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 OF THE 
 
 LIFE Ax\D PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
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 BRIEF SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 
 
 112 
 
 AS 
 
 r%9 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE NORTH WESTERN TERRITORY, GOVERNOR OF THE INDIANA 
 
 TERRITORY, AND COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF THE NORTH WEST, 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE, AND SENATOR IN CONGRESS, AND 
 
 MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO COLOMBIA, 
 
 WITH A SUCCINCT ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BATTLES OF TIPPECANOE AND THE THAMES. 
 
 COM?ILED FROM OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 " Honor and Gratitude to those who have filled the measure of their country's glory." 
 
 Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 V 
 
 PUBLISHED BY T. & C. WOOD, STATIONERS, 
 
 35 WALL-STREET. 
 
 1835. 
 

 Entered according lo Act of Congress, in the office of the Clerk for the 
 Southern District of New- York, by T. &. C. Wood. 
 
 ^^/J 
 
 H. Wilbur, Printer, Green Street. 
 
 .^ 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The fame of our country's Patriots and Statesmen is the dearest inlie- 
 ritance of every true-hearted American — its preservation, unsullied by 
 the breath of calumny, untarnished by the venom of envy, among the 
 most imperative as well as most grateful of his public duties. In all ages, 
 the spirit of liberty and of glorious emulation in the cause of justice and 
 of patriotism has been fostered and diffused by the contemplation of the 
 lives and characters of those who have rendered themselves illustrious by 
 their virtue, wisdom, and devotion to the welfare of their country. The 
 poets and historians of the earlier ages were but rivals in the great work 
 of presenting in the most inviting form to their countrymen, and em- 
 balming for the benefit of posterity, the events and the characteristics 
 which had elevated the heroes and sages of their times so proudly above 
 the level of the multitude ; and the popular fatuity which worshipped the 
 departed founder or preserver of a nation as a deity, was perhaps wisely 
 countenanced by the more enlightened as a ready and effectual auxiliary 
 in tlie great work of keeping alive the memory of their prowess or self- 
 devotion, and inciting to an emulation of their valor or virtue, in the 
 hope of rivalling their imperishable renown. 
 
 It is not necessary, even were it consistent with the purpose of the 
 following narrative, to state in this place the causes which have combined 
 to place Gen. Harrison more conspicuously before the American people, 
 and to call for a recapitulation of those achievements which, scarce 
 twenty years since, acquired for him the enthusiastic approbation and 
 gratitude of the American people. Do they yet linger in the memory of 
 the patriot of that hour of our country's peril ? Then he will need no 
 apology for their revival. Are they so soon forgotten ? It is high time, 
 then, that some memorial of their existence were again submitted to the 
 contemplation of an intelligent, patriotic and grateful people. 
 
 New York, Sept. 1, 1835. 
 
TO 
 THE OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE LAST WAR, 
 
 THE VICTORS 
 
 AT THE THAMES, AT CHIPPEWA, BRIDGEWATER, PLATTS- 
 
 BURGH, AND NEW ORLEANS ; 
 
 THE DEFENDERS OF FORT MEIGS, FORT ERIE, AND 
 
 BALTIMORE, 
 THIS SKETCH IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY ONE WHO EXULTS AT THE REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS, 
 
 WHO GLORIES IN THEIR WELL-EARNED FAME, AND IS PROUD 
 
 TO CLAIM THEM AS HIS COUNTRYMEN. 
 
LIFE OF GEN. HAHRISON. 
 
 William Henry Harrison was born at a plantation 
 called Berkeley, on Jajiies River, in the state of Virginia, 
 on the 9th day of J'ftfi«My,'('1773. His father, Benjamin 
 Harrison, was distinguished in the civil history of the 
 Colony and State, but especially for his early, ardent and 
 efficient devotion to the cause of American Liberty, as 
 vindicated in the War of the Revolution. The first intima- 
 tions of that great struggle found him in the undisturbed 
 possession of wealth and honors, and surrounded by the 
 blessings and responsibilities which are the portion of the 
 head of a beloved and tender family, in a situation which 
 might well have counselled to a brave man prudence and 
 even to a patriot silence. But all selfish considerations 
 were lost on the enthusiastic and high-minded Harrison. 
 He had no thought but for his country ; and in her cause 
 he hesitated not a moment to peril life, property, and the 
 happiness of those far dearer to him than either. Possess- 
 ing talents of the highest order, and early distinguished for 
 the zeal with which he portrayed the wrongs of his country, 
 he soon inspired his fellow citizens with an unlimited confi- 
 dence in his integrity and patriotism, and was elected to 
 represent the State of Virginia in the Continental Congress. 
 
6 LIFE OP GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 He was continued in that capacity through the eventful 
 years 1774, 1775, and 1770. In 1777, he dechned a re- 
 election to Congress, but was persuaded to accept a seat in 
 the House of Delegates, of which he was immediately chosen 
 Speaker. He continued to fill that station until 1782, when 
 he was elected to the post of Governor of Virginia. It is not 
 allowed us in this place to go into a detail of his services to 
 his country, in these various capacities, throughout the whole 
 period of the Revolutionary War. Suffice it to say here 
 that he was ever ranked with the foremost of our country's 
 statesmen in the discussion and determination of all matters 
 of weighty and critical import. He was one of the three 
 selected by Congress to proceed to the camp of Washing- 
 ton in 1775, and persuade the army to extend their time of 
 service. He was again on the committee appointed to de- 
 termine whether Philadelphia should be burnt, in view of 
 the approach of an overpowering enemy. He was also 
 Chairman of the celebrated and important Committee en- 
 titled the ' Board of War,' and likewise of that august and 
 memorable assemblage by which tlie momentous subject of 
 National Freedom was first formally debated ; and his name 
 was attached to that noble instrument which gave birth to 
 a boundless and unrivalled empire. In that illustrious con- 
 stellation of sages and patriots who quailed not before Brit- 
 ain's thunders will be found the name of Benjamin Harri- 
 son, as a signer of the immortal Declaration of American 
 Independence. 
 
 Such were some of the public services of the father of 
 General Harrison — the crisis, the peril and the result need 
 not be dwelt upon. But he had the satisfaction of seeing 
 the fruits of his labors, with those of his glorious compeers, 
 eventuate in the establishment of the liberty, the happiness 
 and the glory of his country on the broad and imperishable 
 basis of freedom and equal rights. Full of years and of 
 honors, he was gathered to his fathers, leaving to his chil- 
 dren the wreck of an estate which the great conflict had 
 dilapidated, and the proud inheritance of a patriot's fame. 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. ' 
 
 William Henry Harrison was the third and youngest son 
 of Benjamin Harrison. He left the College of Hampden Sid- 
 ney, at which his education was completed, in his seventeenth 
 year, having been pronounced by the principal well quali- 
 fied for the study of Medicine, which was the profession 
 his father had selected for him. After spending some time 
 under the instruction of an eminent physician, he repaired 
 in the spring of 1791 to Philadelphia to finish his studies ; 
 but before he had reached that city he was overtaken by 
 the mournful intelligence of his father's death. An imme- 
 diate revolution in his plans and prospects was the conse- 
 quence. He determined at once to abandon a pursuit which 
 was little congenial to his taste ; and being soon after offered 
 a commission in the army, he eagerly accepted it. His 
 friends and acquaintances remonstrated, until they found his 
 resolution inflexible, when they as ardently endeavored to 
 afford him every facility for pursuing with honor the new 
 path which he had chosen. 
 
