abl NC avem vem b er 0 an B at ti e so ean wk ile ilk ay L i r alz tup TL E it L A 19 R GEM grm HARRISON by ELMO SCOTT WATSON tug HE approach of november brings with it the anniversaries of two battles which are notable in the long h story of our wars with the ind ans on novem no vein ber 4 one hundred and forty A years ago the indians scored one of the r greatest successes against the white men and brought a sad ending to the military career of an officer who had made an honorable record 4 v in the revolution twenty ears later on november 7 the s tuition was re versed this time it was nas the white men who were triumphant and the victory started their leader on the road which aich led to the white house the two battles wei e the defeat of gen arti artl ui st clair on the headwaters on the river in ohio near the ind ana ohio boundary line november 4 and the victory of gen william henry harrlson harrison on the tippecanoe river in ind ana on november 7 1811 the st clair defeat was the cl max of i I 1 futile attempt by the newly organized and weak federal government to subdue the tribes of the old northwest who had been attack ng grants along the ohio river and raiding settlements in ohio and kentucky an t on of regulars and 1100 a and ken tucky mil tia led by gen jos ah harmar had been sent against the ind ans in 1790 but had ended in failure next the united states tiled to win peace in the northwest by treaty but this failed so another expedition was organized to proceed against the savages this time pres dent wash ington gave the command to gen arthur st clair who had bad served with ith him in the revo lution st clair was nas then sixty years of age and so seriously III that he was unable to ride upon his horse and had to be carried in a lit ter most of the time he ile was totally in indian fighting as were most of his officers and his men composed of two small regiments of newly organized regulars two reg imenes of six month levies and a large body of untrained militia who were no better fitted for the stern task ahead of them than their leaders the arms and equipment ament of st clair clairs s force were of the poorest sort the commissary and quartermaster departments were inefficient and the outlook for the success of the expedition seemed doubtful from the start when st clair arrived to take tale command and found the miser able stuff of the army which he was to lead against the indians who had repulsed harmar he protested vigorously to his superiors but they were either helpless to better condition conditions or indi indifferent Terent so on october 4 1791 the army got under way from port fort washington st clair s troubles increased as he advanced men alen straggled from the army despite warnings that they would be cut off by the indians who were hanging on the flanks of the army desertions were frequent find and there was little if any disc pline most of the time they had to cut their way through the dense damp woods or drag their weary feet over sodden prairies sickness increased and the soldiers were greatly d by the con stant sniping attacks of otray stray war parties by november 3 the army had reached the east fork of the wabash they were now near the principal miami villages and it was st clair s plan to camp here and erect a small fort here be he would leave the sick and his extra baggage and push on to destroy the towns by now his army was reduced to less than 1400 men they were camped in a clearing on a narrow rise of ground surrounded on every side by dense woods except for a narrow road which they had cut through the forest to get to this place A email creek ran through their camp which was pitched in the form of a long hollow square pitched in the form of a long hollow square early the next morning the men were paraded as usual at sunrise it was a cold raw morning and they hurried through the parade to prepare their breakfast suddenly the sound of rifle shots was heard ahead and a few moments later the firing became general before st clair could form his line the advance party of the militia had been routed by the indians and came running back across the stream they dashed through the camp throwing the regulars into disorder st clair s officers hastily rallied their men and poured in two quick volleys which drove the indians back into the woods for a moment 1 GEIN at but the relief was only temporary for with in a few moments st clair s men found them selves surrounded from enery e ery side the ind ans were pouring a hot fire in upon them st clair had two small batteries of I 1 guns and these were immediately unlimbered but as they roared out their volleys they covered the army with dense clouds of smoke tl rough tough wh ch eh the men fired aimlessly at the hidden foe the sol diers were becoming more di aed ed despite the efforts of st clair and h s officers offic ceis eig to hold the line steady ordering 7 one of his officers to lead a charge with the reg ment of regulars he took adian advantage tage of th s diversion to begin his retreat but the moment that his undine pi pl ned men started to retire along the narrow road panic struck them in a moment they lost all semblance of organ the retreat soon became a rout and then a wild flight for safety As the sold ers ran through the woods the in d ans followed close on the r heels whooping I 1 le he demons they sprang upon the unarmed d men with inife and tomahawk and cut them down with almost no re res tance stance for several miles the kursu t was vas continued the only thing that saied the army from annah lation was the fact that the indians were in a hurry to return to st clair s camp for the rich booty which it contained As it was more than COO of the americans were killed and nearly were seriously wounded greatly encouraged by their success the tribes of the northwest continued their depredations and it was not until three years later that the vigorous