William Henry Harrison was born at the seat of his father, at Berkely,
on James river, twenty-five miles from Richmond, Virginia. His father,
Benjamin Harrison, was a descendant of the celebrated leader of that
name in the wars of Oliver Cromwell. He appears to have inherited
republicanism, for he acted a most conspicuous part in our own
revolutionary struggle. He represented Virginia in Congress, in the
years 1774, 1775 and 1776, and was chairman of the committee of the
whole house when the Declaration of Independence was read, and was one
of the signers of that act. In 1782 he succeeded Governor Nelson in the
executive chair of that state. William Henry Harrison, the subject of
this memoir, was educated at the college of Hampden Sydney, which he
left at the age of seventeen, to obey the wishes of his father in the
study of medicine, and for that purpose repaired to Philadelphia in
1791, that he might prosecute his studies with greater advantage.
He had hardly commenced the study of his new profession when the death
of his distinguished parent obliged him to return. After his return,
and during the time appropriated for the settlement of his father’s
estate, the preparations for a campaign against the Indians of the west
caused much excitement, and Harrison resolved to enter the service of
his government despite the most eloquent entreaties and persuasions
of his guardian and friends. Nothing could check his enthusiastic
ardor. He begged, he importuned, and Washington at last yielded to his
constant importunities, and presented him with an ensign’s commission.
With a heart beating with enthusiasm, he departed for Fort Washington,
now Cincinnati, where he arrived only in time to learn the unparalleled
massacre of St. Clair’s army, and the deaths of several distinguished
officers. The sight of the broken troops had no effect on the warlike
zeal of young Harrison. In the following year, General Wayne assumed
the command, and appointed Ensign Harrison as one of his aids.
The first time he had a chance to distinguish himself was in the
engagement of _Roche de Bouc_, in the official report of which, his
general did him the justice to name him especially.
After the departure of General Wayne for the Atlantic States, in 1795,
Harrison was left in command of Fort Washington. During the first year
of his garrison life, he married the daughter of Judge Symmes, the
proprietor of the Miami purchase. But the active mind of Harrison could
not be confined within the walls of a garrison; he therefore resigned
his commission, and obtained an appointment as secretary of the
northwestern territory. His able talents, exercised in that capacity,
soon made him popular, and in 1799 he was elected the first delegate in
Congress for that extensive region, now comprising the states of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, and the territory of Michigan. The first object of
his attention was a repeal of the obnoxious land bill, which ordained,
that not less than four thousand acres could be sold at once. He became
chairman of the committee on lands and framed a bill, which was carried
with very little opposition. This bill lowered the number of acres to
sections, half-sections, and quarter-sections, so as to enable the
industrious husbandman to commence his labors; also providing for the
payment of the lands in such a way as to meet the exigences of the most
frugal means.
To this grand and important act of William Henry Harrison, is imputed
the rapid settlement of the whole of that extensive region; and had he
only been permitted to live to see this noble act completed, he would
richly have merited the title of a benefactor to mankind. Shortly
after, Indiana was erected into a separate territory, and Mr. Adams
appointed Harrison the first governor.
In 1801, Governor Harrison entered upon the duties of his new office,
with powers never before conferred upon any other officer, either
civil or military, that of commissioner to treat with the Indians. In
this capacity he negotiated and concluded fifteen treaties, with their
title to upwards of seventy millions of acres of land. Although he
was surrounded by numerous tribes of warlike Indians, whose hostile
feelings were constantly inflamed by the intrigues of British agents
and traders, and often by the American hunters themselves, Harrison
kept down Indian invasion in the territory, only by conciliation
accompanied by firmness. His administration of justice was always
tempered with mildness. In this way he surmounted difficulties which
would have prostrated any ordinary capacity. The ability and success of
the administration of Governor Harrison are recorded in his voluminous
correspondence with Mr. Jefferson from 1802 till 1809.
During the year 1811, affairs approached a crisis which appeared
to render hostilities unavoidable; and Governor Harrison found it
necessary to apply to Colonel Boyd, of the 4th United States regiment,
then at Pittsburgh, who immediately joined him, with as large a
force of militia as time permitted him to collect, together with a
small but gallant band of volunteers from Kentucky, numbering about
seventy persons. With these he marched towards the prophet’s town, at
Tippecanoe. His object was to bring about a negotiation with Tecumseh
and his prophet brother, who for a long time had been harassing and
plundering the inhabitants of that part of the country. On the 6th
of November he arrived in sight of the Indian village, and commenced
his attempts at negotiation with these ruthless savages. Finding,
however, that all his attempts were fruitless, he resolved to encamp
for the night, the chiefs having promised to listen to him on the day
following. Governor Harrison was careful in selecting a spot for the
encampment, in case of a sudden attack, which he anticipated. His
anticipation proved too true; for on the morning of the 7th, before
daylight, the onset of these blood-thirsty savages was announced by
their hideous yells. The Indians fought with their usual desperation,
and for some time were victorious; but the extraordinary skill and
courage of the American officers changed the tide against them, and
they fled before their pursuers. Victory was propitious, but at the
expense of some of the most gallant spirits of the age.
Colonels Davis and Owen, of Kentucky, and Captain Spencer, of Indiana,
were among the slain. Governor Harrison received a bullet through his
stock, but without injury.
Governor Harrison still continued to negotiate with the Indians, until
the declaration of war against England, in 1812. He then received
a commission as a major-general in the army of the United States,
embracing a larger sphere of action. At that period the greatest
confusion prevailed. Money, arms, and men must be raised, but who would
assume the responsibility of procuring them?
All the talents and energies of our hero were called into action. He
organized his army, obtained money, arms, and ammunition, and on the
5th of October, 1813, he brought the British army, with their Indian
allies under Tecumseh, to action, near the river Thames. The decisive
victory achieved by militia over the disciplined troops of England, was
a matter of joy and exultation through the whole Union. This gallant
victory is attributed to the novel maneuver of General Harrison, that
of charging through the British lines with mounted infantry. For this
important action, Congress presented a vote of thanks and a gold medal.
(_See_ Plate VIII.)
General Harrison, having given the necessary aid to Niagara and the
western frontier, left his troops at Sacket’s Harbor under the command
of Colonel Smith, and repaired to Washington for the purpose of
resigning his commission, in consequence of a misunderstanding between
the Secretary of War and himself. The resignation was presented and
accepted by Secretary Armstrong, much to the regret of the President,
who was absent at the time; on his return he remarked, in a letter to
a friend, “that had he been in Washington, it should not have been
accepted.” General Harrison retired to his estate at North Bend,
in Ohio. Thence he was successively called to represent the people
of Ohio in the House of Representatives, and Senate of the United
States, by which he was appointed minister to Colombia, till recalled
by President Jackson. On his return to the United States, General
Harrison again enjoyed the pursuits of agriculture in the bosom of his
family at North Bend, until 1834, when he was appointed prothonotary
of the court of Hamilton county. This office he punctually attended in
person, until 1840, when he was triumphantly elected to the presidency
of the United States. He was inaugurated and entered upon the duties
of his office on the 4th of March, 1841, and died on the following
4th of April. In their official announcement of the death of General
Harrison, the members of his cabinet say, “that the people of the
United States, overwhelmed, like ourselves, by an event so unexpected
and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that his
death was calm and resigned, as his life had been patriotic, useful,
and distinguished, and that the last utterance of his lips expressed
a fervent desire for the perpetuity of the constitution, and the
preservation of its true principles.”