 The regiment in which he was commissioned was em- 
 ployed in the defence of tlie North Western frontier, under 
 the command of Gen. St Clair. After devoting a few 
 weeks to the recruiting service at Philadelphia, he hastened 
 to join it. Although but a stripling of nineteen, tall, thin, 
 and puerile in person, and apparently little qualified to brave 
 the hardships to which a soldier's life is exposed, but more 
 emphatically in the defence at that day of our North West- 
 ern frontier against the hostility of our savage neighbors, 
 our youthful ensign hastened to his post with the alacrity of 
 enthusiasm, and tearing himself from friends and relatives and 
 the ' thrice driven bed of down,' amid which his childhood 
 had been nurtured, he prepared to court honor in the tented field 
 and in the pathless recesses of the peril-fraught wilderness- 
 It must be confessed that the aspect presented by our 
 Western frontier at this crisis, was not eminently calculated 
 to brighten the hopes or confirm the prepossessions of a 
 youthful and untried soldier. Ensign Harrison arrived at 
 
8 LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON, 
 
 Fort Washington on the Ohio, only a few days after the 
 disastrous defeat of Gen. St. Clair's army by the Indians. 
 The broken fragments of that unfortunate force were every 
 day arriving at the Fort, naked, famished, and completely 
 dispirited. It seemed almost an impossibility that they 
 could again be reorganized and put in a condition to follow 
 the foe into his own solitudes and fastnesses, or scarcely to 
 guard from his exterminating ravages the scattered settle- 
 ments of the frontier. Here, too, young Harrison was again 
 met by the entreaties and remonstrances of friendship, de- 
 picting in lively colors the hardships he must necessarily 
 encounter, with the trials and difficulties to which he must 
 be exposed, and exhorting him to resign his commission and 
 return to his home. But all such advice was unheeded. 
 The course of honor and duty was open before him, and, 
 even if his own inclination had been changed, he would 
 have scorned to shnnk from his country's service at such a 
 crisis. He was soon after appointed to the command of a 
 small detachment charged with the escort of provisions for 
 Fort Hamilton, by a march through the wilderness, exposed - 
 not only to the attacks of a barbarous and now victorious 
 enemy, but to incessant storms of rain, snow and wind, 
 against which they had no protection, even for the night. 
 After encountering all the ditiiculties, privations and hard- 
 ships incident to such a service, our young officer accom- 
 plished it in such a manner as to elicit the public thanks of 
 Gen. St. Clair. 
 
 Defeat, which is too often the precursor of despair, was 
 to the Cabinet of Washington but the teacher of wisdom. 
 The total discomfiture of Harmar, and St. Clair, which 
 would have suggested to a weaker Government the propriety 
 of abandoning our settlements to the Westward of the Ohio, 
 if not of the Alleganies, only pointed out to that of the Father 
 of his Country the necessity of a more efficient organization 
 and discipline of our army, and of a plan of operations better 
 adapted to tlie nature of the warfare to be maintained. Ac- 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 cordingly, the whole of the year 1792 and the earher por- 
 tion of 1793 were devoted to the strengthening of our regi- 
 ments and the perfecting of their disciphne. The army was 
 then placed under the command of Gen. Wayne, and, de- 
 scending the Ohio River, encamped upon its right bank be- 
 low Cincinnati, where Harrison joined the main body, and 
 was appointed second Aid-de-camp to the Commander-in- 
 Chief. The army, now amounting to near five thousand 
 men, continued its march to Greenville, where, owing to the 
 increasing severity of the weather, it was determined to go 
 into winter quarters. Here the efforts to establish a high 
 state of discipline were resumed ; and young IJarrison de- 
 voted himself to the theoretical and practical study of the 
 art of war, with an assiduity and success which gained for 
 him the confidence and esteem of his commander, as his 
 urbanity, kindness and generosity had already secured him 
 the affectionate regard of his associates. 
 
 With the approach of summer, 1794, Gen. Wayne march- 
 ed from Greenville, with a force four thousand five hundred 
 strong, and advanced to the attack of the hostile Indians. 
 He came up with the main body of their confederated force 
 at the foot of the Miami Rapids, in the immediate vicinity 
 of the British forts then just erected there, in violation of 
 the laws of nations and of the existing treaty. The enemy 
 were soon routed and driven from the field to take shelter 
 under the guns of their allies. In this battle, our young 
 soldier, now a captain, was appointed by Gen. Wayne to 
 assist in forming the left wing of the army — a task of extreme 
 difficulty, owing to the thickness of the wood in which they 
 were posted-^but which he affected with such coolness and 
 skill as to call forth the warmest acknowledgments from the 
 General. 
 
 The vanquished Indians — beaten beyond the hope of ever 
 taking the field with so great a force again — now sued for 
 peace. A winter armistice was granted, and in August 
 following a treaty was concluded which settled all difficul- 
 ties and terminated the war. 
 
10 LIFE or GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 On the departure of Gen. Wayne, in 1795, for the Atlan- 
 tic Stales, Harrison was continued by him in his post of Aid- 
 de-Camp, and left in the command of Fort Washington. 
 But the complete termination of hostilities and the profound 
 peace which now reigned unbroken along the whole line of 
 the frontier, left little occupation in a military capacity for his 
 active and enterprising spirit. Resigning, therefore, his 
 commission, he was soon after appointed Secretary of the 
 North Western Territory. He was about the same time 
 married to the daughter of Capt. John Cleves Symmes, one 
 of the most intelligent and distinguished of the hardy pio- 
 neers of the West. 
 
 In the year 1799, Wm. H. Harrison was elected a Dele- 
 gate to represent the vast Territory North West of the 
 Ohio in the Congress of the United States. While acting 
 in that capacity, he was instrumental in procuring the adop- 
 tion of many beneficial measures, but none of such momen- 
 tous and lasting importance as that in which he was actively 
 eno-aged, which eventuated in the adoption of the present 
 system of regulating the survey and sale of the public lands. 
 The beneficial effects of this system were felt as if by magic, 
 in the immediate and rapid acceleration of the settlement of 
 the West ; and Time, the great arbiter between Truth and 
 its specious counterfeit, has but crowned with additional and 
 still increasing glory the authors of that great and original 
 measure of public policy. Perhaps no scheme of radical 
 improvement was ever so splendidly succesful, so universally 
 approved and eulogized by those who experienced or wit- 
 nessed its operation, or so richly entitled to the gratitude 
 and blessing of generations unborn. 
 
