1! 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 
 
 (OF OHIO,) 
 THE PEOPLE S CANDIDATE 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 WITH A 
 HISTORY OF THE WARS WITH 
 
 THE BRITISH AND INDIANS 
 
 ON OUR NORTH-WESTERN FRONTIER. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 W. MARSHALL & CO 
 
 1840. 
 
;M 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, 
 
 BY I. R. JACKSON, 
 
 in the clerk s office of the district court of the eastern district 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY J. FAOAN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN AND CO. 
 (4) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE principal aim and object of the 
 following biography, is to place before 
 its readers a fair and impartial narra 
 tive of the life of one of our most emi 
 nent fellow-citizens, the history of 
 whose public services, both civil and 
 military, is, for many years, closely and 
 inseparably interwoven with that of our 
 country. The many responsible offices 
 held by General Harrison, the numerous 
 important treaties made by him with 
 the Indians, and the prominent part he 
 took in all the wars and negotiations on 
 our North-western frontier, during one 
 
 (5) 
 
 M131082 
 
Vi PREFACE. 
 
 of the most exciting and eventful pe 
 riods of our national existence, render 
 his life one of general and absorbing in 
 terest. Indeed we look upon the politi 
 cal and moral history of such a man as 
 belonging to his country, and as consti 
 tuting one of those bright beacon-lights 
 destined to shine as long as the annals 
 of our nation endure. To the character 
 of such a man, justice is rarely done 
 during his life-time. The carpings of 
 envy or jealousy, and the misrepresent 
 ations of political opponents taint the 
 public mind to a certain degree, and 
 cast a shadow over the most brilliant 
 actions and the purest and most virtu 
 ous motives. But long after the stormy 
 waves that now agitate the great ocean 
 of political strife shall have subsided, 
 when all personal opposition shall have 
 
PREFACE. vil 
 
 shared the fate of its originators and 
 have sunk into a merited oblivion, the 
 page of history will still record, with 
 perennial fame, the good deeds and no 
 ble actions of the patriot, the hero and 
 the statesman ; and grateful generations 
 shall point to his example as a bright 
 and unclouded load-star to guide them 
 in the true course to honest and ho 
 nourable distinction. 
 
 The author of this little work has 
 made no attempt at an eulogium. From 
 a long personal acquaintance with 
 General Harrison, and a knowledge as 
 well as admiration of his character, 
 he has certainly felt at liberty to ex 
 press himself on some points relating 
 to his private life, more fully than he 
 would otherwise have ventured. Still 
 his sole endeavour has been to dis- 
 1* 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 charge his duty faithfully to his fellow- 
 citizens, and render them at the present 
 time an acceptable service by offering 
 within as brief a space as possible, a 
 clear, candid,. and comprehensive narra 
 tive of the life of General Harrison, and 
 of the wars and negotiations on our 
 North-western frontier, in which he took 
 so active a part, from the date of St. 
 Clair s defeat to the close of our last 
 contest with Great Britain a period 
 embracing a portion of our general his 
 tory, full of exciting and thrilling inte 
 rest, and yet but little known to the 
 great mass of the people. 
 
 Many of the materials for this biogra 
 phy have been derived from " Dawson s 
 Narrative of the Civil and Military Ser 
 vices of General Harrison," a large oc 
 tavo published in Cincinnati, in 1824, 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 but long since out of print ; from " But 
 ler s History of Kentucky ;" and from 
 " M Afee s History of the Late War in 
 the Western Country." "Hall s Me 
 moir of the Public Services of William 
 Henry Harrison" has likewise occasion 
 ally been consulted. And to ensure the 
 necessary accuracy on many leading 
 points of history, a due reference has 
 also been made to our public documents 
 and state papers connected with the 
 events here recorded. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Harrison s birth and parentage. Sketch of his 
 father s public life and services. Harrison s 
 education. ^ His determination to enter the 
 army. Situation of our North-western frontier 
 at that time. British intrigues. Defeat of 
 General Harmar -------- Page 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Harrison enters the United States army with the 
 commission of an ensign. Defeat of St. Clair. 
 Appointment of General Wayne. Organiza 
 tion of the United States legion. Harrison is 
 promoted to a lieutenancy. Is appointed aid 
 to the commander-in-chief. Wayne s cam 
 paigns. Battle of the Maumee Rapids, and 
 final defeat of the Indians. Harrison s appoint 
 ment to the command of Fort Washington. His 
 marriage - - - ---------- 22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Harrison resigns his commission in the army. Is 
 appointed Secretary and Lieutenant Governor 
 of the North-western Territory. Is elected De 
 legate to Congress. Introduces a bill to regu- 
 
Xli CONTENTS. 
 
 late the disposal of the public lands. Its justice 
 and true policy. Its success. The North 
 western Territory divided. Harrison resigns 
 his seat in Congress. Is appointed Governor of 
 Indiana Territory 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Condition of Indiana Territory. Harrison is ap 
 pointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs and 
 Commissioner for treating with the Indians. 
 His extensive jurisdiction and powers. Harri 
 son s address to .the territorial legislature. The 
 cession of Louisiana to the United States - - 48 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Intrigues of Tec urn the and the Prophet. The 
 Prophet s visit to Vincennes and interview with 
 Harrison. Treaty of Fort Wayne. Dissatisfac 
 tion of Tecumthe. Tecumthe s interview with 
 the Governor. The Governor s firmness and 
 intrepidity. Harrison s Message to the Legisla 
 ture. Triumphant refutation of slander - - - 62 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Commencement of hostilities. Harrison assembles 
 the Militia and Volunteers. He organizes his 
 forces. March to the Prophet s town. Battle 
 of Tippecanoe. Its results 81 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Declaration of War with Great Britain. Mea 
 sures adopted to defend our North-western fron 
 tier. Governor Harrison is appointed Major 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 General in the Kentucky militia. He receives 
 the commission of Brigadier General in the 
 service of the United States. He is made Com 
 mander-in-chief of the North-western army. 
 His extensive powers and arduous duties. 
 Plan of the Campaign. Massacre at the River 
 Raisin. Expedition against the Indian towns - 104 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Opening of the second Campaign. Siege at Fort 
 Meigs. Its gallant Defence. Brilliant sortie. 
 Defeat of Colonel Dudley. The Siege aban 
 doned. Second Siege of Fort Meigs. Attack 
 on Fort Stephenson 133 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Harrison advises the construction of a fleet on 
 Lake Erie. Perry s Victory. Embarkation of 
 the army. Invasion of Canada. Pursuit of the 
 enemy. Battle of the Thames and capture of 
 the British army. Close of the campaign. 
 Resignation of General Harrison ----- 149 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Appointment of General Harrison as Commissioner 
 to treat with the Indians. His election to Con 
 gress. Is chosen a Senator of the State Legis 
 lature. His election to the Senate of the United 
 States. Is appointed Minister to Colombia. 
 His Letter to Bolivar. His recall. His personal 
 appearance and private Character. His Letter 
 to Harmar Denny 170 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Harrison s birth and parentage. Sketch of his father s 
 public life and services. Harrison s education. His 
 determination to enter the army. Situation of our 
 North-western frontier at that time. British in 
 trigues. Defeat of General Harmer. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON was born in 
 Virginia, on the ninth day of February, 1773, 
 at Berkeley, an estate on the James River, in 
 the county of Charles City. The family from 
 which he is descended settled in Virginia in 
 the year 1 640. At an extremely early period 
 in the history of that province, the name of 
 Harrison appears among the most prominent 
 mentioned in their public annals, and the 
 honourable station which it then held has de 
 scended unsullied to our own times. 
 
 (> 
 
16 LIFE OF 
 
 Benjamin Harrison, Lhe father of the subject 
 of this memoir, was one of the foremost and 
 most conspicuous patriots of our country. 
 Before he had attained his twenty-first year, 
 he was elected to the provincial legislature, 
 and took his seat in the House of Burgesses, 
 where he continued to represent his native 
 district, with much honour, for many years. 
 He, on every occasion, manifested a sincere 
 devotion to the interests of the province, and 
 was one of that patriotic band of members 
 who united, heart and hand, in opposing the op 
 pressive measures of the mother country. On 
 the fourteenth of November, 1764, he was ap 
 pointed with several other distinguished mem 
 bers of the house, to prepare an address to the 
 king, a memorial to the lords, and a remon 
 strance to the house of commons, in opposi 
 tion to the odious Stamp Act a bill in favour 
 of which had already been proposed to parlia 
 ment by George Grenville, the British minister 
 of finance. These papers were accordingly 
 prepared by this committee, and Mr. Harrison 
 thus evinced, several years before the date of 
 our revolution, his determination to side with 
 the people in their struggle to defend their sa- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 17 
 
 cred rights, and in their resistance to the rapa 
 cious tyranny of the crown. 
 
 In August, 1774, Mr. Harrison was ap 
 pointed one of the delegates from Virginia to 
 the first Continental Congress, which assem 
 bled in Philadelphia, on the first of the ensuing 
 September : and on that day, he had the grati 
 fication of seeing his colleague and brother-in- 
 law, Peyton Randolph, placed in the presiden 
 tial chair by the unanimous choice of the 
 assembled delegates. 
 
 At the Congress of the following year, 1775, 
 after the death of Mr. Randolph, it was the 
 wish of nearly all the southern members, that 
 Mr. Harrison should succeed him in the presi 
 dency ; but as the patriotic John Hancock of 
 Massachusetts had likewise been nominated, 
 Mr. Harrison, to avoid any sectional jealousy 
 or unkindness of feeling between the northern 
 and southern delegates, at so momentous a 
 crisis, with a noble self-denial and generosity 
 relinquished his own claims, and insisted on 
 the election of Mr. Hancock, who accordingly 
 had the honour of being unanimously chosen 
 to that high office. Mr. Harrison still, how 
 ever, continued one of the most active and 
 influential members of the Continental Con- 
 
18 LIFE OF 
 
 gress. On the tenth of June, 1776, as chair 
 man of the committee of the whole house, he 
 introduced the resolution which declared the 
 independence of the colonies, and on the fol 
 lowing ever-memorable fourth of July, he 
 reported the more formal Declaration of In 
 dependence, to which celebrated document 
 his signature is annexed. 
 
 The Legislature of Virginia returned Mr. 
 Harrison four times as a delegate to Congress. 
 On the expiration of his last term of congres 
 sional service, he was immediately elected to 
 the House of Burgesses from his own county, 
 and was at once chosen speaker of that body ; 
 an office which he held uninterruptedly until 
 the year 1782, when he was elected governor 
 of Virginia, and became one of the most 
 popular officers that ever filled the executive 
 chair. This eminent patriot died in the year 
 1791. 
 
 William Henry Harrison was left by his 
 father under the guardianship of his friend, 
 Robert Morris, the distinguished financier of 
 our revolution. He was educated at Hamp- 
 den Sydney College ; and, by the advice of 
 his friends, turned his attention to the study 
 of medicine. But about the period when he 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 19 
 
 had completed his education, soon after the 
 death of his father, the increased and barba 
 rous hostilities of the Indians on our north 
 western borders, began to excite a feeling of 
 indignation throughout the whole country. In 
 this general excitement our young student par 
 ticipated so warmly, that he resolved to relin 
 quish his professional pursuits, and join the 
 army destined to the defence of the Ohio 
 frontier. The service was then neither popu 
 lar nor inviting, but on the contrary was ex 
 ceedingly toilsome and fraught with great 
 danger and hardships ; and nothing but high 
 courage and elevated motives, could have 
 induced him to form such a resolve at so 
 gloomy a period. This determination was 
 warmly opposed, too, by many of his friends 
 as well as by his prudent guardian. But his 
 generous design was cordially approved and 
 encouraged by one whom he thought entitled 
 to even more influence by General Wash 
 ington, who had been his father s intimate 
 friend, and who was, at that time, president 
 of the United States. 
 
 The war in our western country was then 
 assuming a very alarming aspect. But few 
 of the warlike Indians on the frontier had at 
 2* 
 
20 LIFE OF 
 
 that time declared in our favour, while the 
 powerful tribes of the Miamies, the Hurons, or 
 Wyandots, the Delawares, the Shawnees, the 
 Kickapoos, the Pbtowatomies, the Ottawas, and 
 the Winnebagocs, who occupied all the borders 
 of our northern lakes, and were scattered 
 through the whole immense extent of our north 
 western territory, were engaged in active 
 hostility against the United States. 
 
 Most of these Indian tribes had been in the 
 service of Great Britain during our revolution 
 ary struggle ; and they were no doubt urged 
 to the course they now pursued, in some mea 
 sure, by their own savage love for war, but 
 still more by the instigations of the British 
 authorities in Canada, who, contrary to the 
 provisions of tfte treaty of peace, still held for 
 cible possession of Detroit, Mackinac, Niagara, 
 and other forts in our acknowledged territory, 
 arid continued to tamper with the Indians 
 within our limits, and to supply them freely 
 with arms and ammunition to carry on the 
 war against our country. Thus incited, they 
 still persisted in their barbarous hostilities, and 
 accounts were almost daily received of their 
 having perpetrated some ruthless aggression or 
 outrage of unexampled ferocity. From the 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 21 
 
 year 1783, when Great Britain acknowledged 
 our independence, and war with the mother 
 country ceased, up to the year 1791, it was 
 estimated that more than fifteen hundred of 
 our hardy borderers had fallen victims to the 
 rifle and scalping-knife of their savage foes. 
 Our north-western frontier presented an appal 
 ling scene of rapine, conflagration, and wanton 
 destruction of life and property. Many of our 
 border settlements had been crushed in their 
 infancy, and all had been retarded in their 
 growth. Expedition after expedition, fitted 
 out to oppose them, had met with the most 
 disheartening losses; and finally a gallant 
 army under Brigadier General Harmer, which 
 had been sent expressly to chastise these sa 
 vages, after destroying some of their towns, 
 had been signally defeated by them, and al 
 most annihilated. Of the few experienced 
 officers who escaped from Harmer s defeat, 
 nearly all, worn out with the fatigues of a 
 service so harassing, and shrinking from a 
 warfare of so dangerous and barbarous a na 
 ture, had resigned their commissions ; and a 
 general feeling of dismay began to pervade 
 the whole of our exposed frontier. 
 Such was the gloomy aspect of affairs, when 
 
22 LIFE OF 
 
 the ardent and generous patriotism of young 
 Harrison prompted him to give up the com 
 forts and luxuries- that surrounded him at 
 home, and enter his country s service in de 
 fence of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Harrison enters the United States army with the com 
 mission of an ensign. Defeat of St. Clair. Appoint 
 ment of General Wayne. Organization of the 
 United States legion. Harrison is promoted to a 
 lieutenancy. Is appointed aid to the commander-in- 
 chief. Wayne s campaigns. Battle of the Maumee 
 Rapids, and final defeat of the Indians. Harrison s- 
 appointment to the command of Fort Washington. 
 His marriage. 
 
 IN the autumn of the year 1791, Harrison 
 received the commission of an ensign in the 
 United States artillery, from the hands of the 
 president, General Washington, whose warm 
 approval had greatly cheered him in his de 
 sign. He hastened immediately to join his 
 regiment, which was then stationed at Fort 
 Washington, which occupied the present site 
 of the city of Cincinnati, where he arrived a 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 23 
 
 few days after the unfortunate defeat of 
 General St. Clair, near the Miami villages, 
 by the confederated Indians, under the com 
 mand of Meshecunnaqua, the Little Turtle, a 
 celebrated Miami warrior, and Buckongelas, 
 head chief of the Delawares. This disastrous 
 defeat, in which St. Glair s army was de 
 stroyed, with the loss of nearly a thousand 
 men, killed or taken prisoners, left the whole 
 of our north-western frontier exposed to the 
 ravages of a merciless enemy, and added 
 greatly to the general consternation before 
 existing. 
 
 The whole defence of our extensive frontier 
 now devolved on the broken fragments of an 
 army panic-struck and dispirited by their re 
 cent defeat, while the Indians, flushed with 
 victory, had grown still more daring and au 
 dacious than ever. Winter was approaching, 
 and the privations to be anticipated by those 
 who were stationed at our remote posts were 
 so great, that Harrison, young, slender, and 
 apparently of a delicate constitution, was ad 
 vised by his friends to resign his commission, 
 and avoid hardships w r hich he seemed but little 
 fitted to encounter. But he rejected this ad 
 vice without hesitation, and by an almost 
 
24 LIFE OF 
 
 reckless exposure of his person to danger and 
 fatigue, soon proved himself well qualified for 
 the arduous service he had chosen. 
 
 Not long after his arrival at Fort Washing 
 ton, his courage and good conduct were put 
 to the test, by his being appointed to the com 
 mand of an escort having in charge a supply 
 of provisions and munitions of war, destined 
 for Fort Hamilton. The perilous duty of 
 conducting this escort through a wilderness 
 infested by hostile Indians, required an un 
 common degree of personal exposure, as well 
 as constant watchfulness, and a greater share 
 of prudence and military sagacity than is 
 usually found in so young an officer. But he 
 acquitted himself of this duty with so much 
 skill and success as to elicit the warm appro 
 bation and encomium of his commander, 
 General St. Clair. 
 
 At this time, the degrading vice of intem 
 perance was unhappily but too common among 
 the officers of our army. Removed from the 
 wholesome restraints of civilized society, and 
 deprived of the comforts of domestic life, the 
 extreme hardships they were often compelled 
 to endure, predisposed the young officers, in 
 their moments of relaxation, to indulge in de- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 25 
 
 basing excesses, to the great injury of their 
 reputation and the frequent destruction of their 
 health. But Harrison had the good sense to 
 see the danger to which he was exposed, and 
 the firmness of character to resist the entice 
 ments of dissipation. And in the midst of 
 these temptations, he laid the foundation of 
 those habits of temperance, which subsequently 
 enabled him to support so well the severe fa 
 tigues and hardships of a border warfare, and 
 which have adhered to him through life, giving 
 him, even to the present day, a remarkable 
 degree of health and vigour. 
 
 In the unfortunate state of things existing 
 after St. Glair s defeat, our government saw 
 the necessity of adopting immediate and effi 
 cient means to put an end to this savage con 
 flict. Another army was promptly raised, and 
 the command given to General Anthony 
 Wayne of Pennsylvania, a gallant and skilful 
 officer, who had earned a brilliant reputation 
 in the revolutionary war. The United States 
 Legion, as Wayne s army was called in the 
 new organization, assembled at Pittsburgh, in 
 the summer of 1792 ; and in the ensuing month 
 of November, they left that place, and went 
 into winter quarters, at an eligible position on 
 
26 LIFE OF 
 
 the Ohio, 22 miles below Pittsburgh. This 
 place they called Legwnville. 
 
 Our illustrious President, Washington, guid 
 ed by his customary humanity, had instructed 
 General Wayne to endeavour, if possible, to 
 conciliate the Indians, and prevent the further 
 effusion of blood. In pursuance of these in 
 structions, General Wayne invited several dis 
 tinguished chiefs of some of the principal tribes 
 to visit him at Legionville. Accordingly, in 
 March, 1793, Cornplanter, a noted e warrior, 
 Guasthua, an aged chief, Neiv Arrow, Big 
 Tree, and several others, made their appear 
 ance at the encampment. But after a council 
 with these chiefs, it soon became evident that 
 no honourable terms of peace could be esta 
 blished with the Indians. Excited by their 
 recent victories, and stimulated by the intrigues 
 of the British, they had become exceedingly 
 unreasonable in their demands. They now 
 insisted that the American government should 
 relinquish all claim to the immense extent of 
 territory north-west of the Ohio river, notwith 
 standing it had been obtained by open and re 
 peated treaties and by fair purchase, and had 
 already been partially disposed of to actual 
 settlers, whose rights, emanating from our 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 27 
 
 government, we were, in common justice, 
 bound to protect. They further declared that 
 nothing would now satisfy them but the estab 
 lishment of the Ohio river as a permanent 
 boundary, beyond which our settlements should 
 never be permitted to extend. 
 
 Terms so haughtily demanded, and so stern 
 ly opposed to our national honour and good 
 faith, as well as to our interest, were, of course, 
 wholly inadmissible ; and General Wayne was 
 now compelled to prepare for the only alter 
 native offered him, a savage and desolating 
 war. This was, therefore, on our part, strictly 
 a war of self-defence since we had no other 
 honourable means of defending our border 
 settlements from the fierce aggressions of the 
 Indians, or of uprooting the influence of the 
 British authorities, who, in defiance of the de 
 claration of peace, were still warring against 
 us through their former savage auxiliaries. 
 
 On the 30th of April, 1793, General Wayne 
 broke up his winter quarters at Legionville, 
 and conveyed his army in boats down the 
 Ohio to Fort Washington. At this place Har 
 rison, having been promoted to a lieutenancy,, 
 joined the Legion. His fearlessness and en 
 ergy, with his strict attention to discipline, soon 
 3 
 
28 LIFE OF 
 
 attracted the notice of his commander-in-chief, 
 himself a bold and daring soldier and a rigid 
 disciplinarian ; and General Wayne, not long 
 after his arrival, selected him as one of his 
 aids-de-camp. 
 
 It will thus be seen at how early a period, 
 and in what trying times, young Harrison was 
 thought worthy of honourable distinction ; and 
 how soon, too, he attracted the attention and 
 especial notice of a man and a soldier like 
 Wayne, whose well-known independence of 
 character was such, that no influence save that 
 of intrinsic merit was ever with him of any 
 avail, and whose daring and almost reckless 
 intrepidity had won him, in our revolutionary 
 war, the singular appellation of " Mad An 
 thony." 
 
 The ensuing summer was occupied by Gen 
 eral Wayne in disciplining his troops, and in 
 obtaining reinforcements and supplies, prepar 
 atory to the next campaign. Having at length 
 received instructions from the Secretary of 
 War to commence active operations, early in 
 October he left Fort Washington, and ad 
 vanced with his army eighty miles along the 
 south-western bank of the Miami. But as the 
 season was now too far advanced to permit 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 29 
 
 him to carry the plans he had formed into exe 
 cution, he strongly fortified a position which 
 was called Greenville, where his army went 
 into quarters for the winter. 
 
 But the winter was not suffered to pass in 
 idleness. On the 23d of December, the com- 
 mander-in-chief sent a detachment of eight 
 companies of infantry and a battalion of artil 
 lery, to take possession of the ground on which 
 St. Glair s army had been defeated. A strong 
 post, called Fort Recovery, was built on this 
 mournful battle-field, and the bones of our gal 
 lant soldiers, who w r ere there slain, were care 
 fully collected and interred with military hon 
 ours. The artillery used on this interesting 
 occasion, to pay the last tribute of respect over 
 the graves of those who fell on the bloody 4th 
 of -November, 1791, were the same that were 
 lost on that fatal day, but which were now 
 recovered by this detachment. 
 
 In the general order issued by the com- 
 mander-in-chief, on the return of these troops, 
 he particularly notices Lieutenant Harrison, 
 who accompanied the expedition and tenders 
 him " his best thanks for his voluntary aid and 
 services on this occasion." We thus find Har 
 rison, though at an early age, and young in 
 
30 LIFE OF 
 
 the service, foremost in volunteering his aid 
 on every occasion where danger was to be 
 encountered or duty performed. 
 
 On the 30th of June, 1794, Fort Recovery 
 was fiercely assailed by a large body of In 
 dians, aided by British and Canadian auxili 
 aries. But though their assaults were unusu 
 ally bold and daring, and repeatedly renewed, 
 they were each time bravely repulsed, and 
 were finally compelled to retreat with great 
 loss. About two weeks subsequent to this at 
 tack on Fort. Recovery, General Wayne was 
 reinforced by a body of mounted volunteers 
 from Kentucky, under the command of Gene 
 ral Scott. On the 8th of the following Au 
 gust, having, by a rapid movement, advanced 
 seventy miles beyond Greenville, he encamped 
 at Grand Glaise, in the very heart of the In 
 dian country. In his dispatch to the War 
 Department on this occasion, the commander- 
 in-chief says, " We have thus gained posses 
 sion of the grand emporium of the hostile In 
 dians in the west, without loss of blood. The 
 very extensive and highly-cultivated fields and 
 gardens show the work of many hands. The 
 margins of those beautiful rivers, the Miami 
 of the Lake, and Au Glaise, appear like one 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 31 
 
 continued village for a number of miles above 
 and below the place ; nor have I ever before 
 beheld such immense fields of corn in any part 
 of America, from Canada to Florida." 
 
 A strong work, called Fort Defiance, was 
 immediately erected by our troops at the con 
 fluence of the rivers mentioned in the above 
 despatch. General Wayne now felt himself 
 fully prepared for decisive operations ; but be 
 fore striking the final blow, he, in compliance 
 with his instructions, renewed his endeavours 
 to conciliate and effect some amicable negotia 
 tion with the Indians. " I have thought pro 
 per," he said, " to offer the enemy a last over 
 ture of peace ; and as they have every thing 
 that is dear and interesting at stake, I have 
 reason to expect they will listen to the propo 
 sition mentioned in the inclosed copy of an ad 
 dress dispatched yesterday by a special flag, 
 under circumstances that will insure his safe 
 return, and may eventually spare the effusion 
 of much human blood." " But should war be 
 their choice, that blood be upon their own 
 heads. America shall no longer be insulted 
 with impunity. To an all-powerful and just 
 God, I therefore commit myself and gallant 
 army." 
 
 3* 
 
32 LIFE OF 
 
 The Indians haughtily rejected this over 
 ture, contrary to the advice of Little Turtle, 
 the celebrated warrior who had commanded 
 the combined forces of the Indian tribes at the 
 defeat of St. Glair s army. This sagacious 
 chief, at a council held by the Indians on the 
 night of the 19th of August, a few hours only 
 before the battle, strongly recommended the 
 acceptance of the offered terms of peace. 
 " We have beaten the enemy," said he, " twice, 
 under separate commanders. We cannot ex 
 pect the same good fortune to attend us al 
 ways. The Americans are now led by a chief 
 who never sleeps : the night and the day are 
 alike to him. And during all the time he has 
 been marching upon our villages, notwithstand 
 ing the watchfulness of our young men, we 
 have never been able to surprise him. Think 
 well of it. There is something whispers me 
 it would be prudent to listen to his offers of 
 peace." 
 
 General Wayne had, in the meantime, left 
 Fort Defiance, and advanced within a short 
 distance of the Rapids of the Miami, (now 
 generally known as the Maumee,) where the 
 British had recently erected a strong fort for 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 33 
 
 the purpose of encouraging and controlling 
 the neighbouring Indians. 
 
 On the 19th of August our troops were em 
 ployed in making a temporary fortification, 
 which they called Fort Deposite, for the pro 
 tection of their military stores and baggage, 
 and in reconnoitring the position of the In 
 dians who were encamped behind a thick, 
 bushy wood, and near the British fort. On 
 the following day was fought that memorable 
 battle, which we cannot better describe than 
 by quoting a portion of the graphic account 
 of General Wayne himself, in his official let 
 ter to the Secretary of War. 
 
 " At 8 o clock on the 20th," said General 
 Wayne, "the army advanced in columns, 
 agreeably to the standing order of march ; the 
 legion on the right flank, covered by the Mi 
 ami, one brigade of mounted volunteers on 
 the left, under Brigadier General Todd, and 
 the other in the rear, under Brigadier Gen 
 eral Barbee : a select battalion of mounted 
 volunteers moved in front of the legion, com 
 manded by Major Price, who was directed to 
 keep sufficiently advanced so as to give 
 timely notice for the troops to form, in case 
 of action it being yet undetermined whether 
 
34 LIFE OF 
 
 the Indians would decide for peace or war. 
 After advancing about five miles, Major 
 Price s corps received so severe a fire from 
 the enemy, who were secreted in the woods 
 and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. 
 
 " The legion was immediately formed in 
 two lines, principally in a close, thick wood, 
 which extended for miles on our left ; and for 
 a very considerable distance in front, the 
 ground being covered with old fallen timber, 
 probably occasioned by a tornado, which ren 
 dered it impracticable for cavalry to act. with 
 effect, and afforded the enemy the most favour 
 able covert for their savage mode of warfare, 
 they were formed in three lines, within sup 
 porting distance of each other, and extending 
 nearly two miles, at right angles with the 
 river. 
 
 " I soon discovered, from the weight of the 
 fire, and extent of their lines, that the enemy 
 were in full force in front, in possession of 
 their favourite ground, and endeavouring to 
 turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders 
 for the second line to advance, to support the 
 first, and directed Major General Scott to gam 
 and turn the right flank of the savages, with 
 the whole of the mounted volunteers, by a 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 35 
 
 circuitous route : at the same time I ordered 
 the front line to advance with trailed arms, 
 and rouse the Indians from their coverts at 
 the point of the bayonet; and, when up, to 
 deliver a close and well directed fire on their 
 backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not 
 to give them time to load again. I also 
 ordered Captain Campbell, who commanded 
 the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of 
 the enemy next the river, which afforded a 
 favourable field for that corps to act in. 
 
