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"Shawnee
Chief Techumseh"
Chicago Natural History Museum |
"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter
your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others
in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your
life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek
to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your
people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over
the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when
meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely
place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you
arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy
of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault
lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse
turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts
are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes
they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives
over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die
like a hero going home."
—Chief Tecumseh,
Shawnee Nation, quoted in Lee Sulzman, "Shawnee
History"
Note: The fighting among the English, the colonists and the Native
Americans in the Ohio Valley had gone on throughout the Revolutionary
War. This article, however, begins with the end of the Revolutionary
War focusing on Tecumseh and his era when he was at his height
of his powers in James Madison's administration, attempting to
put together an unprecedented alliance of both northern and southern
Nations.
With the Revolutionary War over and the Iroquois
divided, the opposition to American expansion into the Ohio
River valley was carried on by a shifting alliance of nations:
Shawnee, Canadian Iroquois, Wyandot, Mingo, Ottawa, Chickamauga,
Miami, Kickapoo, Delaware, Ottawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Fox,
Sauk, and Mascouten. In the fall of 1787 the alliance agreed
to draw the line against American expansion on the Ohio River.
Efforts at a peaceful settlement failed:
"With 2,000 warriors led by the Miami
war chief Little Turtle, the alliance soon proved it was very
capable of defending itself, and the initial American moves
against the alliance villages in northern Ohio ended in terrible
defeats. In October, 1790 Colonel Josiah Harmar's expedition
was ambushed on the upper Wabash near present-day Fort Wayne,
Indiana. A year later, Arthur St. Clair's army met an even
greater disaster in western Ohio - 600 killed and 400 wounded,
the worst defeat ever inflicted on an American army by Native
Americans." (Lee Sulzman, "Shawnee
History")
By 1791, however, the feeble American government
of the Articles of Confederation had been replaced by the stronger
national government of the Constitution, and the defeat of General
St. Clair posed a challenge. President Washington sent General
"Mad Anthony" Wayne to counter the alliance. Wayne
first encamped at Fort Washington (at Cincinnati on the north
bank of the Ohio), training his troops and constructing roads
and a line of forts to support his methodical advance northward.
Wayne's slow, cautious advance created problems for the Alliance.
The Alliance had assembled a large force from over a wide area
and had the fundamental logistical problem of feeding them.
They also faced a Hobson's choice with respect to their families:
bring them along and worsen logistical problems or leave them
by themselves and vulnerable to U.S. attack. By the time the
two forces engaged, the Alliance fielded only seven hundred
warriors. Moreover, the British had decided to withdraw from
the Northwest, but had not told the Alliance.
"In August, 1794, Wayne's Legion and
the alliance faced each other at Fallen Timbers. Driven from
the field, the retreating warriors were refused refuge at
the nearby British fort. In November the Jay Treaty was signed
between Great Britain and the United States, and the British
withdrew their garrisons from American territory. Abandoned,
the alliance signed the Fort Greenville Treaty the following
August ceding most of Ohio." (Lee Sultzman,"Iroquois
History")
With the defeat at Fallen Timbers, the defection
of the British, and the Treaty of Fort Greenville, the Alliance
disintegrated. However, within a dozen years a Shawnee chief
was to attempt to resurrect the Alliance on a even larger scale,
and challenge the American government under then President James
Madison. The chief was Tecumseh, one the most admired of all
Native American leaders.
Tecumseh was born in 1768 into a family of
six brothers and one sister. His father, a Shawnee chief, was
killed when Tecumseh was young, and Tecumseh's mother moved
with her people to Northern Alabama. Tecumseh was raised by
older siblings and soon distinguished himself among the youth
of the Shawnee. He spent two years among the Cherokee and returned
in 1790 to join the Alliance's war with the Americans.
Tecumseh fought against his great adversary,
William Henry Harrison, for the first time at the Battle of
Fallen Timbers in 1794. Harrison, son of a signer of the Declaration
of the Independence, was a young lieutenant, promoted to captain
after the victory. A Virginian, he was given his first commission
by President George Washington. It is doubtful that either Tecumseh
or Harrison foresaw how much their two lives were to be intertwined.
Tecumseh boycotted the negotiations leading
to the 1795 Treaty of Greenville and refused to accept its provisions.
His absence was portentous, but he was a minor chief and his
absence was unnoted by his adversaries. Tecumseh recognized
the nature of the threat posed by the settlers pouring into
the Ohio Valley. He developed the doctrine that the Native Americans
were all "children of the same parents" and all owned
the land in common. Thus any sale or treaty cessation of land
was invalid unless all agreed. Tecumseh recognized that an alliance
of Ohio Nations could not block the U.S. advance; he determined
to develop an alliance of Nations both North and South and traveled
widely for years to building the Alliance.
It is difficult to feel greatness after a lapse
of 200 years, but Tecumseh truly seems admirable. He was noble
in his speech and behavior, adamant in his opposition to U.S.
expansion, farsighted in his policies, brave in battle, yet
merciful and protective toward captives. William Henry Harrison
was to say:
"If it were not for the vicinity of
the United States, he would perhaps be the founder of an empire
that would rival in glory Mexico or Peru. No difficulties
deter him. For four years he has been in constant motion.
You see him today on the Wabash, and in a short time hear
of him on the shores of Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks
of the Mississippi, and wherever he goes he makes an impression
favorable to his purpose." (Quoted in Reed Beard, Battle
of Tippecanoe, Chicago: Hammond Press, Chicago
1911. Transcribed into text files by Bob Kipke and text files
into html by Nancy Trice.)