 When the Indiana Territory, which now forms the State 
 of Indiana, was formed out of a portion of the old North 
 Western Territory, Harrison was appointed its first Govern- 
 or ; and in that station he was retained throughout the 
 Presidency of Jefiierson and under that of Madison up to the 
 surrender of Hull in 1812, when he was called to the com- 
 mand of the North Western Army. During an administra- 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 11 
 
 tion of twelve years, in a station which nsccssarily vested 
 him with supreme and ahiiost absolute civil and military 
 power, not a murmur of disapprobation was ever heard from 
 the people over whom he exercised the functions of a Gov- 
 ernor, with the strong arm of a protector and the devoted 
 watchfulness of a father. His attention was in a great 
 measure devoted to the organization and discipline of the 
 militia, the amelioration of the condition of the Indian tribes 
 within the Territory, and the establishment of public schools 
 and other facilities for the general diffusion of knowledge. 
 It is not necessary that we go into a minute detail of the 
 benefits which resulted from his administration. Suffice it 
 that they obtained for him an unlimited and enduring popu- 
 larity with the people of Indiana and the unqualified ap- 
 probation of the General Government. 
 
 The year 1811, however, was signalized by an especial 
 demonstration of his striking capacity and fitness for tlie 
 station to which he had been called. In watching the 
 aspects presented by the frontier, he had become convin- 
 ced that another rupture wath the savages could not long 
 be postponed. The machinations of the brother chiefs, 
 Tecumseh and the Prophet, had been successful in arraying 
 all the tribes of the West in a gran<i combination against 
 the United States. The usual preliminaries of an Indian 
 war — the wanton and inhuman murder of many settlers, the 
 sullen reserve and silent mustering of the savages, gave a 
 cue to their intentions which could not be mistaken. Gene- 
 ral Harrison resolved to anticipate the blow wliich he could 
 no longer hope to avert. Assembling, therefore, a force of 
 about one thousand men, consisting mostly of Indiana mili- 
 tia and volunteers, with a few companies of regulars, he 
 directed his march on the Prophet's town on the Wabash, 
 as the grand focus of the mischief. He left Vincennes in 
 October, and his last block-house, on the bank of the Vermil- 
 lion, where he deposited his boats and heavy baggage, on the 
 3d of November, thence continuing his march through the 
 
12 ■" LIFE OF GENETtAL HARRISON. 
 
 pathless wilderness. The country was diversified with 
 prairie and woodland, and the enemy were occasionally 
 seen peering through the bushes at our troops as they advan- 
 ced, but falling back as soon as observed, and utterly re- 
 fusing any communication, which was often requested. 
 
 The marches of the 3d, 4th, and 5th, brought the army 
 within a dozen miles of the Prophet's town. The infantry 
 advanced in two columns of files, with the cavalry and 
 mounted riflemen disposed in front, flank and rear, according 
 to the nature of the ground and the probability of an attack. 
 At four miles distance from the town, the troops were halted 
 and formed in order of battle. The U. S. infantry were 
 placed in the centre, with two companies of infantry and 
 one of mounted riflemen on each flank ; and these composed 
 the front line. In the rear of this line was placed the bag- 
 gage, drawn up as compactly as possible, and immediately 
 behind it a reserve of three companies of militia infantry. 
 The cavalry formed a second line at the distance of three 
 hundred yards in the rear of the former ; while a company 
 of mounted riflemen were pushed forward as an advanced 
 guard at the same distance in front. To facilitate the 
 march, the whole was then broken off" into short columns of 
 companies, ready to recover their places in line at a mo- 
 ment's warning. Thus appointed, the little army resumed 
 its mai'ch, slowly and cautiously, waiting to beat up every 
 covert which seemed calculated to favor an ambuscade, and 
 changing its disposition to meet every change in the nature 
 of the ground, until within a mile and a half of the town, 
 where, on entering an open road a halt was ordered, and 
 the army again drawn up in order of battle. During this 
 advance, parties of Indians had been constantly hovering 
 about on all sides ; but every effort of the interpreter to 
 open a conference with a view to a mutual understanding, 
 had been wholly ineffectual. The savages constantly drew 
 back when approached, and buried themselves in the re- 
 cesses of the forest. On halting, these attempts were again 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 13 
 
 renewed, but with no better success. Thereupon, a Capt. 
 Dubois, of the spies and guides, volunteered to carry a flag 
 to the town, and was accordingly despatched, with instruc- 
 tions to request a conference with the Prophet. In a few 
 minutes, however, a messenger returned from the captain to 
 apprise the Governor that the Indians appeared on both his 
 flanks, refusing to Answer his inquiries, but beckoning him 
 to go on, and manifestly endeavoring to cut him ofl"from the 
 army. He was of course recalled, and the Governor de- 
 termined to encamp where he was for the night. 
 
 While he was engaged in tracing the lines for his encamp- 
 ment, however. Major Davies of the dragoons rode up with 
 the information that he had penetrated to the Indian fields 
 which surrounded their village— that the ground was entirely 
 open and more favorable to military operations than that 
 which the army now occupied — and that the Indians in front 
 manifested nothing but hostility, and had answered every 
 effort to bring them to a parley with contempt and insolence. 
 
 In compliance with the unanimous wish of officers and 
 men. Governor Harrison ordered, an advance in perfect bat- 
 tle array, determined to bring the contest, if such it must 
 be, to an immediate issue. Besides, he was informed that 
 he might thus obtain excellent grounds for an encampment, 
 protected in rear by the river, and measurably from surprise 
 on all other quarters by the improved grounds of the Indians. 
 The interpreters were posted in front, with directions to 
 open a conference whenever the Indians should manifest an 
 inclination. 
 
 Matters were now approaching a crisis ; and the savages 
 
 perceived that a brief time remained to them in which to 
 
 determine either to fight or treat, unless they were prepared 
 
 to abandon their village. Accordingly, before the army had 
 
 advanced in this order above four hundred yards, three 
 
 Indians approached the advanced guard, and requested 
 
 an interview with the Governor, which they had hitherto so 
 
 studiously avoided. One of them proved to be a chief in 
 3 
 
14 LIFE OF GE.\EUAL IIAKKISOX- 
 
 high repute with the Prophet. He opened his mission with 
 complaints that the rapid advance of the army had taken 
 them by surprise — that they had been given to understand 
 by the Delawares and Miamis sent to them by Harrison that 
 he would not advance until he had received an answer to his 
 demands, of which they were the bearers. That answer, 
 they proceeded to assure him, was forwarded by the Pota- 
 watimie chief Winemac, who had accompanied his messenr 
 gers on their return, but who must have missed him by tak- 
 ing the south side of the Wabash. 
 
 Of course, this dissimulation and falsehood was lost upon 
 Harrison ; but he concealed his suspicions, and, simply 
 assuring them that he had no intention of attacking them 
 unless they refused to comply with his former propositions, 
 he announced his intention to go and encamp on the Wabash 
 for the night, to be in readiness for an interview with the 
 Prophet and his chiefs in the morning, when all differences 
 would be amicably settled — in the mean time, no hostilities 
 should be committed by either party. With this proposal 
 the Indians seemed much pleased, and promised that its 
 conditions should be faithfully complied with on their part. 
 The army resumed its march, and reached the cultivated 
 grounds of the Indians about five hundred yards below their 
 town ; but as these grounds occupied the whole bank of the 
 river, it was found impossible to encamp on it as had 
 been contemplated, since no wood could there be procured. 
 The troops continued their advance on the village ; but be- 
 fore they had proceeded two hundred yards through the 
 improved grounds a party of Indians sallied out, and, with 
 loud exclamations, commanded them to halt. The Gover- 
 nor again demanded a parley, and again the same chief pre- 
 sented himself The commander assurod him that he had 
 no disposition to encroach upon their grounds, but only 
 wished to find an encampment afiibrding the necessaries of 
 wood and water. The cliiel" informed him that there was a 
 creek to the northwest of their grounds, which would answer 
 
LIFE OP GENERAL IIATimsOX. 15 
 
 his purpose ; and this was confirmed by the report of the 
 ofiicers despatched to examine it. Here, again, the mutual 
 engagement for a suspension of hostiUties was renewed, and 
 the chief took his leave. 
 
