Battle of Tippecanoe

           “I have the honor to inform you that the dawn of yesterday terminated an action between the Troops under my command and the whole of the Prophet’s forces.  Their precipitate retreat leaving a number of the warriors dead on the field and the subsequent abandonment of their Town (which was partially fortified) attest for us a complete and decisive victory.  It has however been dearly purchased--a number of brave and valuable men have fallen victims to their zeal for their country’s service.  The behavior of both regulars & Militia Troops was such as would have done honor to Veterans.”
            From a letter by Governor William Henry Harrison to Secretary of War William Eustis, on November 8, 1811, the day after the Battle of Tippecanoe.
            One hundred and seventy-five years ago this month, on November 7, 1811, a military action took place near the Tippecanoe River in Indiana Territory that would become one of the most famous battles in United States history.  As a result of his role in this confrontation, William Henry Harrison would be elected President three decades later with the campaign slogan of “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too.”
            As related in the preceding articles, on November 6, 1811, Harrison arrived at Prophetstown at the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers near present-day Lafayette with an army of approximately 1,000 Regular Army soldiers, Indiana Militia and Kentucky Volunteers.  Although Harrison personally believed that an attack on the village probably would be necessary in order to break up this concentration of hostile warriors, he had been instructed by the War Department to try to disperse the Indians peaceably.  Thus, when the Indians requested a council on the following day, Harrison felt obliged to agree.
Selecting a campsite less than a mile from the village, Harrison arranged his troops in a single line around the perimeter.  The baggage and provisions, along with the horses and some of the mounted troops, were placed in the center.  A large guard force was detailed around the camp, while the remainder of  the men were told to sleep at their battle stations.
            The majority of the soldiers were still sleeping at four in the morning, when one of the guards detected Indians quietly advancing in the darkness.  His shot alerted the camp, but two companies of troops on the portion of the line receiving the first shock of the attack had little time to respond.
            Harrison, leaping from his tent in the center of the camp, mounted a horse and quickly rode to the threatened point.  From that location, he began directing the defense and called for reinforcements from other parts of the line.
            Adam Walker, a private in the Regular Army, described the ensuing battle as follows in a journal published in 1816:  “The dreadful attack was received first by a company of regulars, under the command of Capt. Barton, and a company of militia, commanded by Capt. Geiger,--their men had not the least notice of the approach of the Indians until they were aroused by a horrid yell and a discharge of rifles at the very door of their tents; considerable confusion ensued in these two companies before they could be formed in any regular order; but not withstanding the disorder this sudden attack created, the men were not wanting in their duty--they sprang from their tents and discharged their pieces upon the enemy, with great execution, and kept their ground good until relief could be brought them.  The attack soon extended round to the right line, where the troops were formed in complete order, and the assaults of the savages were returned in full measure.  One company of Indiana militia fell back in great disorder, but after some arduous exertions of their officers, they were again rallied and fought with a spirit that evinced a determination to escape the odium of cowardice.  The battle has now become general, every musket and rifle contributed its share to the work of carnage.  A few Indians had placed themselves in an advantageous situation on the left of the front line, and being screened from our fire by some large oak trees, did great execution in our ranks…
            “The Indians fell back, and for a short time, continued the action at a distance--here was some sharp shooting, as they had greatly the advantage, by the light afforded them from our fires, which could not be entirely extinguished.  We were well supplied with buck shot cartridges, which were admirably calculated for an engagement of this nature.  The savages were severely galled by the steady and well directed fire of the troops.  When near daybreak they made their last desperate effort to break our lines, when three cheers were given, and charge made by the 4th Regt. And a detachment of dragoons--they were completely routed and the whole put to a precipitate flight.  They fled in all directions leaving us masters of the field which was strewn with the bodies of the killed and wounded.  Some sharp-shooters of the militia, harassed them greatly in their retreat, across the marshy prairie.  The day was appropriated to the mournful duties of dressing the wounds of our unfortunate comrades, and burying the dead.  To attempt a full and detailed account of this action, or portray to the imagination of the reader the horrors attendant on this sanguinary conflict, far exceeds my power of description--the awful yell of the savages, seeming rather the shriek of despair, then the shouts of triumph--the tremendous roar of musquetry--the agonizing screams of the wounded and dying, added to the shouts of the victors, mingling in tumultuous uproar, formed a scene that can better be imagined than described.”
            Harrison’s force suffered more than 60 killed and twice that number of wounded.  The Indian losses were unknown, but were probably similar or somewhat smaller.  Harrison was able to claim a victory by retaining possession of the field and forcing the Indians to flee Prophetstown, which the troops plundered and burned the next day.  The march back to Vincennes started on November 9.