and I will repose on her bosom.” He then
threw himself on the ground. When the governor,
who was seated in front of the dragoons, commenced
his address, Tecumseh declared that he could not hear
him, and requested him to remove his seat to an open
space near himself, The governor complied, and in
his speech complained of the constant depredations
and murders which were committed by the Indians of
Tippecanoe; of the refusal on their part to give up
the criminals; and of the increasing accumulation
of force in that quarter, for the avowed purpose of
compelling the United States to relinquish lands, which
they had fairly purchased of the rightful owners.
Tecumseh, in his answer, denied that he had afforded
protection to the guilty, but manfully admitted his
design of forming a confederacy of all the red nations
of that continent. He observed, that “the
system, which the United States pursued of purchasing
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 tribe from selling land without the consent of
the others, was the dam he was erecting, to
resist this mighty water.” And he added,
“your great father, the president, may sit over
the mountains and drink his wine, but if he continue
this policy, you and I will have to meet on the battle
field.” He also admitted, that he was then
on his way to the Creek nation, for the purpose he
had just avowed, and he continued his journey two days
after, with twelve or fifteen of his warriors.
Having visited the Creek and other southern tribes,
he crossed the Mississippi, and continued a northern
course as far as the river Demoins, whence he returned
to the Wabash by land. But a sad reverse of fortune
awaited his return; he found his town consumed, his
bravest warriors slain, and a large deposit of provisions
destroyed. On his departure, the settlement at
Tippecanoe was left in charge of his brother, the
prophet, with strict injunctions to prevent all hostile
incursions, as they might lead to extremities before
his plans were matured. The prophet, however,
wanted either the inclination or the authority to
follow these injunctions; and the Americans assert,
that murder and rapine occurred now so frequently,
that they were compelled, in their own defence, to
punish the delinquents. Accordingly, General
Harrison proceeded with nearly 1,000 men to Tippecanoe,
and on his approach, in November, 1811, was met by
about 600 warriors; a battle ensued, in which the Indians,
deprived by the absence of their chief of his counsel
and example, were defeated, but with nearly equal
loss on both sides. Assured by the prophet that
the American bullets would not injure them, they rushed
on the bayonets with their war clubs, and exposed
their persons with a fatal fearlessness. But
the prophet himself remained during the battle in
security on an adjacent eminence; he was chaunting
a war song, when information was brought to him that
his men were falling. “Let them fight on,
for my prediction will soon be verified,” was
the substance of his reply, and he resumed his song
in a louder key!