Tecumseh present at the second attack on fort Meigs--his stratagem of
a sham-battle to draw out general Clay--is posted in the Black swamp
with two thousand warriors at the time of the attack on fort
Stephenson--from thence passes by land to Malden--compels general
Proctor to release an American prisoner--threatens to desert the
British cause--urges an attack upon the American fleet--opposes
Proctor's retreat from Malden--delivers a speech to him on that
occasion.
After abandoning the siege of fort Meigs, general Proctor and Tecumseh
returned to Malden, where the Canadian militia were disbanded, and the
Indians, who had not already left the army, for their respective
villages, were stationed at different cantonments. The Chippewas
preferred going home; the Potawatamies were placed six miles up the
river Rouge; the Miamis and Wyandots at Brownstown and up the Detroit
river, as far as Maguaga. They were successively employed by the
British commander as scouts, a party being sent regularly, once a week,
to reconnoiter fort Meigs, and other points in that vicinity. They
planted no corn and hunted but little, being regularly supplied with
provisions from Detroit and Malden.
Early in July, the allies of the British again made their appearance in
the vicinity of fort Meigs. Dickson, an influential Scotch trader among
the Indians, having returned from the north-west with a large body of
savages, general Proctor was urged to renew the attack on the fort, and
it was accordingly done.
Late on the evening of the 20th of July, the garrison discovered the
boats of the British army ascending the river. On the following morning
general Clay, now in command of this post, despatched a picket guard of
ten men to a point three hundred yards below the fort, where it was
surprised by the Indians, and seven of the party either killed or
captured. The combined army of British and Indians, were soon
afterwards encamped on the north side of the river, below the old
British fort Miami. For a short time, the Indians took a position in
the woods, in the rear of the fort, from which they occasionally fired
upon the garrison, but without doing any injury. In the night, captain
William Oliver, accompanied by captain M'Cune, was sent express to
general Harrison, then at Lower Sandusky, with information that fort
Meigs was again invested; and, that the united force of the enemy did
not fall far short of five thousand men. The general directed captain
M'Cune to return to the fort, with information to the commander, that
so soon as the necessary troops could be assembled, he would march to
his relief. The general doubted, however, whether any serious attack
was meditated against the place. He believed, and the result showed the
accuracy of his judgment, that the enemy was making a feint at the
Rapids, to call his attention in that direction, while Lower Sandusky
or Cleveland, would be the real point of assault. On the 23d Tecumseh,
with about eight hundred Indians, passed up the river, with the
intention, as general Clay supposed, of attacking fort Winchester: this
movement, as was subsequently ascertained, being also intended to
deceive the commander of the fort. On the 25th the enemy removed to the
south side of the river, and encamped behind a point of woods which
partly concealed them from the view of the garrison. This, taken in
connection with other circumstances, led general Clay to think that an
effort would be made to carry the post by assault. Early on the morning
of the 26th captain M'Cune reached the fort in safety. In the afternoon
of that day, the enemy practised a well devised stratagem for the
purpose of drawing general Clay and his troops from their fastness. On
the Sandusky road, just before night, a heavy firing of rifles and
muskets was heard: the Indian yell broke upon the ear, and the savages
were seen attacking with great impetuosity a column of men, who were
soon thrown into confusion; they, however, rallied, and in turn the
Indians gave way. The idea flew through the fort that general Harrison
was approaching with a body of reinforcements; and the troops under
general Clay seized their arms, and with nearly all the officers in the
garrison, demanded to be led to the support of their friends. General
Clay was unable to explain the firing, but wisely concluded, from the
information received in the morning by captain M'Cune, that there could
be no reinforcements in the neighborhood of the fort. He had the
prudent firmness to resist the earnest importunity of his officers and
men, to be led to the scene of action. The enemy finding that the
garrison could not be drawn out, and a heavy shower of rain beginning
to fall, terminated their sham-battle. It was subsequently ascertained
that this was a stratagem, devised by Tecumseh, for the purpose of
decoying out a part of the force under general Clay, which was to have
been attacked and cut off by the Indians; while the British troops were
to carry the fort by storm. But for the opportune arrival of the
express in the morning of this day, and the cool judgment of the
commander, there is great reason to suppose that this admirably planned
manoeuvre would have succeeded; which must have resulted in the total
destruction of the garrison, the combined force of the enemy, then
investing fort Meigs, being about five thousand in number, while the
troops under general Clay were but a few hundred strong. The enemy
remained around the fort but one day after the failure of this
ingenious stratagem, and on the 28th embarked with their stores, and
proceeded down the lake.