 On reaching the ground indicated, Gen. Harrison per* 
 ceived that, while affording excellent facilities for an en- 
 campment, it was also peculiarly calculated to favor a night 
 attack by the savages. It was a piece of dry oak land, ris- 
 ing about ten feet above the level of the marshy prairie in 
 front, (towards the town,) and nearly twenty above a simi- 
 lar prairie in rear, through which ran a small stream lined 
 with willows and other brushwood. The bench of upland 
 which intervened between these prairies gradually widened 
 towai'ds the forest, and narrowed to a point in the direction 
 of the river, about one hundred and fifty yards beyond the 
 right flank of the encampment. The two columns of in- 
 fantry occupied the front and rear of this ground, at a dis- 
 tance of one hundred and fifty yards on the left flank, but 
 diminishing of necessity to something less than one hundred 
 on the right. The left flank was composed of two compa- 
 nies of mounted riflemen, numbering one hundred and twen- 
 ty, under Major General Wells of the Kentucky militia, 
 who served as major ; the right by a single company (Spen- 
 cer's,) of eighty mounted riflemen. The front line was 
 composed of a battalion of U. S. infantry under Major 
 Floyd, flanked by three companies of militia. Another 
 battalion of U. S. infantry formed the rear line, under Capt. 
 Baen, acting as Major, and four companies of infantry under 
 Lieut. Col. Decker. The regular troops of the line joined 
 the mounted riflemen of Gen. Wells on the left, while Col. 
 Decker's battalion formed an angle with Spencer's com- 
 pany on the right ; and two troops of dragoons were posted 
 in the rear of the left flank, and another in the rear of the 
 front line. 
 
 The order of encampment was very slightly varied from 
 the above, to accommodate inequalities of ground, and this 
 was also the order of battle, in case of a night attack. Each 
 
16 LIFE OP GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 man slept immediately opposite his place in the line. The 
 troops were formed in single rank, or Indian file, since, in 
 Indian warfare, where there is no shock to resist, one rank 
 is nearly as good as two, while such formation gives a far 
 greater extension of line, and, at the same time, lessens the 
 effect of the enemy's fire. The general field order was that 
 each corps, if attacked, should maintain its ground at all 
 hazards until relieved. The dragoons were to parade dis- 
 mounted, and, in case of an attack, to act as a corps de 
 reserve. The camp was defended by two captain's guards 
 of forty-six men each, and by two subaltern's guards of 
 twenty men each, — the whole under the command of a 
 field officer. Throughout the expedition, the troops were 
 regularly called out an hour before day, and remained under 
 arms until broad daylight. Such was the disposition for 
 the night of the 6th of November. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th, Gov. Harrison was himself 
 on the alert at a quarter before four, and was on the point 
 of giving the signal for calling out the men, when the attack 
 commenced on the left flank. The sentinels and camp 
 guard were panic struck, abandoned their officer and fled 
 into the camp, firing but a single gun ; and the first alarm 
 which the troops in that quarter had of the approach of the 
 enemy, was given by the yells of the savages within a 
 stone's throw of their line. Here, however, there was no 
 panic. A portion of them seized their arms and flew to 
 their posts on the instant, while the more tardy were forced 
 to fight hand to hand with the enemy, at the doors of their 
 tents. The storm first fell upon the two companies of U. 
 S. infantry and mounted riflemen which formed the left 
 angle of the rear, line ; upon these the fire was excesssively 
 galling, and they suffered severely before they could be 
 relieved. Several of the Indians here penetrated com- 
 pletely through the lines, and one or two were killed within 
 the camp itself. All the other companies were under arms 
 before they were fired on. 
 
 The morning was cloudy and intensely dark ; and the 
 
LIFE OF GENARAL HAHRISON. 17 
 
 fires, which had facilitated the formation of the lines, now 
 served only to direct the aim of the enemy's rifles. They 
 were of course promptly extinguished. Although nineteen 
 twentieths of our entire force had never before been in 
 action, yet all took their places, under the incessant fire and 
 appalling yells of the savages, with a precision and coolness 
 which did honor to the character of the citizen soldier. 
 Gov. Harrison was instantly on horseback, and rode to the 
 angle attacked, which had already suffered severely and 
 was much broken. He ordered up two companies from 
 the centre of the rear line, which were formed across the 
 angle in support of those which had borne the first shock of 
 the engagement. By this time, a heavy firing had com- 
 menced on the left of the U. S. infantry composing the front 
 line, and on riding up, the commander found Major Davies 
 forming the dragoons in their rear, according to the order 
 of battle. Perceiving that the heaviest of the enemy's fire 
 proceeded from a clump of trees only fifteen or twenty 
 paces in front of the line, the Governor ordered Major D. 
 to advance with his dragoons and dislodge them. Unfortu- 
 nately, the gallantry of that intrepid officer prompted him 
 to attempt the execution of the order with an inconsiderable 
 detachment, which enabled the enemy to attack him on both 
 flanks, while avoiding his front, and the Major fell mortally 
 wounded, while his party was driven back upon the lines. 
 The attack, however, was instantly renewed by Capt. Snel- 
 ling at the head of a company of infantry, and this time 
 with entire success. By this time, though but a few min- 
 utes had elapsed since the opening of the engagement, the 
 attack had become general along the whole of the front, 
 right and left flank, and a part of the rear line. Two com- 
 panies on the right of the rear were especially exposed, los- 
 ing both captains (Spencer and Warwick,) and two lieuten- 
 ants, kilUed or mortally wounded. These were also rein- 
 forced, and gallantly maintained their ground, notwithstand- 
 ing theseverity, of their loss. 
 
18 LIFE OP OENEUAT- IIARUISON. 
 
 The first object of Gov. Harrison was thus accomplished — 
 to reinforce and support his hnes at all points violently as- 
 sailed, or peculiarly assailable, and to maintain them unbro- 
 ken while the impenetrable darkness rendered a charge 
 impracticable or certain to eventuate in disaster. With the 
 first dawn of day, he silently and imperceptibly withdrew 
 several companies from the front and rear lines, and con- 
 centrated them on the flanks, in readiness for an effectual 
 charge, and to oppose the last eflbrts of the enemy, which 
 he foresaw would be made on these quarters. As a pre- 
 caution, however, it proved hardly necessary. The attack 
 of the enemy was repelled with great spirit, and without 
 for an instant losing a foot of ground. Major Wells, who 
 commanded on the left flank, then charged full upon the 
 enemy in that quarter, as soon as the light Was sufficient, 
 driving them before him at the point of the bayonet ; and 
 the dragoons, who had been hastily formed for that purpose, 
 by Harrison, pursued them into a marsh, through which 
 they could not be followed. At the same time, Capt. Cook 
 and Lieut. Larabee (the general officers being nearly all 
 killed or disabled,) marched their companies to the right 
 flank, formed them under the fire of the enemy, and, in con- 
 junction with the riflemen on that fl^ank, charged the Indians, 
 killed many, and put the rest to flight. An excellent oppor- 
 tunity was here afforded for a charge of dragoons on the fly- 
 ing foe ; but they, with the commander, were warmly en- 
 gaged on the other flank, and the favorable moment was 
 not improved. As it was, however, the victory was ample 
 and decisive. The enemy acknowledged their complete 
 discomfiture and abandoned their viflage. 
 