Tecumseh's famous brother, known by the Whites
as the Prophet, was a different matter. Three years younger
than Tecumseh, he evinced no special merit until 1805 when he
underwent a spiritual awakening. He adopted the name Tenskwatawa
(Open Door) and claimed supernatural powers. He advocated a
rejection of alcohol and trade goods and a return to Native
American ways. His claims initially drew considerable skepticism,
but after he correctly predicted an eclipse, his support grew.
Initially, the brothers' combination of political
and spiritual leadership was effective. They drew followers
predominantly from the Native American Nations in the western
portions of the Ohio Valley and in 1808 established the capital
of their Alliance at Tippecanoe, or Prophetstown, on Tippecanoe
Creek in western Indiana (Tippecanoe was just seven miles north
of what is today Lafayette, Indiana). There were reported to
be as many as 1,000 warriors training at this capital at various
times. Tecumseh secured the support of the British in Canada
and journeyed widely building support among the Nations.
William Henry Harrison was now Governor of
the Indiana Territory and viewed these developments warily (Harrison
was originally appointed Governor by President John Adams and
reappointed by Jefferson and then Madison). A meeting with Tenskwatawa
did little to assuage the Governor as he anticipated the coming
war with England and feared that Tecumseh's Alliance would make
common cause with the English.
In 1809, while Tecumseh was away, Harrison
negotiated treaties with Delaware, Miami, Kaskaskia, and Potawatomi
in which the U.S. gained three million acres of southern Indiana
and Illinois. This, of course, only intensified Tecumseh's anger,
and he voiced his doctrine that the cessation was invalid in
an eloquent letter to Harrison (see letter).
Meetings between Harrison and Tecumseh seemed
only to reinforce fears on both sides, and Tecumseh journeyed
south in 1811 to enlist support among the Southern Nations:
Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee. He left his brother
with unequivocal instructions not to be drawn into the conflict
with the U.S. until he had returned and the Alliance was stronger.
U.S. fears of War with England and the Alliance
had intensified, however. In July, 1811, President James Madison
gave Governor Harrison the command of U.S. regulars, the Fourth
Regiment of mounted infantry, with orders to avoid a general
conflict if possible. Harrison determined to attempt to overawe
the Nations with a show of force. Failing that, he would provoke
a conflict in Tecumseh's absence and before Tecumseh could return
with additional recruits. Harrison marched carefully on Tippecanoe
with a force of about 1,000, including volunteers and the Fourth
Regiment regulars. He camped on a wooded hill near Tippecanoe
November 6, 1811 (see map).
Ignoring his brother's instructions, Tenskwatawa
launched a surprise attack just before daybreak on the 7th.
However, Harrison was suspicious and had prepared. By all accounts
the battle was indecisive, a draw, and Harrison fortified his
camp expecting a renewed attack on the 8th. A draw was disastrous
for the Alliance, however, since Tenskwatawa had promised his
followers invulnerability, a victory. The dead warriors and
the indecisive battle gave the lie to his words, and the outraged
allies dispersed. When no attack came on the 8th, Harrison's
men cautiously approached Tippecanoe and found it abandoned.
What had been a draw on November 7th had become
a U.S. victory on the 8th. President Madison commended Harrison
and his troops in a message to Congress that December:
"While it is deeply to be lamented that
so many valuable lives have been lost in the action which
took place on the 7th ult., Congress will see with satisfaction
the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously displayed
by every description of troops engaged, as well as the collected
firmness which distinguished their commander, on the occasion
requiring the utmost exertion of valor and discipline."
When Tecumseh returned in January 1812, his
hopes for a grand alliance of the Nations were shattered. Nonetheless,
the War of 1812 was impending and Tecumseh still commanded immense
respect. When the American general, William Hull, invaded Canada
in June, Tecumseh fielded 800 warriors in support of the British.
The U.S. invasion turned into a disaster when Hull retreated
to Detroit and then surrendered Detroit without a fight.
In September, William Henry Harrison, Tecumseh's
nemesis, was given command of U.S. forces in the Northwest.
By August 1813 Harrison had assembled an army of 8,000, and
when Oliver Hazard Perry's ships destroyed the British fleet
on Lake Erie, the British had to abandon Detroit. Harrison pursued
the retreating British and Native American forces into Canada,
and the Battle of the Thames was joined on October 5, 1813.
The British commander and his staff abandoned the field, but
Tecumseh and his warriors fought on. Tecumseh was killed; his
supporters scattered; and the war in the Northwest was over
(see Death of
Tecumseh).
Tenskwatawa lived on in disgrace, but maintained
a small following. He died in Kansas in 1834. After the war,
William Henry Harrison entered elective politics in Ohio, serving
in the state Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and
the U.S. Senate. In 1836, he was the Whig candidate for President,
but lost to Martin Van Buren. In 1840, he tried again with John
Tyler his running mate. A massive three day campaign rally was
held on the Tippecanoe battlefield featuring the slogan "Hurrah
for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!" Harrison overwhelmed Van
Buren and took office March 4, 1841, only to die exactly one
month later.
Tecumseh is a genuine American hero: he embodied
the virtues Americans respect. Nonetheless it is doubtful than
he — even with a more prudent brother — could have done more
than delay the U.S. expansion. The U.S. population was just
too large and growing at an extraordinary rate: in 1810 there
were 10 million residents of the U.S. with almost one million
west of the Appalachians (see U.S.
Growth & Expansion, President James Madison).
No Native American alliance could achieve anything near numerical
parity.
