Page:Tupper family records - 1835.djvu/214

 192 TE-CUM-SEH.

prophet, however, wanted either the inclination or the authority to follow these injunctions, and the Americans assert, that murder and rapine occurred now so frequently, that they were compelled in their own defence, to punish the delinquents. Accordingly, General Harrison proceeded with nearly a thousand men to Tippe- canoe, and on his approach, in November, 1811, was met by about six hundred warriors ; a battle ensued, in which the Indians, de- prived by the absence of their chief, of his counsel and example, were defeated, but with nearly equal loss on both sides. Assured by the prophet that the American bullets would not injure them, they rushed on the bayonets with their war clubs, and exposed their persons with a fatal fearlessness. But the prophet himself remained during the battle, in security on an adjacent eminence ; he was chaunting a war song, when information was brought to him that his men were falling. " Let them fight on, for my pre- diction will soon be verified," was the substance of his reply, and he resumed his song in a louder key ! !

The hostility of Te-cum-seh, to those whom he had ever con- sidered as the spoilers of his country, was, if possible, redoubled by this severe act of retaliation. General Harrison, in particular, incurred his personal enmity, and he declared openly that he would seek for vengeance. Nor was he backward in putting his threats into execution. Early in 1812, the Indians renewed their hostile incursions, but they were now treated with unusual forbearance, in the hope that they would remain neutral in the war with Great Britain, which the American government well knew was near at hand. On its declaration in June, however, Te-cum-seh eagerly embraced the opportunity which it afforded, not only to promote his long meditated public views, but to avenge his private injuries, and, hastening with his warriors to Upper Canada, he had soon the gratification of witnessing, at Detroit, the surrender of the 4th U. S. infantry, (or heroes of Tippecanoe, as they were then deno- minated,) which regiment claimed the principal merit. of having, the preceding year, defeated his followers and destroyed his settle- ment. In the contest which ensued, with varying fortune, for the preservation of Detroit and the western districts of Upper Canada, Te-cum-seh was of essential service, and he was constantly engaged with the enemy, in the neighbourhood, until the autumn of 1813, when the defeat of the British fleet on Lake Erie, gave the Ameri- cans an irresistible advantage. To prevent the communication with the army on the Niagara being intercepted by a very superior force

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