As had been anticipated by general Harrison, immediately after the
siege was raised, the British troops sailed round into Sandusky bay,
while a portion of the Indians marched across the land, to aid in the
meditated attack upon fort Stephenson, at lower Sandusky. Tecumseh, in
the mean time, with about two thousand warriors, took a position in the
great swamp, between that point and fort Meigs, ready to encounter any
reinforcement that might have been started to the relief of general
Clay, to fall upon the camp at Seneca, or upon Upper Sandusky,
according to circumstances. The gallant defence of fort Stephenson by
captain Croghan, put a sudden stop to the offensive operations of the
army under Proctor and Tecumseh; and very shortly afterwards
transferred the scene of action to a new theatre on the Canada shore,
where these commanders were, in turn, thrown upon the defensive.
Immediately after the signal defeat of general Proctor at fort
Stephenson, he returned with the British troops to Malden by water,
while Tecumseh and his followers passed over land round the head of
lake Erie and joined him at that point. At this time, an incident
occurred which illustrates the character of Tecumseh, while it shows
the contumely with which he was accustomed to treat general Proctor,
who did not dare to disobey him. A citizen of the United States,
captain Le Croix, had fallen into the hands of Proctor, and was
secreted on board one of the British vessels, until he could be sent
down to Montreal. Tecumseh had a particular regard for captain Le
Croix, and suspected that he had been captured. He called upon general
Proctor, and in a peremptory manner demanded if he knew any thing of
his friend. He even ordered the British general to tell him the
_truth_, adding, "If I ever detect you in a falsehood, I, with my
Indians, will immediately abandon you." The general was obliged to
acknowledge that Le Croix was in confinement. Tecumseh, in a very
imperious tone, insisted upon his immediate release. General Proctor
wrote a line stating, that the "king of the woods" desired the release
of captain Le Croix, and that he must be set at liberty; which was done
without delay.[A]
[Footnote A: Alden Collection.]
Discouraged by the want of success, and having lost all confidence in
general Proctor, Tecumseh now seriously meditated a withdrawal from the
contest. He assembled the Shawanoes, Wyandots and Ottawas, who were
under his command, and declared his intention to them. He told them,
that at the time they took up the tomahawk and agreed to join their
father, the king, they were promised plenty of white men to fight with
them; "but the number is not now greater," said he, "than at the
commencement of the war; and we are treated by them like the dogs of
snipe hunters; we are always sent ahead to _start the game_: it is
better that we should return to our country, and let the Americans come
on and fight the British." To this proposition his followers agreed;
but the Sioux and Chippewas, discovering his intention, went to him and
insisted that inasmuch as he had first united with the British, and had
been instrumental in bringing their tribes into the alliance, he ought
not to leave them; and through their influence he was finally induced
to remain.[A]
[Footnote A: Anthony Shane.]
Tecumseh was on the island of Bois Blanc, in the Detroit river, when
commodore Perry made the first display of his fleet before Malden. He
appeared much pleased at the appearance of these vessels, and assured
the Indians by whom he was surrounded, that the British fleet would
soon destroy them. The Indians hastened to the shore to witness the
contest, but the harbour of Malden presented no evidence that commodore
Barclay intended to meet the American commander. Tecumseh launched his
canoe, and crossed over to Malden to make enquiries on the subject. He
called on general Proctor, and adverting to the apparent unwillingness
of commodore Barclay to attack the American fleet, he said "a few days
since, you were boasting that you commanded the waters--why do you not
go out and meet the Americans? See yonder, they are waiting for you,
and daring you to meet them: you must and shall send out your fleet and
fight them." Upon his return to the island, he stated to the Indians,
with apparent chagrin, that "the big canoes of their great father were
not yet ready, and that the destruction of the Americans must be
delayed for a few days."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid.]