 Tiius terminated the celebrated and hard-fought battle of 
 Ti])pecanoe, in which the Indians, led on by the ablest chiefs 
 of the age, maintained a regular conflict for two hours with 
 a disciplined and well appointed force, about equal in num- 
 ber to their own — an incident not often paralleled. It must 
 be remembered, however, that they were strongly favored 
 
LIFE or GENERAL HARRISON. 19 
 
 by the darkness — that they fought on ground perfectly 
 famUiar to them, but with which their antagonists . were 
 utterly unacquainted — that they chose their own time and 
 manner, and almost their own place for the engagement. 
 They did not, however, reap the advantage on which they 
 had calculated, of lulling their opponent to sleep by their 
 perfidy or surprising him by their treachery ; and the very 
 fact that they were permitted, or enabled, to continue the 
 contest till daylight, only redoubled the certainty and aggra- 
 vated the consequences of their defeat. The result com- 
 pletely dissipated the formidable combination which the 
 Shawnese chiefs, Tecumseh and the Prophet, had been for 
 a long time forming against the peace of the frontier. Most 
 of the tribes immediately sent in their submission. It was 
 proved soon after that the enemy had dogged the steps of 
 the expedition from its outset — that they had contemplated 
 an attack at Fort Harrison, and at the intermediate points, 
 but were disconcerted by some unexpected movements of 
 our troops. 
 
 Of course, such a victory could not have been won, under 
 such circumstances, without a very considerable loss. One 
 hundred and eighty-eight of our men fell in that day's en- 
 gagement, including one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, 
 a Major, six Captains, and five Lieutenants. The Gover- 
 nor's Staff was almost annihilated, and he himself received 
 a ball through his hat, which slightly wounded him in the 
 head. The loss of the enemy must have been still greater, 
 notwithstanding that they fought principally under cover, 
 and had every advantage in directing their fire. But the 
 loss of the battle was far more disastrous than that of some 
 hundred warriors ; and many years must yet elapse before 
 time and the current of absorbing events shall efface from 
 their minds the bitter remembrance of the ensanguined field 
 of Tippecanoe. 
 
 The breaking out of war with Great Britain, and the dis- 
 astrous and disgraceful issue of the expedition of Hull, in 
 
20 LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 the year following the events last mentioned, again involved 
 the young West in the perils of a defensive warfare, and 
 again called into exercise the courage and devotion of her 
 patriotic sons. By the surrender of Detroit, the whole 
 weight of the savage tribes of the North- West was thiown 
 into the scale of the enemy and precipitated upon our de- 
 fenceless frontier. The eyes of the entire West were di- 
 rected to their beloved Harrison as their Chieftain, whose 
 banner was to marshal them to victory, and to efface the 
 memory of that act of unaccountable cowardice or treache- 
 ry which had shrouded the nation in gloom, and tarnished 
 for a season the honor of the American name. The Gov- 
 ernment was not slow to perceive and to gratify the gene- 
 ral desire ; and he was accordingly appointed forthwith to 
 the command of the North-Western Army, with directions 
 to advance to Detroit, and even to reduce Maiden, before 
 the close of the season, if it should be found possible. But 
 the difficulties of organizing a sufficient force from the ar- 
 dent but wholly inexperienced volunteers who now flocked 
 in thousands to their country's standard, and of transporting 
 them with all their means of subsistence and of offensive 
 warfare, through the immense forest which separated the 
 Ohio from the lakes, in the face of a victorious enemy and 
 his barbarian allies, were not easily surmounted. While 
 the General was proceeding, with the greatest energy, in 
 the execution of the plan which had been marked out for 
 him, a hasty and ill-advised movement by Gen. Winchester 
 upon the river Raisin, contrary to the remonstrances of 
 Harrison, was followed by the defeat and capture of the 
 officer in command, and the entire frustration of the plan 
 of the campaign. 
 
 All hope of retaking Detroit was, for that season, over. 
 There remained only to transport back again, with great 
 trouble and cost, the provisions and stores which had been 
 forwarded nearly to the frontier, — to abandon them to the 
 enemy, — or to defend them where they now were, in readi- 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 21 
 
 ness for the opening of a new campaign. The latter was 
 the choice of Harrison. T Selecting a position at the foot of 
 the Miami Rapids, so as to completely command the navi- 
 gation of the river, he formed there a general depot for the 
 artillery, provisions, and military stores, and erecting such 
 defences as the nature of the case would admit of, he gave 
 it the name of Fort Meigs, in compliment to the worthy 
 and patriotic Governor of Ohio. Here the whole materiel 
 of our army for the ensuing campaign was deposited. 
 
 Gen. Proctor, who commanded the British force in Up- 
 per Canada, with liis head quarters at Detroit, had been 
 ordered to reinforce the Niagara frontier, with all the dis- 
 posable troops at his command. He did not deem it advisa- 
 ble, however, to weaken his position at Detroit, while a 
 formidable enemy remained, in its neighborhood ; and he 
 determined to attack and reduce Fort Meigs, destroy the 
 stores there collected, and thus avert the danger with which 
 he was himself threatened, and then he could with safety 
 comply with the order which summoned him to the relief 
 of the Lower Province. On the first suspicion of this de- 
 sign, Gov. Harrison flew to the defence of the Fort ; where 
 he arrived on the 22d of April, IS^S. The haste of his 
 march had only enabled him to call around him a body of 
 three hundred men ; and his whole force, when he took 
 command of the Fort, did not exceed fifteen hundred, of 
 whom full one-third were on the sick list, throughout the 
 seige. This force was entirely inadequate to the impor- 
 tance of the post or the number of its assailants, and a re- 
 quisition had been made on the Secretary of War for a 
 reinforcement, but it was not attended to. It was now too 
 late to retrieve such errors. Gen. Harrison had no course 
 left but to throw himself into the Fort, determined to de- 
 fend it from the enemy or to bury himself beneath its walls. 
 But little time remained for preparation. New batteries 
 were erected on the instant; the ol^cers, as well as sol- 
 diers, worked incessantly in the trenches ; and in three 
 4 
 
22 LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 days the Fort was placed in a respectable posture of de- 
 fence. It was not a moment too soon. The enemy made 
 his appearance on the 27th; on the 28th, the place was 
 completely invested ; and on the first of May the cannon of 
 the assailants awakened the echoes of the forest. 
 
 The defence of Fort Meigs has been pronounced by com- 
 petent judges the most brilliant exploit perfonned by our 
 armies during the war. Aside from the great dispropor- 
 tion of force — the besiegers having an effective force of at 
 least three to one — and the well known character of a hasti- 
 ly erected fort in the wilderness, Gen. Harrison found, on 
 taking command, that he had no more than six hundred 
 cannon shot of all sizes ! for the defence of a besieged for- 
 tress — the War Department, not dreaming of such an at- 
 tack, having made no preparation to resist it. However, 
 the General kept this astounding deficiency a profound 
 secret, simply giving out that he should not harrass his men 
 by unnecessary firing. 
 