 " All these orders were obeyed with spirit 
 and promptitude ; but such was the impetuos 
 ity of the charge of the first line of infantry, 
 that the Indians and Canadian militia and 
 volunteers were driven from all their coverts 
 in so short a time, that although every exer 
 tion was used by the officers of the second 
 line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, 
 Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, 
 to gain their proper positions, yet but a part 
 of each could get up in season to participate 
 in the action ; the enemy being driven, in the 
 course of one hour, more than two miles, 
 through the thick woods already mentioned, 
 by less than one-half their numbers. 
 
 " From every account, the enemy amount- 
 
36 LIFE OF 
 
 ed to two thousand combatants ; the troops 
 actually engaged against them were short of ; 
 nine hundred. This horde of savages, with 
 their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, 
 and dispersed with terror and dismay, leav 
 ing our victorious army in full and quiet pos- * 
 session of the field of battle, which terminated 
 under the influence of the guns of the British 
 garrison. 
 
 " Inclosed is a particular return of the lull 
 ed and wounded the loss of the enemy was 
 more than double that of the federal army. 
 The woods were strewed for a considerable 
 distance with the dead bodies of the Indians, 
 and their white auxiliaries ; the latter armed 
 with British muskets and bayonets. 
 
 "We remained three days and nights on 
 the banks of the Miami, in front of the field 
 of battle, during which all the houses and 
 corn-fields were consumed and destroyed for 
 a considerable distance, both above and below 
 Fort Miami, as well as within pistol-shot of 
 that garrison, who were compelled to remain 
 tacit spectators of this general devastation 
 and conflagration among which were the 
 houses, stores, and property of Colonel M Kee, 
 the British Indian agent, and principal stimu- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 37 
 
 lator of the war now existing between . the 
 United States and the savages." 
 
 The success of this brilliant action, so 
 strongly in contrast to our previous contests 
 with the Indians, was owing, undoubtedly, to 
 the high state of discipline of the army, and 
 to the consummate skill and judgment dis 
 played by General Wayne, in the entirely 
 novel system of tactics originated by him. 
 He not only adopted the old and approved 
 mode of extending his line and forming his 
 troops in open order, to lessen their exposure 
 to the deadly aim of the enemy, but he intro 
 duced, likewise, his favourite plan of charg 
 ing rapidly upon the Indians, and rousing 
 them from their coverts at the point of the 
 bayonet, and then pouring in a close and 
 heavy fire, before they could again shelter 
 themselves. This system, which proved so 
 effectual at the battle of the Maumee Rapids, 
 has since been almost universally adopted in 
 our warfare with the Indians. 
 
 In his dispatch to the Secretary of War, 
 after this decisive action, General Wayne, in 
 mentioning those whose good conduct and 
 intrepidity were particularly conspicuous on 
 this occasion, says " My faithful and gallant 
 
38 LIFE OF 
 
 aid-de-camp, Lieutenant Harrison, rendered 
 the most essential service by communicating 
 my orders in every direction, and by his con- \ 
 duct and bravery exciting the troops to press 
 for victory." 
 
 We hold it not to be amiss here to remark, 
 that in addition to the acknowledged services 
 of General Wayne in the camp and field, time 
 has proved that that fearless soldier and dis 
 tinguished commander has placed our country 
 under a still deeper debt of gratitude since 
 the instructions he gave his favourite aid in 
 his severe school of discipline, the example he 
 showed him, and the experience he led him to 
 acquire in the arduous campaigns they en 
 countered together, subsequently in still more 
 trying and perilous times, enabled Harrison 
 to fight the battles of his country against the 
 same savage foe with such signal success, 
 that though more frequently in conflict with 
 the enemy than any other general in our ser 
 vice, and though often attacked by vastly su 
 perior numbers, he never yet has been defeated. 
 
 The heavy losses suffered by the confede 
 rated tribes in the battle of the Maumee Ra 
 pids, greatly disheartened the Indians, and 
 their dissatisfaction was much increased by 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 39 
 
 the vacillating conduct of Colonel Campbell, 
 the commander of the British fort, who, after 
 their defeat, refused to take any part on their 
 behalf. The distinguished and powerful chiefs, 
 Little Turtle and Buckongelas, doubting the 
 power of Great Britain to protect them, and 
 now taught to respect our strength, openly 
 declared in favour of the United States, and 
 by their influence, a negotiation for peace was 
 opened on the first of January, 1795. After 
 some delay, a council was held at Greenville, 
 between General Wayne and a numerous 
 delegation of chiefs and warriors from the 
 principal tribes, and an honourable and highly 
 advantageous treaty was finally effected with 
 our Indian neighbours. And thus, with the 
 close of this war were extinguished what 
 may be considered as the last embers of our 
 revolutionary struggle. 
 
 The impression produced in London by the 
 news of this final defeat of the Indians, is said 
 to have had much effect in hastening to a 
 conclusion the protracted negotiation, which 
 had been so long pending between Mr. Jay 
 and Lord Grenville, and which was now ter 
 minated successfully and advantageously to 
 our country. 
 4 
 
40 LIFE OF 
 
 Soon after the close of this campaign, Lieu 
 tenant Harrison received the commission of a 
 captain, and was placed in command of Fort 
 Washington, under circumstances which 
 evinced the high estimation in which his ta 
 lents and discretion were held by General 
 Wayne. At this period France was at war 
 with Spain ; and certain agents of the French 
 government had been sent to Kentucky by 
 Genet, the French minister, and were then 
 diligently employed in exciting the gallant 
 people of that state to an invasion of Louisi 
 ana, by w r hich means they hoped to embroil 
 our country in a war with Spain. One of 
 our distinguished officers, General Clark, had 
 artfully been prevailed upon to take command 
 of the proposed expedition, and commissions 
 were offered, and money and munitions of war 
 freely promised, to induce the adventurous 
 spirits of the West to engage in a campaign 
 for the purpose of wresting Louisiana from 
 the Spaniards. This project was peculiarly 
 attractive to the Kentuckians, who had long 
 felt aggrieved by the refusal of the Spaniards 
 to allow them the free navigation of the Mis 
 sissippi river. Our government was soon made 
 aware of this scheme, and serious apprehen- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 41 
 
 sions were entertained that some hasty and 
 rash act of hostility would involve us in a war 
 with Spain. General Wayne received in 
 structions to adopt every precaution to pre 
 vent the occurrence of such a result ; and in 
 giving the command of Fort Washington to 
 Captain Harrison, he left with him extensive 
 discretionary powers in relation to the ma 
 nagement of this delicate responsibility. About 
 this time, too, in compliance with the terms 
 of Jay s treaty, the military posts, which, in 
 defiance of good faith, had been established 
 by the British on our northwestern frontier, 
 were given up to the United States ; and 
 Captain Harrison was charged with the im 
 portant duty of dispatching from Fort Wash 
 ington the troops destined to take possession 
 of the surrendered forts, and of forwarding 
 through the wilderness the stores and muni 
 tions of war necessary for these remote posts. 
 These various duties were discharged by 
 Captain Harrison with so much fidelity, skill 
 and prudence, as fully to prove the judicious 
 discrimination of General Wayne in his selec 
 tion of the commander of so important a sta 
 tion as Fort Washington, and to justify his 
 unusual confidence in so young an officer. 
 
42 LIFE OF 
 
 While in command of Fort Washington, 
 Captain Harrison married the daughter of 
 John Cleves Symmes, the celebrated founder 
 of the Miami settlements a lady who com 
 mands the esteem and respect of all who know 
 her. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Harrison resigns his commission in the army. Is ap 
 pointed Secretary and Lieutenant Governor of the 
 North-western Territory. Is elected Delegate to 
 Congress. Introduces a bill to regulate the disposal 
 of the public lands. Its justice and true policy. Its 
 success. The Northwestern Territory divided. 
 Harrison resigns his seat in Congress. Is appointed 
 Governor of Indiana Territory. 
 
 CAPTAIN HARRISON remained in the army till 
 near the close of the year ]797; when, soon 
 after the death of his friend General Wayne, 
 as peace had been established with the In 
 dians, and there was no longer an opportunity 
 to serve his country in the field, he resigned 
 his commission, to commence his career of 
 civil services. He was almost immediately 
 appointed Secretary, and, cx-offlcio, Lieutenant 
 Governor of the Northwestern Territory ; 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 43 
 
 which then embraced the whole extent of our 
 territory lying north-west of the Ohio river- 
 thus, by a just award, receiving his first civil 
 appointment, in that part of our country which 
 he had first perilled his life to defend. 
 
 While in this station, he entered so warmly 
 into the interests of the people, and his intelli 
 gence, and the kindness and urbanity of his 
 manners rendered him so popular, that, when, 
 in the following year, the Northwestern Ter 
 ritory entered the second grade of govern 
 ment, according to the system which then 
 prevailed, and the inhabitants became entitled 
 to representation in the councils of the nation, 
 they almost unanimously elected him their first 
 delegate to Congress. Mr. Harrison was, at 
 this time, about twenty-six years of age. 
 
 He took his seat in the House of Represent 
 atives at the first session of the sixth Con 
 gress, in December, 1799. There were then 
 in Congress some of the ablest and most en 
 lightened statesmen, and some of the most elo 
 quent men our country has ever produced. 
 Yet in this severe ordeal, the abilities and 
 manly energies of Mr. Harrison soon com 
 manded universal respect. At this period, the 
 all-engrossing subject in the west, and one in 
 4* 
 
44 LIFE OF 
 
 which our whole country had a deep interest, 
 was the sale of the public lands. The manner 
 in which these lands had been hitherto disposed 
 of, had created great dissatisfaction among the 
 people. They had been sold only in large 
 tracts ; the smallest of which included, at least, 
 four thousand acres ; and as the minimum 
 price was at that time two dollars per acre, a 
 great majority of the new settlers were utterly 
 precluded from becoming possessors of land 
 by an original purchase from the government. 
 Our hardy yeomanry, with limited pecuniary 
 means, were thus entirely shut out from all 
 chance of competition with wealthy specula 
 tors and grasping monopolists, the poorer 
 emigrants were becoming disheartened at the 
 chilling prospects before them, and the settle 
 ment of the new country was greatly retarded. 
 Fully aware of the impolicy and injustice of 
 this state of things, and true to the trust con 
 fided to him, Mr. Harrison s earliest legislative 
 efforts were made to overthrow this exclusive 
 and pernicious system. He aroused the atten 
 tion of Congress to the consideration of this 
 important subject, and evinced so intimate an 
 acquaintance with the facts and business de 
 tails connected with it, that he was appointed 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 45 
 
 chairman of a committee raised to examine 
 into and report on the existing mode of dis 
 posing of the public lands ; the only instance, 
 it is believed, in which that honour has been 
 conferred on a territorial delegate. After a 
 proper investigation, he presented a report, 
 accompanied by a bill, the principal object of 
 which was to reduce the size of the tracts of 
 public land offered for sale, to such a smaller 
 number of acres as would place them within 
 the reach of actual settlers. This masterly 
 report, which was the joint production of him 
 self and Mr. Gallatin, together with the great 
 ability and eloquence with which he defended 
 his bill from the powerful opposition it encoun 
 tered in the House, gained Mr. Harrison a 
 reputation rarely attained by so young a states 
 man. The bill was carried triumphantly in 
 the House, and finally, after some amend 
 ments, passed the Senate. The result was, 
 that the public lands, instead of being offered 
 only in large tracts, of which four thousand 
 acres was the smallest size, were now to be 
 sold in alternate sections and half sections - 
 the former containing 640, and the latter 320 
 acres each. The point gained was of immense 
 importance, since, from the low price of these 
 
46 LIFE OF 
 
 lands, and the small amount of purchase money 
 required to be paid, they were now, with the 
 aid of industry, within the reach of nearly all 
 the poorer emigrants and actual settlers, who 
 felt a natural desire to own the fee simple of 
 their homes, and of the lands they subdued 
 from the wilderness. Thousands of the hardy 
 and industrious farmers of our Northern and 
 Middle States, and many of the poorer plant 
 ers of the South, availed themselves of the fair 
 field which was now opened for emigration 
 and enterprise; and we may justly consider 
 this happy result, which Mr. Harrison was so 
 instrumental in producing, as one of the lead 
 ing causes of the rapid settlement and pros 
 perity of our Western Country. 
 
 The justice and true policy of reducing the 
 size of the tracts of public lands offered for 
 sale having been once admitted, subsequent 
 legislators have found it not only a politic, but 
 a popular measure, and have followed up the 
 principle thus introduced by Mr. Harrison, 
 until now our public lands may be bought in 
 tracts of but eighty acres each, and at the 
 price of only one dollar and twenty-five cents 
 per acre wbereas, but for the first blow at 
 the old system struck by Mr. Harrison, and 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 47 
 
 but for the wise and just principle first intro 
 duced by him, that exclusive system might 
 perhaps still have continued in which case 
 we feel assured of being within bounds in as 
 serting that the great valley of the Mississippi, 
 the mighty empire of the West, would not, at 
 this day, have numbered one half the popula 
 tion, nor boasted a moiety of the wealth it 
 now contains. 
 
 In the year 1800, the North-western Terri 
 tory was divided. That part of the old terri 
 tory, included within the present boundaries 
 of Ohio and Michigan, retained its former 
 name ; and the immense extent of country 
 north-west of this, was erected into a separate 
 government, and received the name of Indiana. 
 Soon after this division had taken place, Mr. 
 Harrison resigned his seat in Congress, and 
 was appointed governor of the new territory. 
 This appointment gave great satisfaction to 
 the people of Indiana, with whom the patriotic 
 exertions of Mr. Harrison had rendered him 
 deservedly popular ; and it was, at the same 
 time, the strongest evidence of the confidence 
 with which the general government relied upon 
 his integrity, prudence, and capacity for civil 
 government. 
 
48 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Condition of Indiana Territory. Harrison is appointed 
 Superintendent of Indian Affairs and Commissioner 
 for treating with the Indians. His extensive juris 
 diction and powers. Harrison s address to the terri 
 torial legislature. The cession of Louisiana to the * 
 United States. 
 
 THE vast extent of this new territory in 
 cluded what now constitutes the states of In 
 diana, Illinois, and Michigan, and the territory 
 of Wisconsin. But the small population it 
 then contained was thinly scattered through 
 a vast wilderness, and only three white set 
 tlements of any note existed within its bound 
 aries. One of these was at the seat of go 
 vernment, Vincennes, a small town originally 
 built by the French, and beautifully and ad 
 vantageously situated on the banks of the 
 Wabash ; the second, known as Clark s Grant, 
 was at the Falls of the Ohio, nearly opposite 
 Louisville, about one hundred miles from Vin 
 cennes ; and the third was the French settle 
 ment on the banks of the Mississippi, near St. 
 Louis, and more than two hundred miles dis 
 tant from the seat of government. The com- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 49 
 
 munication between these remote points was, 
 at all times, difficult and toilsome, and often 
 attended with great danger. There existed 
 no practicable roads, and nearly all the inter 
 mediate country was occupied by the Indians, 
 or overrun by their hunting parties. Most of 
 these savage tribes, though professing to be 
 friendly, were restless and dissatisfied; and 
 their leading chiefs still nursed a moody hope 
 of revenge for the mortifying defeat they had 
 sustained, six years before, at the battle of the 
 Maumee Rapids. Artful and treacherous, nu 
 merous, warlike, and thirsting for plunder, they 
 kept this remote frontier in continual excite 
 ment and alarm. The angry feelings of our 
 hardy borderers were frequently roused by 
 some robbery or atrocious aggression com 
 mitted by the more evil-disposed among their 
 savage neighbours, and quarrels often ensued, 
 which threatened the peace of the whole com 
 munity. 
 
 Such was the existing state of things in In 
 diana Territory, when Mr. Harrison was 
 appointed to the administration of its govern 
 ment. As governor of a frontier territory so 
 peculiarly situated, Mr. Harrison was invested 
 with civil powers of the most important na- 
 
50 LIFE OF 
 
 ture, as well as with military authority. Be 
 sides the ordinary powers which he held, ex- 
 cfficio, as governor, he had the sole power of 
 dividing the district into counties and town 
 ships ; and, with the aid of the judges, had full 
 authority to adopt and publish such laws, both 
 civil and criminal, of the original states, as 
 might be necessary and best adapted to the 
 wants and situation of the district; and he 
 had the appointment of all the magistrates 
 and other civil officers. He was made com- 
 mander-in-chief of the militia, and all the offi 
 cers below the rank of general received their 
 commissions from him. He was likewise ap 
 pointed superintendent of Indian affairs, and 
 agent and representative of the general govern 
 ment ; in performance of the duties of which 
 office, he was required to keep up a constant 
 and voluminous correspondence with the Cabi 
 net at Washington. He had also the unusual 
 power of conferring on a numerous class of 
 individuals, a legal title to large grants of land, 
 on which they before held merely an equitable 
 claim. His sole signature was sufficient, 
 without any other formality, to give a valid 
 title to these extensive and valuable tracts of 
 land. No other formality or publicity was 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 51 
 
 required, and whatever secret collusion might 
 have existed between the claimant and the 
 governor, the title would still have been un 
 questionable before any legal tribunal. Pos 
 sessed of this immense power, without check 
 or limitation, opportunities were continually 
 before him of accumulating a princely for 
 tune ; but the scrupulous sense of honour, 
 which has always characterized Mr. Harri 
 son, would never permit him to speculate in 
 lands over which he had any control. Dur 
 ing the whole of the time that he held this 
 important trust, he never availed himself of 
 his peculiar advantages to promote his own 
 interests either directly or indirectly ; and it 
 is a fact worthy of particular note, that, even 
 to the present time, he has never owned a 
 single acre of land, the title to which, origi 
 nally, emanated from himself as the repre 
 sentative of the government. No shadow of 
 suspicion has ever clouded his honour, his 
 honesty or disinterestedness ; and not a mur 
 mur ever accused him of partiality, or* even 
 of unnecessary delay, in the performance of 
 this delicate duty. We allude to this to show 
 that the integrity of Mr. Harrison is well-tried 
 and practical ; and that it has always shone 
 5 
 
52 LIFE OF 
 
 with the purest lustre when assailed by the 
 strongest temptations. 
 
 In 1803, Mr. Jefferson appointed Governor 
 Harrison sole " commissioner to enter into 
 any treaties which might be necessary with 
 any Indian tribes, north-west of the Ohio, and 
 within the territory of the United States, on 
 the subject of their boundaries or lands." By * 
 virtue of this authority, in the following year, 
 Harrison succeeded in negotiating a treaty 
 with the Sacs and Foxes; and besides the 
 amicable relations established with those 
 tribes, he obtained the cession of an extensive 
 tract of country, including the whole of the 
 valuable region between the river Illinois and 
 the Mississippi, with a northern boundary, 
 stretching from the head of Fox river to a 
 point on the Wisconsin, thirty-six miles above 
 its mouth. This was the largest cession of 
 lands that had ever yet been made by the 
 Indians at any one time. Considerable tracts 
 of land between the Ohio and the Wabash, 
 and "extending from Vincennes westward to 
 the. Mississippi, were likewise purchased by 
 annuities from the Delawares and the Mia- 
 mies. We may here appropriately remark 
 that during the entire course of his adminis- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 53 
 
 tration, Harrison effected thirteen important 
 treaties with the different tribes, on the most 
 advantageous terms ; and obtained from them, 
 at various times, the cession of large tracts of 
 land, amounting, in ^all, to more than sixty mil 
 lions of acres, and embracing a large portion 
 of the richest region in our country. 
 
 In their frequent intercourse with Governor 
 Harrison, the Indians had learned to respect 
 his undaunted firmness, and were, at the same 
 time, conciliated by his kindness of manner 
 and considerate forbearance. This, with his 
 intimate knowledge of the Indian character, 
 is the true secret of the remarkable success 
 invariably attendant upon every treaty he has 
 attempted to negotiate. 
 
 The various and arduous duties of the go 
 vernor of Indiana, required for this office a 
 man of very superior abilities and qualifica 
 tions, and of a rare temperament one pos 
 sessed of a stern integrity and prudent 
 moderation, with wisdom in the exercise of 
 the extensive powers entrusted to him, ac 
 companied by the most unwavering firmness. 
 Such a man Governor Harrison, in the long 
 course of his administration, fully proved 
 himself to be. The plainest evidence that can 
 
54 LIFE OF 
 
 be presented to those who are not familiar 
 with the history of Indiana, during this event- 
 ful period, of the peculiar fitness of Governor 
 Harrison for this important station, of the 
 confidence reposed in him, and of the great 
 popularity he attained while in the exercise 
 of so delicate a trust, is the unquestionable 
 fact, that, for thirteen years, at every succes 
 sive expiration of his term of office, he was 
 re-appointed, at the earnest solicitation of the 
 people of the Territory, and with the public 
 expression of the most flattering approbation 
 on the part of our chief Executive. And this 
 too, notwithstanding the entire change which 
 had taken place within that time in the ruling 
 politics of the country his first appointment 
 having been made by Mr. Adams, his second 
 and third by Mr. Jefferson, and his fourth by 
 Mr. Madison. The following extract from 
 tfre resolution, unanimously passed by the 
 House of Representatives of Indiana, in the 
 year 1809, requesting the re-appointment of 
 Governor Harrison, will show the estimate 
 which a long acquaintance had taught them 
 of his wqrth : " They (the House of Repre 
 sentatives) cannot forbear recommending to, 
 and requesting of, the President and Senate, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 55 
 
 most earnestly in their own names, and in the 
 names of their constituents, the re-appoint 
 ment of the present governor, William Henry 
 Harrison, because he possesses the good 
 wishes and affection of a great majority of 
 his fellow-citizens ; because they believe him 
 sincerely attached to the Union, the prosperity 
 of the United States, and the administration 
 of its government ; because they believe him 
 in a superior degree capable of promoting the 
 interest of our Territory, from long expe 
 rience and laborious attention to its concerns, 
 from his influence over the Indians, and wise 
 and disinterested management of that depart 
 ment ; aud because they have confidence in 
 his virtues, talents, and republicanism." 
 
 If necessary, we might fill a goodly volume 
 with extracts from public documents of a 
 similar nature ; but what stronger proof than 
 this could we have of the popularity of Go 
 vernor Harrison, and of the entire confidence 
 with which the people relied on his experi 
 ence, his integrity, and his ability as a states 
 man ? 
 
 In 1805, the Territory of Indiana was ad 
 vanced to the second grade of government 
 under the new system. The citizens were 
 5* 
 
56 LIFE OF 
 
 allowed to elect a Territorial House of As 
 sembly, by which ten persons were nominated, 
 out of whom the president appointed five as a 
 legislative council to complete the territorial 
 legislature. ,This measure deprived Governor 
 Harrison of much power and great patronage, 
 since it threw into the hands of the people the 
 election of many officers who were before 
 appointed by the executive but always a 
 ready advocate for the republican rights of 
 suffrage and self-government, he was true to 
 his principles even when against his interest, 
 and he strenuously urged this change of go 
 vernment. 
 
 Nearly two years prior to this time, by a 
 brilliant negotiation, a treaty had been effected 
 in Paris, by which Louisiana was purchased 
 by our government from France (to whom it 
 had been ceded by Spain) for eighty millions 
 of francs, or about fifteen millions of dollars; 
 and we were thus finally enabled to realize 
 the boundaries of the ancient charters granted 
 by the British monarchs to their American 
 colonies, and extend the limits of the territory 
 of the United States " from sea to sea." Upon 
 our obtaining actual possession of Louisiana, 
 the jurisdiction of Governor Harrison became 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 57 
 
 greatly enlarged, and the responsibility and 
 laborious duties of his station were conse 
 quently much increased. The governor refers 
 to this annexation of Louisiana to the United 
 States, in his address at the first session of the 
 territorial legislature a document so remark 
 able for its high-minded and purely republican 
 spirit, and for its clearness and fluency of 
 style, that notwithstanding our narrow limits 
 we cannot refrain from laying some portions 
 of it before our readers. 
 
 "Upon a careful review of our situation," 
 said Governor Harrison, " it will be found that 
 we have much cause of felicitation, whether it 
 respects our present enjoyments or our future 
 prosperity. An enlightened and generous 
 policy has for ever removed all cause of con 
 tention with our western neighbours. The 
 mighty river which separates us from the 
 Louisianians will never be stained with the 
 blood of contending nations, but will prove the 
 bond of our union, and will convey upon its 
 bosom, in the course of many thousand miles, 
 the produce of our great and united empire. 
 The astonished traveller will behold upon 
 either bank a people governed by the same 
 laws, pursuing the same objects, and warmed 
 
58 LIFE OF 
 
 with the same love of liberty and science. 
 And if, in the immense distance, a small point 
 should present itself, where other laws and 
 other manners prevail, the contrast it will af 
 ford will serve the useful purpose of demon 
 strating the great superiority of a republican 
 government, and how far the uncontrolled and 
 unbiassed industry of freemen excels the cau 
 tious and measured exertions of the subjects 
 of despotic power. 
 
 " The acquisition of Louisiana will form an 
 important epoch in the history of our country. 
 It has secured the happiness of millions, who 
 will bless the moment of their emancipation, 
 and the generous policy which has secured to 
 them the rights of men. To us it has pro 
 duced immediate and important advantages. 
 We are no longer apprehensive of waging an 
 eternal war with the numerous and warlike 
 tribes of aborigines that surround us, and per 
 haps being reduced to the dreadful alternative 
 of submitting to their depredations, or of ex 
 terminating them from the earth. 
 
 " By cutting off their communication with 
 every foreign power, and forcing them to pro 
 cure from ourselves the arms and ammunition, 
 and such of the European manufactures as 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 59 
 
 habit has to them rendered necessary, we 
 have not only secured their entire dependence, 
 but the means of ameliorating their condition, 
 and of devoting to some useful and beneficial 
 purpose the ardour and energy of mind which 
 are now devoted to war and destruction. 
 The policy of the United States, w^ith regard 
 to the savages within their territories, forms a 
 striking contrast with the conduct of other civil 
 ized nations. The measures of the latter ap 
 pear to have been well calculated for the effect 
 which has produced the entire extirpation of 
 the unhappy people whose country they have 
 usurped. It is in the United States alone that 
 laws have been passed, not only for their, 
 safety and protection from every species of 
 injury, but considerable sums of money have 
 been appropriated, and agents employed, to 
 humanize their minds, and instruct them in 
 such arts of civilized life as they are capable 
 of receiving. To provide a substitute for the 
 chase, from which they derive their support, 
 and which, from the extension of our settle 
 ments, is daily becoming more precarious, has 
 been considered a sacred duty. The humane 
 and benevolent intentions of the government, 
 however, will for ever be defeated, unless ef- 
 
60 LIFE OF 
 
 fectual measures be devised to prevent the 
 sale of ardent spirits to those unhappy people. 
 The law which has been passed by Congress 
 for that purpose, has been found entirely inef 
 fectual, because its operation has been con 
 strued to relate to the Indian country exclu 
 sively. In calling your attention to this sub 
 ject, gentlemen, I am persuaded that it is 
 unnecessary to remind you, that the article 
 of compact makes it your duty to attend to it. 
 The interests of your constituents, the interests 
 of the miserable Indians, and your own feel 
 ings, will sufficiently urge you to take it into 
 your most serious consideration, and provide 
 the remedy which is to save thousands of our 
 fellow-creatures. So destructive has the pro 
 gress of intemperance been among them, that 
 whole villages have been swept away. A 
 miserable remnant is all that remains, to mark 
 the names and situation of many numerous 
 and warlike tribes. In the energetic language 
 of one of their orators, it is a dreadful confla 
 gration, which spreads misery and desolation 
 through their country, and threatens the anni 
 hilation of the whole race. Is it then to be 
 admitted as a political axiom, that the neigh 
 bourhood of a civilized nation is incompatible 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 61 
 
 with the existence of savages ? Are the bless 
 ings of our republican government only to be 
 felt by ourselves? Arid are the natives of 
 North America to experience the same fate 
 with their brethren of the southern continent ? 
 It is with you, gentlemen, to divert from those 
 children of nature the ruin that hangs over 
 them. Nor can I believe that the time will 
 be considered misspent, which is devoted to 
 an object so consistent with the spirit of Chris 
 tianity, and with the principles of republican 
 ism." 
 