campaign of mad anthony wayne culminating in the battle of fallen timbers broke the power ot of the ind ans and brought peace to the harried frontier in wayne waynes s army was a young virginian named william henry harrison who won the praise of wayne for his bravery and coolness at fallen timbers soon afterwards lieutenant harrison although he was only twentythree twenty three bears old was made commander of fort wash ington and ater the pres dent appo anted h in secretary of the N I 1 northwest orth west terr tory later R hen the new terr tory of ind ana was established harrison was made its first governor and super In of ind an affairs by 1809 the indian situation had bad again become crit cal angered by white encroachments upon their lands and by what they claimed were vio lations of treaties the ind ans were ripe for revolt oft all they needed deeded was a leader and this leader soon appeared he ile was tecumseh chief of the shawnees who dreamed again the dream of king phill p and pontiac for a confederation of the indian tribes to resist the advance of the white man tecumseh was greatly aided in his project by his twin brother the open door commonly known as the prophet who to tecumseh s genius for lea dersh p and organization added a rel tel alous appeal to influence the indians to join in their scheme tecumseh did not want war until the ind ans were strongly organized and some assurance of success was certain early in 1811 however it became apparent that hostilities would soon open the united states and great britain were on the verge of war british spies and agents were busy among the indians seeking to win them to the english cause and the savages were making numerous attacks on the frontier settlements in this emergency the president ordered harrison to prepare for action militia from ohio and ken tucky and indiana were called into service and placed under his command but he was ordered not to assume the offensive unless it was abao cutely necessary harrison however was inclined to disregard these orders tecumseh was then busy with his plans for or the indian confederation among the tribes of the S south B but ut large num nuin bers of warriors from the various northern tribes had assembled at ine prophets town on the banks of the tippecanoe river in indiana ind an outrages were increasing and harrison decided that the time had come for him to act when it became known that he intended to march against tie prophet prophets s town volunteers from all over the west began pouring into harri SOBS camp at vincennes by the first of novem ber his force consisted of nine companies of reg ulars eight companies of indiana militia and dragoons three companies of mounted riflemen mostly from kentucky hen tucky and a small company of scouts to cover h s advance harrison had learned well his lessons in ind ana fighting from wayne and would not make the mistake that st clair did after a march of five fine days harrison with his army of approximately 1100 men reached the vicinity of the prophet prophets s town not far from the present city of lafayette ind on the night of november 6 he pitched his camp on a piece of high ground surrounded by a swamp lie ile in tended to hold a conference with the prophet the nest next morning fearful of treachery by the shawnee leader harrison posted a strong guard under experienced officers about his camp and ordered his men to sleep with their guns loaded and bayonets fixed harrison s experience in ind an warfare had taught him that it was a wise precaution to awa awaken hen his men early in the morning so as to be prepared in case the indians should attack he had just arisen at about four 0 clock in the morning and was pulling on his boots when a shot broke the stillness of the early morning it was followed a moment later by a volley of shots one of the sentries had d sc a 1 number of indian warriors creeping through the underbrush towards him he ile dimmed abely fired and his shot opened the battle the indians dimmed abely charged but harrison arrison II s men were ready for them the line of militia wavered and threatened to break and run but the regulars stood firm and soon there was fighting on every side harrlson harrison rode up and down the line on a white horse encourage ng his men and giving them a fine example of coolness under fire the charge of the indians was met by a withering fire ere from the deadly squirrel rifles of the ken tuc tuck klans ians they fell back but came on again a few minutes later again harrisons harrison s men poured in a deadly volley and as the savages wavered and halted the amer cans charged with the bayonet the prophet prophets s braves broke and ran in every direction the fierce I 1 atle battle had lasted less than two hours but in that time near ly of harrlson harrison s army were I 1 lied or wound ed the losses of the ind ans were never learned but they were probably equally heavy the battle of tippecanoe had far reaching results it not only broke up the confederacy which tecumseh had nearly completed bu it also which tecumseh had nearly completed but it also united force of indians as their allies in the corn com ing war with the americans had harrison suffered the fate of st clair the war of 1812 might have had a different end ng but it Is certain that another indian triumph would have delayed white settlement in this region many years the battle also had ITO political results it made H hernson arrison a popular hero and in 1840 when the whigs saw that they had a chance to win the presidency after the panic year of 1837 had weakened the democratic party they persuaded harrlson harrison to become their candidate the slogan of tip and tyler too and the symbols of the lob cabin the coon skin and the hard elder bar rel proved to be potent ones and harrlson harrison was swept into the white house on a wave of popular enthusiasm bj by western New newspaper r union