 The enemy was fully aware of the value of time, and of 
 the absolute necessity of reducing the fort at once or aban- 
 doning the enterprise. His batteries played upon it with 
 great spirit, from the 1st to the 5th of the month; while, 
 from the want of ammunition, the fire was but feebly an- 
 swered from the fort, and the besiegers were thus enabled 
 to push their advances with impunity, under the very guns 
 of its defenders. The General's quarters were in the cen- 
 tre, decidedly the most exposed position in the fort. During 
 the siege, several shot passed through his marquee, two or 
 three of his servants were wounded, and Capt. McCullock, 
 who was sitting by the fire with the Commander, had the 
 back part of his skull carried away. Gen. Harrison's fare 
 was invariably that of the common soldiers ; and in no 
 night during the siege did he devote more than an hour to 
 repose. 
 
 When the General flew to the defence of the menaced 
 fort, he made a requisition on the Governor of Kentucky for 
 
LIFE OP GENERAL HARRISON. 23 
 
 fifteen hundred militia, to assist in repelling the enemy. Of 
 these, however, only a part of a battalion joined him before 
 the investment, while the remainder descended the St. Ma- 
 ry's and Au Glaize, as convoys to urge supplies on their 
 way to the Lake, An express sent to Gen, Clay to hasten 
 his march, found him at Fort Winchester, with his brigade 
 reduced by detachments and by sickness, to about eleven 
 hundred eftective men. To offer battle to an enemy of 
 three times that number, would hardly be justified by the 
 character of his force ; while an attempt to throw himself 
 into the fort seemed almost necessarily to involve that issue. 
 Nevertheless, he resolved to hazard it; and accordingly 
 sent word to Harrison that he should make his appearance 
 on the morning of the 5th, between three o'clock and day- 
 break. He did, not, however, arrive in the vicinity until 
 nine o'clock, having been delayed by heavy rains and dark- 
 ness, and by the refusal of his pilots to enter the rapids of 
 the Miami, which are eighteen miles in length. Meantime 
 Gen. Harrison, perceiving an opportunity to profit by the 
 ignorance and remissness of the enemy, despatched another 
 messenger to Gen. Clay, directing him to land six or eight 
 hundred men on the north bank of the river above the ene- 
 my's batteries, with orders to march down under cover of 
 the woods, and, taking the besiegers by surprise, storm their 
 works, spike their cannon, blow up their batteries, and 
 retreat with all celerity to their boats ; but if that were 
 found impracticable, to file ofFunder the foot of a hill where 
 they would be protected by the guns of the fort. This 
 enterprise should have been entirely successful, notwith- 
 standing the unfortunate and unavoidable delay ; and, so 
 far as surprising the batteries and spiking the cannon, it 
 was executed without the loss of a man ; but Col. Dudley, 
 who commanded the detachment, finding himself momenta- 
 rily master of the field, forgot that he was in the neighbor- 
 hood of an immensely superior foe, refused to blow up the 
 batteries, and suffered himself to be amused by a handful of 
 
24 LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. ^ 
 
 Indians, and drawn off into the bushes and swamps in pur- 
 suit of them, in direct violation of his orders. The conse- 
 quences were such as might have been expected. The 
 enemy brought a force of overwhelming superiority from 
 the camp, cut off his retreat to the boats or to the fort, and 
 compelled a great portion of his corps to surrender. Har- 
 rison made the most detemiined efforts for his relief, but 
 without effect. Three sorties were made from the fort, in 
 one of which two batteries were carried, the cannon spiked, 
 and a number of prisoners taken. But the spirit of these 
 demonstrations fully convinced Gen. Proctor of the impossi- 
 bility of prosecuting the siege to a successful issue ; and he 
 accordingly raised it and prepared for a precipitate retreat, 
 which he effected on the 9th of May. 
 
 The tide of ill fortune with which our arms had thus far 
 struggled from the very commencement of the war was 
 now effectually turned. The clouds which had gathered 
 darkly over the sun of American glory were now dissipated, 
 and the eye of the patriot again beamed with gratitude and 
 the hope of victory. The preparations of our Government 
 were at length completed, and the gallant spirits of the 
 West flocked in thousands to the banner of their country, 
 when they learned that it was to be borne onward to new 
 triumphs by the valor of their Harrison. He was very 
 soon enabled to assume the offensive, and, following in the 
 track of the retreating enemy, he arrived at Detroit at the 
 close of September, only to learn that Proctor had evacuated 
 it without waiting for the appearance of an enemy, though 
 in opposition to the urgent remonstrance of Tecumseh and 
 the Indians generally, who stigmatized his conduct as cow- 
 ardly, as well as perfidious in relation themselves. Fort 
 Maiden and Sandwich, on the British side, were also aban- 
 doned by the enemy, and only a few Indians appeared to 
 oppose the crossing of the strait, which was of course eftbct- 
 ed without loss. Having hastily placed every thing at 
 those posts in a suitable posture, Gen. Harrison left Sand- 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HABUISOX. 25 
 
 wich with three thousand five hundred men, and following 
 the course of the Thames, determined to overtake and van- 
 quish the enemy. He had learned that Proctor had taken 
 post at a distance of fifty-six miles inland, where he was 
 engaged in fortifying himself, but with so little expectation 
 of being followed that he had neglected to break down the 
 bridges on the road by which he had retreated. Gen, Har- 
 rison hastened to take advantage of this oversight. Of the 
 four which intervened, he found the first entire ; at the 
 second, he captured an officer with a small detachment 
 which had been sent to destroy it, before they had accom- 
 plished their purpose. Here he learned that the third had 
 been broken up, and that the enemy had no certain knowl- 
 edge of the advance of the American army. 
 
 Pursuiilg the course of the Thames for some distance fur- 
 ther, he found that the stream became narrower and far 
 less favorable to navigation, and that the gunboats, which 
 had hitherto conveyed the baggage, were fast becoming a 
 serious impediment to the celerity of his advance. He 
 therefore determined to leave them under a strong guard, 
 hasten his march, and trust to the bravery and conduct of 
 of his troops in effecting their passage over the river. At 
 the third unfordable stream, the bridge had been wholly 
 demolished, as he was already aware, and several hundred 
 Indians appeared to dispute the passage, commencing a 
 heavy fire from the opposite bank of the creek, with a cross 
 fire from the other side of the river. Two six-pounders 
 were immediately brought up, which soon routed the sav- 
 ages, and served to cover the workmen who were engaged 
 in throwing a temporary bridge over the stream. As soon 
 as our army had made good their passage, the enemy re- 
 treated, after having set fire to their vessels, containing an 
 immense quantity of military stores which they could trans- 
 port no further. A great portion of them, however, were 
 rescued from the general conflagration by our troops. 
 The next impediment encountered was a rapid in the 
 
^-^^ MFE OP CENARAL IIAIUaSOX. 
 