 The reply of the Territorial Assembly to 
 this address, manifested the high estimation in 
 which Governor Harrison was held ; and is 
 one of the many proofs of his singular popu 
 larity, and of the entire confidence reposed in 
 his abilities, and in his disinterestedness and 
 moderation "in the exercise of the extensive 
 authority entrusted to him. 
 
62 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Intrigues of Tecumthe and the Prophet. The Pro 
 phet s visit to Vincennes and interview with Harri-, 
 son. Treaty of Fort Wayne. Pissatisfaction of 
 Tecumthe. Tecumthe s interview with the Gover- > 
 nor. The Governor s firmness and intrepidity. 
 Harrison s Message to the Legislature. Triumphant 
 refutation of slander. 
 
 Iw the following year, 1806, our friendly 
 relations with the Indians were broken in 
 upon, and the plans our government had form 
 ed to civilize them, and ameliorate their con 
 dition, were entirely destroyed by a new and 
 very remarkable influence. 
 
 Two twin brothers of the Shawnee tribe, 
 .Tecumthe, the Crouching Panther, and Ol-li- 
 wa-chi-ca, the Open Door, generally known as 
 the Prophet, commenced a series of artful and 
 daring intrigues among the Indians on our 
 north-western frontier, which finally involved 
 them in a war with our country, destined to re 
 sult in the expulsion of many of these warlike , 
 tribes from all their old and favourite hunting- 
 grounds. 
 
 Tecumthe and his brother differed widely 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 63 
 
 in character, but their separate accomplish 
 ments and their peculiar qualifications well fit 
 ted them to prosecute the design they had 
 formed. 
 
 Tecumthe was a bold and skilful warrior, 
 sagacious in council and formidable in battle. 
 An active, daring, energetic man, but one who 
 preferred tact and secret management to open 
 violence. Deeply imbued with a hatred to the 
 whites, against whom he had sworn an unre 
 lenting enmity, full of enthusiasm and highly 
 gifted with eloquence, he appealed with great 
 success to the passions of the Indians, in his 
 endeavours to rouse them to a hostile feeling 
 against the United States. Tecumthe, never 
 theless, possessed a loftier spirit and a higher 
 and better tone of feeling than is often found 
 in the savage warrior ; and on several occa 
 sions during the ensuing war, he evinced a for 
 bearance and generosity which might well 
 have put his more civilized allies to the blush. 
 
 The Prophet had none of the nobler quali 
 ties of his brother. He was cunning, cruel, 
 cowardly, and treacherous. He was no war 
 rior, but was an accomplished and persuasive 
 orator. A shrewd and crafty impostor, he an 
 nounced himself as a medicine man, or magi- 
 6 
 
64 LIFE OF 
 
 cian, possessed of vast and miraculous pow 
 ers, and as having been specially sent by the 
 Great Spirit to reform the condition of the red 
 people, to restore them to their former pros 
 perity, and to replace them in the possession 
 of their lost prairies and hunting-grounds. 
 
 Availing himself of the superstition com 
 mon to all ignorant and uncivilized people, the 
 Prophet commenced a series of wild incanta 
 tions, and, from time to time, uttered extrava 
 gant prophecies of the speedy downfall of the 
 whites and the approaching success of the red 
 men, until he succeeded in obtaining so strong 
 a hold upon the credulity of the deluded In 
 dians, that his influence over the warriors of 
 several powerful tribes became almost un 
 bounded. 
 
 The object of these arch-intriguers was to 
 form a general combination of all the North 
 western and South-western tribes of Indians, 
 for the purpose of preventing the whites from 
 extending any new settlements west of those 
 already existing ; and with the vain hope, too, 
 that by a simultaneous attack on the whole oft 
 our extensive, thinly-inhabited, and ill-defend 
 ed western frontier, they might force back the 
 whites from the valley of the Mississippi, and 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 65 
 
 regain a much-coveted portion of their former 
 territory. This scheme is supposed to have 
 been suggested to Tecumthe by the noted chief 
 and warrior Red Jacket. It is the same plan 
 which cost the celebrated Pontiac his life, and 
 one which the no less distinguished Little Tur 
 tle is said to have cherished until the haughty 
 spirit of the Indians was broken and subdued 
 by their disheartening defeat at the Maumee 
 Rapids. These designs of Tecumthe and his 
 wily brother soon became known to Governor 
 Harrison, who, aware of his dangerous and 
 critical position, by prudent forbearance and 
 wise policy, was enabled for several years to 
 hold his savage neighbours in check. 
 
 In the summer of 1808, the Prophet en 
 camped with his followers on the banks of the 
 Tippecanoe, a tributary to the Upper Wabash; 
 with the design of being in the more immedi 
 ate neighbourhood of his most powerful par 
 tisans. 
 
 About this time, our relations with Great 
 Britain began to assume a threatening aspect, 
 and war seemed almost inevitable. The Brit 
 ish emissaries and Canadians, anxious under 
 these circumstances to secure the aid of the 
 Indians, used every endeavour, by presents 
 
66 LIFE OF 
 
 and artful promises, to form strict alliances 
 with all the powerful tribes* which they hoped 
 to effect through the aid of the Prophet. 
 
 The plans of the Prophet and his brother 
 were not yet fully matured; and conscious 
 that Governor Harrison suspected their hostile 
 designs, this cunning impostor formed the au 
 dacious resolve to visit the governor, and en 
 deavour to deceive his vigilance and lull his 
 suspicions to rest, by protestations of his ami 
 cable intentions. He accordingly made his 
 appearance at Vincennes in the following 
 month of August, and made such warm and 
 apparently sincere professions of his* friendly 
 and peaceful purposes, as to leave rather a fa 
 vourable impression on all who listened to his 
 assurances. But immediately after his return 
 to Tippecanoe, he renewed his hostile intrigues 
 with the neighbouring Indians, intelligence of 
 which was soon conveyed to the governor. 
 
 In September, 1809, Governor Harrison held 
 a council at Fort Wayne, and negotiated a 
 treaty with the Miamies, Delawares, Potawa- 
 tomies, and Kickapoos, by which he succeed 
 ed in purchasing from those tribes an extensive 
 tract of country on both sides of the Wabash, 
 and extending up that river more than sixty 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 67 
 
 miles above Vincennes. The tribes who owned 
 these lands were paid for them by certain, an 
 nuities which they considered a satisfactory 
 equivalent. 
 
 Tecumthe was absent at this time on a visit 
 to the distant tribes, and the Prophet not feel 
 ing himself interested, had made no opposition 
 to the treaty ; but on the return of Tecumthe, 
 some months after, both he and his brother ex 
 pressed great dissatisfaction, and even threat 
 ened to put to death all those chiefs who had 
 signed the treaty. Hearing this, and anxious 
 too to ascertain their intentions from them 
 selves, if possible, Governor Harrison dis 
 patched messengers to invite them both to 
 Vincennes. He assured them that any claims 
 they might have to the lands in question, were 
 not affected by the treaty of Fort Wayne ; but 
 that if they would come to Vincennes and 
 exhibit their pretensions, and they should be 
 found to be valid, the lands would be given up 
 or an ample compensation made for them. 
 Tecumthe came, without his brother and 
 though the governor, having no confidence in 
 his good faith, had requested him not to bring 
 with him more than thirty warriors, he came 
 with four hundred, completely armed, The 
 
 6* 
 
68 LIFE OF 
 
 governor held a council on the 12th of Au 
 gust, 1810, at which Tec urn the and forty of 
 these warriors were present. The governor 
 was attended by the judges of the supreme 
 court, several officers of the army, Winne- 
 mac, a friendly chief, and a few unarmed 
 citizens. A sergeant s guard of twelve men 
 was likewise placed near him, but as the day 
 was exceeding sultry, and they were exposed 
 to the sun, the governor, with his characteris 
 tic humanity, directed them to remove to a 
 shaded spot at some distance. 
 
 Tecumthe addressed this council with a 
 speech, in which he openly avowed the de 
 signs of himself and his brother. He declared 
 it to be their intention to form a coalition of 
 all the red men, to prevent the whites from 
 extending their settlements farther west and 
 to establish the principle that the Indian lands 
 belonged in common to all the tribes, and could 
 not be sold without their united consent. He 
 again avowed their intention to put to death 
 all the chiefs who had signed the treaty at 
 Fort Wayne, yet, with singular inconsistency, 
 he at the same time denied all intention to 
 make war, and declared that all those who 
 had given such information to the governor 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 69 
 
 were liars. This was aimed particularly at 
 Winnemac, from whom the governor had 
 received a timely notice of the designs of Te- 
 cumthe and his brother. 
 
 Governor Harrison replied to Tecumthe in 
 a mild and conciliatory tone, explaining the 
 treaty at Fort Wayne, and clearly proving 
 that all the chiefs whose tribes had any claims 
 upon the lands ceded at this time to the United 
 States, were present at the treaty, and had 
 voluntarily signed it and that they had sold 
 these lands for an annuity which they consi 
 dered a sufficient compensation. The inter 
 preter of the Shawnees explained the govern 
 or s speech to the warriors of that tribe, but 
 when the interpreter to the Potawatomies was 
 about to begin, Tecumthe interrupted him in 
 a rude and insulting manner, using the most 
 vehement language" and the most violent ges 
 ticulation. He loudly declared that all the 
 governor had said was false, and that he and 
 the United States had cheated and imposed 
 upon the Indians. As he uttered this, his 
 warriors sprung to their feet and began to 
 brandish their tomahawks and war-clubs, their 
 eyes all fiercely turned upon the governor. 
 Harrison rose immediately and drew his 
 
70 LIFE OF 
 
 sword. The friendly chief Winnemac cocked 
 a pistol with which he was armed, and some 
 of the officers in attendance drew their wea 
 pons and stood on the defensive. Every one 
 momentarily expected to hear the yell of the 
 savage war-whoop, and to encounter the 
 fierce attack of their excited opponents. At 
 this critical time not a word was spokon, until 
 the guard hastily approached, and were about 
 to fire on the Indians, when the governor, 
 with singular coolness and presence of mind, 
 restrained them. He then turned to Tecum- 
 the, and calmly but authoritatively told him 
 that " he was a bad man that he would hold 
 no further communication with him and that 
 he must now return to his camp, and take his 
 departure from the settlements without delay. * 
 The council was immediately broken up, and 
 Tecumthe and his warriors, awed by the 
 calmness and intrepidity of the governor, 
 withdrew in silence. 
 
 The next morning, Tecumthe, finding that 
 he had to deal with a man of firmness and 
 undaunted bravery, whom he could neither 
 intimidate by his audacious violence nor dis 
 concert by his cunning manoeuvres, solicited 
 another interview with the governor, and 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 71 
 
 apologized for the improprieties he had com 
 mitted at the council the day before. 
 
 At this interview, the governor expostulated 
 with Tecumthe on the frequent murders com 
 mitted by the Indians at Tippecanoe, on their 
 constant depredations, their refusal to give 
 any satisfaction for their repeated aggressions, 
 and their daily accumulation of force at the 
 Prophet s town for the avowed purpose of 
 obliging the United States to give up lands 
 which they had fairly purchased of the right 
 ful owners. In his reply, Tecumthe denied 
 that he had taken the murderers under his 
 protection ; but admitted his design of forming 
 a grand confederacy of all the nations and 
 tribes of Indians upon the continent, for the 
 purpose of putting a stop to the encroach 
 ments of the white people. He said that " the 
 policy which the United States pursued, of 
 purchasing their lands from the Indians, he 
 viewed as a mighty water, ready to overflow 
 his people ; and that the confederacy which 
 he was forming among the tribes, to prevent 
 any individual tribe from selling their lands 
 without the consent of the others, was the dam 
 he was erecting to resist this mighty water." 
 And he added, "your great father may sit 
 
72 LIFE OF 
 
 over the mountains and drink his wine, but if 
 he continues this policy, you and I will have 
 to fight it out." He admitted that he was 
 then on his way to the Creek nation, for the 
 purpose of bringing them over to his measures ; 
 and he actually did, two days afterwards, set 
 out on this journey with twelve or fifteen 
 warriors. 
 
 Still anxious to conciliate this haughty 
 savage, the governor afterwards paid him a 
 visit at his own camp, with no other attend 
 ant than the interpreter. Tecumthe received 
 him with courtesy and much attention ; Har 
 rison s uniform kindness and inflexible firm 
 ness having won the respect of the rude 
 warrior : but he still persisted in adhering to 
 the declarations he had made at the council 
 on the preceding day. 
 
 Meanwhile, his brother was using every 
 exertion to advance their mutual object. His 
 reputation as a prophet still continued to in 
 crease, and his cunning pretensions to super 
 natural powers gave him so strong a hold on 
 the superstitions of his red brethren as to 
 enable him not only to attach his own people 
 warmly to his interests, but greatly to extend 
 Lls influence over the neighbouring tribes. 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 73 
 
 Governor Harrison alludes to this in his mes 
 sage to the Legislature of Indiana, in the 
 ensuing winter of 1810, from which the fol 
 lowing is an extract : 
 
 " Presenting as we do," said Governor Har 
 rison, " a very extended frontier to numerous 
 and warlike tribes of the aborigines, the state 
 of our re) , ans with them must always form 
 an important and interesting feature in our 
 local politics. It is with regret that I have to 
 inform you, that the harmony and good under 
 standing which it is so much our interest to 
 cultivate with these our neighbours, have, for 
 some time past, experienced a considerable 
 interruption, and that we have indeed been 
 threatened with hostilities, by a combination 
 formed under the auspices of a bold adven 
 turer, who pretended to act under the imme 
 diate inspiration of the Deity. His character 
 as a prophet would not, however, have given 
 him any dangerous influence, if he had not 
 been assisted by the intrigues and advice of 
 foreign agents, and other disaffected persons, 
 who have for years omitted no opportunity of 
 counteracting the measures of the government 
 with regard to the Indians, and filling their 
 naturally jealous minds with suspicions of the 
 
74 LIFE OF 
 
 justice and integrity of our views towards 
 them." 
 
 " The circumstance which was laid hold of 
 to encourage disaffection, on a late occasion, 
 was the treaty made by me at Fort Wayne 
 in the autumn of the last year. Amongst the 
 difficulties which were to be encountered, to 
 obtain those extinguishments of title which 
 have proved so beneficial to the treasury 
 of the United States, and so necessary, as 
 the means of increasing the population of the 
 territory, the most formidable was that of 
 ascertaining the tribes which were to be ad 
 mitted as parties to the treaties. The object 
 was accordingly discussed in a long corres 
 pondence between the government and myself, 
 and the principles which were finally adopted, 
 were made as liberal towards the Indians as 
 a due regard to the interests of the United 
 States would permit. Of the tribes which 
 had formed the confederacy in the war which 
 terminated by the peace of Greene ville, some 
 were residents upon the lands which were in 
 the possession of their forefathers, at the time 
 that the first settlements were made in Ame 
 rica by white people, whilst others were emi 
 grants from distant parts of the country, and 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 75 
 
 had no other claim to the tracts they occu 
 pied, than what a few years residence, by 
 the tacit consent of the real owners, could 
 give. Upon common and general principles, 
 the transfer of the title of the former descrip 
 tion would have been sufficient to vest in the 
 purchaser the legal right to lands so situated. 
 But in all its transactions with the Indians, 
 our government have not been content with 
 doing that which was just only. Its savage 
 neighbours have, on all occasions, experienced 
 its liberality and benevolence. Upon this 
 principle, in several of the treaties which have 
 been made, several tribes have been admitted 
 to a participation of their benefits, who had no 
 title to the land ceded, merely because they 
 had been accustomed to hunt upon, and de 
 rive part of their support from them. For 
 this reason, and to prevent the Miamies, who 
 were the real owners of the land, from expe 
 riencing any ill effects from their resentment, 
 the Delawares, Potawatomies and Kickapoos 
 were made parties to the late treaty at Fort 
 Wayne. No other tribe was admitted, be 
 cause it never had been suggested that any 
 other could plead even the title of use or oc- 
 7 
 
76 LIFE OF 
 
 cupancy of the lands, which at that time were 
 conveyed to the United States. 
 
 "It was not until eight months after the 
 .conclusion of the treaty, and after his design 
 of forming a hostile combination against the. 
 United States had been discovered and de 
 feated, that the pretensions of the prophet, 
 with regard to the lands in question, were 
 made known. A furious clamour was then 
 raised by the foreign agents among us, and 
 other disaffected persons, against the policy 
 which had excluded from the treaty this great 
 and influential character as he is termed ; and 
 the doing so, expressly attributed to personal 
 ill-will on the part of the negotiator. No such 
 ill-will did in fact exist. I accuse myself, 
 indeed, of an error, in the patronage and 
 support which I afforded him upon his first 
 arrival on the Wabash, before his hostility to 
 the United States had been developed ; but 
 on no principle of propriety or policy could 
 he have been made a party to the treaty. 
 The personage called the prophet is not a 
 chief of the tribe to which he belongs, but an < 
 outcast from it, rejected and hated by the real 
 chiefs, the principal of whom was present at 
 the treaty, and not only disclaimed on the 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 77 
 
 part of his tribe any title to the lands ceded, 
 but used his personal influence with the chiefs 
 of the other tribes to effect the cession. 
 
 " As soon as I was informed that his dis 
 satisfaction at the treaty was assigned as the 
 cause of the hostile attitude which the prophet 
 had assumed, I sent to inform him that what 
 ever claims he might have to the lands which 
 had been purchased for the United States, 
 were not in the least affected by that pur 
 chase ; that he might come forward and ex 
 hibit his pretensions, and if they were really 
 found to be just or equitable, the lands would 
 be restored, or an ample equivalent given for 
 them. His brother \vas deputed, and sent to 
 me for that purpose ; but far from being able 
 to show any colour of claim, either for him 
 self or any of his followers, his objections to 
 the treaty were confined to the assertion, that 
 all the lands upon the continent were the 
 common property of all the tribes, and that 
 no sale of any part of it could be valid, with 
 out the consent of all. A proposition so ex 
 tremely absurd, and which would for ever 
 prevent any further purchase of lands by the 
 United States, could receive no countenance 
 from any friend of his country. He had, 
 
78 LIFE OF 
 
 however, the insolence to declare, that by the 
 acknowledgment of that principle alone could 
 the effects of his resentment be avoided." 
 
 * * * "I have been thus particular, 
 gentlemen, in giving you information upon , 
 the present state of affairs with the neighbour 
 ing Indians, that you may have them fully 
 before you, in case you should think proper 
 to make them in any shape the subject of 
 your deliberations." 
 
 In the course of this address, the whole of 
 which we regret that the limited size of our 
 volume will not permit us to quote, Governor 
 Harrison alluded to some idle complaints and 
 malicious calumnies which had been spread 
 abroad by certain disaffected persons within 
 the Territory the totally unfounded nature of 
 which was soon made apparent in a court of 
 justice. There are in every community, indi 
 viduals who are incapable of appreciating or 
 are unwilling to admit the existence of disin 
 terested and patriotic motives of action and 
 who, if they are too dull or perverse to com 
 prehend the wise policy and strict justice of 
 any public measure, are inclined by the whis 
 perings of their own hearts to attribute that 
 measure to the promptings of base or unwor- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 79 
 
 thy motives. It is not a matter of surprise, 
 therefore, that some such were found in the 
 territory over which Governor Harrison pre 
 sided. Among these was one M Iritosh, who 
 openly asserted that Governor Harrison had 
 cheated the Indians in the treaty at Fort 
 Wayne, by which the United States had the 
 year before obtained so large a cession of lands 
 from the Miamies, Delawares, Potawatomies 
 and Kickapoos. As this calumny was indus 
 triously circulated, Governor Harrison thought 
 it due both to his own character and to that 
 of the general government that the charge 
 should be fully and judicially investigated, 
 while the subject was still fresh and the testi 
 mony in relation to the treaty at Fort Wayne 
 was still within reach. An action for slander 
 was therefore brought against M Intosh, in the 
 Supreme Court of the Territory, and every 
 possible measure was adopted to obtain a fair 
 and an impartial decision. To insure this, two 
 of the judges left the bench during the trial 
 one being a friend of the governor, and the 
 other of the defendant leaving the case to be 
 adjudicated J?y the third judge, who had but 
 recently arrived in the Territory and was but 
 slightly acquainted with either of the parties. 
 
80 LIFE OF 
 
 All the facts connected with the negotiation 
 of the treaty of Fort Wayne were critically 
 inquired into, and the defendant was allowed 
 every opportunity to examine all the persons 
 engaged in the Indian Department, or who 
 were acquainted with the circumstances at 
 tendant upon the making of this treaty. But 
 the more the subject was inquired into, the 
 more clearly did it manifest the strict honour 
 and integrity of Governor Harrison ; until, at 
 length, convinced of this, the counsel of M ln- 
 tosh abandoned all plea of justification, and 
 asked only for a mitigation of damages. The 
 jury returned a verdict of four thousand dol 
 lars against the defendant a heavy verdict in 
 a new country, where money is always scarce, 
 and damages given by juries in such cases are 
 generally very small. A large amount of the 
 defendant s property was sold the following 
 year to satisfy this judgment, and was bought 
 in by the agent of the governor, while he him 
 self was absent in command of the army. 
 Two-thirds of this property Governor Harrison 
 afterwards returned to M Intosh, and the re 
 mainder he distributed among the orphan chil 
 dren of some of his gallant fellow-citizens who 
 fell in battle during the last war / Such acts 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 81 
 
 need no comment while magnanimity, disin 
 terestedness, t>nd generosity are prized among 
 men, the tongue of praise even can scarcely 
 do them justice. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Commencement of hostilities. Harrison assembles the 
 Militia and Volunteers. He organizes his forces. 
 March to the Prophet s town. Battle of Tippeca- 
 noe. Its results. 
 
 IN the following year, 1811, the Indians pro 
 ceeded to more open violence, and assumed 
 an attitude of more decided hostility. It is 
 believed that Tecumthe, on his departure to 
 visit the Southern Indians, left positive instruc 
 tions with his brother to avoid coming to ex 
 tremities with the white people, and to restrain 
 his followers from committing depredations 
 which might lead to the commencement of 
 hostilities before his plans were fully matured. 
 But the Prophet wanted both the inclination 
 and the authority necessary to carry these in 
 structions into effect. Aggressions of the most 
 atrocious nature were audaciously committed 
 by the Indians within the limits of the Terri- 
 
82 LIFE OF 
 
 tory, and every day brought fresh accounts of 
 the perpetration of those ruthless deeds of de- 
 predation and murder which always give the 
 first intimation of the approach of a savage 
 war. 
 
 From motives of humanity as well as poli 
 cy, Governor Harrison had always endeavour- 
 ed to avoid a war with the Indians ; but when 
 this result became unavoidable, he promptly 
 adopted the most energetic measures within 
 his limited resources to place the Territory in 
 a posture of defence. 
 
 The people upon the frontier had now be 
 come exceedingly alarmed. The citizens of 
 Vincennes were much excited, and a large 
 public meeting was there held, at w^hich seve 
 ral resolutions were passed indicating their 
 sense of the danger to which they were ex 
 posed, and warmly approving the measures 
 which had been taken by the governor for 
 their defence. These resolutions, with a strong 
 remonstrance against the permitting this horde 
 of savages to continue their depredations, were 
 forwarded to the President of the United States, 
 They produced the desired effect and the 4th 
 regiment, commanded by Colonel Boyd, which 
 was then at Pittsburgh, was ordered by Mr. 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 83 
 
 Madison to repair without delay to Vincennes, 
 and was placed under the command of Go 
 vernor Harrison. Instructions were likewise 
 sent to the governor to march with an armed 
 force to the Prophet s town but he was re 
 quired to avoid hostilities " of any kind, or to 
 any degree not absolutely necessary." 
 
 The governor immediately assembled five 
 hundred of the militia and volunteers of Indi 
 ana. These, with the regiment of United 
 States infantry, consisting of about three hun 
 dred and fifty men, and a small but gallant 
 body of volunteers from Kentucky, constituted 
 his whole available force amounting in all to 
 scarcely nine hundred effective men. These 
 troops were collected at Fort Harrison, a post 
 on the Wabash, about sixty miles above Vin 
 cennes. And as soon as his new soldiers were 
 properly disciplined, and he had trained both 
 the regulars and the militia to the Indian mode 
 of warfare, he took up his line of march for 
 the Prophet s town. 
 
 In the mean time, in conformity to his in 
 structions from the President, the governor 
 had endeavoured, by the intervention of the 
 Delaware and Miami chiefs who continued 
 friendly, to open an amicable negotiation with 
 
84 LIFE OF 
 
 the Indians, and induce them to give up the 
 murderers, who were known to be at Tippe- 
 canoe, and to restore the stolen horses, that 
 were still in the possession of his followers. 
 But his messengers of peace were received 
 and treated with great insolence, and the very 
 reasonable demands made by them were re-, 
 jected with disdain by the Prophet and his 
 council. To put an end to all hopes of ac 
 commodation, a small war-party w r as detached 
 for the purpose of commencing hostilities. 
 Finding no stragglers about the camp, they 
 fired upon one of the sentinels, and wounded 
 him severely. The Delaware chiefs informed 
 the governor of the object of this party, and 
 that it was now in vain to expect that any 
 thing but force could obtain either satisfaction 
 for the injuries done, or security for the future. 
 He learned also from the same source, that the 
 strength of the Prophet was daily increasing 
 by the ardent and giddy young men from 
 every tribe, and particularly from the tribes 
 on and beyond the Illinois river. 
 
 In this state of things, the governor marched 
 from Fort Harrison on the 28th of October, 
 1811. Profiting by his own early experience, 
 and the remembered example of his old friend 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 85 
 
 and commander, General Wayne, his march 
 through a singularly wild and exposed region 
 to Tippecanoe, was conducted with great skill 
 and prudence. The country through which 
 the army passed was occasionally open, beau 
 tiful prairie, intersected by thick woods, deep 
 creeks, and ravines. The cavalry and mount 
 ed riflemen, of the latter of which there were 
 two companies, covered the advance, the 
 flanks, and the rear, and were made to ex 
 change positions with each other, as the ground 
 varied ; so as always to keep them in the situ 
 ation best suited to the mode of fighting which 
 they respectively practised. The Indians being 
 adroit in the art of ambuscading, every pre 
 caution was taken to guard against surprise, 
 and prevent the army from being attacked in 
 a disadvantageous position. To the north of 
 the Wabash, the prairies are very extensive, 
 affording few favourable situations for the kind 
 of warfare peculiar to the savages. To de 
 ceive the enemy, the governor caused the route 
 to be reconnoitred on the south side, and a 
 wagon-road laid out ; and . having advanced 
 upon it a short distance, he suddenly changed 
 his direction, and gained the right bank of the 
 
86 LIFE OF 
 
 river, by crossing it above the mouth of Ra 
 coon creek. In passing the large prairies, thd 
 army was frequently halted, and made collec 
 tively to perform the evolutions which they 
 had been taught in smaller bodies, during their 
 stay at Fort Harrison; at which place the 
 governor had manoeuvred the relieving guards" 
 every day in person, and had required the at 
 tendance of the field-officers on those occa 
 sions. 
 
 As the Indian scouts had returned to their 
 main body and given the information that our 
 troops were making a road along the southern 
 banks of the Wabash, they were wholly un 
 prepared to meet them on the north side of 
 the river, or to oppose their passage of Pine 
 Creek, at a very dangerous ford, where a few 
 men might have successfully resisted the whole 
 army. The appearance of this creek forms a 
 singular exception to the other water-courses 
 f this country. It runs, for the distance of 
 fifteen or twenty miles above its mouth, be 
 tween immense cliffs of rock, upon whose 
 summits are found considerable quantities of 
 pine and red cedar, the former of which is 
 rare, and the latter is nowhere else to be 
 found near the Wabash. The ordinary cross- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 87 
 
 ing-place was represented by the guides to 
 be extremely difficult, if not impassable for 
 wagons ; and this was no doubt the spot 
 where the Indians would have designed to 
 make their attack, had they been prepared to 
 meet the army here, instead of having been 
 induced by the governor s feigned advance to 
 gather their forces on the southern side of the 
 river. This place had already been twice 
 selected by the Indians for an ambush once, 
 in the year 1780, when General Clarke un 
 dertook a campaign against the Indians on 
 the Wabash ; and a second time, in the year 
 1790, when Colonel Hamtramack penetrated 
 with a small force as high as the Vermilion, 
 to make a diversion in favour of General 
 Harmar s expedition to the Miami of the 
 Lake. 
 
