained their ground, until lieutenant
Gwynne,[A] of the 19th regiment, perceiving their imminent peril,
boldly charged upon the Indians, with a portion of captain Elliott's
company, and released captain Sebree and his men from their dangerous
situation. Had the force of colonel Miller been something stronger, he
would probably have captured the whole of the enemy, then on the south
side of the river. The British and Indians suffered severely, being
finally driven back and thrown into confusion. As colonel Miller
commenced his return to the fort, the enemy rallied and pressed with
great bravery upon his rear, until he arrived near the breast-works. A
considerable number of our soldiers were left dead on the field, and
several officers were wounded.
[Footnote A: Major David Gwynne, now of Cincinnati.]
Colonel Dudley's movements on the north side of the river, are now to
be noticed. A landing was effected by his detachment, which was
immediately marched off, through an open plain, to a hill clothed with
timber. Here the troops were formed into three columns, colonel Dudley
placing himself at the head of the right, major Shelby leading the
left, and captain Morrison, acting as major, the centre. The distance
from the place where the detachment was formed in order, to the point
to be attacked, was near two miles. The batteries were engaged in
cannonading camp Meigs, when the column led by major Shelby, being a
few hundred yards in advance of the others, rushed at full speed upon
those having charge of the guns, and carried them without the loss of a
single man. When the British flag was cut down, the garrison of fort
Meigs shouted for joy. The grand object of the enterprise having been
achieved, the general, who was watching the movements of the
detachment, made signs to them to retreat to their boats; but to his
great surprise, and in express disobedience of the orders transmitted
through colonel Hamilton, our troops remained at the batteries, quietly
looking around, without spiking the cannon, cutting down the carriages
or destroying the magazines. This delay proved fatal to them. The
general, alarmed for their safety, now offered a very high reward to
any individual who would bear fresh orders to colonel Dudley and his
men, to return to their boats and cross over the river to the fort. The
service was undertaken by lieutenant Campbell. "About the time when the
batteries were taken a body of Indians, lying in ambush, had fired on a
party of spies under captain Combs, who had marched down on the extreme
left of the detachment. Presently colonel Dudley gave orders to
reinforce the spies, and the greater part of the right and centre
columns rushed into the woods in confusion, with their colonel among
them--to fight the Indians, whom they routed and pursued near two
miles. The left column remained in possession of the batteries, till
the fugitive artillerists returned with a reinforcement from the main
British camp, and attacked them. Some of them were then made prisoners,
others fled to the boats, and a part, who were rallied by the exertions
of their major, marched to the aid of colonel Dudley. The Indians had
also been reinforced, and the confusion in which major Shelby found the
men under Dudley, was so great as to amount to a cessation of
resistance; while the savages, skulking around them, continued the work
of destruction in safety. At last a retreat commenced in disorder, but
the greater part of the men were captured by the Indians, or
surrendered to the British at the batteries. The gallant but
unfortunate colonel Dudley, after being wounded, was overtaken and
despatched with the tomahawk. The number of those who escaped and got
into the fort, out of the whole detachment, was considerably below two
hundred. Had the orders which colonel Dudley received, been duly
regarded, or a proper degree of judgment exercised on the occasion, the
day would certainly have been an important one for the country, and a
glorious one for the army. Every thing might have been accomplished
agreeably to the wishes and intentions of the general, with the loss of
but few men. When the approach of the detachment under Dudley was
reported to Proctor, he supposed it to be the main force of the
American army, from which he was apprehensive that he might sustain a
total defeat: he therefore recalled a large portion of his British and
Indians from the opposite shore. They did not arrive, however, in time
to partake in the contest on the north side."[A]
[Footnote A: M'Affee.]
After the fighting had ceased on the fifth, the British general sent a
flag to the fort by major Chambers, and his introduction to general
Harrison was succeeded by the following significant dialogue:
"_Major Chambers._ General Proctor has directed me to demand the
surrender of this post. He wishes to spare the effusion of blood.
"_General Harrison._ The demand, under present circumstances, is a most
extraordinary one. As general Proctor did not send me a summons to
surrender on his first arrival, I had supposed that he believed me
determined to do my duty. His present message indicates an opinion of
me that I am at a loss to account for.
"_Major Chambers._ General Proctor could never think of saying anything
to wound your feelings, sir. The character of general Harrison, as an
officer, is well known. General Proctor's force is very respectable,
and there is with him a larger body of Indians than has ever before
been embodied.
"_General Harrison._ I believe I have a very correct idea of general
Proctor's force; it is not such as to create the least apprehension for
the result of the contest, whatever shape he may be pleased hereafter
to give it. Assure the general, however, that he will never have this
post _surrendered_ to him upon any terms. Should it fall into his
hands, it will be in a manner calculated to do him more honor, and to
give him larger claims upon the gratitude of his government than any
capitulation could possibly do."