 Thames, at a place called Arnold's Mills, where it was 
 necessary to cross the river. The General hastily collected 
 a few boats and canoes which were found in the vicinity, 
 and, directing each horseman to take a man of the infantry 
 behind him, he had his whole army across by mid-day. He 
 was now within twelve miles of the enemy's position, and, 
 advancing eight of these, and receiving some general infor- 
 mation with regard to his force, he directed Col. Johnson to 
 push forward with the mounted regiment and procure fur- 
 ther intelligence. In a short time, the officer reported that 
 his advance had been obstructed by the enemy, who were 
 formed directly across his line of march. 
 
 Gen. Harrison immediately formed his troops in order of 
 battle, with an ability and profound forecast which has never 
 been exceeded. The enemy were strongly posted on the 
 bank of the Thames, with their right resting on that river, 
 where their artillery was stationed ; their left, consisting of 
 their savage allies, defended by a wooded swamp, and their 
 centre, consisting of their regular infantry, protected by a 
 beach forest. The General saw that to attempt to outflank 
 the enemy's wings was of course impracticable, while to 
 attack them in front must prove equally difficult, tedious, 
 and, even if fully successful, must be attended with great 
 loss. He therefore determined on a mancjeuvre without par- 
 allel in the annals of ancient or modern warfare. He per- 
 ceived that the key to the whole position was its centre, 
 and that in that quarter alone was it vulnerable to an im- 
 petuous and decisive attack. Knowing well the excellence 
 of the volunteer corps of mounted riflemen, their unrivalled 
 capacity for forest service, where ordinary cavalry would 
 be totally useless, he determined to break the British lines, 
 by determined charge of Col. Johnson's Kentuckians full on 
 the centre of their position. He therefore directed that tiiis 
 regiment should be drawn up in close column, with its right 
 at the distance of fifty yards from the wood, and still further 
 from the river, so as to be protected by the forest from the 
 
LIFK or (JENEKAL HAIIUISON. 27 
 
 enemy's artilleiy, and its left upon the swamp which formed 
 the right of the enemy's position. The infantry were drawn 
 up in two lines, confronting the entire force of the British ; 
 its right, under the venerable Gov. Shelby of Kentucky, 
 resting on the river ; its left, under Gov. Trotter, extend- 
 ing to the swamp ; the brigade of Gen. Desha in the cen- 
 tre ; Gen. King's brigade forming the second line one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards in the rear of the first— and that of 
 Gen. Chiles forming a corps de reserve in the rear of the 
 whole. Gen. Harrison in person commanded the front line 
 of the infantry, which advanced slowly and in good order in 
 support of the more rapid advance of the mounted men. Com- 
 modore Perry and Gen. Cass acted as his Aids. Col. John- 
 son was directed to advance deliberately until he had re- 
 ceived the first fire of the enemy, and then charge at full 
 speed, rifle in hand. The army had advanced but a short 
 distance in this order when a full volley from the British 
 lines gave the appointed signal ; but the horses in the front 
 line recoiled, and another volley was given before they 
 could be brought to the charge. The whole of our first 
 line now advanced regularly to the attack ; the riflemen 
 charged with impetuosity, and broke through the British 
 lines on the instant, their speed scarcely checked by the 
 encounter. The enemy were completely surprised and 
 confounded. The oflicers attempted to rally their men and 
 re-form them ; but the mounted men wheeled upon them 
 and poured in a destructive fire which decided the contest. 
 The British infantry threw down their arms and surren- 
 dered. 
 
 On the flanks, however, the contest was maintained for 
 some time with great spirit, by the Indian allies of the ene- 
 my. On the left, where Col. Johnson himself command- 
 ed, a desperate attack was led on by Tecumseh in person, 
 and the battle raged for some moments with absolute fury. 
 On the right, an impression was made on the division of 
 Gen. Desha by the resolute charge of the savages : hut the 
 
28 LIPE OF GENEKAL HARKISOX. 
 
 veteran Governoi- of Kentucky advanced opportunely to his 
 assistance, and quickly turned the fortune of the day in that 
 quarter. The enemy were completely routed at all points 
 and driven from the field with great loss, leaving the whole 
 of their regular infantry prisoners. Gen. Proctor and his 
 suite escaped by the fleetness of their horses. Tecumseh 
 was killed in the battle, though his body was carried off by 
 his people. Popular report has asserted that he fell by the 
 hands of Col. Johnson, who behaved with great gallantry 
 in the action, as did all our officers engaged ; but the Colo- 
 nel himself disclaims all knowledge of the assumed fact. 
 No attempt was made to take prisoners of the Indians — the 
 General being aware that tlie result of the battle would 
 bring them voluntarily to his camp, suing for peace and alli- 
 ance, as the event fully proved. The power of the enemy 
 in Upper Canada and among the Indian tribes of the North- 
 West, over whom their influence had been unlimited for 
 years, was completely annihilated, and was never renewed 
 during the war. All their artillery, munitions, and baggage 
 fell into our hands ; and among the cannon were six brass 
 field pieces bearing the incription ' Surrendered by Bur- 
 goyne at Saratoga,' which had been retaken by the enemy 
 at the surrender of Detroit by Hull. Five thousand stand 
 of small arms were either captured by the victors or de- 
 stroyed by the enemy. In this brilliant engagement — the 
 most decisive, perhaps the most glorious, which took place 
 in the course of the war — the number engaged on either side 
 did not vary materially from 3,500 ; and, though the cha- 
 racter of our force was unquestionably superior to that of 
 the enemy, it must be remembered that this superiority was 
 amply compensated by the advantages of the enemy's posi- 
 tion. 
 
 After the victory of the Thames, Gen. Harrison was ap- 
 pointed to the (Jiief command of the Eighth Military Divi- 
 sion of the United States, embracing the section which he 
 had so gallantly defended ; but there no longer reniained 
 
LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 29 
 
 any enemy to conquer. The completeness of his success 
 had left him no further opportunity of distinguishing him- 
 self in the military service of his country. At the close of 
 the war, he resigned his commission, and retired to his farm 
 in the North Bend of the Ohio, a few niiks Ldow ( 
 nati. Here he devoted himself to agriculiuial pursuiis ai.d 
 the society of his friends, until he was elected, in 18 {6, to 
 represent the district in the National House of Representa- 
 tives. He distinguished himself in Congress by originating 
 and zealously maintaining a plan for the better organization 
 of our militia, wdiich he deemed the only proper and safe 
 defence of a republic, and which his experience had proved 
 abundantly efficient for that purpose when directed by a 
 commander of address and ability. Upon the death of the 
 Polish patriot Kosciusko, the compatriot of Washington and 
 the men of the Revolution, he offered a resolution in honor 
 of his memory, which he supported in an eloquent and clas- 
 sical speech,* which has been ranked among the most brill- 
 iant efforts of Congressional oratory. At the end of his 
 term, he declined a re-election and returned to the cultiva- 
 tion of his farm. But in 1822 he was elected to represent 
 the State of Ohio in the Senate of the United States, and 
 continued in that station until 1828, with unbounded popu- 
 larity and influence. In the latter year, he was appointed 
 Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Colombia, but 
 was recalled, purely on partisan grounds, in 1829, before 
 the news of his arrival at Bogota had reached this country. 
 Since his return, he has resided on his farm in Ohio, main- 
 taining a large family by the labor of his hands, removed 
 from the pohtical commotions by which the country has 
 been convulsed, and scorning the paltry artifices and petty 
 intrigues by which political distinction is too often so un- 
 worthily obtained. Enjoying, in a serene contentment and 
 the conscious rectitude of an honest heart, the evening of a 
 life he has devoted t o the service of his country, he has 
 
 » See Niles' Register, 1817. 
 