 The governor had no intention of encoun 
 tering the enemy in a place like this. He 
 accordingly, in the course of the night pre 
 ceding his approach to the creek, dispatched 
 Captain Prince of the Indiana militia, with an 
 escort of forty men, to reconnoitre the creek 
 some miles above, and endeavour to find a 
 better fording. On his return, the following 
 morning, this officer met the army in its ad- 
 8 
 
88 LIFE OF 
 
 vance, and informed the governor, that at the 
 distance of six or eight miles, he had found a 
 trace used by the Illinois Indians in travelling 
 to Tippecanoe, which presented an excellent 
 ford, at a place where the prairie skirted the 
 creek. This prairie, which they were now 
 crossing, excited the admiration and astonish- . 
 ment of the officers and soldiers, who had 
 never been on the north-west side of the Wa- 
 bash. To the north and west the prospect 
 was unbounded. From the highest eminence 
 no limit was to be seen, and the guides as 
 serted that the prairie extended to the Illinois 
 river. 
 
 On the evening of the 5th of November, the 
 army encamped at the distance of nine or ten 
 miles from the Prophet s town. It was ascer 
 tained that the approach of the army had been 
 discovered before it crossed Pine creek. The 
 traces of reconnoitring parties were very 
 often seen, but no Indians were discovered 
 until the following day, when the troops ar 
 rived within five or six miles of the town. 
 The interpreters were then placed with the 
 advanced guard, to endeavour to open a com 
 munication with them. The Indians, how 
 ever, would return no answer to the invita- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 89 
 
 tions that were made for that purpose, but 
 continued to insult our troops by their ges 
 tures. Within about three miles of the town, 
 the ground became broken by ravines, and 
 covered with a heavy growth of trees. The 
 utmost precaution became necessary, and 
 every difficult pass was examined by the 
 mounted riflemen, before the army was per 
 mitted to enter it. The ground being unfit 
 for the operation of the squadron of dragoons, 
 they were thrown in the rear. 
 
 Within about two miles of the town, the 
 path descended a steep hill, at the bottom of 
 which was a small creek running through a 
 narrow, wet prairie, and beyond this was a level 
 plain partially covered with oak timber, and 
 without underbrush. No place could be bet 
 ter fitted for the savages to attack the army 
 with a prospect of success ; and the governor 
 apprehended that the moment the troops de 
 scended into the hollow, they would be as 
 sailed. A disposition was therefore made of 
 the infantry, to receive the enemy on the left 
 and rear. A company of mounted riflemen 
 was advanced a considerable distance from 
 the left flank to check the approach of the 
 Indians; and the other companies were or- 
 
90 LIFE OF 
 
 dered to turn the enemy s flanks, should they 
 attack from that direction. The dragoons 
 were ordered to move rapidly from the rear 
 and occupy the plain in advance of the creek, 
 to cover the crossing of the army from an 
 attack in front. In this order the troops were 
 passed over ; the dragoons were made to ad 
 vance to give room to the infantry, and the 
 latter having crossed the creek, were formed 
 to receive the enemy in front in one line, with 
 a reserve of three companies; the dragoons 
 flanked by mounted riflemen forming the first 
 line. 
 
 During all this time, Indians were frequently 
 seen in front and on the flanks. The inter 
 preters endeavoured in vain to bring them to 
 a parley. Though sufficiently near to hear 
 what was said to them, they would return no 
 answer, but continued by gestures to menace 
 and insult those who addressed them. Cap 
 tain Dubois, of Vincennes, having volunteered 
 his services, was dispatched with an inter 
 preter, to the Prophet, to ascertain whether 
 he would now comply with the terms that had 
 been so often proposed to him. The army 
 was moved slowly after, in order of battle. 
 In a few moments, a messenger came from 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 91 
 
 Captain Dubois, informing the governor that 
 the Indians were near him in considerable 
 numbers, that they would make no reply to 
 the interpreter, but that, upon his advancing, 
 they actually_endeavoured to cut him off from 
 the army. / Governor Harrison, after this last 
 effort to open a negotiation, which sufficiently 
 evinced his desire for an amicable accom 
 modation, could no longer hesitate to treat 
 the Indians as open enemies. He therefore 
 recalled Captain Dubois, and moved on with 
 a determination to attack them. He had 
 not proceeded far, however, before he was 
 met by a deputation of the Prophet s counsel 
 lors. They were sent, they said, to ascertain 
 why the army was advancing upon them ; 
 they stated that the Prophet wished, if possi 
 ble, to avoid hostilities; that he had sent a 
 pacific message by the Miami and Potawato- 
 mie chiefs, who had come to him on the part 
 of the governor, but that those chiefs had un 
 fortunately gone down on the south side of 
 the Wabash. A suspension of hostilities was 
 accordingly agreed upon, and a meeting was 
 to take place the next day between the gover 
 nor and the chiefs, to agree upon the terms 
 of peace. But Harrison knew too well the 
 8* 
 
92 LIFE OF 
 
 treachery of his artful antagonist, to allow 
 himself to be deceived by his specious profes 
 sions, or lulled into any fancied security. 
 
 The governor marched the army to a care 
 fully selected position, and encamped late in 
 the evening, on a dry piece of ground, which 
 rose about ten feet above the level of a marshy 
 prairie in front towards the town, and about 
 twice as high above a similar prairie in the 
 rear, through which, near the bank, ran a 
 small stream, fringed with willows and brush 
 wood. The governor posted his troops in a 
 hollow square. Two columns of infantry oc 
 cupied the front and rear ; the right flank 
 consisted of a strong body of infantry, and the 
 left flank was composed of three companies 
 of mounted riflemen. The cavalry were en 
 camped in the rear of the front rank and the 
 left flank. The encampment was not more 
 than three-fourths of a mile from the town. 
 
 The order given to the army, in the event 
 of a night attack, was for each corps to main 
 tain its ground at all hazards till relieved. 
 The dragoons were directed, in such a case, 
 to parade dismounted, with their swords on 
 and their pistols in their belts, and to await 
 for orders. But the army in general had no 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 93 
 
 expectation of an attack. Many of the men 
 appeared to be much disappointed. They 
 were anxious for a contest with the Indians, 
 and some of the more ardent loudly expressed 
 their regret that they should have to return 
 home without a battle. 
 
 The night was dark and cloudy. The moon 
 rose late, and soon after midnight there com 
 menced a light fall of drizzling rain. The 
 whole night passed without the slightest inter 
 ruption, and the governor and his aids rose at 
 about a quarter before four, and were sitting 
 in conversation about the fire. It was still 
 dark, as the light of the moon was shadowed 
 by heavy and lowering clouds. At this mo 
 ment the attack commenced. The treacher 
 ous Indians had stealthily crept up near our 
 sentries, with the intention of rushing upon 
 them and killing them before they could give 
 the alarm. But fortunately one of the sentries 
 discovered an Indian creeping towards him 
 through the grass, and fired at him. This 
 was immediately followed by the Indian yell, 
 and a furious charge upon the left flank. So 
 sudden and fierce was this onset, that the 
 guard stationed in that quarter gave way, at 
 first, to their savage assailants ; but notwith- 
 
94 LIFE OF 
 
 standing the severe fire, they soon rallied, and 
 maintained their ground with desperate va 
 lour. The camp-fires were immediately ex 
 tinguished, as their light only served to expose 
 our men to the deadly aim of the Indians. 
 Upon the first alarm, the governor mounted 
 his horse, and proceeded to the point of at 
 tack; and finding the line much weakened 
 there, he ordered two companies from the 
 centre and rear line to march up to their sup 
 port. About this time, Colonel Joseph Ha 
 milton Daviess, of Kentucky, informed the 
 governor that the Indians, concealed behind 
 some trees near the left of the front line, were 
 severely annoying the troops in that quarter, 
 and requested permission to dislodge them. 
 In attempting this hazardous exploit, he charged 
 the Indians on foot, but unfortunately the 
 flash of his pistol exposed him to the deadly 
 aim of the savages, and he was shot down 
 almost instantly, pierced with three balls, 
 either of which would have proved fatal and 
 thus fell a gallant and chivalric spirit, and one 
 of the most daring and intrepid officers in the 
 whole army. His men repulsed the Indians 
 several times, and finally succeeded in carry 
 ing him into the camp. Colonel Isaac White, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 95 
 
 of Indiana, another brave officer, who served 
 as a volunteer under Colonel Daviess, like 
 wise fell in this sanguinary charge. A heavy 
 fire now commenced upon the right flank, 
 upon a part of the rear line, and upon the 
 entire front as well as upon the left flank. 
 Finding that many of our officers were killed 
 by the severe fire on the right flank, and that 
 our men there were warmly pressed, the go 
 vernor led another company to their aid, 
 which enabled them to defend their position 
 during the rest of the attack. While the go 
 vernor was leading this company into action, 
 his gallant aid, Colonel Owen, of Kentucky, a 
 veteran warrior in Indian warfare, was killed 
 at his side. 
 
 The battle was now maintained in every di 
 rection with desperate valour. The Indians 
 advanced and retreated by a rattling noise 
 made with deer-hoofs. They fought with great 
 enthusiasm, and seemed determined to con 
 quer. Our men maintained the fight with even 
 more than their accustomed bravery, and the 
 governor was unwearied in his active exer 
 tions. Amid all the din of battle, the fierce 
 shouting of our troops, and the fiend-like yell- 
 ings of the savages, his clear and manly voice 
 
96 LIFE OF 
 
 was heard encouraging and supporting his men 
 where they were most severely pressed, and 
 cheering them on to victory. He repeatedly, 
 during the engagement, changed their position 
 to meet the varying attacks of his desperate 
 assailants, and in all these evolutions the troops 
 were formed and led into action by himself. 
 
 When the day dawned, the left flank, the 
 most assailable part of the encampment, was 
 reinforced by four companies drawn from the 
 rear and centre ; the right flank was strength 
 ened by two companies ; th^ dragoons were 
 mounted, and, supported by them, a simulta 
 neous charge was made upon the enemy on 
 both flanks. And so vigorous and determined 
 was this attack, that the enemy gave way on 
 all sides the Indians on the left flank were 
 driven into a swamp impenetrable to cavalry, 
 while those on the right were put to flight with 
 great loss, and this severely-contested victory 
 was at last gained by our gallant troops. 
 
 The Indians, who were supposed to amount 
 to about a thousand in number, were com 
 manded in this battle by three noted warriors 
 White Loon, Stone E&ter, and Winnemac, 
 a Potawatomie chief, who had been with the 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 97 
 
 governor at Fort Harrison, and on his march, 
 making great professions of friendship. 
 
 More than two-thirds of our army were 
 volunteers, principally from Indiana. Those 
 from the neighbourhood of Vincennes had been 
 trained for several years by the governor, and 
 had become very expert in the manoeuvres 
 which he had adopted for fighting the Indians. 
 The greater part of the territorial troops fol 
 lowed him as well from personal attachment 
 as from a sense of duty. Indeed, a greater 
 degree of confidence and personal attachment 
 has rarely been found in any army towards 
 its commander, than existed in this ; nor have 
 there been many battles in which the depend 
 ence of the army on its leader was more dis 
 tinctly felt. During the whole action the go 
 vernor was constantly on the lines, and always 
 repaired to the point which was most hardly 
 pressed. The reinforcements drawn occa 
 sionally from the positions most secure, were 
 conducted by himself and formed on the spot 
 where their services were most wanted. The 
 officers and men who believed that their ulti 
 mate success depended on his safety, warmly 
 remonstrated against his so constantly expos 
 ing himself; but, the consciousness of his per- 
 
98 LIFE OF 
 
 sonal danger never interfered, for a moment, 
 with the unshrinking performance of his duty\ 
 Upon one occasion, as he was approaching an 
 angle of the line against which the Winneba- 
 goes, the most daring of the Indians, were ad 
 vancing with the fiercest yells, one of his offi 
 cers seized the bridle of his horse and earnest 
 ly entreated that he would not go there ; but 
 the governor, freely applying his spurs, push 
 ed on to the point of attack, and so cheered 
 the troops by his presence that they received 
 the enemy with firmness and drove them back 
 with the loss of several of their chiefs. 
 
 The Prophet took no active part in this bat 
 tle, but during the whole of the contest he re 
 mained secure on a neighbouring eminence, 
 chanting a war-song. He had promised his 
 warriors that " the Great Spirit would turn 
 the powder of the whites into ashes, and charm 
 their bullets, so that they should drop harm 
 less, and that the red men should have light, 
 while their enemies were involved in utter 
 darkness." Soon after the battle commenced, 
 he was told that his warriors were falling in 
 great numbers, but he bade them fight on, and x 
 they would soon see the fulfilment of all his 
 predictions. 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 99 
 
 The day of the battle was spent in taking 
 care of tl\e wounded, and in paying the last 
 mournful rites to the remains of those who 
 had fallen. On the next day, the town, which 
 had been abandoned by the Indians in great 
 haste, was occupied by a detachment of our 
 troops ; and after the removal of every thing 
 of value, its fortifications were destroyed and 
 the town itself burnt. On the same day the 
 troops were put in motion on their homeward 
 march. Every wagon was required to trans 
 port the wounded, and it therefore became 
 requisite to destroy all the unnecessary bag 
 gage ; in doing which," the governor set the 
 example, by ordering all his own camp furni 
 ture to be broken and burnt first. They pur 
 sued their route by easy marches, till they 
 arrived, without interruption, at their block 
 house on the Wabash; where the wounded 
 were embarked in boats, while the rest of the 
 army continued their march by land to Vin- 
 cennes. 
 
 The battle of Tippecanoe was unquestiona 
 bly one of the most spirited and best-fought 
 actions recorded in the annals of our Indian 
 wars. The numbers and weapons on either 
 side were nearly equal ; and the Indians, con- 
 9 
 
100 LIFE OF 
 
 trary to their usual custom, fought hand to 
 hand, and with the most desperate ferocity ; 
 displaying a boldness and reckless daring, dur 
 ing the engagement, that can only be account 
 ed for by their reliance on the specious pro 
 mises held out to them by the Prophet. Every 
 man in this battle encountered his share of. 
 danger, but no one was in more personal peril 
 than Governor Harrison himself well known 
 to many of the Indians, and the object of their 
 peculiar attack, his fearless and unshrinking 
 exposure makes it seem almost a miracle that 
 he should have escaped unwounded. In re 
 ferring to the coolness and intrepidity of Go 
 vernor Harrison, on this occasion, we cannot 
 refrain from making the following extracts 
 from a journal published in Keene, New Hamp 
 shire, by Adam Walker, a private soldier, who 
 fought in this battle, and who could have had 
 no interested motives for his publication: 
 " General Harrison," he says, " received a shot 
 through the rim of his hat. In the heat of the 
 action, his voice was frequently heard, and 
 easily distinguished, giving his orders in the , 
 same calm, cool, and collected manner, with 
 which we had been used to receive them on 
 drill or parade. The confidence of the troops 
 
WILLIAM HENfiY tfARRISON. 1Q1 
 
 in the General was unlimited. " ,Tue jjarno 
 writer, in speaking of Harrison s kindness to 
 the soldiers, and his influence over them, re 
 marks : " He appeared not disposed to detain 
 any man against his inclination; being en 
 dowed by nature with a heart as humane as 
 brave, in his frequent addresses to the militia, 
 his eloquence was formed to persuade; appeals 
 were made to reason as well as feeling, and 
 never were they made in vain." 
 
 An incident that occurred at this time ap 
 pears well worthy of being recorded. The 
 night before the battle, a negro man belonging 
 to the camp, who had been missing, was ar 
 rested under the governor s marquee, under 
 very suspicious circumstances. He was tried 
 by a court-martial for desertion to the enemy, 
 and for an attempt to assassinate the governor. 
 Sufficient evidence was found to convict him, 
 and he was sentenced to death ; yet such were 
 the humane feelings of Harrison, that he could 
 not induce himself to sign the order for his 
 execution. As the criminal attempt had been 
 made against his own life, he felt himself pri 
 vileged to exercise his benevolence towards 
 the offender, and the misguided wretch was 
 suffered to escape the just punishment of his 
 
102 
 
 crimtf. It; weald .haye, J)een more in accord 
 ance* with the principles of strict justice, had 
 the law been permitted to take its own course 
 in this instance but the circumstances of the 
 case were very peculiar, and Governor Har 
 rison s conduct evinced a magnanimity and 
 humanity of heart rarely equalled. 
 
 The importance of the victory at Tippeca- 
 noe cannot be too highly estimated. It quelled 
 the haughty spirit of the discontented and hos 
 tile Indians, and defeated the plan, which they 
 had almost matured, of attacking and destroy 
 ing our scattered border settlements in detail. 
 Had we lost this battle, our army must have 
 been annihilated the whole extent of our de 
 fenceless frontier would have been left to the 
 mercy of sanguinary and unsparing savages, 
 and the consequent loss of life, and destruction 
 of property, would have been almost incalcu 
 lable. 
 
 President Madison, in his message to Con 
 gress, dated December 18th, 1812, makes the 
 following honourable mention of this battle: 
 " While it is deeply to be lamented," says the 
 President, "that so many valuable lives have 
 been lost in the action which took place on the 
 9th ult., Congress will see, with satisfaction, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 103 
 
 the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously 
 displayed by every description of troops en 
 gaged, as well as the collected firmness which 
 distinguished their commander, on an occasion 
 requiring the utmost exertion of valour and 
 discipline." 
 
 The Legislature of Kentucky, at their en 
 suing session, on the motion of John J. Crit- 
 tenden, now a distinguished member of the 
 United States Senate, expressed their high 
 sense of Governor Harrison s good conduct 
 on this occasion, by the following compliment 
 ary resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That in the late campaign 
 against the Indians, on the Wabash, Governor 
 W. H. Harrison has, ill the opinion of this le 
 gislature, behaved like a hero, a patriot, and a 
 general ; and that for his cool, deliberate, skil 
 ful, and gallant conduct, in the late battle of 
 Tippecanoe, he deserves the warmest thanks 
 of the nation." 
 
 This high encomium came from those whose 
 friends and neighbours had participated in the 
 late campaign, and who were consequently 
 familiar with all its details, and with the merits 
 of the commander-in-chief. 
 
 Tecumthe was not present at the battle of 
 9* 
 
104 LIFE OF 
 
 Tippecanoe ; being on a visit to the southern 
 tribes, whom he was endeavouring to unite 
 in his combination against the United States. 
 During his tour, he visited the Creeks, Choc- 
 taws, and Chickasaws, and then crossed the 
 Mississippi and continued his course north 
 wardly as high as the river Demoins ; and 
 having obtained, it is believed, the promise of 
 assistance from all the tribes in that direction, 
 he returned to the Wabash by land, across 
 the heads of the Illinois river. In his absence, 
 his affairs had sustained a sad reverse. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Declaration of War with Great Britain. Measures 
 adopted to defend our North-western frontier. 
 Governor Harrison is appointed Major General in the 
 Kentucky militia. He receives the commission of 
 Brigadier General in the service of the United 
 States. He is made Commander-in-chief of the 
 North-western army. His extensive powers and ar 
 duous duties. Plan of the Campaign. Massacre 
 at the River Raisin. Expedition against the Indian 
 towns. 
 
 WAR was declared against Great Britain on 
 the 18th of June, 1812. Prior to this event, 
 British agents had, for a long time, been tarn- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 105 
 
 pering with the discontented Indians within 
 our territory, and had bribed them with pre 
 sents, and furnished them with firearms, to 
 induce them to renew their hostilities against 
 our country. The crafty and daring Tecum- 
 the, too, was once more in the field. Urged 
 on by his savage eloquence, by their own 
 natural love for war and plunder, and by the 
 atrocious intrigues of foreign agents, the 
 north-western Indians again raised the war- 
 whoop, and commenced their barbarous sys 
 tem of warfare. Their cruel murders and 
 depredations became of frequent occurrence, 
 and the wailings of bereaved mothers and or 
 phans, and the bitter complaints of those who 
 had escaped from the conflagration of their 
 plundered homes, excited the commiseration 
 of our hardy borderers, and roused a general 
 feeling of indignation. Such was the state 
 of excitement in the frontier settlements in the 
 summer of 1812. 
 
 Immediately after the declaration of war, 
 our western governors promptly adopted 
 every measure in their power, for the defence 
 of their respective States and Territories. 
 But conscious of the great abilities and expe 
 rience of Harrison, they placed the utmost 
 
106 LIFE OF 
 
 reliance on his counsels, and looked to him as 
 the leader, under whom they might hope for 
 success against the common enemy. He 
 aided Governor Edwards in placing the fron 
 tier of Illinois in a posture of defence, and 
 soon after, was invited by Governor Scott 
 of Kentucky, a distinguished revolutionary 
 officer, to a conference in relation to the 
 Kentucky troops, which had been raised for 
 the defence of the frontier. He accepted this 
 invitation, and met Governor Scott at Frank 
 fort ; where he was received with the accla 
 mations of the people, and with the highest 
 civil and military honours. These public 
 marks of the high estimation in which Harri 
 son was held by the people, were shortly 
 after followed by proofs still more flattering of 
 their confidence in his patriotism, his abilities, 
 and his military skill. 
 
 Governor Scott had levied an armed force 
 of more than five thousand militia and volun 
 teers, commanded by some of the ablest men 
 and most experienced officers in the State. 
 Two thousand of these troops were ordered 
 for immediate service; and they had no 
 sooner learned that they were destined to 
 march to the aid of their fellow-countrymen 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 107 
 
 on the frontier, than they at once unani 
 mously expressed the most earnest desire to 
 be placed under the command of Governor 
 Harrison. This feeling was responded to by 
 the wishes of the whole mass of the people 
 throughout the State. The laws of Ken- 
 
 o 
 
 tucky, however, would not permit any other 
 than a citizen to hold a command in the State 
 militia. In this dilemma, Governor Scott 
 consulted with the venerable Shelby, (the 
 governor elect), the Hon. Henry Clay, and 
 other distinguished citizens of the state, and 
 by their unanimous advice he gave Harrison 
 a brevet commission of major general in the 
 Kentucky militia, with express authority to 
 take command of the gallant troops, about to 
 march to the frontier. This was a bold and 
 unprecedented measure, but one that gave 
 unbounded satisfaction to both soldiers and 
 citizens, and one fully warranted by the pe 
 culiar exigencies of the case. These facts 
 speak volumes in favour of the remarkable 
 popularity and great military reputation which 
 Governor Harrison enjoyed in a population 
 of brave and chivalric people, boasting an un 
 usual proportion of highly-gifted and^ distin 
 guished men. 
 
108 LIFE OF 
 
 About this time, the cowardice and imbe 
 cility of General Hull tamely surrendered to 
 the British the important post of Detroit, with 
 the gallant force which composed its garrison. 
 This event spread consternation, far and wide, 
 through the western country, and greatly in 
 creased the difficulty and arduous nature of 
 Governor Harrison s duties. He immediately, 
 however, organized the brave troops under 
 his command, and commenced a course of 
 rigid discipline and military training; with 
 the confident hope of retrieving the disasters 
 consequent upon the cowardly surrender of 
 Detroit. 
 
 But his operations were soon interrupted by 
 the receipt of official letters from the War De 
 partment, written in ignorance of the surren 
 der of Hull and of the proceedings in Kentucky, 
 and appointing General Winchester to take 
 command of Ithe forces marching to Detroit. 
 Governor Harrison was, at the same time, ap 
 pointed Brigadier General in the service of the 
 United States but he declined to accept this 
 appointment, being desirous that the War De 
 partment should first be made aware of the 
 arrangejments by which he had received the 
 command of the Kentucky troops. Mean- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 109 
 
 while, the army had marched to the north 
 western frontier of Ohio ; and Governor Har 
 rison, having relieved Fort Wayne, which had 
 been besieged by the enemy, and having de 
 stroyed the Indian towns on the Elkhart and 
 the Wabash, resigned the command to Win 
 chester, with the intention of returning to In 
 diana, and resuming the duties of his territorial 
 government. 
 
 General Winchester, who had thus taken 
 the chief command, was an old revolutionary 
 soldier, and a brave and meritorious officer ; 
 but being less known and less distinguished, 
 he was not, like Harrison, possessed of the en 
 thusiastic confidence of the army. Governor 
 Harrison, nevertheless, exerted every effort in 
 his power to reconcile the troops to this change. 
 But soon after he left them, their displeasure 
 at having been deprived of their favourite 
 commander was not confined to murmurs, but 
 created open disaffection and almost mutiny. 
 The volunteers, especially, were loud in their 
 complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction 
 at the change of commanders and the troops 
 were at last induced to continue their march, 
 solely by the belief that as soon as the case 
 was rightly understood at Washington, the 
 
110 LIFE OF 
 
 command would be restored to Governor Har 
 rison. 
 
 This expectation was speedily realized 
 for no sooner was the President made aware 
 of the condition of the army, and of the al 
 most unanimous wishes of the western people, 
 than he immediately appointed Harrison in 
 place of Winchester, commander-in-chief of 
 the north-western army. The dispatch con 
 veying this appointment, overtook him on his 
 way to Indiana, and, with a small escort, he 
 returned, without delay, to the army. 
 
 He arrived at the encampment late at night, 
 but at a very critical moment. A revolt had 
 that day taken place in one of the regiments 
 of Kentucky volunteers, commanded by Colo 
 nel Allen, the result of which forcibly evinced 
 the powerful influence General Harrison pos 
 sessed over the army. He had scarcely ar 
 rived, when he was waited upon by Colonel 
 Allen and his second in command, who bore 
 him the mortifying intelligence that their men, 
 exhausted by the hard fare of the campaign, 
 and disappointed in their expectation of an 
 immediate engagement with the enemy, had, 
 in defiance of their duty to their country, and 
 all the earnest and impassioned remonstrances 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. Ill 
 
 of their officers, determined to return home. 
 They assured General Harrison that their ap 
 peals and representations were answered by- 
 insult, and they entreated his instant interfer 
 ence as the only means of bringing the muti 
 neers back to their duty. 
 
 The general declined taking any step that 
 night, but gave orders that the next morning 
 the alarm signal should be beat instead of the 
 reveille. This adroit expedient brought all the 
 troops to their arms, and they were formed as 
 usual in a hollow square. General Harrison 
 then made his appearance on parade, much to 
 the surprise of the troops, who, from his late 
 arrival in camp, had not been aware of his 
 presence. 
 
 With a ready eloquence, he immediately 
 addressed them on the subject of the cam 
 paign, and referred to the disaffection that ex 
 isted in one of the Kentucky regiments. " It 
 was fortunate," he said, " that this discontent 
 had been found out before the campaign was 
 further advanced, when the discovery might 
 have been mischievous to the public interests, 
 as well as disgraceful to the parties concern 
 ed. Now, so far as the government was in 
 terested, the discontented troops, who had 
 10 
 
112 LIFE OF 
 
 come into the woods with the expectation of 
 finding all the luxuries of home and of peace, 
 Jiad full liberty to return. He would," he con 
 tinued, "order facilities to be furnished for 
 their immediate accommodation. But he 
 could not refrain from expressing the mortifi 
 cation he anticipated for the recep tion they 
 would meet from the young and the old, who 
 had greeted them as their gallant neighbours 
 on their march to the scene of war. 
 
 " What must be their feelings," said the 
 general, " to see those whom they had hailed 
 as their generous defenders, now returning 
 without striking a blow, and before their term 
 of plighted service had expired ? But if this 
 would be the state of public sentiment in Ohio, 
 what would it be in Kentucky 1 If their fa 
 thers did not drive their degenerate sons back 
 to the field of battle to recover their wounded 
 honour, their mothers and sisters would hiss 
 them from their presence. If, however, the 
 discontented men were disposed to put up with 
 all the taunts and disdain which awaited them 
 wherever they went, they were," General 
 Harrison again assured them, " at full liberty 
 to go back." 
 
 The influence of this manly and exciting 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 113 
 
 address was instantaneous. Colonel Scott, the 
 senior colonel of Kentucky, a war-worn vete 
 ran who had served in the armies of Harmar, 
 St Clair, and Wayne, immediately faced his 
 regiment, and said to them, " You, my boys, 
 will prove your attachment to the service of 
 your country, and to your general, by giving 
 three cheers." The air instantly resounded 
 with the shouts of both officers and men. The 
 regiment of Colonel Lewis replied in the same 
 manner to a similar request from their com 
 mander ; and when, at last, Colonel Allen ad 
 dressed the soldiers of his regiment in a forci 
 ble appeal to their patriotism and returning 
 sense of duty, they, too, responded with the 
 same cheering shouts and none of the troops 
 behaved more faithfully and gallantly than these 
 during the remainder of their term of service. 
 The powers conferred on Harrison, as com- 
 mander-in-chief of the North-western army, 
 were of great extent, and he was left to exer 
 cise them according to his own unrestricted 
 judgment. In the dispatch containing this ap 
 pointment, dated September 17th, 1812, the 
 Secretary of War says : " You will com 
 mand such means as may be practicable ex 
 ercise your own discretion, and act in all cases 
 
114 LIFE OF 
 
 according to your own judgment," thus con 
 ferring upon him extraordinary and almost 
 unlimited powers. We refer to this, merely 
 that we may here notice the remarkable fact, 
 that, though vested with unusual powers, Gene 
 ral Harrison was never known, during the 
 whole of his command, to exercise his author 
 ity in an unjust or oppressive manner. His 
 measures were energetic, but always qualified 
 by his characteristic moderation and human 
 ity, and by a due regard for the feelings of 
 every soldier in his camp. 
 