When the battle was finally fought, it was witnessed by the Indians
from the shore. On the day succeeding the engagement, general Proctor
said to Tecumseh, "my fleet has whipped the Americans, but the vessels
being much injured, have gone into Put-in Bay to refit, and will be
here in a few days." This deception, however, upon the Indians, was not
of long duration. The sagacious eye of Tecumseh soon perceived
indications of a retreat from Malden, and he promptly enquired into the
matter. General Proctor informed him that he was only going to send
their valuable property up the Thames, where it would meet a
reinforcement, and be safe. Tecumseh, however, was not to be deceived
by this shallow device; and remonstrated most urgently against a
retreat. He finally demanded, in the name of all the Indians under his
command, to be heard by the general, and, on the 18th of September,
delivered to him, as the representative of their great father, the
king, the following speech:
"Father, listen to your children! you have them now all before you.
"The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red
children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that
war our father was thrown on his back by the Americans; and our father
took them by the hand without our knowledge; and we are afraid that our
father will do so again at this time.
"Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren and was
ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were
told not to be in a hurry, that he had not yet determined to fight the
Americans.
"Listen! when war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the
tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans;
that he wanted our assistance, and that he would certainly get our
lands back, which the Americans had taken from us.
"Listen! you told us at that time, to bring forward our families to
this place, and we did so; and you promised to take care of them, and
they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the
enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons;
that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to
that part of the business. You also told your red children that you
would take good care of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad.
"Listen! when we were last at the Rapids, it is true we gave you little
assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground-hogs.
"Father, listen! our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we
have heard the great guns; but we know nothing of what has happened to
our father with one arm.[A] Our ships have gone one way, and we are
much astonished to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to
run away the other, without letting his red children know what his
intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our
lands; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great
father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told
us you would never draw your foot off British ground; but now, father,
we see that you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father
doing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct
to a fat dog, that carries his tail on its back, but when affrighted,
drops it between its legs and runs off.
"Father, listen! the Americans have not yet defeated us by land;
neither are we sure that they have done so by water; _we, therefore,
wish to remain here and fight our enemy, should they make their
appearance._ If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father.
"At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly
defeated us; and when we returned to our father's fort at that place,
the gates were shut against us. We were afraid that it would now be the
case; but instead of that, we now see our British father preparing to
march out of his garrison.
"Father, you have got the arms and ammunition which our great father
sent for his red children. If you have an idea of going away, give them
to us, and you may go and welcome, for us. Our lives are in the hands
of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it
be his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them."
[Footnote A: Commodore Barclay, who had lost an arm in some previous
battle.]
General Proctor, in disregarding the advice of Tecumseh, lost his only
opportunity of making an effective resistance to the American army. Had
the troops under general Harrison been attacked by the British and
Indians at the moment of their landing on the Canada shore, the result
might have been far different from that which was shortly afterwards
witnessed on the banks of the Thames. Of the authenticity of this able
speech, there is no doubt. It has been the cause of some surprise that
it should have been preserved by general Proctor, and translated into
English, especially as it speaks of the commander of the allied army in
terms the most disrespectful. We are enabled to state, on the authority
of John Chambers, Esq. of Washington, Kentucky, who was one of the aids
of general Harrison in the campaign of 1813, that the speech as given
above, is truly translated; and was actually delivered to general
Proctor under the circumstances above related. When the battle of the
Thames had been fought, the British commander sought safety in flight.
He was pursued by colonels Wood, Chambers, and Todd, and three or four
privates. He escaped, but his baggage was captured. Colonel Chambers
was present when his port-folio was opened, and among the papers, a
translation of this speech was found. In remarking upon the fact
subsequently, to some of the British officers, they stated to colonel
Chambers that the speech was undoubtedly genuine; and that general
Proctor had ordered it to be translated and exhibited to his officers,
for the purpose of showing them the insolence with which he was treated
by Tecumseh, and the necessity he was under of submitting to every
species of indignity from him, to prevent that chief from withdrawing
his forces from the contest or turning his army against the British
troops.