by ELMO SCOTT WATSON approach of november brings with it the anniversaries of two battles which are notable in the long history of our wars with the indians on november 4 one hundred and forty years ago the indians scored one of their greatest successes against the white men and brought a sad ending to the military career of an officer who had made an honorable record in the revolution twenty yeara later on november 7 the situation was reversed this time it was the white men who were triumphant and the victory started their leader on the road which led to the white house fihe two battles were the defeat of gen arthur bt claar on the headwaters on the wabash river in ohio near the indiana ohio boundary line november 4 1791 and the victory of gen william harrison on the tippecanoe river in indiana oa november 7 1811 the st claar defeat was the climax of a futile attempt by the newly organized and weak federal government to subdue the tribes of the old northwest who had been attacking himml grants along the ohio river and raiding settlements in ohio and kentucky an expedition of regulars and 1100 pennsylvania and kentucky led by gen joseah harmar had been ecat against the indians in 1790 but had bended in failure next the united states tried to win peace in the northwest by treaty but this failed 80 another expedition was organized to proceed against the savages this time president washington gave the command to gen arthur st claar aho had served with him in the revolution st claar was then sixty years of age and so seriously that he was unable to ride upon his horse and had to be carried in a lit ter most of the time lie was totally inexperienced 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 stem task ahead of them than their leaders the arms and equipment of st clalra force were of the poorest sort the commissary and departments were inefficient and the outlook for the success of the expedition seemed doubtful from the start when st claar arrived to take command and found the miserable stuff of the army which he was to lead against the indians who had repulsed carmar he protested vigorously to his superiors but they were either helpless to better conditions pr indifferent so on october 4 1701 the army got under way from fort washington st clalra troubles increased as he advanced men 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 and there was little if any discipline most of the time they had to cut their way through the dense damp woods or drag their weary feet over bodden prairies sickness increased and the soldiers were greatly dis heartened by the con betant sniping attacks of stray war parties by november 3 the army bad reached the east fork of the wabash they were now near the principal miami villages and it was st clalra plan to camp here and erect a small fort here 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 small 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 was heard ahead and a few moments later the firing became general before st claar could form bis 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 clalra officers hastily rallied their men and poured in two quick volleys which drove the indians back into the woods for a moment ant the relief was only temporary for with in a few moments st clalra men found themselves surrounded from very side the indians were pouring a hot fire in upon them st claar had two small batteries of light guns and these were immediately but as they roared out their volleys they covered the army with dense clouds of smoke through which the men fired aimlessly at the hidden foe the sol adlers were becoming more disorganized despite the efforts of st claar and his of ficeri to hold the line steady ordering one of his officers to lead a charge with the regiment of regulars he took advantage of this diversion to begin his retreat but the moment that his undisciplined men started to retire along the narrow road panic struck them in a moment they lost all semblance of organization iza tion the retreat soon became a rout and then a wild flight for safety As the soldiers ran through the woods the in deans followed close on their heels whooping like demons they sprang upon the unarmed men with and tomahawk and cut them down with almost no resl tance for several the pursuit was continued the only thing that saved the army from annihilation was the fact that the indians were in a hurry to return to st chairs 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 of the indians and brought peace to the harried frontier in wayne 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 twenty throe years old was made commander of fort washington and later the president appointed him secretary of the northwest territory later when the new territory of indiana was established harrison was made its first governor and superintendent in of indian affairs by 1809 the indian situation had again become critical angered by white encroachments encroach ments upon their lands and by what they claimed were violations of treaties the indians were ripe for revolt all they needed was a leader and this leader soon appeared he was tecumseh chief of the shawnees who dreamed again the dream of king philllp 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 genius for leadership and organization added a religious appeal to influence the indians to join in their scheme tecumseh did not want war until the indians 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 attach on the frontier settlements in this emergency the president ordered carrlson lson to prepare for action 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 absolutely necessary barrison however was inclined to disregard these orders tecumseh was then busy with his plans for the indian confederation among the tribes of the south bat large nam STCLAIR bers of warriors from the various tribes had assembled at the prophet s town on the banks of the tippecanoe river in indiana indian outrages were increasing and harrlson decided that the time had come for him to act when it became known that he intended to th prophets town volunteers from all over the west began pouring into harrl BOBS 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 and a small company of scouts to cover his advance had learned well his lessons in indiana fighting from wayne and would not make the mistake that st claar did after a march of five days harrison with hla army of approximately 1100 men reached the vicinity of the prophet a town not far from the present city of lafayette ind on the night of november 0 he pitched his camp on a piece of high ground surrounded by a swamp he in tended to hold a conference with the prophet the next morning fearful of treachery by the shawnee leader IT arrison posted a strong guard under experienced officers about his camp and ordered his men to sleep with their guns loaded and bayonets fixed experience in indian warfare had taught him that it was a wise precaution to awaken his men early in the morning so as to be prepared in case the indians should attack he had juit 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 discovered n number of indian warriors creeping through the underbrush towards him ne immediately fired and his shot opened the battle the indians immediately charged but harrisons Harrl sons 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 rode up and down the line on a white horse encouraging his men and giving them a fine example of coolness under fire the charge of the indians was met by a withering ore from the deadly squirrel rifles of the ken tuc klins they fell back but came on again a few minutes later again harrisons Harrl sons men poured in a deadly volley and as the savages wavered and halted the americans charged with the bayonet the prophets braves broke and ran in every direction the fierce little battle had lasted less than two hours but in that time nearly of harrisons army were killed or wound cd the losses of the indians 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 ing war with the americans had harrlson buffered the fate of st cliar the war of 1812 might have had a different ending but it Is certain that another indian triumph would have delayed white settlement in this region many years the battle also had im political results it made harrison a popular hero and in 1810 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 harrison to become their candidate the slogan of tippecanoe and tyler too and the symbols of tho lob cabin the coon sun and the hard elder barrel proved to be potent ones and waa swept into the white house on a wave of popular enthusiasm 0 bj Newt piper union