 This appointment, it should be remembered, 
 too, was not obtained by General Harrison by 
 any party or personal influence, but was con 
 ferred upon him in compliance with the almost 
 unanimous wishes of the western people ; and 
 by a President, who, when Secretary of State 
 under Jefferson, had been in constant corre 
 spondence with him in relation to the territo 
 rial affairs of Indiana, and had thus enjoyed 
 an ample opportunity of forming a fair esti 
 mate of his abilities and qualifications. 
 
 The duties that devolved on General Har 
 rison, in his new station, were arduous beyond 
 description. The troops under his command, 
 though brave, were either volunteers for a 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 115 
 
 limited period of time, or inexperienced and 
 undisciplined recruits ; and the army was 
 badly equipped, and nearly destitute of bag 
 gage and military stores. The enemy to which 
 he was opposed were tried and disciplined 
 British troops, well supplied with every muni 
 tion of war, and assisted by a powerful body 
 of Indians under the command of a warrior 
 distinguished for his great sagacity, energy, 
 and daring bravery. With these inadequate 
 means, under these unfavourable circum 
 stances, and with such formidable opponents, 
 he was required to defend an immense extent 
 of frontier, stretching along the shores of the 
 great northern lakes, whose numerous har 
 bours and rivers were easy of access to an 
 enemy, possessed of a fleet sufficiently large 
 to command these waters, and to transport 
 their troops in any direction. In addition to 
 this, the roads leading to those points which 
 most required defence, were nearly impassa 
 ble, and lay, for hundreds of miles, through a 
 wilderness swarming with hostile Indians, 
 and through gloomy and dangerous swamps, 
 where the troops, though little encumbered 
 with baggage, could advance but slowly, and 
 with great labour. But under all these diffi- 
 10* 
 
116 LIFE OF 
 
 culties, the spirits of the soldiers were sus 
 tained by the presence and example of their 
 favourite commander who animated them 
 in their fatigues, and cheerfully endured the 
 same hardships and privations which they 
 encountered. 
 
 The published accounts of our recent war 
 with the Serninoles in Florida, the disastrous 
 details of which have been made but too 
 familiar to us, will convey to our readers 
 some idea of the peculiar dangers and diffi 
 culties of this campaign, and of the skill and 
 fortitude required to overcome them. In 
 both cases, we were opposed by the same 
 savage foe, and the country was almost inac 
 cessible from the same causes its unhealthful- 
 ness at that season of the year, and its exten 
 sive and treacherous swamps, the passes 
 through which were known only to the 
 hostile Indians by whom they were occupied, 
 -with perhaps, in the two cases, but this differ 
 ence only, that the northern Indians are well 
 known to be much fiercer and more formida 
 ble warriors than their southern brethren, and 
 that, during the whole of this campaign, they 
 were kept constantly supplied, by the British, 
 with more effective arms and ammunition. 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 1 17 
 
 Yet, undismayed by these dangers and ob 
 stacles, General Harrison, wishing to strike 
 an early blow at the enemy, formed the bold 
 and daring design of a winter campaign 
 hoping, by a rapid and unexpected move 
 ment, to re-capture Detroit, take Maiden, and 
 perhaps overrun the greater part of Upper 
 Canada. To lessen the difficulty of collecting 
 the necessary supply of provisions and forage, 
 and to form the requisite depots, he stationed 
 the several corps of his army, at three differ 
 ent points. The left wing, consisting princi 
 pally of Kentuckians, under the command of 
 General Winchester, he posted at Fort Defi 
 ance the centre, composed of Ohio troops 
 under the command of General Tupper, he 
 stationed at Fort McArthur and the right 
 wing, consisting of the Pennsylvania and Vir 
 ginia brigades, was under his own immediate 
 command, at Upper Sandusky. After accu 
 mulating supplies of provisions and military 
 stores at these several points, the army was 
 to take up the line of march by three different 
 routes. The left wing was to descend the 
 river from Fort Defiance, the centre to ad 
 vance along Hull s Trace, the right wing was 
 to cross the Black Swamp by a difficult and 
 
118 LIFE OF 
 
 dangerous route, and the three corps were to 
 meet and concentrate the entire forces of the 
 army at the Rapids of the Maumee, near 
 Wayne s old battle-ground. 
 
 Having made all the arrangements, the 
 general used every effort to hasten the neces 
 sary supplies, and meanwhile kept the troops 
 constantly and laboriously employed in build 
 ing forts, forming depots, and cutting roads to 
 facilate his future operations. 
 
 The centre and right wing of the army, not 
 being far removed from our settlements, were 
 able to collect provisions with comparative 
 ease ; but the left wing, stationed at a more 
 remote distance, found great difficulty in ob 
 taining a sufficient supply even for their own 
 immediate subsistence. Under these circum 
 stances, and ascertaining that he could pro 
 cure forage in abundance at the Rapids, 
 General Winchester, having received the 
 instructions of General Harrison, determined 
 to move his forces down the Maumee to the 
 appointed place of concentration, without 
 waiting for the co-operation of the centre and 
 right wing of the army. He accordingly, on 
 the 30th of December, took up his line of 
 march for the Rapids. On the same day, a 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 119 
 
 gallant young volunteer from Kentucky (Mr. 
 Leslie Combs), was sent with a dispatch to 
 apprise General Harrison of this movement. 
 On the day after Mr. Combs had set out with 
 this dispatch, a heavy rain fell, followed im 
 mediately by a violent snow storm, which 
 continued without intermission for nearly 
 three days, and covered the ground to the 
 depth of two feet, thus preventing the rain 
 which had first fallen from freezing. On foot, 
 and with but a single guide, his way, which 
 led partly through a wilderness and partly 
 through the Black Swamp, would, under the 
 most favourable circumstances, have been 
 toilsome and dangerous. But the unexpected 
 yet unavoidable difficulties were such, and 
 the circuit he was compelled to make round 
 the morasses so increased the distance (about 
 a hundred miles), that this dispatch was de 
 layed five days longer than had been antici 
 pated. Mr. Combs arrived at his point of 
 destination, Fort McArthur, on the 7th of 
 January, worn out and exhausted with fatigue 
 and privations neither he nor his guide hav 
 ing tasted food of any kind, for the -last three 
 days of their journey. General Tupper at 
 once forwarded this dispatch to General 
 
120 LIFE OF 
 
 Harrison, who received it on the 12th of 
 January, and immediately issued orders for 
 sending on a part of the artillery to support 
 General Winchester, and a supply of provi 
 sions for his troops. 
 
 In the mean time, General Winchester had 
 proceeded down the Maumee to the Rapids, 
 where he arrived on the 10th of January, and 
 encamped at a strong position on the north 
 side of the river, which he fortified. 
 
 The first information General Harrison re 
 ceived of Winchester s arrival at this place, 
 came, not from that officer himself, but through 
 an indirect channel. On the evening of the 
 ]6th, an express arrived from General Per 
 kins, who then commanded a force at Lower 
 Sandusky, informing Harrison that Winches 
 ter had encamped at the Rapids, and had ap 
 plied to him for a battalion of troops, to aid in 
 a movement that he was meditating against the 
 enemy. Alarmed at this intelligence, and 
 dreading disastrous consequences, General 
 Harrison instantly dispatched reinforcements 
 to Winchester, and used every effort to for 
 ward him a supply of provisions and military 
 stores. 
 
 Soon after Winchester had arrived at the 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 121 
 
 Rapids, the inhabitants of Frenchtown a 
 small settlement on the river Raisin, within 
 our territory, sent messages to General Win 
 chester, urgently entreating him to protect 
 them from the large force of British and In 
 dians, assembled at Maiden, only eighteen 
 miles distant from their town. By the advice 
 of a council of his officers, Winchester deter 
 mined to comply with their entreaties, and 
 send on a strong force for their protection. 
 On the 17th, Colonel Lewis and Colonel Allen 
 were detached for this duty, and marched at 
 the head of six hundred and sixty men. The 
 next day, they arrived at the river Raisin, and 
 finding that the forces of the enemy were ak 
 ready in Frenchtown, they attacked them 
 with great gallantry, and after a sharp action, 
 succeeded in dislodging them, and gained 
 possession of the place. The engagement 
 commenced at three o clock, and the pursuit 
 continued until dusk, when the enemy were 
 driven several miles from the field of action. 
 Flushed with this victory, Colonel Lewis de 
 termined to maintain his position, and dis 
 patched an express to General Winchester to 
 apprise him of his intention. 
 
 Winchester, on hearing this intelligence, 
 
122 LIFE OF 
 
 approved of the decision of Colonel Lewis, 
 and knowing his critical situation, hastened to 
 support him with all his force. He arrived 
 and encamped at Frenchtown on the 20th 
 but unfortunately, for the first time during the 
 whole campaign, he omitted to fortify his po 
 sition, and even neglected to station a piquet 
 guard on the road leading to Maiden, where 
 the enemy were posted in great strength. 
 The whole of the 21st was suffered to pass 
 away without any of these necessary precau 
 tions having been adopted and on the follow 
 ing morning, the British and Indians from 
 Maiden, having advanced unperceived with 
 their entire force, opened a heavy fire of 
 grape-shot upon our troops, from several 
 pieces of artillery, at a distance of not more 
 than three hundred yards from the camp. 
 The troops under Winchester s immediate 
 command, completely taken by surprise and 
 unprotected by any fortification, were soon 
 overpowered by numbers, and forced to re 
 treat in confusion. Winchester, and the in 
 trepid Lewis and Allen, made every effort to 
 rally the fugitives, but in vain. They fled in 
 disorder across the river and to the woods, 
 where the Indians having gained their flank 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 123 
 
 and rear, pursued and tomahawked them 
 without mercy. General Winchester and 
 some few others were taken prisoners and 
 carried to the British camp. 
 
 But a part of Lewis s detachment, who had 
 adopted the precaution to protect their en 
 campment by pickets, still defended their posi 
 tion with great bravery and resolution ; until 
 Proctor, the commander of the British force, 
 procured an order from Winchester, com 
 manding them to surrender. As their ammu 
 nition was nearly expended, and they had no 
 hope of relief, these heroic troops, though re 
 luctantly, obeyed this order but not, how 
 ever, until Proctor had given them an express 
 assurance of protection from the exasperated 
 rage and cruelty of the Indians. 
 
 All the prisoners who were able to make 
 the exertion, were marched to Maiden ; but 
 those who were severely wounded were left 
 behind in the houses at Frenchtown, with the 
 repeated promises of Proctor that they should 
 be protected from the savages, and that, the 
 next morning, sleds should be sent to convey 
 them to Maiden. But instead of this, they 
 were left wholly unprotected, and the next day, 
 in place of the sleds, came a party of infuri- 
 11 
 
124 LIFE OF 
 
 ated Indians, who set fire to the town, burnt 
 the houses, and barbarously murdered all the 
 prisoners in cold blood ! 
 
 The defeat and massacre at the river Raisin 
 produced a great sensation throughout the 
 Western country,* and especially in Kentucky 
 which state, always foremost in danger, lost 
 some of her most valuable citizens and gallant 
 officers in this disastrous affair. So serious a 
 calamity necessarily excited much discussion 
 with regard to its causes, and as some censure 
 was thrown on those who committed no error, 
 and who were not instrumental in causing the 
 defeat of Winchester, which proved the defeat 
 of the campaign, it is proper that we should 
 proceed to state the measures taken by Gene 
 ral Harrison to reinforce General Winchester, 
 and prevent the unfortunate result above re 
 lated. 
 
 On the evening that General Harrison re 
 ceived, though indirectly, the intelligence of 
 General Winchester s contemplated movement 
 against the enemy, as before stated, he imme 
 diately dispatched an express to the Rapids 
 for information, gave orders for a corps of 
 three hundred men to hasten on with the ar 
 tillery, and for escorts to advance, without 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 125 
 
 delay, with the provisions and military stores. 
 The next morning he proceeded himself to 
 Lower Sandusky, at which place he arrived 
 in the night following having travelled a dis 
 tance of forty miles in seven hours and a half, 
 over roads requiring such exertion to pass 
 them, that the horse of his aid, Major Hakill, 
 fell dead, from fatigue and exhaustion, on their 
 arrival at the fort. He found there, that Gene 
 ral Perkins had prepared to send a battalion 
 to the Rapids, in conformity with a request 
 from General Winchester. That battalion was 
 dispatched the next morning, the 18th, with a 
 piece of artillery ; but so bad were the roads, 
 that it was unable, by its utmost exertions, to 
 reach the river Raisin, a distance of seventy- 
 five miles, before the fatal disaster. 
 
 General Harrison then determined to pro 
 ceed to the Rapids himself, to learn personally 
 from General Winchester his situation and 
 views. At four o clock on the morning of the 
 19th, while he still remained at Lower San- 
 dusky, he received the information, that Colo 
 nel Lewis had been sent with a detachment, 
 to secure the provisions on the river Raisin, 
 and to occupy, with the intention of holding 
 possession of the village of Frenchtown. There 
 
126 LIFE OF 
 
 was then but one regiment and a battalion at 
 Lower Sandusky the regiment was immedi 
 ately put in motion, with orders to make forced 
 marches for the Rapids, while General Harri 
 son himself immediately proceeded to the same 
 place. On his way, he met an express with 
 intelligence of the victory which had been 
 gained on the preceding day. 
 
 The anxiety of General Harrison to push 
 forward, and either prevent, or remedy any 
 misfortune which might occur, as soon as he 
 was apprised of the advance to the river Rai 
 sin, was manifested by the great personal ex 
 ertions which he made in this instance. He 
 started in a sleigh, with General Perkins, to 
 overtake the battalion under Cotgreve, attend 
 ed only by a single servant. As the sleigh 
 went very slowly, from the roughness of the 
 road, he took the horse of his servant and 
 pushed on alone. Night came upon him in 
 the midst of the swamp, which was so imper 
 fectly frozen, that his horse sank to the saddle- 
 girths at every step. He had then no resource 
 but to dismount and lead his horse, jumping 
 himself from one sod to another. When al 
 most exhausted with the cold and fatigue, the 
 General overtook one of Cotgreve s men, by 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 127 
 
 whose assistance he was enabled to reach the 
 camp of the battalion. 
 
 Very early on the morning of the 20th, 
 General Harrison arrived at the Rapids, from 
 w r hich place General Winchester had gone, ort 
 the preceding evening, with all his disposable 
 force, to the river Raisin. On the same day, 
 by a forced march, Cotgreve s battalion 
 reached the Rapids, and was, without delay, 
 hurried on with two pieces of artillery, to the 
 aid of Winchester and on the evening of the 
 21st, three hundred Kentuckians, who had been 
 left behind by Winchester, as a garrison, were 
 likewise ordered to march to Frenchtown. 
 The next day intelligence reached the Rapids 
 of Proctor s attack on Winchester s camp, and 
 General Harrison instantly ordered the whole 
 force at that station to be pushed on with all 
 possible expedition, and himself hastened for 
 ward to the scene of danger. They were soon, 
 however, met by fugitives from the field of 
 battle, from whom they ascertained the total 
 defeat of Winchester s forces. A council was 
 held of general and field officers, by whom it 
 was decided that it would be imprudent and 
 useless to advance any further. Strong par 
 ties were then sent out to protect the fugitives 
 11* 
 
128 LIFE OF 
 
 from the field of battle and from Frenchtown, 
 and the remainder of the troops returned to 
 the Rapids. 
 
 It is thus evident that every thing possible, 
 within the control of General Harrison, was 
 done by him to reinforce and aid General Win 
 chester in the dangerous position he had as 
 sumed. This expedition of Winchester, to the 
 river Raisin, was highly imprudent, since he 
 advanced within eighteen miles of the head 
 quarters of the enemy, whose forces were 
 strong and daily increasing, and he, at the 
 same time, removed more than thirty miles 
 from the Rapids, the nearest point from which 
 he could possibly have received any assistance. 
 Still the "disastrous result that ensued would no 
 doubt have been avoided, had he adopted the 
 ordinary precautions of fortifying his camp, 
 and stationing videttes to give him timely 
 warning of the approach of the enemy. His 
 troops could then, at least, have defended them 
 selves until the arrival of the reinforcements 
 from the Rapids, when the enemy would have 
 been compelled to retreat, or, had they fought, 
 the battle would, in all probability, have ter 
 minated in our favour. 
 
 After Winchester s defeat, our troops at the 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 129 
 
 Rapids amounted to less than nine hundred ef 
 fective men. General Harrison called a coun 
 cil of war, who, supposing that their position 
 would be attacked by the enemy in overwhelm- 
 iug force, unanimously recommended that the 
 army should fall back to Portage River, eigh 
 teen miles distant. The next morning, there 
 fore, our troops abandoned the Rapids, and re 
 tired to the designated point, which they 
 strongly fortified. 
 
 But on the 1st of February, the army, hav 
 ing been reinforced by the arrival of General 
 Leftwich, with the Virginia brigade and a part 
 of the artillery, augmenting their number to 
 eighteen hundred men, again marched to the 
 Rapids. General Harrison, still entertaining 
 a hope to accomplish the great objects of the 
 campaign, during the winter, continued to ex 
 ert himself unremittingly in making prepara 
 tions. But the elements seemed to conspire 
 against him. Instead of the severe cold and 
 intense frosts, that usually prevailed in this 
 northern region at this season, and which 
 would have enabled him to move his forces, 
 military stores, and supplies, with comparative 
 ease and celerity, warm rains broke up the 
 roads, and were followed by heavy falls of 
 
130 LIFE OF 
 
 snow, which rendered the march of troops ex 
 ceedingly fatiguing and dangerous, as well as 
 slow, and the conveyance of provisions and 
 heavy munitions of war almost impossible. 
 The unavoidable exposure, too, of the troops 
 to the heavy rains, which kept the encamp 
 ment almost constantly inundated, the defi 
 ciency of proper tents to shelter them, and 
 their want even of sufficient food and clothing, 
 produced pleurisies and much other severe 
 sickness in the camp, and greatly reduced the 
 number of effective men.* 
 
 Under these circumstances, General Harri 
 son was at length constrained to abandon, 
 though with much reluctance, all thought of 
 the contemplated expedition to Maiden, and 
 he prepared to go into winter quarters at the 
 Rapids. He accordingly selected a good po 
 sition on the south side of the river, which he 
 strongly fortified, and called Camp Meigs, in 
 
 * The General s tent, placed in the centre, happened 
 to be in one of the lowest parts of the encampment, 
 and consequently suffered most from the rain ; but, 
 when entreated by his officers to change its position, he 
 refused to do so, declaring 1 that it was necessary that 
 every military man should be satisfied with the situa 
 tion which, in the course of his duty, fell to his lot. 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 131 
 
 honour of the patriotic governor of Ohio. 
 Leaving the army at that station, General 
 Harrison proceeded to Cincinnati, to procure 
 reinforcements of men, and supplies of provi 
 sions and military stores. 
 
 About this time, General Harrison was ap 
 pointed major-general in the service of the 
 United States. This appointment had been 
 strangely delayed, although General Harrison 
 had been clothed with such extensive powers ; 
 and the people of the West, fearing that their 
 favourite commander might therefore resign 
 at the close of this campaign, had called pub 
 lic meetings and sent addresses to the presi 
 dent, requesting him to give Harrison the 
 appointment of major-general, and urging him 
 to accept it a demonstration of public feeling 
 which soon produced the desired effect. 
 
 We should here mention, that while engaged 
 in the various and arduous services of this 
 campaign, General Harrison organized several 
 distinct expeditions against the Indian towns, 
 to keep the hostile savages in check, and pro 
 tect our extended frontier. One of these ex 
 peditions, consisting of a detachment of six 
 hundred men, under the command of Colonel 
 Campbell, was sent against the towns on the 
 
132 LIFE OF 
 
 Mississineway, from which our scattering set 
 tlements had suffered much annoyance. This 
 enterprise was conducted with great skill, and 
 proved signally successful. The principal 
 town was attacked in the most gallant man 
 ner, and after a desperate action of more than 
 an hour, was carried at the point of the bayo 
 net. From the general order issued by Har 
 rison, on the return of this expedition, we 
 make the following extract, which will convey 
 some idea of the humane and generous feel 
 ings, that have always characterised both his 
 public and private conduct. After awarding 
 these gallant troops the high meed of praise 
 which their bravery had won, he goes on to 
 say "But the character of this gallant de 
 tachment, exhibiting as it did, perseverance, 
 fortitude, and bravery, would, however, be 
 incomplete, if, in the midst of victory, they 
 had forgotten the feelings of humanity. It is 
 with the sincerest pleasure that the general 
 has heard, that the most punctual obedience 
 was paid to his orders, in not only saving all 
 the women and children, but in sparing all the 
 warriors who ceased to resist ; and that even 
 when vigorously attacked by the enemy, the 
 claims of mercy prevailed over every sense 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 133 
 
 of their own danger, and this heroic band re 
 spected the lives of their prisoners. Let an 
 account of murdered innocence be opened in 
 the records of heaven against our enemies 
 alone. The American soldier will follow the 
 example of his government ; and the sword of 
 the one will not be raised against the fallen 
 and helpless, nor the gold of the other be paid 
 for the scalps of a maseacred enemy." What 
 a contrast do these noble sentiments present 
 to the atrocious conduct of the British Gene 
 ral, Proctor who, at the cruel massacre at 
 Raisin river, and at the Rapids, baselypermit- 
 ted unresisting prisoners of war to be unspar 
 ingly butchered, by his savage and remorse 
 less allies. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Opening of the second Campaign. Siege at Fort 
 Meigs. Its gallant Defence. Brilliant sortie. De 
 feat of Colonel Dudley. The Siege abandoned. 
 Second Siege of Fort Meigs. Attack on Fort Ste- 
 phenson. 
 
 EARLY in the spring, intelligence was re 
 ceived that the British were making extensive 
 preparations, and concentrating a large force 
 
134 LIFE OF 
 
 of regular soldiers, Canadians, and Indians, to 
 besiege Fort Meigs. 
 
 On obtaining this information, General Har 
 rison hastened to his camp, and exerted the 
 most strenuous efforts, to prepare for this 
 threatened attack of the enemy. His presence 
 cheered the troops, and he inspired them with 
 fresh ardour, on the approach of the enemy, 
 by an eloquent address, in which he alluded 
 modestly, but in the most animating manner, 
 to the neighbouring battle-field, where Gene 
 ral Wayne had gained the brilliant victory of 
 the Maumee Rapids, and where he himself 
 had won the brightest of his earlier laurels. 
 
 At this time, the garrison of Fort Meigs was 
 much reduced in numbers, and the period for 
 which those who still remained had enlisted, 
 was about to expire. General Harrison there 
 fore looked with great anxiety for the arrival 
 of the strong reinforcement of Kentucky 
 troops, who were approaching with all possi 
 ble dispatch under General Clay ; but whose 
 march had been greatly impeded by the 
 wretched condition of the roads. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th of April, the 
 scouts brought in intelligence of the near ad 
 vance of the enemy. And soon after, on that 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 135 
 
 day, the British troops were discovered from 
 the fort, ascending the river in vessels and 
 boats, while the Indians, in strong force, were 
 seen approaching, at the same time, by land. 
 The British disembarked and encamped at the 
 old station on the Maumee, nearly two miles 
 below Fort Meigs ; and on the night after they 
 landed, they commenced the construction of 
 three powerful batteries, on the north side of 
 the river, directly opposite our camp. 
 
 On the first of May, the batteries of the 
 enemy were completed. But to counteract 
 their effect, during the time they had been 
 employed in erecting them, our troops had 
 thrown up a traverse of earth twelve feet in 
 height, and running across the whole extent 
 of the camp. The construction of this tra 
 verse, being behind the tents of our camp, had 
 been entirely concealed from the British, but 
 as soon as their batteries began to play, these 
 tents were struck, and to the disappointment 
 of the enemy, our troops were safely with 
 drawn behind the protection of their new for 
 tification. A severe fire was now opened from 
 the British works, which was returned, with 
 equal vigour and more effect, from the fort. 
 Other batteries were likewise erected by the 
 12 
 
136 LIFE OF 
 
 enemy, on the southern side of the river, and 
 a heavy cannonading was continued, with 
 scarcely any intermission, for five days. In 
 consequence, however, of the skilful disposi 
 tions of General Harrison, very little loss was 
 suffered on our side. 
 
 At midnight, on the fourth of May, General 
 Harrison received the welcome intelligence 
 that General Clay with his forces was just 
 above the Rapids, and would arrive at the fort 
 by daybreak of the next morning. Immedi 
 ately on receiving this information, General 
 Harrison promptly decided to make a bold 
 and vigorous effort to raise the siege, by a 
 simultaneous attack on the enemy s batteries 
 upon both sides of the river. Preparations were 
 at once made for a sortie from the fort, against 
 the British works on the right bank, and an 
 officer was dispatched to General Clay, direct 
 ing him to land six or eight hundred men about 
 a mile above the fort, on the left bank, with 
 orders to march with great secresy and ra 
 pidity to the assault of the batteries in that 
 quarter, to carry them by storm, spike the 
 cannon and let down the carriages, and then 
 hasten to their boats and cross over to the 
 camp. The sortie from the fort was attended 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 137 
 
 with great success. The detachment ordered 
 to this service, consisted of three hundred and 
 fifty men, a part of whom were regulars, and 
 the remainder volunteers and Kentucky mili 
 tia, under the command of Colonel Miller, of 
 the United States army. These brave troops 
 attacked a body of British regulars and In 
 dians, of more than double their number ; but 
 the impetuosity of their charge was irresisti 
 ble, and after a severe struggle, they drove 
 the enemy from the batteries. They spiked 
 the cannon, took a large number of prisoners, 
 and having fully accomplished their object, 
 returned in triumph to the fort. This sortie 
 was one of the most sanguinary and desperate 
 actions fought during the whole war and its 
 brilliant success was richly merited, by the 
 intrepid gallantry of the brave troops engaged 
 in the enterprise. 
 
 General Clay, after detaching Colonel Dud 
 ley with eight hundred men, to attack the bat 
 teries on the left bank, descended the river 
 with his troops in boats ; and though endan 
 gered by the swiftness of the rapids, and 
 strongly opposed by the Indians, he overcame 
 every difficulty, and fought his way, in safety, 
 to the fort. 
 
