to alienate his Indian allies. Tecumseh and other warriors were furious that no resistance was to be offered or attempted. In his own behalf and of all the chiefs and warriors Tecumseh addressed a "talk" to Proctor, in which he used plain language to express his displeasure at the treatment they had received.

HARRISON OVERTAKES PROCTOR

By forced marches, diversified by skirmishes with scattered parties of the enemy's force, Gen. Harrison overtook Proctor near the Moravian town on the river Thames, eighty miles northeast from the Detroit river. On the evening of the fifth of October he forced the enemy to a fight, which was a fierce one though not of long duration, resulting in a complete victory. The road by which the Moravian Town was reached ran part way through a dense beech forest, along the bank of the little river distant from it but a few hundred yards, the ground intervening being high and dry. Across the strip of land the British and Indian force was drawn up when General Harrison reached them. The American army was then formed for attack. General Trotter's brigade formed the front line, his right upon the road, his left upon the swamp. General King's brigade as a second line, one hundred and fifty yards in the rear of Trotter's, with Child's brigade as a reserve corps in the rear of both. The three brigades were commanded by Major General King. The whole of General Decha's division of two brigades was formed upon the left of Trotter. Colonel Johnson's regiment of mounted men were drawn up in close column, its right resting near the road, its left upon the swamp. The duty of this regiment was to charge upon the enemy at a sharp gallop, to be followed by the infantry charge with the bayonet. This was a new manœuvre in military tactics suggested by the exigency of the occasion and was successful in every way. The few regulars of the Twenty-seventh Regiment under Colonel Paull occupied in columns of four the small space between the road and the river for the purpose of seizing the enemy's artillery. The crochet, formed by the front line, and General Desha's division was an important formation. At this spot Governor Shelby was posted, while General Harrison with his aids, General Cass, Commodore Perry and Captain Butler, took station at the head of the front line of infantry.

AMERICANS BREAK THE BRITISH LINE

The army moved in this order a short distance when the mounted men received the British fire, and were ordered to charge. The contest in front was over in two minutes, the enemy were unable to reform their disordered ranks, and our mounted men, under Colonel R. M. Johnson, charging upon them with destructive effect, they soon surrendered.

DEATH OF TECUMSEH

The contest on the left was more severe and of longer duration. Colonel Johnson there engaged with the Indians, who poured upon his command a galling fire, which he returned with great damage to his opponents. A part of the Indian force advanced and attacked our front line of infantry near its junction with Desha's division. They made a temporary impression, but as soon as Governor Shelby came up with a regiment and the enemy being fired upon both in front and rear, they made a precipitate retreat, losing a large number in killed. Colonel

Johnson was severely wounded in this engagement, during which he came into close personal combat with the famous Shawnee warrior and chief, Tecumseh, when the shot came that disabled the colonel. He was in the act of springing upon him with his tomahawk when his adversary drew a pistol from his belt and shot him dead on the spot.

It has since been the matter of controversy at various times whose really was the distinction of having killed Tecumseh and it was contended that it could not be actually proved, but it has been established beyond any cavil that the great chief fell before Colonel R. M. Johnson. "On the night after the engagement," says a writer who was with Proctor at the Thames, one of his officers, "while we were seated around a fire in the forest, partaking on the very battle ground of the meat which General Harrison's aids-de-camp were generously and hospitably toasting for us on long pointed sticks or skewers and which, half famished as we were, we greedily ate without the accompaniment of either salt or bread, the painful subject was discussed and it is not less an eulogy to the high-minded Tecumseh than a justice to General Harrison to say that that officer was the very first to deplore his death; while the sentiments he expressed when the circumstances and manner of his death were made known were such as to reflect credit on himself as a man, a Christian and a soldier." The news could not be believed that Tecumseh was really dead as reported, but that the body was that of another chief; and several officers of the Forty-first Regiment, in order to determine the matter for themselves visited the spot where Tecumseh lay and there they identified the body before them as that of the late powerful and intelligent chieftain, for they all knew him very well and therefore there was no possibility of being mistaken."