The siege was continued, but without any very active efforts against
the fort, until the morning of the 9th of May, when the enemy retreated
down the bay, leaving behind them a quantity of cannon balls, and other
valuable articles.
The force under general Proctor amounted, as nearly as could be
ascertained, to six hundred regulars, eight hundred Canadian militia,
and about eighteen hundred Indians. The number of troops under general
Harrison, including those which arrived on the morning of the fifth,
under general Clay, was about twelve hundred in all. The number fit for
duty did not, perhaps, equal eleven hundred.
The number of the American troops killed and massacred on the north
side of the river, was upwards of seventy. One hundred and eighty-nine
were wounded, and eighty-one killed, in the two sorties from the fort.
The loss of the British and Indians, in killed and wounded, could never
be satisfactorily ascertained. That it was very considerable, there can
be no doubt.
The enemy brought against fort Meigs a combined army of near three
thousand men, under Proctor, Elliott and Tecumseh, and prepared, by a
train of artillery, for vigorous operations. These were prosecuted with
skill and energy. The Indians, led on by the daring Tecumseh, fought
with uncommon bravery, and contributed largely to swell the list of our
killed and wounded. It is said, that the sagacious leader of the Indian
forces did not enter upon this siege with any strong hopes of ultimate
success; but having embarked in it, he stood manfully in the post of
danger, and took an active, if not a leading part, in planning and
executing the various movements which were made against the fort. The
spirit with which these were prosecuted may be in part inferred from
the fact, that during the first five days of the siege, the enemy fired
upon the fort with their cannon, fifteen hundred times,[A] many of
their balls and bombs being red-hot, and directed specially at the two
block houses containing the ammunition. These shots made no decided
impression upon the picketing of the fort, but killed or wounded about
eighty of the garrison.
[Footnote A: Brown's History of the Late War.]
It has been already stated that the distinguished leader of the
Indians, in this assault upon camp Meigs, entered upon it with no
sanguine hopes of success. His associate, general Proctor, however, is
said to have entertained a different opinion, and flattered himself and
his troops with the prospect of splendid success and rich rewards. In
case of the reduction of the fort and the capture of its garrison, the
British general intended to assign the Michigan territory to the
Prophet and his followers, as a compensation for their services; and
general Harrison was to have been delivered into the hands of Tecumseh,
to be disposed of at the pleasure of that chief.[A]
[Footnote A: M'Affee.]
One of the public journals of the day[A] states that this proposition
originated with Proctor, and was held out as an inducement to Tecumseh,
to join in the siege. General Harrison subsequently understood, that in
case he had fallen into Proctor's hands, he was to have been delivered
to Tecumseh, to be treated as that warrior might think proper: and in a
note to Dawson's Historical Narrative, the author of that work says,
"There is no doubt that when Proctor made the arrangement for the
attack on fort Meigs with Tecumseh, the latter insisted and the former
agreed, that general Harrison and all who fought at Tippecanoe, should
be given up to the Indians to be burned. Major Ball of the dragoons
ascertained this fact from prisoners, deserters and Indians, all of
whom agreed to its truth." Whatever may have been the actual agreement
between Proctor and Tecumseh in regard to general Harrison and those
who fought with him at Tippecanoe, it is hardly credible that this
chief had any intention of participating in an outrage of this kind,
upon the prisoners. Tecumseh may possibly have made such an arrangement
with Proctor, and announced it to the Indians, for the purpose of
exciting them to activity and perseverance, in carrying on the siege;
but that this chief seriously meditated any such outrage, either
against general Harrison or his associates, is not to be credited but
on the best authority. It will be recollected that Tecumseh, when but a
youth, succeeded by his personal influence, in putting an end to the
custom of burning prisoners, then common among a branch of the
Shawanoes. In 1810, at a conference with general Harrison, in
Vincennes, he made an agreement that prisoners and women and children,
in the event of hostilities between the whites and the Indians, should
be protected; and there is no evidence that this compact was ever
violated by him; or indeed, that through the whole course of his
eventful life, he ever committed violence upon a prisoner, or suffered
others to do so without promptly interfering for the captive. To
suppose, then, that he really intended to permit general Harrison, or
those who fought with him on the Wabash, to be burned, would have been
at variance with the whole tenor of his life; and particularly with his
manly and magnanimous conduct at the close of the assault upon fort
Meigs.
[Footnote A: The Chillicothe Fredonian.]
The prisoners captured on the fifth, were, taken down to Proctor's
head-quarters and confined in fort Miami, where the Indians were
permitted to amuse, themselves by firing at the crowd, or at any
particular individual. Those whose taste led them to inflict a more
cruel and savage death, led their victims to the gateway, where, under
the eye of general Proctor and his officers, they were coolly
tomahawked and scalped. Upwards of twenty prisoners were thus, in the
course of two hours, massacred in cold blood, by those to whom they had
voluntarily surrendered. At the same time, the chiefs of the different
tribe were holding a council to determine the fate of the remaining
captives, when Tecumseh and colonel Elliott came down from the
batteries to the scene of carnage.
A detailed account of the noble conduct of the former in regard to
these captives is contained in the following extract from a letter,[A]
upon the accuracy of which reliance may be placed. The writer, after
contrasting the brave and humane Tecumseh with the cruel and reckless
Proctor, says:
"The most unfortunate event of that contest, I presume you will admit
to have been the defeat of colonel Dudley. I will give you a statement
made to me by a British officer who was present. He states, that when
colonel Dudley landed his troops, Tecumseh, the brave but unfortunate
commander, was on the south side of the river, annoying the American
garrison with his Indians; and that Proctor, with a part of his troops
and a few Indians, remained on the opposite side at the batteries.
Dudley attacked him, and pursued him two miles. During this time,
Harrison had sent out a detachment to engage Tecumseh; and that the
contest with him continued a considerable length of time, before he was
informed of what was doing on the opposite side. He immediately
retreated, swam over the river and fell in the rear of Dudley, and
attacked him with great fury. Being thus surrounded and their commander
killed, the troops marched up to the British line and surrendered.
Shortly afterwards, commenced the scene of horrors which I dare say is
yet fresh in your memory; but I shall recall it to your recollection
for reasons I will hereafter state. They (the American troops) were
huddled together in an old British garrison, with the Indians around
them, selecting such as their fancy dictated, to glut their savage
thirst for murder. And although they had surrendered themselves
prisoners of war, yet, in violation of the customs of war, the inhuman
Proctor did not yield them the least protection, nor attempt to screen
them from the tomahawk of the Indians. Whilst this blood-thirsty
carnage was raging, a thundering voice was heard in the rear, in the
Indian tongue, when, turning round, he saw Tecumseh coming with all the
rapidity his horse could carry him, until he drew near to where two
Indians had an American, and were in the act of killing him. He sprang
from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast,
and threw them to the ground; drawing his tomahawk and scalping knife,
he ran in between the Americans and Indians, brandishing them with the
fury of a mad man, and daring any one of the hundreds that surrounded
him, to attempt to murder another American. They all appeared
confounded, and immediately desisted. His mind appeared rent with
passion, and he exclaimed almost with tears in his eyes, 'Oh! what will
become of my Indians.' He then demanded in an authoritative tone, where
Proctor was; but casting his eye upon him at a small distance, sternly
enquired why he had not put a stop to the inhuman massacre. 'Sir,' said
Proctor, 'your Indians cannot be commanded.' 'Begone' retorted
Tecumseh, with the greatest disdain, 'you are unfit to command; go and
put on petticoats.'"
[Footnote A: This letter is from Mr. Wm. G. Ewing, formerly of Piqua,
O., and is addressed, under date of May 2d, 1818, to John H. James,
Esq. now of Urbana.]
This was not the only occasion on which Tecumseh openly manifested the
contempt which he felt for the character and conduct of general
Proctor. Among other instances, it is stated by an officer of the
United States' army, in a letter, under date of 28th September,
1813,[A] that in a conversation between these two commanders of the
allied British army, Tecumseh said to Proctor, "I conquer to save, and
you to murder;"--an expression founded in truth, and worthy of the
magnanimous hero from whose lips it fell.
[Footnote A: Niles' Register.]
There is another incident connected with the defeat of Dudley, which
justice to the character of Tecumseh requires should be recorded.
Shortly after he had put a stop to the horrid massacre of the
prisoners, his attention was called to a small group of Indians
occupied in looking at some object in their midst. Colonel Elliott
observed to him, "Yonder are four of your nation who have been taken
prisoners; you may take charge of them, and dispose of them as you
think proper." Tecumseh walked up to the crowd, where he found four
Shawanoes, two brothers by the name of Perry, Big Jim, and the Soldier.
"Friends," said he, "colonel Elliott has placed you under my charge,
and I will send you back to your nation with a talk to our people." He
accordingly took them on with the army as far as the river Raisin, from
which point their return home would be less dangerous, and then
appointed two of his followers to accompany them, with some friendly
messages to the chiefs of the Shawanoe nation. They were thus
discharged under their parole, not to fight against the British during
the war.