138 LIFE OF 
 
 In the mean time Colonel Dudley s detachment 
 had landed nearly two miles above the enemy s 
 batteries. This movement was so wholly 
 unlooked for, that the attack proved complete 
 ly successful. The British were taken by sur 
 prise, and the gallant Kentuckians charging 
 unexpectedly upon them, put them to flight 
 and carried their batteries without the loss of 
 a man. But though the commencement of this 
 enterprise was so well conducted and so sin 
 gularly fortunate, its result proved far other 
 wise. When Dudley attacked the batteries, 
 he threw forward a van-guard, consisting of 
 two companies of spies and friendly Indians, 
 under the command of Captain Leslie Combs, 
 whose bravery and intrepidity in the former 
 campaign, as well as the intimate knowledge 
 of the country which he then acquired, had 
 obtained him, though very young, a command 
 over much older officers. Dudley had direct 
 ed Combs to take possession of the woods skirt 
 ing the swamp, to prevent the approach of the 
 Indians from that quarter ; but in the hurry 
 and excitement of the moment, he omitted to 
 give any directions to retire to the boats after 
 the storming of the batteries. Combs, in com 
 pliance with his orders, posted his men along 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 139 
 
 the edge of the swamp a position which they 
 had not long occupied, before they were at 
 tacked by outlying parties of Indians, who, 
 every moment increased in numbers. A re 
 treat to the boats might still have been effected 
 by the van-guard, with very inconsiderable 
 loss ; but Combs, thinking it necessary, from 
 Dudley s instructions, that he should maintain 
 his position, cheered on his men, who, unaided 
 by any reinforcement, bravely resisted the In 
 dians for some time. By the sacrifice of this 
 small but intrepid body of men, Dudley might 
 even yet have withdrawn the remainder of his 
 troops without much additional loss ; but on 
 hearing the report of the Indian rifles, this gal 
 lant and high-minded officer, conscious of his 
 omission to give the van-guard the necessary 
 orders to retire to their boats, and hoping to 
 bring them off in safety, hastened at once to 
 their support, leaving Major Shelby with but 
 two companies, in charge of the batteries he 
 had taken. He attacked the Indians with great 
 vigour, and, after a sharp action, succeeded in 
 driving them some distance into the swamp. 
 But, meanwhile, the Indians had been continu 
 ally crossing over from their main body on the 
 opposite side of the river, until their force had 
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140 LIFE OF 
 
 increased to overwhelming numbers; and Dud 
 ley, after repeatedly driving them back by the 
 impetuous charge of his brave Kentuckians, 
 was at last compelled to retreat. He still 
 hoped, however, to make a successful stand 
 against the enemy at the batteries ; but on ap 
 proaching them, he found, to his mortification, 
 that they had been retaken by a superior force 
 of British troops, to whom, finding themselves 
 entirely surrounded by the Indians, the greater 
 part of his men reluctantly surrendered them 
 selves. The brave and generous Dudley him 
 self paid with his life the penalty of his own 
 neglect and thoughtlessness, being killed in this 
 retreat, as were Captain Kilbreath, the second 
 in command to Captain Combs, (who was se 
 verely wounded), and several other gallant and 
 meritorious officers. Even after the surrender 
 of our troops, the Indians still continued to 
 tomahawk and scalp them without mercy, in 
 the presence of the British commander and his 
 whole army, until the arrival of Tecumthe, 
 who, less savage than Proctor, instantly put a 
 stop to this barbarous massacre. 
 
 About two hundred of the left wing of Dud 
 ley s detachment escaped to their boats, and 
 succeeded in reaching the fort ; but more than 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 141 
 
 an eighth part of all the men and officers en 
 gaged in this sanguinary contest were killed, 
 and the remainder were taken prisoners. Thus 
 ended, in signal defeat, an enterprise ably plan 
 ned, and conducted for a time with great skill 
 and bravery, and which promised such entire 
 success. But it must be evident to every one, 
 that had the instructions given to Dudley been 
 obeyed, this misfortune could not have occur 
 red, and the day would have been one of un 
 clouded success and triumph. 
 
 Foiled by the skilful dispositions of Harri 
 son, and by the battle, or rather succession of 
 battles, fought on the fifth. Proctor was com 
 pelled to abandon the siege of Fort Meigs 
 and on the eighth of May, he broke up his 
 camp, and retreated in disappointment and dis 
 grace. 
 
 Thus terminated the glorious defence of 
 Fort Meigs. Harrison, soon after, left Gene 
 ral Clay in command of that important post, 
 and, unwearied in his exertions, proceeded to 
 more difficult and arduous duties, at other ex 
 posed stations. .;- 
 
 The unceasing efforts of the British, and 
 the restless spirit of Tecumthe, allowed our 
 troops but little time to recover from their se- 
 
142 LIFE OF 
 
 vere fatigues. In less than two months after 
 the siege of Fort Meigs had been abandoned, 
 the Indians assembled a formidable body of 
 more than five thousand warriors, under their 
 most noted chiefs, and again invested that for 
 tress. On receiving this intelligence, General 
 Harrison immediately removed his head-quar 
 ters to Seneca Town, about nine miles up the 
 Sandusky river, where he constructed a forti 
 fied camp. From this position the general 
 could fall back for the protection of his prin 
 cipal depot at Upper Sandusky, should the 
 enemy endeavour to turn his flank and attack 
 that place ; or should the safety of Fort Meigs 
 require it, he could proceed there by an unfre 
 quented route, and cut his way into the fort 
 with a reinforcement. As soon as the arrival 
 of additional troops should render his force 
 strong enough to cope with that of the enemy 
 in the field, he intended to make a descent 
 upon them from this favourable situation, and 
 raise the siege. The enemy, however, re 
 mained before Fort Meigs but a few days. On 
 the 28th of July, despairing of success, they 
 again abandoned the siege of this place. The 
 British troops embarked and sailed round to 
 Sandusky Bay, while a large body of their 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 143 
 
 savage allies marched across the swamps of 
 Portage River to co-operate with them in a 
 combined attack on Fort Stephenson, a tem 
 porary depot at Lower Sandusky. 
 
 At this time the enemy had nearly seven 
 thousand men in the field two thousand of 
 whom were British regulars and Canadians, 
 and the remainder were warriors of the fiercest 
 Indian tribes. The army under General Har 
 rison was greatly inferior in numbers, and it 
 became his duty, as a skilful commander, to 
 withdraw his unimportant outposts, to avoid 
 risking unnecessarily the loss of a single sol 
 dier, and to enable him, by concentrating his 
 forces, to hold the enemy in check, at least, if 
 he should not prove strong enough to give him 
 battle. Fort Stephenson was a temporary and 
 unimportant station, and so commanded by 
 the high ground in its neighbourhood, as to be 
 utterly indefensible against heavy artillery 
 and such, from their command of the lake, the 
 British could easily transport to its attack. 
 Fully aware of this, from having reconnoitred 
 the ground in person, General Harrison, on 
 learning that this station was about to be as 
 sailed, thought it proper to withdraw the gar 
 rison. He accordingly dispatched an order 
 
144 LIFE OF 
 
 to Major Croghan, directing him to abandon 
 Fort Stephenson, and repair, if practicable, to 
 head-quarters which were still at Seneca 
 Town, nine miles distant. This order was 
 not received by Major Croghan until the fol 
 lowing day when flying parties of the In 
 dians had become so numerous round the fort, 
 that, as Croghan himself stated, it was too late 
 to carry the order into execution, and he de 
 cided on maintaining the place. In conse 
 quence of this disobedience of orders, Colonel 
 Wells was immediately sent, with a strong es 
 cort of cavalry, to take command of Fort Ste 
 phenson, and Croghan was ordered to repair 
 forthwith to head-quarters. But on his arrival 
 there, he made such satisfactory explanations 
 to the commander-in-chief, of the situation of 
 the fort, and of his own respectful intentions, 
 that General Harrison at once reinstated him 
 in his command. He returned to his duties 
 the following morning, and on the same day, 
 July 31st, this station was invested by a force 
 of thirteen hundred British regulars and In 
 dians. They attacked the fort with great 
 vigour, and repeatedly attempted to take it by 
 assault but they were each time defeated, and 
 were at length forced to abandon their attempt, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 145 
 
 and retreat in confusion, having lost, in killed 
 and wounded, nearly as many as the entire 
 number of the gallant spirits who defended 
 the fort. 
 
 This defence of a position, which General 
 Harrison had ordered to be abandoned, and 
 the fact of his not having immediately ad 
 vanced upon the enemy, were seized upon, 
 with avidity, by the ignorant and malicious 
 among his political opponents, who industri 
 ously circulated the falsest statements and 
 most perverted misrepresentations, in relation 
 to these occurrences. But fortunately, the plain 
 truth soon became so well known, that Gene 
 ral Harrison s fair fame suffered no injury from 
 these unfounded calumnies. So many gallant 
 officers as well as honourable and high-mind 
 ed men bore witness, of their own accord, to 
 the military foresight and wisdom of his mea 
 sures, that no slander which even the malice 
 of his calumniators could devise, ever dark 
 ened, for a moment, his unsullied reputation. 
 
 We lay before our readers the following 
 short extracts from an address to the public, 
 relative to this affair, which was voluntarily 
 published by the general, field, and staff-offi 
 cers, of General Harrison s army. After ex- 
 
146 LIFE OF 
 
 pressing their " regret and surprise, that charges 
 as improper in form as in substance, should 
 have been made against General Harrison, 
 during the recent investment of Lower San- 
 dusky," they go on to say : " He who believes 
 that with our disposable force, and under the 
 circumstance which then occurred, General 
 Harrison ought to have advanced upon the 
 enemy, must be left to correct his opinion in 
 the school of experience. 
 
 " On a review of the course then adopted, 
 we are decidedly of the opinion, that it was 
 such as was dictated by military wisdom, and 
 by a due regard to our circumstances and to 
 the situation of the enemy. * * * * And 
 with a ready acquiescence, beyond the mere 
 claims of military duty, we are prepared to 
 obey a general, whose measures meet our most 
 deliberate approbation, and merit that of his 
 country." 
 
 The chivalrous and noble-spirited Croghan, 
 who was one of the signers of the above ad 
 dress, about the same time published another 
 paper on this subject, dated from Lower San- 
 dusky, in which he says : " I have, with much 
 regret, seen in some of the public, prints such 
 misrepresentations respecting my refusal to 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 147 
 
 evacuate this post, as are calculated not only 
 to injure me in the estimation of military men, 
 but also to excite unfavourable impressions as 
 to the propriety of General Harrison s conduct 
 relative to this affair. 
 
 " His character as a military man is too 
 well established to need my approbation or 
 support. But his public service entitles him 
 at least to common justice. This affair does 
 not furnish cause of reproach. If public opin 
 ion has been lately misled respecting his late 
 conduct, it will require but a moment s cool, 
 dispassionate reflection, to convince them of 
 its propriety. The measures recently adopted 
 by him, so far from deserving censure, are the 
 dearest proofs of his keen penetration and able 
 generalship" 
 
 We have dwelt on this passage in the life 
 of General Harrison, somewhat longer than 
 is consistent with the brevity and condensed 
 nature of this work but the political oppo 
 nents of General Harrison can find so few 
 points in his whole life, that afford them the 
 slightest apology for censure, that they have 
 been driven to pervert and misrepresent an af 
 fair of so simple a nature as this, and one that, 
 in truth, entitled him, as the gallant Croghan 
 13 
 
148 LIFE OF 
 
 justly says, to the highest commendation. We 
 have therefore thought it no more than com 
 mon justice to him and to our readers, to lay 
 before them this plain exposition of facts. The 
 wisest and best actions are often misunderstood 
 and perverted by the ignorant or malicious. 
 We trust and believe that the former consti 
 tute the larger portion of those who have 
 sought to shadow the fair fame of General 
 Harrison ; but while mean and sordid spirits 
 exist, envy and detraction will always pursue 
 exalted merit. Even Washington, the Father 
 of our Country, was intrigued against and ca 
 lumniated. 
 
 Disappointed in their hope of plunder, and 
 dispirited by the numerous defeats they had 
 sustained, the savage allies of the British had 
 become discontented; the second siege of 
 Fort Meigs had been abandoned, and gradu 
 ally the enemy entirely withdrew from our 
 territory, and concentrated their forces at 
 Maiden, their principal stronghold in Upper 
 Canada. It will thus be seen, that the skill 
 with which General Harrison had conducted 
 his defensive operations, the only resource 
 left him in the face of a superior foe, had been 
 eminently successful ; and had not only pro- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 149 
 
 tected our widely extended frontier, but had 
 eventually forced the enemy to retire, morti 
 fied and humbled by defeat, from our country. 
 During the whole of this interesting cam 
 paign, the vigilance and the intrepidity of 
 General Harrison, with the bravery of his sol 
 diers, enabled him to keep a far superior force 
 of the enemy in check, and to protect the 
 wide extent of our exposed frontier. Our 
 forts were ably defended, and our troops gal 
 lantly repelled every attack of the enemy, 
 except in some few instances, where they 
 were assailed by an overwhelming force. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Harrison advises the construction of a fleet on Lake 
 Erie. Perry s Victory. Embarkation of the army. 
 Invasion of Canada. Pursuit of the enemy. Battle 
 of the Thames and capture of the British army. 
 Close of the campaign. Resignation of General 
 Harrison. 
 
 THE activity and enterprise of General 
 Harrison did not long permit the enemy to 
 rest, after their retreat from our territory* 
 He immediately commenced preparations for 
 
150 LIFE OF 
 
 carrying the war into their own country, and 
 formed his plan for the capture of Maiden, 
 and the conquest of Upper Canada. 
 
 During the preceding campaign, in his let 
 ters to the War Department, General Harri 
 son had repeatedly urged the great import 
 ance of obtaining command of Lake Erie, 
 and the immediate necessity for creating a 
 navy for that purpose. In one of his commu 
 nications he remarks " Should our offensive 
 operations be suspended until spring, it is my 
 decided opinion that the cheapest and most 
 effectual plan will be to obtain command of 
 Lake Erie. This being once effected, every 
 difficulty will be removed. An army of four 
 thousand men landed on the north side of the 
 lake, below Maiden, will soon reduce that 
 place, re-take Detroit, and, with the aid of tho 
 fleet, proceed down the lake to co-operate 
 with the army from Niagara." In several 
 subsequent letters, he again strenuously urged 
 this plan, until the government at length became 
 convinced of the importance of the measure, 
 and determined upon its adoption. At that 
 time we were not in possession of a single 
 armed vessel above the falls of the Niagara. 
 It was now, however, resolved to proceed 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 151 
 
 vigorously to the forming a fleet on Lake 
 Erie, and the gallant Perry was sent to super 
 intend its building, and to take the command. 
 No effort of activity or skill was spared to 
 hurry the completion and equipment of the 
 vessels; and early in August, Commodore 
 Perry had the satisfaction of finding that he 
 had a fleet fitted for sea and ready for action, 
 nearly equal in force to that of the enemy. 
 
 On the 2d of August, he commenced get 
 ting his heavier vessels over the bar at the 
 mouth of the harbour at Erie. On the 5th, 
 he sailed for Sandusky Bay. On his arrival 
 there, he sent a dispatch to General Harrison 
 at head-quarters, to obtain a company of sol 
 diers to act as marines. The general visited 
 the fleet accompanied by several of his 
 officers, and sent on board a picked detach 
 ment of nearly a hundred and fifty men. 
 Commodore Perry then sailed for Maiden, and 
 used every endeavour to bring the British 
 fleet to an engagement. His attempts, for 
 some time, proved ineffectual ; but at last he 
 had the good fortune to meet them, on the 
 10th of September, and fought that celebrated 
 battle, in which, after a severely-contested 
 action, he succeeded in gaining a brilliant 
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152 LIFE OF 
 
 victory and capturing the entire fleet of the 
 enemy. Perry immediately dispatched a 
 messenger to General Harrison, with the 
 following brief but very acceptable note. 
 
 " U. 5. Brig Niagara, Sept. Wth, 1813. 
 
 DEAR GENERAL : 
 
 We have met the enemy and they are 
 ours two ships, two brigs, one schooner and 
 a sloop. 
 
 Yours with great respect and esteem. 
 
 OLIVER HAZARD PERRY." 
 
 By a happy coincidence, this glorious event 
 occurred just about the time when General 
 Harrison had matured his plans for the inva 
 sion of Canada. On the 27th of September, 
 the troops embarked at Sandusky Bay, and 
 advanced towards Maiden, expecting to find 
 the British and Indians encamped there in full 
 force. But upon landing on the Canada shore, 
 they found that Proctor, disheartened by his 
 recent defeats, had abandoned that stronghold, 
 after having destroyed the fort and navy-yard, 
 and had retreated with his regulars and savage 
 allies to Sandwich. This retreat was in op 
 position to the counsel of Tecumthe, who ad- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 153 
 
 vised Proctor to remain protected by his for 
 tifications, and fight our troops as they landed. 
 But the guilty fears of Proctor would not 
 suffer him to accede to this more judicious as 
 well as gallant counsel of his savage ally. 
 Our army encamped at Maiden, having at 
 last driven the enemy from their head-quar 
 ters, and gained possession of that fortress, 
 from which had issued, for years past, those 
 ruthless bands of savages, which had swept 
 so fiercely over our extended frontier, leaving 
 death and destruction only in their path. 
 
 The army advanced rapidly in pursuit of 
 the enemy, who had retreated up the river 
 Thames, to the Moravian Town a place 
 which is destined to be remembered as the 
 battle-ground of one of the most remarkable 
 and decisive actions fought during the war. 
 
 On the evening of the 4th of October, our 
 troops encamped a few miles above the forks 
 of the river ; near which place after a slight 
 skirmish with a flying party of Indians, they 
 gained possession of a large quantity of mili 
 tary stores and munitions of war, which the 
 enemy had abandoned in their precipitate re 
 treat. A still larger amount had been de 
 stroyed, to prevent their falling into our hands. 
 
154 LIFE OF 
 
 A breastwork was then thrown up around the 
 encampment, which proved to have been a 
 necessary precaution ; as, during that night, 
 General Proctor and Tecumthe came down 
 the river and reconnoitred our position, with 
 the intention of making an attack before day ; 
 but on seeing its strength, and the care taken 
 to guard against surprise, they were discou 
 raged and abandoned their scheme. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th, the troops were 
 under arms at an early hour, and as the day 
 dawned, the army was put in motion. The 
 mounted regiment, with general Harrison and 
 his staff at their head, led the van; and the 
 infantry followed as expeditiously as possible, 
 under the command of Governor Shelby of 
 Kentucky, a time-honoured and distinguished 
 veteran of the revolution. By nine o clock, 
 the advance reached a mill, near which there 
 is a rapid in the river, where it is practicable 
 to ford it on horseback; and at this place 
 General Harrison intended to cross, that he 
 might reach the enemy, who were known to 
 be on the north side. Two gunboats and 
 several batteaux laden with military stores 
 and munitions of war, together with several pri 
 soners, had already been captured that morning, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 155 
 
 and at the mill a lieutenant and eight privates 
 were taken, from whom information was re 
 ceived that the enemy had determined to give 
 us battle at no great distance from that place. 
 The infantry soon came up with the mounted 
 men, and the passage of the river was effected 
 by twelve o clock. Each horseman took up 
 one of the infantry behind him, and the re 
 mainder crossed in canoes. As soon as all 
 the troops were over, the line of march was 
 resumed in the former order. At every place 
 where the road touched a bend of the river, 
 boats and canoes were found, with military 
 stores, clothing and provisions which the 
 enemy had abandoned in their precipitate 
 retreat. After advancing about eight miles, 
 an encampment was discovered, which Colo 
 nel Warburton had occupied the night before 
 with a part of the British troops ; and it was 
 ascertained that General Proctor had reached 
 the Moravian Town, four miles from this 
 place, with a detachment on the preceding 
 day. As it was now certain that the enemy 
 were nearly overtaken, the general directed 
 the advance of the mounted regiment to 
 hasten their march, with a view to procure 
 the necessary information for regulating tho 
 
156 LIFE OF 
 
 movements of the main body. When they 
 had proceeded about two miles, they captured 
 a British wagoner, who informed them that 
 the enemy were lying in order of battle, only 
 about three hundred yards before them, wait 
 ing for the arrival of our army. Our scouts 
 confirmed the report of the wagoner, and the 
 troops were halted and formed in order of 
 battle. 
 
 General Proctor, having had his choice of 
 ground, occupied a strong position, well se 
 lected to resist the progress of our army. It 
 was flanked on the left by the river Thames, 
 and supported by artillery, and on the right, 
 by two extensive swamps, running nearly 
 parallel to the river and occupied by a strong 
 body of Indians. The British regulars were 
 formed in open order, in two extended lines. 
 The Indians were commanded by Tecumthe 
 in person. Their left flank was posted on the 
 isthmus between the two swamps, and their 
 right extended a considerable distance down 
 the principal marsh. 
 
 General Harrison drew up one division of 
 his infantry in a double line reaching from 
 the river to the swamp, opposite to Proctor s 
 troops, and the other division at right angles 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 157 
 
 to the first, with its front extending along the 
 swamp, with a view of preventing the Indians 
 from turning his left flank and attacking him 
 in the rear. Johnson s mounted regiment was 
 placed in front of the infantry. 
 
 The American army advanced in order 
 of battle, and the reconnoitring parties soon 
 brought in exact intelligence of the disposi 
 tions Proctor had made. Harrison, with the 
 rapid decision of an able general, saw at once 
 the egregious error of his opponent in forming 
 his regular soldiers in extended line, and in 
 stantly took advantage of it. Aware that 
 troops formed in open order could not resist 
 a vigorous charge of cavalry, he immediately 
 ordered Colonel Johnson to form his regiment 
 of mounted men, and dash through the ene 
 my s line, in close column. This charge was 
 rapidly made, and with the most brilliant suc 
 cess. The extended and weakened line of the 
 enemy could offer but a feeble resistance to 
 the charge of these gallant troops, who dashed 
 through their ranks, with overwhelming im 
 petuosity, and wheeling to the right and left, 
 began to pour in a destructive fire upon their 
 rear. Thrown into confusion and disheart 
 ened by this bold and unexpected manoeuvre, 
 
158 LIFE OF 
 
 and panic-struck at being assailed both in 
 front and rear, the British threw down their 
 arms in dismay, and surrendered at discre 
 tion. The whole army was captured, with 
 the exception of a few stragglers only, who 
 escaped by an early flight with the cowardly 
 Proctor. 
 
 The contest with the Indians on the left, 
 was maintained with more obstinacy. They 
 waited until our columns had advanced within 
 a few paces of their concealed position, when 
 they commenced a heavy fire which cut down 
 nearly the whole of our advanced guard. 
 Their fire was warmly returned by our 
 troops, who formed in line, and for a while 
 a warm conflict was sustained with severe 
 execution on both sides. But the Indians 
 were finally driven from their coverts by a 
 vigorous charge, and forced to retreat into 
 the outer swamp not however, until they 
 had heard of the entire discomfiture of their 
 allies, and that their leader, Tecumthe, had 
 been slain. The death of this high-spirited and 
 distinguished chief, who possessed to an un 
 usual degree all the nobler qualities of the 
 savage warrior in his better days, destroyed 
 the strength of the northern tribes of Indians 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 159 
 
 by breaking that bond of union, which his 
 personal influence alone had created, and 
 which therefore terminated with his exist 
 ence, never again to be renewed to so for 
 midable an extent. 
 
 This decisive and important battle was thus 
 fought and won, in a space of time almost 
 incredibly short, and with a very trifling loss 
 only on our side. All the baggage of the 
 enemy, and their valuable military stores and 
 munitions of war, together with the official 
 papers of Proctor, fell into our hands; and 
 several pieces of brass cannon, which had 
 been taken from the British in our revolu 
 tionary victories at Saratoga and Yorktown, 
 but which Hull had shamefully surrendered at 
 Detroit, were again captured from our ancient 
 foe. 
 
 The united force of the British regulars and 
 Indians engaged in this battle, amounted to 
 more than 2800. The number of our troops 
 was less than 2500 ; and these were principally 
 militia and volunteers. The venerable Gover 
 nor Shelby commanded the Kentucky volun 
 teers in this battle, and General Cass, our pre 
 sent Minister to France, and the heroic Perry, 
 acted as volunteer aids to General Harrison. 
 14 
 
160 LIFE OP 
 
 This brilliant victory, following up the capture 
 of their fleet on Lake Erie by the gallant Per 
 ry, entirely destroyed the force of the enemy 
 in Upper Canada, and put an end to the war 
 on our north-western frontier. 
 
 Upon this, as well as former expeditions, 
 General Harrison adopted a rule, on all occa 
 sions, to favour himself in nothing, but to share 
 equally with the common soldiers the fatigues 
 and hardships of the campaign. A small va 
 lise contained all his baggage, except his bed 
 ding, which consisted of a single blanket only, 
 fastened over his saddle; and even this he 
 gave to Colonel Evans, a British officer, who 
 was wounded and taken prisoner in this bat 
 tle. Thirty-five British officers, prisoners of 
 war, supped with General Harrison on the 
 night after the battle, and all the fare he had 
 it in his power to offer them was fresh beef, 
 plainly roasted before a camp fire, without 
 either bread or salt. This had been the food 
 of the army during the expedition, and the ra 
 tions of the General were always precisely 
 those of the soldiers. On every occasion, in 
 deed, he made it a point to set an example of 
 fortitude and patience to his men, and to share 
 with them every hardship, difficulty, and dan- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 161 
 
 ger. Whether encamped or marching, the 
 whole army was regularly under arms at day 
 break*; and, however severe the weather, he 
 never failed to be present, and, indeed, was 
 generally the first, officer on horseback in the 
 whole army. 
 
 On receiving the glorious news of the vic 
 tory of the Thames, the thanks of Congress 
 were expressed to General Harrison in the 
 warmest manner and President Madison in 
 his message, dated on the 7th of the following 
 December, declared that "the officer com 
 manding the North-western army had forced 
 the enemy to a general action, which termi 
 nated in the capture of the British and disper 
 sion of the savage force a result signally hon 
 ourable to Major-General Harrison, by ichose 
 military talents it was performed." 
 
 Among many others, whose grateful feelings 
 found utterance on this occasion, the Hon. 
 Langdon Cheves observed, on the floor of Con 
 gress, that " The victory of Harrison was 
 such as would have secured to a Roman gene 
 ral, in the best days of the Republic, the hon 
 ours of a triumph." A sentiment which was 
 fully responded to in the complimentary no 
 tices which he received from every part of the 
 
162 LIFE OF 
 
 union. Simon Snyder, who was then Gover 
 nor of Pennsylvania, and the idol of the de 
 mocracy of that state, said in his address to 
 the Legislature, on this occasion, " The bless 
 ings of thousands of women and children res- 
 cued from the searing-knife of the ruthless sav 
 age of the wilderness, and from the still more 
 savage Proctor, REST ON HARRISON and his gal 
 lant army." But the feelings that prompted 
 these expressions were not confined to those 
 individuals, who, from their station, were more 
 particularly called upon to notice the events 
 of the war they appeared rather to exist uni 
 versally throughout the country. 
 
 Our army continued to occupy the battle 
 ground for two days, employed in burying the 
 dead and collecting the public property of the 
 enemy, of which a large quantity was found 
 at different places. In addition to the artillery 
 already mentioned, and a great variety of mil 
 itary stores, more than 5000 stand of small- 
 arms were captured by our troops or destroy 
 ed by the enemy during this expedition. A 
 large number of the latter had been taken from 
 us at the surrender of Detroit, at the massa 
 cre of the River Raisin, and at Dudley s de 
 feat ; and their recapture was therefore pecu- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 163 
 
 liarly grateful to our troops, and more espe 
 cially to the warm-hearted Kentuckians, many 
 of whom joyfully recognized among the spoils 
 the favourite weapons of their old comrades 
 and less fortunate fellow-soldiers. 
 
 On the 7th of October, the different corps 
 of our army commenced their return home, 
 having first embarked the greater part of the 
 property they had captured in boats on the 
 Thames, and set fire to the Moravian Town, 
 a small village occupied chiefly by Delaware 
 Indians, who professed to be of the Moravian 
 sect of religion. On the 10th, all the troops 
 arrived with their prisoners at Sandwich. 
 
 In the mean time General Harrison had con 
 cluded an armistice with the Indians. A depu 
 tation of the Ottawas and Chippewas had sued 
 for peace, which the general granted on con 
 dition that they should give up their alliance 
 with the British, and openly declare in favour 
 of the United States, and that they should 
 bring in their families as hostages for their 
 good behaviour. The Miamies and the Pot- 
 tawatomies, who had been our fiercest oppo 
 nents, likewise solicited a cessation of hos 
 tilities, on the same conditions, and agreed to 
 deliver up all their prisoners at Fort Wayne. 
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164 LIFE OF 
 
 Disheartened by our victories on Lake Erie, 
 and at the Thames, and separated from the 
 allies who had given them all their supplies, 
 they were now glad to accept our friendship 
 on any terms that would save them from ex 
 termination by famine or the sword. 
 
 Having thus entirely defeated the British 
 and subdued the Indians in Upper Canada, 
 General Harrison advanced with a part of his 
 army to the Niagara frontier, and thence to 
 Sackett s Harbour where he left the troops, 
 and proceeded to the seat of government. On 
 his way thither, he passed through New York 
 and Philadelphia ; in which cities he was re 
 ceived, by the whole population, with the most 
 flattering marks of public honour and distinc 
 tion. After the necessary delay of a few days 
 at Washington, General Harrison proceeded 
 to Ohio, where important duties required his 
 presence. 
 