30 
 
 LIFE OF GENERAL HARRISON. 
 
 rather shunned than sought the enthusiastic testimonials of 
 a nation's gratitude which have been spontaneously shower- 
 ed upon him ; and it is only within the last few months that 
 he has yielded to the pressing solicitations of the generous 
 sons of the West in partaking of the public hospitalities 
 which have been pressed upon his acceptance, and thrilling 
 their impassioned spirits with the fervid tone of his manly 
 eloquence. 
 
 Such is a brief outline of the life and public services of 
 William Henry Harrison, the veteran Patriot, Soldier, and 
 Statesman, whose long career of indefatigable and eminent- 
 ly successful public sei-vices has won for him the glorious and 
 well merited appellation of the Washington of the West. 
 Its whole course does not exhibit a sinde instance in which 
 the confidence reposed in him, the power with which he has 
 been vested, has not been wielded for the best interest of 
 his country — not merely to the full satisfaction of his supe- 
 riors and his countrymen, but often with the most brilliant 
 and unexpected success. Can it be pretended that acci- 
 dent, or any thing but consummate ability combined with 
 the most inflexible determination, could have ensured such 
 an uninterrupted series of good fortune ? It was the remark 
 of an envious courtier to the great Louis XIV., that " Mar- 
 shal Villiers (who had just won several great battles,) was 
 very lucky." " Lucky !" was the indignant retort of the 
 Grand Monarque ; " no, sir ! he is above that !" 
 
 The conduct of General Harrison, throughout his long 
 and arduous public career, alike commands the admiration 
 of his countrymen and challenges the scrutiny of his ene- 
 mies, if he have any. In all the difficulties by which he has at 
 times been surrounded — amid all the responsibilities of an 
 independent command, at the distance of more than a thou- 
 sand miles from the scat of government, forced to provide 
 as well as rely upon his own resources, to act in all emer- 
 gencies upon the suggestions of his own mind and to look 
 for justification to the consequences, he has never found it 
 

 LIFE OF GENERAL HAIIRISON. 31 
 
 necessary or expedient to violate the constitution or laws of 
 the land. Securing the unlimited confidence of the govern- 
 ment by his integrity, capacity, and energy — of his associ- 
 ates by his warm-hearted generosity and winning sauvity — 
 of his soldiers by ever being foremost in peril, privation, and 
 exposure to the elements — and even of his enemies by his 
 well-known magnanimity and kindness to the unfortunate — 
 he may look with a proud confidence to the whole body of 
 his countrymen for a confirmation of the unanimous verdict 
 of all who have known him, to set the seal of reprobation on 
 the envious tongue of detraction, and to encircle the brow 
 of an illustrious patriot with a yet brighter and enduring 
 halo of glory. 
 
 Note. — The compiler of the foregoing sketch acknowledges his obliga- 
 tion to a Biography of Gen. Harrison, which appeared in tlie Portfolio of 
 1814, as also to several briefer sketches of a more recent date. For a corrobo- 
 ration of the leading points of his narrative, the reader will consult Niles' 
 Register, Vol. IX. to XII., or any other general collection of official docu- 
 ments. For a more circumstantial account of the battle of Tippecanoe, 
 see Niles' Register, Vol. IX. p. 301-5 ; for the defence of Fort Meigs, see 
 Register, Vol. IV, 192. for Battle of the Thames, see Register, Vol.V. 130. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Resolution of the Kentucky Le- 
 gislature, — 1811. 
 
 " Resolved, That in tlie late cam- 
 paign against the Indians on tlie 
 Wabash, Governor W. H. Harrison 
 has, in tlic opinion of this legisla- 
 ture, behaved like a hero, a patriot, 
 and a general ; and that for his 
 cool, deliberate, skilful and gallant 
 conduct in the battle of Tippecanoe, 
 he deserves the wannest thanks of 
 the nation." 
 
 Resolution of the Congress of tlie 
 United States, — 1813, introduced 
 by Mahlon Dickerson, now Secreta- 
 ry of the Navy, and passed unani- 
 mo7isly. 
 
 " Resolved, by the Senate and 
 House of Representatives of the 
 United States of America in Con- 
 gress assembled, That the thanks 
 of Congress be, and they are hereby 
 presented to Major-Gencral Wil- 
 liam Henry Harrison, and Isaac 
 Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, 
 and through them to the officers 
 and men under their command, for 
 their gallantry ^nd good conduct in 
 defeating the combined forces, un- 
 der Major General Proctor, on the 
 Thames, in Upper Canada, on the 
 fifth day of October, one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirteen, captur- 
 ing the British army with their bag- 
 gage, camp equii)agc, and artillery, 
 and that' the President of the Uni- 
 ted States be requested to cause two 
 gold medals to be struck, emblem- 
 atic of this triumph, and presented 
 to General Harrison and Isaac Shel- 
 by, late Governor of Kentucky." 
 
 Characteristics of Cen. Harrison, 
 from the Portfolio, — 1815. 
 
 " It was Gen. Harrison's constant 
 practice to address his troops, per- 
 sonally, believing it to be more ef- 
 fectual than the common mode of 
 general orders. He never omitted 
 an opportunity of setting his troops 
 
 the example of cheerfully submit, 
 ting to those numerous and severe 
 privations incident to the carrying 
 on of military operations, in an al- 
 most trackless desert, and in the 
 most inclement seasons. 
 
 " During the campaign on the 
 Wabash, the troops were put up- 
 on a half a pound of bread per 
 day. This quantity only was al- 
 lowed to the officers of every rank, 
 and rigidly conformed to in the 
 General's own family. The allow- 
 ance for dinner was uniformly di- 
 vided between the company, and 
 not an atom more was permitted. 
 In the severe winter campaign of 
 1812-13, he slept under a thinner 
 tent than any other person, wheth- 
 er officer or soldier, and it was the 
 general observation of the officers, 
 that his accommodations might gen- 
 erally be known by their being the 
 worst in the army. Upon the expe- 
 dition up the Thames all his bag- 
 gage was contained in a valise, 
 while his bedding consisted of a sin- 
 gle blanket, fastened over his sad- 
 dle, and even this he gave to Colo- 
 nel Evans, a British officer who 
 was wounded. His subsistence was 
 exactly that of a common soldier. 
 
 "On the night after the action 
 upon the Thames thirty-five Brit- 
 ish officers supped with him upon 
 fresh beef roasted before the fire 
 without either salt or bread, and 
 without ardent spirits of any kind. 
 Whether upon the march or in the 
 camp, the whole army was regular- 
 ly under arms at day break. Upon 
 no occasion did ho fail to be out 
 himself, however severe the weath- 
 er, and was generally the first offi- 
 cer on horseback of the whole iir- 
 my. Indeed he made it a point on 
 every occasion, to set an example 
 of fortitude and patience to his men, 
 and to share with tl.em every hard- 
 shiji, difficulty, and danger." 
 
 ! P. da '12