A MORTIFYING DEFEAT

The loss of this battle, while it was not a great affair in a military sense, was the source of great mortification to the British and General Proctor was severely criticised and censured by the soldiers and officers for incompetency and indifference. It was charged openly that his disposition of his forces for the attack from the enemy was ridiculous and that it was made particularly with reference to covering the removal of his family and his effects from the town.

The number of men in his command was estimated by General Harrison at about or over two thousand. It is certain that just before Proctor fled from Malden he had then at least three thousand Indians, but great numbers left him in disgust with his pusillanimity; not many British officers were killed, but the white prisoners captured numbered about six hundred. The slaughter among the Indians was great, exceeding all others. Lieutenant Richard Bullock of the Forty-first Grenadiers. reported in his regiment three sergeants and nine rank and file killed and fifty total wounded.

In preparing to leave the rendezvous at Put-in-Bay for the invasion of Canada, Harrison's army was delayed some days. It is said by certain persons in Canada that Harrison made an attempt to land in Colchester township, but was prevented from doing so by John Naudel, the Chippewa chief, and his Indians.

There is a tradition that a few horses of the Americans were stampeded and captured by the Canadians and Indians. Among them was a fine Arabian stallion which was hidden by one Drouillard until the war was over. Many of the horses in the neighborhood showed the Arab strain and tradition points to this stallion as their progenitor.

TROPHIES AND PRISONERS

Among the trophies of this Thames victory there were taken a number of field pieces and several thousand stand of small arms; most of the latter and two of the former were those taken from General Hull. Excepting one standard, all the emblems of conquest acquired during the campaign by the British were here.

Among the prisoners captured were all the superior officers of the British forces except General Proctor. He made his escape by the fleetness of his horse. General Cass was prominent among those who were distinguished for personal bravery and received commendation from the commanding general, especially rendering important service in forming line of battle rendered very different by the nature of the ground. Woods, marshes and streams surrounded them, requiring all the knowledge and discretion of a military veteran, which Cass possessed in an eminent degree. He led the chase after the flying Proctor who had fled very soon after the firing commenced. He was not able to overtake this valiant officer, but was obliged to be content with the capture of his carriage, baggage and all his papers relating to the operations of his department.

RESULT OF BATTLE AND TECUMSEH'S DEATH

General Harrison's official account of this battle does ample justice to the brave men and officers who participated in it. "Having no command himself," says General Harrison, "he tendered me his assistance. I have already stated that General Cass and Commodore Perry assisted me in forming the troops for action. The former was an officer of the highest merit and the appearance of the brave young commodore fresh from his recent victory cheered and animated every heart.

The enemy was now driven from the northwestern frontier. Soon after the battle an armistice was concluded with the hostile Indians and General Harrison sailed down the lake to Buffalo with about thirteen hundred troops. General Cass was left in command at Detroit. No. military movement of note occurred during the winter of 1813-14. The Indians having lost their great leader, Tecumseh, were generally disposed to remain quiet and seek an alliance with our people.

CHAPTER X

THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

A VIEW FROM "THE OTHER SIDE'-BRITISH FLAG SHIP OPENS BATTLECRIPPLED BRITISH FLEET-FROM PERRY'S OFFICIAL REPORT-PERRY'S SQUADRON IN ACTION-BARCLAY'S SQUADRON IN ACTION.

[From Richardson's "War of 1812"]

The period was now fast approaching when the fruits of so much toil and privation were to be wrested from our grasp, and the extensive line of territory, both original and acquired, so gallantly defended by a single regiment against the repeated invasions of the enemy, for a period of fifteen months, was to fall beneath the efforts of numerical strength. Since the capture of "Detroit" the Americans had been indefatigable in their exertions to establish a superiority of naval force on which they well knew depended the ultimate success of their arms. Buffalo was the harbor selected for the construction of their flotilla, though five vessels of Perry's fleet were built at Erie harbor. Work was pushed rapidly and these harbors soon presented a formidable appearance.

A VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE``

Manned by experienced seamen taken from several frigates there blockaded in their seaports, and commanded by able and experienced officers, these vessels put out toward the close of August, and continued cruising off the harbor of Amherstburg, in which our fleet lay, awaiting the completion of the "Detroit," a vessel of twenty guns, then on the stocks, and the arrival of the seamen, long promised and vainly expected from Lake Ontario. Captain Barclay had arrived some time previous to take the command, and with him several officers and forty men; but notwithstanding every remonstrance on the subject made by the commanding officers of the division, no further assistance was afforded. remaining part of the crews were provincial sailors willing and anxious to do their duty, but without that perfection and experience in their profession which are so indispensably necessary to the success in a combat at sea. In defiance of this disadvantage, the enemy no sooner appeared, than the "Detroit" was launched in her unfinished state, and armed, in default of other guns, with long battering pieces taken from the ramparts. Every calibre was used, sixes, nines, twelves, eighteens and even the two twenty-four pounders which had been used at the "Miami.”

The

Our position at this period was getting very critical, the want of provisions, severely felt, and the ultimate possession of the garrison depended wholly on the result of the impending naval conflict, for which both parties were preparing. In the event of the enemy being successful, not only must we be open to the incursions of the large forces then collected in several quarters, and ready to overwhelm us at the moment that

the command of the lake would afford them facility of movement, but the means of obtaining supplies from Fort Erie must be entirely cut off. The quantity of provisions already consumed had been enormous, for, independently of the wanton destruction of cattle by the Indians, who often shot them for the sake of obtaining their horns, in which they carried their powder, leaving the carcasses to putrify in the sun, ten thousand rations were daily issued to the warriors and their families; the latter apparently increasing in numbers as our means of supplying them became more difficult.

BRITISH FLAG SHIP OPENS BATTLE

Such was the situation of the garrison, reduced in its regular force to a handful of men, when Captain Barclay, who had hoisted the flag on board the "Detroit," made the signal early on the morning of September 9th to weigh anchor and bear across the lake. The little fleet consisting of six sails were, at daylight on the 10th, perceived by the enemy, then lying among a cluster of islands at some leagues distance, who immediately bore up under a slight side wind, favorable at that moment for the approach of the two squadrons. At noon, (Barclay fixes the time at 11:45) the engagement commenced; the "Detroit" leading into action was opposed by the "Lawrence," mounting eighteen thirty-two pounders, and commanded by the American commodore; such was the effect of the long guns that the latter vessel was soon compelled to strike her flag, having only twenty serviceable men left. (Perry places the number at eight.) The "Detroit" and "Queen Charlotte" had, however, suffered severely in their sails and rigging from the fire of the enemy's gunboats; and not only were every one of their boats so severely damaged as to render it impossible to take possession of the prize, but the united and unceasing exertion of their crews could not prevent their running foul of each other. Availing himself of this unfortunate accident, Commodore Perry, who had shifted his flag to the "Niagara," a vessel of equal force with the "Lawrence," bore up and discharged his broadside with murderous effect. Coming closer immediately, a second equally destructive fire was delivered, and in this manner was the action continued, rendering resistance almost hopeless. The smaller vessels, already warmly engaged, could afford no aid, and the guns of the unfortunate wrecks were at length nearly all unserviceable, those at least, of the only batteries that could be brought to bear on the enemy. Almost every officer was compelled to leave the deck, and the helplessness of the crews could only be exceeded by their despair; when after two hours and a half of incessant cannonading, the British flag was replaced by the American ensign.

CRIPPLED BRITISH FLEET

The anxiety with which the issue of the combat was awaited at Amherstburg, where the firing was distinctly heard, may easily be conceived. From the heights overlooking the lake, and nearly opposite to the islands, the first encounter of the fleets was clearly observed, but the heavy columns of smoke in which they were speedily enveloped, shut out the scene altogether, nor was it until the thunder of the artillery had been some time discontinued, that the clouds of vapour drifting away revealed the melancholy picture of our vessels, crippled and dismasted, following in the wake of the American fleet, then directing its course towards the bay of Sandusky.