 In the plan for the ensuing campaign, to 
 the surprise and regret of the public, General 
 Harrison was designated for a service, far 
 inferior to that which he had a right to ex 
 pect. Regardless of the memorable victories 
 which this gallant and experienced officer 
 had won, and unmindful of the various and 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 165 
 
 important services which he had rendered to 
 his country, the Secretary of War, the noto 
 rious John Armstrong, saw fit to assign to 
 him the command of a district, where he 
 would Be compelled to remain inactive, while 
 others were appointed to those more arduous 
 duties, which he had heretofore fulfilled with 
 so much honour to himself, and to the nation. 
 As if still unsatisfied with this egregious insult 
 which he had offered to General Harrison, 
 the Secretary of War, on the 25th of April, 
 1814, appointed a subordinate officer to a 
 separate command within his district, and 
 notified him to that effect. On the receipt of 
 this notification, General Harrison instantly 
 sent in his resignation to the Secretary of 
 War, and at the same time addressed a letter 
 on the subject to President Madison, couched 
 in such simple yet manly language, and ex 
 pressive of such noble sentiments, that we 
 cannot refrain from quoting it, 
 
 " I have this day," said General Harrison, 
 "forwarded to the Secretary of War my 
 resignation of the commission I hold in the 
 army. 
 
 " This measure has not been determined on, 
 without a reference to all the reasons which 
 
166 LIFE OF 
 
 should influence a citizen who is sincerely 
 attached to the honour and interests of his 
 country, who believes that the war in which 
 we are engaged is just and necessary; and 
 that the crisis requires the sacrifice of every 
 private consideration, which could stand in 
 opposition to the public good. But after giv 
 ing this subject a most mature consideration, 
 I am perfectly convinced that my retiring 
 from the army is as compatible with the 
 claims of patriotism, as it is with those of my 
 family, and a proper regard for my own feel 
 ings and honour. 
 
 " I have no other motive for writing this 
 letter, than to assure you, that my resignation 
 was not produced by any diminution of the 
 interest which I have always taken in the 
 success of your administration, or of respect 
 and attachment for your person. The for 
 mer can only take place when I forget the 
 republican principles in which I have been 
 educated, and the latter, when I shall cease to 
 regard those feelings which must actuate 
 every honest man, who is conscious of fa 
 vours that it is out of his power to repay." 
 
 As soon as Governor Shelby heard of the 
 resignation of General Harrison, he lost no 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 167 
 
 time in addressing the president in his usual 
 forcible terms, to prevent its being accept 
 ed ; but unfortunately for the public interests, 
 the president was then on a visit to Virginia, 
 to which place the letters from General Har 
 rison and Governor Shelby were forwarded, 
 and that of the latter was not received until 
 after Secretary Armstrong, without the pre 
 vious consent of the president, had assumed to 
 himself the high prerogative of accepting the 
 resignation. The president expressed his 
 great regret that the letter of Governor 
 Shelby had not been received earlier, as in 
 that case the valuable services of General 
 Harrison would have been preserved to the 
 nation in the ensuing campaign. 
 
 In this resignation, General Harrison dis 
 played the true patriotism and disinterested 
 ness, which have always marked his conduct. 
 He would cheerfully have devoted his ser 
 vices to his country, even in an appointment 
 inferior to that which should have been as 
 signed to him ; but he was too high-principled 
 to retain his rank, by yielding assent to a 
 measure, which he considered to be subver 
 sive of military order and discipline; and 
 though his own fortune had been shattered by 
 
168 LIFE OF 
 
 the neglect of his private affairs, for the bene 
 fit of the public, and it would therefore have 
 been exceedingly convenient to have retained 
 the rank and pay of a major general ; yet he 
 scorned to receive the emoluments of his 
 office, when he was no longer permitted to 
 perform its duties actively and honourably. 
 
 It would be difficult at this period, to trace 
 out the true motives that induced the Secre 
 tary of War to the unjustifiable course he 
 pursued in this affair. But some knowledge 
 of those events of the war in which he bore a 
 part, with a little insight into human nature, 
 would suggest that the leading causes which 
 prompted him, w r ere the envy and jealousy, 
 which a narrow-minded man would naturally 
 feel, on contrasting his own feeble efforts, and 
 abortive attempts, with the consummate skill, 
 the brilliant victories, and the almost uniform 
 successes of another. That he had acted in 
 an arbitrary and unwarrantable manner, was 
 afterwards clearly proved. And in the inves 
 tigation which took place in Congress in the 
 winter of 1816-17, it became so evident that 
 General Harrison had been treated with great 
 injustice by the war department, that a reso 
 lution, giving him a gold medal and the thanks 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 169 
 
 of Congress, was passed, with but one dissent 
 ing voice in both houses of Congress. 
 
 The leading events in the campaign of 
 1812-13, the gallant defence of Fort Meigs, 
 and the decisive victory of the Thames, are 
 lasting memorials of General Harrison s mili 
 tary genius. Yet, for those isolated actions, 
 he deserves far less praise than for the skilful 
 operations and the Fabian policy, which led 
 to these and other successes. The prudent 
 care and indefatigable exertions, by which he 
 provided for his army in a wild and almost 
 impassable country the promptness and un 
 wearied activity, with which he met and de 
 feated the schemes of his antagonists and 
 the admirable skill, with which he held in 
 check an enemy far superior in numbers, and 
 with a small force protected an extended line 
 of frontier, and guarded the lives and property 
 of thousands of his fellow-citizens, betokened 
 a genius of the highest order, with a vigorous 
 mind constantly on the alert. 
 
170 LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Appointment of General Harrison as Commissioner to 
 treat with the Indians. His election to Congress. 
 Is chosen a Senator of the State Legislature. His 
 election to the Senate of the United States. Is ap 
 pointed Minister to Colombia. His Letter to Bolivar. 
 His recall. His personal appearance and private 
 Character. His Letter to Harmar Denny. 
 
 SOON after the resignation of General Har 
 rison, in the summer of 1814, President Madi 
 son evinced an unabated confidence in his 
 abilities and integrity by appointing him to 
 treat with the Indians, in conjunction with his 
 old companions in arms, Governor Shelby and 
 General Cass. In the following year, he was 
 placed at the head of another commission, 
 appointed to treat with the north-western tribes. 
 The honourable and advantageous treaties 
 made in both these cases, afforded new in 
 stances of the unfailing success, that has al 
 ways attended General Harrison s negotia 
 tions with the Indians. 
 
 In 1816, he was elected, by a large majo 
 rity, a member of the House of Representa 
 tives in Congress, from Ohio. During the fol 
 lowing session, there occurred in the House 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 171 
 
 of Representatives the interesting and cele 
 brated debate on the conduct of General Jack 
 son in the Seminole war on which occasion, 
 General Harrison delivered an able and elo 
 quent speech. He praised General Jackson 
 for his gallantry; defended such of his acts 
 as he thought right, and gave him credit for 
 patriotic motives ; but he voted in favour of 
 the resolution to censure him for the unwar 
 rantable power he had assumed in taking pos 
 session of the Spanish posts. This speech and 
 vote were never forgiven by General Jackson. 
 
 General Harrison continued to serve in the 
 House of Representatives of the United States, 
 greatly to his own honour and to the satisfac 
 tion of his constituents, until 1819; when, on 
 the expiration of his term of service, he was 
 chosen to the Senate of the State Legislature. 
 
 In 1824, General Harrison was elected a 
 Senator of the United States ; and soon after 
 taking his seat was appointed Chairman of the 
 Military Committee, in place of General Jack 
 son, who had resigned. While serving in this 
 high station, he commanded universal respect. 
 His views as a statesman were liberal and ex 
 tended, his remarkable readiness in debate 
 soon rendered him a prominent member, 
 15 
 
172 LIFE OF 
 
 and the nervous and impassioned eloquence, 
 and classical felicity of illustration, with which 
 he enforced his arguments, gained him much 
 influence. 
 
 As Chairman of the Military Committee, 
 General Harrison introduced a bill for the 
 prevention of desertion in the army. This 
 object, with his customary and generous hu 
 manity, he proposed to effect, not by increas 
 ing the punishment, but by raising the moral 
 character of the army ; by elevating the grade 
 of the non-commissioned officer ; by increas 
 ing his pay and responsibility ; and by hold 
 ing out additional inducements to the common 
 soldier to perform his duty faithfully. He 
 likewise devoted himself warmly to the sub 
 ject of military pensions ; and endeavoured 
 to procure the passage of a uniform law em 
 bracing the cases of all those who then were, 
 or who should be deserving of that species of 
 honourable reward and justice from their 
 country. His efforts, on this occasion, in fa 
 vour of the surviving soldiers of the revolu 
 tion, will not soon be forgotten by the de 
 scendants of those heroes. 
 
 In 1828, General Harrison was appointed 
 by President Adams, envoy extraordinary and 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 173 
 
 minister plenipotentiary to -the Republic of Co 
 lombia. He accepted this appointment, and 
 proceeding immediately upon his mission, land 
 ed at Maracaybo on the 22d of December, in 
 that year, and thence repaired to Bogota, the 
 capital of Colombia. He was received with 
 the most flattering demonstrations of respect ; 
 but his liberal ideas, his stern integrity, and 
 the plain republican simplicity of his dress and 
 manners, were too strongly in contrast with 
 the arbitrary opinions, and the ostentatious 
 display of the Court at Bogota, to permit him 
 long to remain a favourite with the public offi 
 cers and the courtiers of the Colombian Go 
 vernment. They soon began to fear that the 
 people would perceive the difference between 
 a real and a pretended patriot, and that a com 
 parison so disadvantageous to themselves 
 might perhaps seriously interfere with their 
 grasping ambition for the future. But though 
 too honest and pure-minded to be a favourite 
 at this court, General Harrison s intelligence, 
 his strict attention to the duties of his office, 
 and his manly and gallant bearing commanded 
 universal respect. 
 
 The Republic of Colombia was at that time 
 in a very deplorable condition; the people 
 
174 LIFE OF 
 
 were ignorant of their rights, and almost in a 
 state of anarchy ; and Bolivar was apparently 
 about to assume the despotic power of a mili 
 tary dictator. Shocked at this state of things, 
 General Harrison, with the frankness of an 
 old soldier, wrote his celebrated letter to Boli 
 var, not in his diplomatic capacity, but as a 
 personal friend, and addressed him in a strain 
 of noble and thrilling eloquence which has 
 rarely been equalled. So chaste and vigorous 
 is the language of this letter, and so deeply is 
 it imbued with the purest and most exalted 
 sentiments of republican freedom, that, limited 
 as our space is, we cannot refrain from giving 
 it to our readers entire. 
 
 "Bogota, 27th September, 1829. 
 SIR: 
 
 If there is any thing in the style, the mat 
 ter, or the object, of this letter, which is cal 
 culated to give offence to your Excellency, I 
 am persuaded you will readily forgive it, 
 when you reflect on the motives which in 
 duced me to write it. An old soldier could 
 possess no feelings but those of the kindest 
 character, towards one who has shed so much 
 lustre on the profession of arms ; rior can a 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 175 
 
 citizen of the country of Washington cease 
 to wish that, in Bolivar, the world might be 
 hold another instance of the highest military 
 attainments united with the purest patriotism, 
 and the greatest capacity for civil govern 
 ment. 
 
 Such, sir, have been the fond hopes, not 
 only of the people of the United States, but 
 of the friends of liberty throughout the world. 
 I will not say that your Excellency has formed 
 projects to defeat these hopes. But there is 
 no doubt, that they have not only been formed, 
 but are, at this moment, in progress to matu 
 rity, and openly avowed by those who possess 
 your entire confidence. I will not attribute to 
 these men impure motives ; but can they be 
 disinterested advisers ? Are they not the very 
 persons who will gain most by the proposed 
 change ? who will, indeed, gain all that is to 
 be gained, without furnishing any part of the 
 equivalent ? That that, the price of their fu 
 ture wealth and honours, is to be furnished 
 exclusively by yourself? And of what does 
 it consist? Your great character. Such a 
 one, that, if a man were wise, and possessed 
 of the empire of the Caesars in its best days, 
 he would give all to obtain. Are you pre- 
 15* 
 
176 LIRE OF 
 
 pared to make this sacrifice, for such an ob 
 ject 1 
 
 I am persuaded that those who advocate 
 these measures, have never dared to induce 
 you to adopt them, by any argument founded 
 on your personal interests ; and that, to suc 
 ceed, it would be necessary to convince you 
 that no other course remained, to save the 
 country from the evils of anarchy. This is 
 the question, then, to be examined. 
 
 Does the history of this country, since the 
 adoption of the constitution, really exhibit un 
 equivocal evidence that the people are unfit to 
 be free ? Is the exploded opinion of a Euro 
 pean philosopher, of the last age, that "in the 
 new hemisphere, man is a degraded being," 
 to be renewed, and supported by the example 
 of Colombia? The proofs should, indeed, be 
 strong, to induce an American to adopt an 
 opinion so humiliating. 
 
 Feeling always a deep interest in the suc 
 cess of the revolutions in the late Spanish 
 America, I have never been an inattentive ob 
 server of events pending, and posterior to the 
 achievement of its independence. In these 
 events, I search in vain for a single fact to 
 show that, in Colombia at least, the state of 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 177 
 
 society is unsuited to the adoption of a free 
 government. Will it be said that a free go 
 vernment did exist, but, being found inade 
 quate to the objects for which it had been in 
 stituted, it has been superseded by one of a 
 different character, with the concurrence of a 
 majority of the people ? 
 
 It is the most difficult thing in the world 
 for me to believe that a people in the posses 
 sion of their rights as freemen, would ever be 
 willing to surrender them, and submit them 
 selves to the will of a master. If any such 
 instances are on record, the power thus trans 
 ferred has been in a moment of extreme pub 
 lic danger, and then limited to a very short 
 period. I do not think that it is by any means 
 certain, that the majority of the French peo 
 ple favoured the elevation of Napoleon to the 
 throne of France. But, if it were so, how 
 different were the circumstances of that coun 
 try from those of Colombia, when the consti 
 tution of Cucuta was overthrown ! At the 
 period of the elevation of Napoleoif to the 
 first consulate, all the powers of Europe were 
 the open or secret enemies of France civil 
 war raged within her borders ; the hereditary 
 king possessed many partisans in every pro- 
 
178 LIFE OF 
 
 vince ; the people, continually betrayed by the 
 factions which murdered and succeeded each 
 other, had imbibed a portion of their ferocity, 
 and every town and village witnessed the in 
 discriminate slaughter of both men and wo 
 men, of all parties and principles. Does, the 
 history of Colombia, since the expulsion of 
 the Spaniards, present any parallel to these 
 scenes ? Her frontiers have been nevei seri 
 ously menaced no civil war raged not a 
 partisan of the former government was to be 
 found in the whole extent of her territory 
 no factions contended with each other for the 
 possession of power; the executive govern 
 ment remained in the hands of those to whom 
 it had been committed by the people, in a fail- 
 election. In fact, no people ever passed from 
 under the yoke of a despotic government, to 
 the enjoyment of entire freedom, with less dis 
 position to abuse their newly acquired power, 
 than those of Colombia. They submitted, in 
 deed, to a continuance of some of the most 
 arbitrary and unjust features w ; hich distin 
 guished the former government. If there was 
 any disposition, on the part of the great mass 
 of the people, to effect any change in the ex 
 isting order of things ; if the Colombians act 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 179 
 
 from the same motives and upon the same 
 principles which govern mankind elsewhere, 
 and in all ages, they would have desired to 
 take from the government a part of the power, 
 which, in their inexperience, they had confided 
 to it. The monopoly of certain articles of 
 agricultural produce, and the oppressive duty 
 of the Alcavala, might have been tolerated, 
 until the last of their tyrants were driven from 
 the country. But when peace was restored, 
 when not one enemy remained within its bor 
 ders, it might reasonably have been supposed 
 that the people would have desired to abolish 
 these remains of arbitrary government, and 
 substitute for them some tax more equal and 
 accordant with republican principles. 
 
 On the contrary, it is pretended that they 
 had become enamoured with these despotic 
 measures, and so disgusted with the freedom 
 they did enjoy, that they were more than wil 
 ling to commit their destinies to the uncon 
 trolled will of your Excellency. Let me 
 assure you, sir, that these assertions will gain 
 no credit with the present generation, or with 
 posterity. They will demand the facts which 
 induced a people, by no means deficient in 
 intelligence, so soon to abandon the principles 
 
180 LIFE OF 
 
 for which they had so gallantly fought, and 
 tamely surrender that liberty, which had been 
 obtained at the expense of so much blood. 
 And what facts can be produced ? It cannot 
 be said that life and property were not as well 
 protected under the republican government, 
 as they have ever been ; nor that there existed 
 any opposition to the constitution and laws, 
 too strong for the ordinary powers of the go 
 vernment to put down. 
 
 If the insurrection of General Paez, in Ve 
 nezuela, is adduced, I would ask, by what 
 means was he reduced to obedience ? Your 
 Excellency, the legitimate head of the repub 
 lic, appeared, and, in a moment, all opposition 
 ceased, and Venezuela was restored to the 
 republic. But, it is said, that this was effected 
 by your personal influence, or the dread of 
 your military talents, and that, to keep Gene 
 ral Paez, and other ambitious chiefs, from 
 dismembering the republic, it was necessary 
 to invest your Excellency with the extraordi 
 nary powers you possess. There would be 
 some reason in this, if you had refused to act 
 without these powers; or, having acted as 
 you did, you had been unable to accomplish 
 any thing without them. But you succeeded 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 181 
 
 completely, and there can be no possible rea 
 son assigned, why you would not have suc 
 ceeded, with the same means, against any 
 future attempt of General Paez, or any other 
 general. 
 
 There appears, however, to be one senti 
 ment, in which all parties unite ; that is, that, 
 as matters now stand, you alone can save the 
 country from ruin, at least, from much ca 
 lamity. They differ, however, very widely, 
 as to the measures to be taken to put your 
 Excellency in the way to render this impor 
 tant service. The lesser, and more interested 
 party, is for placing the government in your 
 hands for life ; either with your present title, 
 or with one which, it must be confessed, bet 
 ter accords with the nature of the powers to 
 be exercised. If they adopt the less offensive 
 title, and if they weave into their system some 
 apparent checks to your will, it is only for the 
 purpose of masking, in some degree, their real 
 object ; which is nothing short of the establish 
 ment of a despotism. The plea of necessity, 
 that eternal argument of all conspirators, an 
 cient or modern, against the rights of man 
 kind, will be resorted to, to induce you to 
 accede to their measures; and the unsettled 
 
182 LIFE OF 
 
 state of the country, which has been design 
 edly produced by them, will be adduced as 
 evidence of that necessity. 
 
 There is but one way for your Excellency 
 to escape from the snares which have been so 
 artfully laid to entrap you, and that is, to stop 
 short in the course which, unfortunately, has 
 been already commenced. Every step you 
 advance, under the influence of such councils, 
 will make retreat more difficult, until it will 
 become impracticable. You will be told that 
 the intention is only to vest you with authority 
 to correct what is wrong in the administration, 
 and to put down the factions, and that, w r hen 
 the country once enjoys tranquillity, the go 
 vernment may be restored to the people. 
 Delusive will be the hopes of those who rely 
 upon this declaration. The promised hour of 
 tranquillity will never arrive. If events tended 
 to produce it, they would be counteracted by 
 the government itself. It was the strong re 
 mark of a former President of the United 
 States, that, " Sooner will the lover be con 
 tented with the first smiles of his mistress, 
 than a government cease to endeavour to pre 
 serve and extend its powers." With whatever 
 reluctance your Excellency may commence 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 183 
 
 the career ; with whatever disposition to aban 
 don it, when the objects for which it was com 
 menced have been obtained ; when once fairly 
 entered, you will be borne along by the irre 
 sistible force of pride, habit of command, and, 
 indeed, of self-preservation, and it will be im 
 possible to recede. 
 
 But, it is said, that it is for the benefit of 
 the people that the proposed change is to be 
 made ; and that by your talents and influence, 
 alone, aided by unlimited power, the ambi 
 tious chiefs in the different departments are to 
 be restrained, and the integrity of the republic 
 preserved. I have said, and I most sincerely 
 believe, that, from the state into which the 
 country has been brought, you alone can 
 preserve it from the horrors of anarchy. But 
 I cannot conceive that any extraordinary 
 powers are necessary. The authority to see 
 that the laws are executed ; to call out the 
 strength of the country, to enforce their exe 
 cution, is all that is required, and is what is 
 possessed by the Chief Magistrate of the 
 United States, and of every other republic; 
 and is what was confided to the executive, 
 by the constitution of Cucuta. Would your 
 talents or your energies be impaired in the 
 16 
 
184 LIFE OF 
 
 council, or the field, or your influence less 
 ened, when acting as the head of a republic ? 
 I propose to examine, very briefly, the re 
 sults which are likely to flow from the pro 
 posed change of government: 1st, in relation 
 to the country ; and 2d, to yourself, personally. 
 Is the tranquillity of the country to be secured 
 by it? Is it possible for your Excellency to 
 believe, that when the mask has been thrown 
 off, and the people discover that a despotic 
 government has been fixed upon them, they 
 will quietly submit to it ? Will they forget 
 the pass-word which, like the cross of fire, 
 was the signal for rallying to oppose their for 
 mer tyrants ? Will the virgins, at your bid 
 ding, cease to chaunt the songs of liberty, 
 which so lately animated the youth to vic 
 tory? Was the patriotic blood of Colombia 
 all expended in the fields of Vargas, Bayaca, 
 and Carebobo ? The schools may cease to 
 enforce upon their pupils the love of country, 
 drawn from the examples of Cato and the 
 Bruti, Harmodius and Aristogiton; but the 
 glorious example of patriotic devotion, ex 
 hibited in your own hacienda, will supply 
 their place. Depend on it, sir, that the mo 
 ment which shall announce the continuance 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 185 
 
 of arbitrary power, in your hands, will be the 
 commencement of commotions which will 
 require all your talents and energies to sup 
 press. You may succeed. The disciplined 
 army, at your disposal, may be too powerful 
 for an unarmed, undisciplined, and scattered 
 population; but one unsuccessful effort will 
 not content them, and your feelings will be 
 eternally racked by being obliged to make 
 war upon those who have been accustomed 
 to call you their father, and to invoke bless 
 ings on your head, and for no cause but their 
 adherence to principles which you yourself 
 had taught them to regard more than their 
 lives. 
 
 If by the strong government which the ad 
 vocates for the proposed change so strenuously 
 recommend, one without responsibility is in 
 tended, which may put men to death, and im 
 mure them in dungeons, without trial, and one 
 where the army is every thing, and the people 
 nothing, I must say, that, if the tranquillity of 
 Colombia, is to be preserved in this way, the 
 wildest anarchy would be preferable. Out of 
 that anarchy a better government might arise ; 
 but the chains of military despotism once fas- 
 
186 LIFE OF 
 
 tened upon a nation, ages might pass away 
 before they could be shaken off. 
 
 But I contend that the strongest of all go 
 vernments is that which is most free. We 
 consider that of the United States as the 
 strongest, precisely because it is the most 
 free. It possesses the faculties, equally to 
 protect itself from foreign force or internal 
 convulsion. In both, it has been sufficiently 
 tried. In no country upon earth, would an 
 armed opposition to the laws be sooner or 
 more effectually put down. Not so much by 
 the terrors of the guillotine and the gibbet, as 
 from the aroused determination of the nation, 
 exhibiting their strength, and convincing the 
 factious that their cause was hopeless. No, 
 sir, depend upon it, that the possession of ar 
 bitrary power, by the government of Colom 
 bia, will not be the means of securing its tran 
 quillity; nor will the danger of disturbances 
 solely arise from the opposition of the people. 
 The power, and the military force which it 
 will be necessary to put in the hands of the 
 governors of the distant provinces, added to 
 the nature of the country, will continually pre 
 sent to those officers the temptation, and the 
 means of revolt. 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 187 
 
 Will the proposed change restore prosperity 
 to the country ? With the best intentions to 
 do so, will you be able to recall commerce to 
 its shores and give new life to the drooping 
 state of agriculture ? The cause of the con 
 stant decline, in these great interests, cannot 
 be mistaken. It arises from the fewness of 
 those who labour, and the number of those 
 who are to be supported by that labour. To 
 support a swarm of luxurious and idle monks, 
 and an army greatly disproportioned to the 
 resources of the country, with a body of offi 
 cers, in a tenfold degree disproportioned to 
 the army, every branch of industry is op 
 pressed with burdens which deprive the inge 
 nious man of the profits of his ingenuity, and 
 the labourer of his reward. To satisfy the 
 constant and pressing demands which are 
 made upon it, the treasury seizes upon every 
 thing within its grasp destroying the very 
 germ of future prosperity. Is there any pros 
 pect that these evils will cease with the pro 
 posed change? Can the army be dispensed 
 with ? Will the influence of the monks be no 
 longer necessary? Believe me, sir, that the 
 support which the government derives from 
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188 LIFE OF 
 
 both these sources, will be more than ever 
 requisite. 
 
 But the most important inquiry is, the effect 
 which this strong government is to have upon 
 the people themselves. Will it tend to im 
 prove and elevate their character, and fit them 
 for the freedom which it is pretended is ulti 
 mately to be bestowed upon them? The 
 question has been answered from the age of 
 Homer. Man does not learn under oppres 
 sion those noble qualities and feelings which 
 fit him for the enjoyment of liberty. Nor is 
 despotism the proper school in which to ac 
 quire the knowledge of the principles of re 
 publican government. A government whose 
 revenues are derived from diverting the very 
 sources of wealth from its subjects, will not 
 find the means of improving the morals and 
 enlightening the minds of the youth, by sup 
 porting the systems of liberal education ; and, 
 if it could, it would not. 
 
 In relation to the effect which this invest 
 ment of power is to have upon your happiness 
 and your fame, will the pomp and glitter of a 
 court, and the flattery of venal courtiers, re 
 ward you for the troubles and anxieties 
 attendant upon the exercise of sovereignty, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 189 
 
 every where, and those which will flow from 
 your peculiar situation T Or power, supported 
 by the bayonet, for that willing homage which 
 you were wont to receive from your fellow- 
 citizens ? The groans of a dissatisfied and 
 oppressed people will penetrate the inmost 
 recesses of your palace, and you will be tor 
 tured by the reflection, that you no longer 
 possess that place in their affections, which 
 was once your pride and your boast, and 
 which would have been your solace under 
 every reverse of fortune. Unsupported by 
 the people, your authority can be maintained, 
 only, by the terrors of the sword and the scaf 
 fold. And have these ever been successful 
 under similar circumstances ? Blood may 
 smother, for a period, but can never extin 
 guish the fire of liberty, which you have con 
 tributed so much to kindle, in the bosom of 
 every Colombian. 
 
 I will not urge, as an argument, the per 
 sonal dangers to which you will be exposed. 
 But I will ask if you could enjoy life, which 
 would be preserved by the constant execution 
 of so many human beings your countrymen, 
 your former friends, and almost your wor 
 shippers. The pangs of such a situation will 
 
190 LIFE OF 
 
 be made more acute, by reflecting on the hal 
 lowed motive of many of those who would 
 aim their daggers at your bosom ; that, like 
 the last of the Romans, they would strike, 
 not from hatred to the man, but love to the 
 country. 
 
 From a knowledge of your own disposition, 
 and present feelings, your Excellency will not 
 be willing to believe, that you could ever be 
 brought to commit an act of tyranny, or even 
 to execute justice with unnecessary rigour. 
 But trust me, sir, that there is nothing more 
 corrupting, nothing more destructive of the 
 noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than 
 the exercise of unlimited power. The man 
 who, in the beginning of such a career, might 
 shudder at the idea of taking away the life of 
 a fellow-being, might soon have his conscience 
 so seared by the repetition of crime, that the 
 agonies of his murdered victims might become 
 music to his soul, and the drippings of his 
 scaffold afford " blood enough to swim in." 
 History is full of such examples. 
 
 From this disgusting picture, permit me to 
 call the attention of your Excellency to one 
 of a different character. It exhibits you as 
 the constitutional chief magistrate of a free 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 191 
 
 people, giving to their representatives the influ 
 ence of your great, name and talents, to reform 
 the abuses which, in a long reign of tyranny 
 and misrule, have fastened upon every branch 
 of the administration. The army, and its 
 swarm of officers, reduced within the limits 
 of real usefulness, placed on the frontiers, and 
 no longer permitted to control public opinion, 
 and be the terror of the peaceful citizen. By 
 the removal of this incubus from the treasury, 
 and the establishment of order, responsibility, 
 and economy, in the expenditures of the go 
 vernment, it would soon be enabled to dispense 
 with the odious monopolies, and the duty of 
 the Mcavala, which have operated with so 
 malign an effect upon commerce and agricul 
 ture, and, indeed, upon the revenues which 
 they were intended to augment. No longer 
 oppressed by these shackles, industry would 
 everywhere revive : the farmer and the arti 
 san, cheered by the prospect of ample reward 
 for their labour, would redouble their exer 
 tions : foreigners, with their capital and skill 
 in the arts, would crowd hither, to enjoy the 
 advantages which would scarcely elsewhere 
 be found: and Colombia would soon exhibit 
 the reality of the beautiful fiction of Fenelon 
 
192 LIFE OF 
 
 Salentum rising from misery and oppression 
 to prosperity and happiness, under the coun 
 cils and direction of the concealed goddess. 
 
 What objection can be urged against this 
 course? Can any one, acquainted with the 
 circumstances of the country, doubt its suc 
 cess in restoring and maintaining tranquillity ? 
 The people would certainly not revolt against 
 themselves ; and none of the chiefs who are 
 supposed to be factiously inclined, would 
 think of opposing the strength of the nation, 
 when directed by your talents and authority. 
 But it is said, that the want of intelligence 
 amongst the people unfits them for the govern 
 ment. Is it not right, however, that the ex 
 periment should be fairly tried? I have al 
 ready said, that this has not been done. For 
 myself, I do not hesitate to declare my firm 
 belief that it will succeed. The people of Co 
 lombia possess many traits of character suita 
 ble for a republican government. A more 
 orderly, forbearing, and well-disposed people 
 are nowhere to be met with. Indeed, it may 
 safely be asserted, that their faults and vices 
 are attributable to the cursed government to 
 which they have been so long subjected, and 
 to the intolerant character of the religion, 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 193 
 
 whilst their virtues are all their own. But, 
 admitting their present want of intelligence, 
 no one has ever doubted their capacity to ac 
 quire knowledge, and under the strong motives 
 which exist, to obtain it : supported by the in 
 fluence of your excellency, it would soon be 
 obtained. 
 
 To yourself the advantage would be as 
 great as to the country ; like acts of mercy, 
 the blessings would be reciprocal ; your per 
 sonal happiness secured, and your fame ele 
 vated to a height which would leave but a 
 single competitor in the estimation of pos 
 terity. In bestowing the palm of merit the 
 world has become wiser than formerly. The 
 successful warrior is no longer regarded as 
 entitled to the first place in the temple of fame. 
 Talents of this kind have become too common, 
 and too often used for mischievous purposes, 
 to be regarded as they once were. In this 
 enlightened age, the mere hero of the field, 
 and the successful leader of armies, may for 
 the moment attract attention. But it will be 
 such as is bestowed upon the passing meteor, 
 whose blaze is no longer remembered, when 
 it is no longer seen. To be esteemed emi 
 nently great, it is necessary to be eminently 
 
194 LIFE OF 
 
 good. The qualities of the hero and the 
 general must be devoted to the advantage of 
 mankind, before he will be permitted to as 
 sume the title of their benefactor ; and the 
 station which he will hold in their regard and 
 affections will depend, not upon the number 
 and the splendour of his victories, but upon 
 the results and the use he may make of the 
 influence he acquires from them. 
 
 If the fame of our Washington depended 
 upon his military achievements, would the 
 common consent of the world allow him the 
 pre-eminence he possesses ? The victories at 
 Trenton, Monmouth and York, brilliant as 
 they were, exhibiting, as they certainly did, 
 the highest grade of military talents, are 
 scarcely thought of. The source of the vene 
 ration and esteem which are entertained for his 
 character, by every description of politicians 
 the monarchist and aristocrat, as well as 
 the republican, is to be found in his undevi- 
 ating and exclusive devotedness to the interest 
 of his country. No selfish consideration was 
 ever suffered to intrude itself into his mind. 
 For his country he conquered; and the un 
 rivalled and increasing prosperity of that 
 country is constantly adding fresh glory to his 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 195 
 
 name. General, the course which he pursued 
 is open to you, and it depends upon yourself 
 to attain the eminence which he has reached 
 before you. 
 
 To the eyes of military men, the laurels you 
 won on the fields of Vargas, Bayaca and Ca- 
 rebobo will be for ever green ; but will that 
 content you ? Are you willing that your name 
 should descend to posterity, amongst the mass 
 of those whose fame has been derived from 
 shedding human blood, without a single ad 
 vantage to the human race ? Or shall it be 
 united to that of Washington, as the founder 
 and the father of a great and happy people ? 
 The choice is before you. The friends of 
 liberty throughout the world, and the people 
 of the United States in particular, are waiting 
 your decision with intense anxiety. Alexan 
 der toiled and conquered to attain the applause 
 of the Athenians ; will you regard as nothing 
 the opinions of a nation which has evinced its 
 superiority over that celebrated people, in the 
 science most useful to man, by having carried 
 into actual practice a system of government 
 of which the wisest Athenians had but a 
 glimpse in theory, and considered as a blessing 
 never to be realized, however ardently to be 
 17 
 
19G LIFE OF 
 
 desired ? The place which you are to occupy 
 in their esteem depends upon yourself. Fare 
 well. 
 
 W. H. HARRISON. 
 
 General Harrison remained in Colombia but 
 a short time as General Jackson, on coming 
 into power, availed himself of the earliest op 
 portunity to evince the resentment which the 
 remembrance of Harrison s speech on the 
 Seminole war had left still rankling in his bo 
 som, by recalling him from this mission almost 
 immediately after he had taken possession of 
 the Presidential chair. 
 
 Since the return of General Harrison from 
 Colombia, he has lived in comparative retire 
 ment, upon his farm at North Bend, on the 
 Ohio, about fifteen miles below Cincinnati. 
 With the most enticing opportunities of accu 
 mulating wealth, during his long government 
 of Indiana, and superintendency of Indian af 
 fairs, he acquired none ; his honest and scru 
 pulous integrity were proof against the golden 
 temptations. His time and best energies were 
 devoted to the service of his country, and his 
 own interests were ever, with him, a seconda 
 ry consideration. He even, when Governor 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 197 
 
 of Indiana, greatly diminished the usual emolu 
 ments of such an office, by refusing to accept 
 any of those fees, whether as governor or su 
 perintendent of Indian Affairs, which, before 
 his time, had been customarily paid. For his 
 services as commander of the expedition to 
 Tippecanoe, he never asked nor received any 
 compensation. And subsequently, when in 
 command of our North-western army, though 
 he lived as frugally and fared as hardly as any 
 of his fellow-citizens in the ranks, yet, at his 
 own expense, he purchased clothing and ne 
 cessary comforts for his sick and wounded 
 soldiers, until he not only exhausted his pay as 
 commander-in-chief, but seriously encroached 
 too on his own private means. He therefore 
 retired without the spoils of office, and with 
 only a competency barely sufficient for his 
 support ; but rich in what he esteemed of far 
 greater value in a reputation undimmed by 
 a single tarnish, and in the honour and respect 
 of all his fellow-citizens. 
 
 We cannot refrain here from alluding to a 
 circumstance which evinces the peculiar deli 
 cacy and honour which have always swayed 
 General Harrison in his pecuniary transac 
 tions. A few years ago, it w r as ascertained 
 
198 LIFE OF 
 
 that a large tract of land near Cincinnati 
 which had been sold some time before for a 
 mere trifle, under an execution against the ori 
 ginal proprietor, could not be held by the 
 titles derived from the purchasers, on account 
 of some irregularity in the proceedings. The 
 legal title was in General Harrison and an 
 other gentleman, who were the heirs at law. 
 This tract of land was exceedingly valuable 
 and would have constituted a princely estate 
 for both these heirs, had they chosen to insist 
 on their legal rights or they might have made 
 some amicable arrangement with the purcha 
 sers, to which they would gladly have assent 
 ed, and have retained at least one half of this 
 property, by giving up the remainder. But 
 General Harrison had never yet suffered his 
 interest to blind his true sense of justice and 
 high-minded honour, nor did he in this instance. 
 On being informed of the situation of this pro 
 perty, he obtained the assent of his co-heir, 
 and immediately executed deeds in fee simple 
 to the purchasers, without claiming any con 
 sideration except the trifling difference be 
 tween the actual value of the land when sold 
 and the amount paid at the sheriff s sale. 
 There were in this tract, too, twelve acres of 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 199 
 
 General Harrison s private property by dona 
 tion from his father-in-law, which had been 
 improperly included in the sale, and which he 
 might have retained both legally and equitably 
 but such was his nice sense of honour and 
 scrupulous regard for the rights of others, that 
 he suffered even these twelve acres to be in 
 cluded in the deed given to the purchasers. 
 This portion of the land thus relinquished by 
 General Harrison is now worth more than 
 one hundred thousand dollars ! 
 
 After the quotations we have made from the 
 writings of General Harrison, at various pe 
 riods of his life, it is scarcely necessary that 
 we should now allude to his talents and men 
 tal cultivation. A reference to those quota 
 tions alone will abundantly prove the high 
 order of his intellect, and the unusual extent 
 of his literary attainments. He writes with 
 great ease and rapidity, yet with singular 
 clearness and beauty of composition. His 
 writings, which, from the many high stations 
 he has occupied, are very numerous, carry to 
 every impartial reader convincing evidence of 
 a strong mind, highly cultivated and well dis 
 ciplined. Among the later productions of Ge 
 neral Harrison, which are not of a political 
 17* 
 
200 LIFE OF 
 
 nature, and are therefore perhaps less known, 
 are " An Address delivered before the Hamil 
 ton County Agricultural Society, at their an 
 nual exhibition, held on the 15th and 16th of 
 June, 1831 ;" and i; A Discourse on the Abo 
 rigines of the Valley of the Ohio, with some 
 remarks on the study of History, prepared at 
 the request of the Historical Society of Ohio." 
 This discourse was written in the winter of 
 1837-8, about two years since only. To these 
 interesting and ably-written productions it 
 would be impossible to do justice without pre 
 senting them to our readers entire. Still we 
 cannot forbear quoting a few paragraphs from 
 each, as an evidence of the uncommon beauty 
 of language, and the manly and noble senti 
 ments that pervade them both. In the address 
 before the agricultural society, in allusion to 
 the place at which the exhibition was held, 
 General Harrison says : 
 
 " What patriot, what American, what lover 
 of mankind, can view the scene which is here 
 presented, and not enjoy it? Thirty-eight 
 years ago, the spot on which we are now as 
 sembled was a dreary wilderness. Not a 
 habitation was to be seen save a solitary, de- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 201 
 
 serted cabin, which only added to the gloom 
 by which it was surrounded. No sound of 
 voices, as now, was heard from men busied in 
 the fulfilment of the commands of the Creator, 
 to cultivate and improve the earth. The 
 silence was unbroken, save by the shout of the 
 Christian warrior, or the appalling yell of the 
 savage, as they mingled in mortal combat. 
 To this scene of solitude, of desolation, and 
 of blood, what wonders have now succeeded ! 
 More than the efforts of unaided man could 
 have accomplished the hand of heaven is to 
 be distinctly traced. Yes ! it is to thy influence, 
 fair Liberty, 
 
 "Daughter of Heaven! who with indignant eye, 
 On pomp and pageant royalty looks down," 
 
 that we ascribe these wonders, only to be 
 effected under institutions which leave the ac 
 tions of man unfettered, and his mind as free 
 as the air he breathes." 
 ****** 
 " The encouragement of agriculture, gen 
 tlemen, would be praiseworthy in any country ; 
 in our own it is peculiarly so. Not only to 
 multiply the means and enjoyments of life, but 
 as giving greater stability and security to our 
 
202 LIFE OF 
 
 political institutions. In all ages and in all 
 countries it has been observed that the culti 
 vators of the soil are those who are least will 
 ing to part with their rights, and submit them 
 selves to the will of a master." * * 
 
 The greater part of this address is of a 
 more practical nature conveying to the so 
 ciety before whom it was delivered,, a valuable 
 fund of useful information, well and forcibly 
 explained by appropriate illustrations. . 
 
 In the discourse of General Harrison on the 
 Aborigines of the Valley of the Ohio, he con 
 tests the opinion advanced by the Hon. Cad- 
 wallader Golden, in his " History of the five 
 Indian Nations of Canada," and which is like 
 wise asserted by Governor Povvnal, and by 
 many others, that the original inhabitants of 
 that valley were conquered by the Iroquois. 
 He proves that this alleged subjugation of the 
 northwestern tribes by that warlike confede 
 ration, rests on no competent authority ; and 
 he brings forward convincing evidence to show 
 that the favoured region through which the 
 Ohio flows, as well as the contiguous country,, 
 has been for many centuries as it now is, 
 " The land of the free and the home of the brave. " 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 203 
 
 In endeavouring to enforce the great im 
 portance of a proper study of history, Gene 
 ral Harrison says, in this discourse : 
 
 " It is in youth, and in early youth, that the 
 seeds of that patriotism must be sown, which 
 is to continue to bloom through life. No one 
 ever began to be a patriot in advanced age. 
 That holy fire must be lighted up when the 
 rnind is best suited to receive with enthusiasm, 
 generous and disinterested impressions. If it 
 is not then " the ruling passion" of the bosom, 
 it will never be at an age when every action 
 is the result of cool calculation, and the basis 
 of that calculation too often the interest of the 
 individual. This has been the prevailing opi 
 nion with every free people, throughout every 
 stage of civilization, from the roving savage 
 tribe to the numerous and polished nation ; 
 from the barbarous Pelasgi to the glorious era 
 of Miltiades and Cymon, or the more refined 
 and luxurious age of Pericles and Xenophon. 
 By all, the same means were adopted. With 
 all, it was the custom to present to their youth 
 the examples of the heroic achievements of 
 their ancestors, to inspire them with the same 
 ardour of devotion to the welfare of their 
 
204 LIFE OF 
 
 country. As it regards the argument, it mat 
 ters not whether the history was written or 
 unwritten; whether in verse or in prose; or 
 how communicated ; whether by national an 
 nals, to which all had access; by recitation in 
 solemn assemblies, as at the Olympic and other 
 games of Greece ; in the songs of bards, as 
 among the Celts and Scandinavians ; or in the 
 speeches of the aged warriors, as was prac 
 tised by the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, 
 and other tribes of our own country. Much 
 fiction was no doubt passed off on these occa 
 sions, as real history; but as it was believed 
 to be true, that was sufficient to kindle the 
 spirit of emulation in the cause of patriotism 
 among those to whom these recitations, songs, 
 and speeches were addressed. 
 
 In the remarks I have made, it is by no 
 means my intention to deny the good effects 
 which have been derived from some works of 
 fiction, and that they have greatly assisted 
 " To raise the genius and to mend the heart." 
 But this result is better effected by authentic 
 history." 
 
 Throughout the whole of this discourse 
 there is a vein of deep thought and calm re- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 205 
 
 flection, aided by a profound research and 
 scholastic knowledge rarely attained. It 
 abounds, too, in that ready and happy elo 
 quence for which its author has always been 
 peculiarly noted. Our regret that we cannot 
 indulge in quotations from this able production 
 more at length, is lessened by the hope that it 
 will soon be presented to our readers in a bet 
 ter form, together with other w r ritings of the 
 same distinguished author. 
 
 In person, General Harrison is tall and slen 
 der ; his features are irregular, but bold and 
 strongly marked ; his eyes are dark, keen, and 
 penetrating, his forehead is high and expan 
 sive, his mouth peculiarly denotes firmness 
 and genius, and the expression of his counte 
 nance is highly indicative of intelligence and 
 benevolence of character. From early man 
 hood he has never had the appearance of pos 
 sessing a robust constitution, but from the ac 
 tivity and temperate habits of his past life, few 
 men at his age enjoy their moral and physical 
 energies in such remarkable vigour. His man 
 ners are plain, frank, and unassuming, and his 
 disposition is cheerful, kind, and generous, al 
 most to a fault. In his private intercourse he 
 
206 LIFE OF 
 
 is beloved and esteemed by all who know him. 
 In the various civil and military offices he has 
 held, he has always been moderate and for 
 bearing, yet firm and true to his trust. No 
 other commander has ever been more popular 
 with our militia ; and the true secret of this 
 cannot be better explained than by his own 
 reply, when asked how he had gained this in 
 fluence : " By treating them," said he, " with 
 affection and kindness ; by always recollect 
 ing that they were my fellow-citizens, whose 
 feelings I was bound to respect ; and by shar 
 ing with them, on every occasion, the hard 
 ships which they were obliged to undergo. " 
 
 His suavity of manners, his generosity and 
 kindness of heart, invariably won him the warm 
 affections of those who were placed under his 
 authority; while his moderation, his disinterest 
 edness, his scrupulous attention to the public 
 interests, and the wisdom with which he exer 
 cised the extensive powers entrusted to him, 
 commanded the respect and confidence of his 
 fellow-citizens. 
 
 General Harrison is likewise strictly and 
 truly a pious man. Though he has always 
 been noted for his particular attention to pub 
 lic worship and Christian offices, yet religion 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 207 
 
 with him has not been a Sabbath-day garment 
 only, but rather an e very-day familiar habit 
 not a mere sense of incumbent duty, but a 
 warm and spontaneous feeling, kindled into 
 life in his early youth, and forming the hope 
 and firm reliance of his manhood and declin 
 ing years. The writer of this biography deems 
 it no betrayal of confidence to say that he has 
 more than once, on entering at day-break the 
 chamber of General Harrison, found him on 
 his knees at his bedside, absorbed in his devo 
 tions to his Maker, when he could not have 
 supposed that any eye save that of his God 
 was resting on him. 
 
 An incident, which occurred in Philadelphia 
 on the visit of General Harrison to that city, 
 in 1836, will serve, in some measure, to illus 
 trate the peculiar depth and single-heartedness 
 of his truly Christian and devotional feelings. 
 On the evening preceding the only Sabbath 
 he then spent in that city, he was visited by 
 two of his warm political friends, who stated 
 to him, that as there were in Philadelphia two 
 religious sects which comprised a much larger 
 number of followers than any others, they 
 thought it would be good policy in him to at 
 tend divine service at a church of one of these 
 18 
 
208 LIFE OF 
 
 sects in the morning, and at a church of the 
 other in the afternoon and that they had, 
 therefore, made arrangements to that effect. 
 His reply was singularly characteristic. " Gen 
 tlemen," said he, after a moment s pause, " I 
 thank you sincerely for your kindness, and re 
 gret only that I cannot take advantage of it 
 but I have already promised to attend divine 
 service to-morrow, and when I go to Church I 
 go to worship my God and not to court popu 
 larity" This plain and simple reply came 
 evidently from the heart, and carried a per 
 fect conviction of its truth and sincerity to the 
 minds of all who heard it. 
 
 In the republican institutions of our country, 
 birth and parentage are comparatively of very 
 little importance ; and no candidate for public 
 favour can found thereon the slightest claim 
 to the respect or the support of his fellow-citi 
 zens. We have happily shaken off the thrall 
 ing prejudices of the old world, and a title to 
 office and honourable distinction is not with 
 us hereditary ; but every man must earn his 
 own good name, and his claim on the favour 
 of the people, by his own good deeds. Yet, 
 aware, as every one must be, of the powerful 
 influence of early education, it is worthy of 
 
WILLTAM HENRY HARRISON. 209 
 
 remark, as well as gratifying to know, that a 
 candidate for public office, in whom we feel 
 an interest, passed all the early years of his 
 life with the brightest examples of virtue con 
 stantly before him ; and under the parental tui 
 tion of one of those illustrious patriots, whose 
 memory is revered by every true-hearted 
 American. It is pleasing to be assured, that 
 his first political sentiments were imbibed in a 
 school of the purest republican principles. And 
 when we trace up the career of this individual, 
 from the spring-time of his youth, to the sum 
 mer of his manhood, and to the early autumn 
 of his years, and see those principles closely 
 adhered to throughout, we can scarcely resist 
 the conviction, that his future course will be 
 consistent with the past ; and that, with ma 
 tured abilities, he will be still more conspicu 
 ous for his republican principles, his modera 
 tion in office, his firm integrity, and his extend 
 ed and enlightened views as a statesman. Such 
 were the early advantages of William Henry 
 Harrison ; such has been his course thus far 
 through life ; and such is now the bright pro 
 mise, to a realization of which we may safely 
 look forward, should the people see fit to place 
 him in office. 
 
210 LIFE OF 
 
 The principles that would govern General 
 Harrison, should he be elected to the Presi 
 dency, may be known by the following ex 
 tracts from a letter addressed by him to the 
 Hon. Harmar Denny, on the 2d of December 
 1838. 
 
 " Among the principles proper to be adopt 
 ed by any Executive sincerely desirous to re 
 store the administration to its original simpli 
 city and purity, I deem the following to be of 
 prominent importance. 
 
 " I. To CONFINE HIS SERVICE TO A SINGLE 
 TERM. 
 
 " II. To DISCLAIM ALL RIGHT OF CONTROL OVER 
 
 THE PUBLIC TREASURE, with the exception of 
 such part of it as may be appropriated by law 
 to carry on the public services, and that to be 
 applied precisely as the law may direct, and 
 drawn from the treasury agreeably to the long- 
 established forms of that department. 
 
 " III. THAT HE SHOULD NEVER ATTEMPT TO 
 INFLUENCE THE ELECTIONS, either by the people 
 or the state legislatures, nor suffer the federal 
 officers under his control to take any other part 
 in them than by giving their own votes when 
 they possess the right of voting. 
 
 " IV. That in the exercise of the veto power t 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 211 
 
 he should limit his rejection to: 1st. Such as 
 are in his opinion unconstitutional 2d. Such 
 as tend to encroach on the rights of the states 
 or individuals. 3d. Such as, involving deep 
 interests, may in his opinion require more ma 
 ture deliberation or reference to the will of the 
 people to be ascertained at the succeeding elec 
 tions. 
 
 " V. That he should never suffer the influ 
 ence of his name to be used for purposes of a 
 purely party character. 
 
 " VI. That in removal from office of those 
 who hold their appointments during the plea 
 sure of the executive, the cause of such removal 
 should be stated if requested, to the senate, at 
 the time the nomination of a successor is made. 
 
 " And last, but not least in importance, 
 
 " VII. That he should not suffer the execu 
 tive department of the government to become 
 the source of legislation ; but leave the whole 
 business of making laws for the Union to the 
 department to which the. constitution has exclu 
 sively assigned it, until they have assumed that 
 perfected shape, where and when alone the 
 opinions of the executive may be heard. 
 
 " A community of power in the preparation 
 of the laws between the legislature and the 
 18* 
 
212 LIFE OF 
 
 Executive Departments, must necessarily lead 
 to dangerous combinations, greatly to the ad 
 vantage of a President desirous of extending 
 his power. Such a construction of the con 
 stitution could never have been contemplated 
 by those who framed it, as they well knew 
 that those who propose the bills will always 
 take care of themselves, or the interests of 
 their constituents ; and hence the provision in 
 the constitution, borrowed from that of Eng 
 land, restricting the originating of revenue 
 bills to the immediate representatives of the 
 people. So far from agreeing in opinion with 
 the distinguished character who lately retired 
 from the presidency, that Congress should 
 have applied to him for a project of a banking 
 system, I think that such an application would 
 have manifested not only great subserviency 
 upon the part of that body, but an unpardon 
 able ignorance of the chief danger to be ap 
 prehended from such an institution. That dan 
 ger unquestionably consists in a union of inter- 
 ests between the executive and the bank. 
 Would an ambitious incumbent of the execu 
 tive chair neglect so favourable an opportu 
 nity as the preparing of the law would give 
 him, to insert in it provisions to secure his in- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 213 
 
 fluence over it ? In the authority given to the 
 President by the constitution, " to recommend 
 to Congress such measures as he shall judge 
 necessary and expedient," it was certainly ne 
 ver intended that the measures he recommend 
 ed should be presented in a shape suited for 
 the immediate decision of the legislature. The 
 sages who made the constitution too well knew 
 the advantages which the crown of England 
 derives from the exercise of this power by its 
 ministers, to have intended it to be used by 
 our Chief Magistrate, or the heads of depart 
 ments under his control. The boasted princi 
 ples of the English constitution, that the con 
 sent of the democratic branch is not only ne 
 cessary to receive money from the people, but 
 that it is its inviolable prerogative also to ori 
 ginate all the bills for that purpose, is true in 
 theory, but rendered utterly false and nugato 
 ry in effect, by the participation of the minis 
 ters of the crown in the details of legislation. 
 Indeed the influence they derive from sitting 
 as members of the House of Commons, and 
 from wielding the immense patronage of the 
 crown (constitutional or usurped) gives them 
 a power over that body, that renders plausible, 
 at least, the flattery, or as it is more probable, 
 
214 LIFE OF 
 
 the intended sarcasm of Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 in an address to James L, that the demand of 
 the sovereign upon the Commons for pecuni 
 ary aid, was required only " that the tax might 
 seem to come from themselves." 
 
 ******" The question may, perhaps, 
 be asked of me, what security I have in my 
 power to offer, if the majority of the Ameri 
 can people should select me for their Chief 
 Magistrate, that I would adopt the principles 
 which I have herein laid down, as those upon 
 which my administration would be conduct 
 ed. I could only answer by referring to my 
 conduct, and the disposition manifested in the 
 discharge of the duties of several important 
 offices which have heretofore been conferred 
 upon me. If the power placed in my hands 
 has, even on a single occasion, been used for 
 any purpose other than that for which it was 
 given, or retained longer than was necessary 
 to accomplish the objects designated by those 
 from whom the trusts were received, I will 
 acknowledge that either will constitute a suf 
 ficient reason for discrediting any promise I 
 may make, under the circumstances in which 
 I am now placed. I am, dear sir, truly yours, 
 W. H. HARRISON. 
 
 To the Hon. HARMAR DENNY." 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 215 
 
 Our confined limits restrain us from making 
 more extensive extracts from this admirable 
 letter the noble and truly republican senti 
 ments of which, together with its plain yet 
 manly and vigorous language, forcibly remind 
 us of the invaluable writings of our revered 
 Washington. 
 
 The friends of General Harrison found no 
 especial claim on his military services. His 
 own sentiments on this subject we have al 
 ready quoted; and his friends would scorn, 
 as much as he would, any attempt to dazzle a 
 single one of his fellow-citizens by the glory 
 of his military renown, brilliant though it be. 
 They would point rather to his numerous civil 
 services, in the forty years he has devoted to 
 his country; to the various and important 
 offices he has so ably filled in the territorial 
 governments, in the legislature of his own 
 state, and in the house of representatives and 
 senate of the United States ; and to the high 
 order of abilities displayed in his speeches in 
 congress, in his public acts, and in his volu 
 minous public correspondence. And we here 
 take occasion to say, that all his letters and 
 public papers have been exclusively written 
 by himself; and that so far from his having 
 
216 LIFE OF 
 
 called in the mental aid of another, to prepare 
 his messages and dispatches, as some of our 
 distinguished men have condescended to do, 
 he has never even employed an amanuensis, 
 to perform the manual labour of his corre 
 spondence. His ruling principles through life, 
 appear to have been, an ardent love for his 
 country, and an earnest desire to serve her 
 best interests ; with a devotion to the pure 
 republican maxims of the revolution, always 
 unwavering and consistent ; unlike the schem 
 ing politicians of a more modern school, whose 
 own interest is the polar star that guides them, 
 whatever may betide their country. 
 
 The services of General Harrison have 
 always been rendered to his country and not 
 to any political faction : nor have his civil or 
 military promotions ever been obtained by 
 party arrangements or underhand manoeuvres; 
 but, on the contrary, they were given him at 
 the earnest wish and by the spontaneous con 
 fidence of his fellow-citizens. Neither has his 
 present nomination for the presidency been 
 made by a discontented faction or political 
 party, but by the voluntary choice of a great 
 majority of the people uttered by their chosen 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 217 
 
 delegates. And happily, the more his claims 
 to the high office for which he has been nomi 
 nated are canvassed, the more acceptable will 
 he become. A veteran soldier who has won 
 for his country every battle he has fought, an 
 experienced statesman whose integrity has 
 been thoroughly tried and proved, a practical 
 republican of the good old school, and an 
 honest man whose attachment to the true 
 interests of the people is unquestionable, and 
 who will rally about him the great mass of 
 honest and intelligent citizens, and with their 
 aid and support, will rescue the constitution, 
 of late so trampled upon by party violence 
 and executive usurpation. 
 
 With tried patriotism, with abilities of the 
 highest order, with integrity pure as the un 
 sullied snow, and with the truest republican 
 principles, William Henry Harrison is now 
 before his fellow-citizens, as a candidate for 
 the highest office in their gift. In the long 
 course of his public life, he has always openly 
 avowed and proved himself a staunch advo 
 cate of popular rights, and is therefore truly 
 THE CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE. 
 He comes before them, not with a crowd of 
 
213 LIFE OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 pampered and still-grasping officials to intrigue 
 and bribe for him, but with the noble frank- 
 ness of an honourable and high-minded man, 
 willing and desirous to be judged impartially 
 by his fellow-citizens, and ready to abide by 
 their honest decision. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 M131082 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY