Natives versus Settlers: Battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813

This battle, although part of the larger War of 1812, was at its heart a Natives versus Settlers encounter because the stakes were highest for the Natives (Tecumseh's Confederacy) and William Henry Harrison's men (and his future military career and political reputation).  The British were just there to defend Canada.

As the war of 1812 spread into 1813, the need to shatter Tecumseh's revolt and drive the British out of Detroit forever grew more imperative.  The Americans knew that the British had never given up their plans for the American frontier following the Revolution and, with things heating up in the South with the Red Stick Creeks, and continued diplomatic machinations between Britain and Spain, the time for a final decisive victory was now or never.  In the summer of 1813, the famous battles on Lake Erie between Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and Richard Heriot Barclay left the Americans in position of Lake Erie and able to choke off supplies to Fort Detroit.  General Henry Proctor saw no feasible means of holding onto Detroit and decided to evacuate the town and fort.  Tecumseh, knowing his options were fading fast, implored him not to abandon the Natives.  Proctor ignored the entreaties and left, letting Tecumseh and his warriors follow if they would.

While Isaac Brock had been a beloved commander who inspired leadership and respected his Native auxiliaries, Henry Proctor was a strictly by-the-book commander unwilling to hazard any battle he couldn't win.  Not only was Tecumseh angry with him, so were Proctor's own subordinates in the British Army.  Facing them was William Henry Harrison, still a hero after his triumph at Tippecanoe in 1811 and wanting to steal back some laurels from the Navy after Lake Erie.  Proctor had about 800 British regulars and anywhere from 500-1,000 Native auxiliaries.  His force was infantry, with only one light six-pounder gun to speak of.  On the other hand, Harrison was bringing 2,381 militia and 1,000 mounted volunteers, with only a few regulars 120, and 260 Native auxiliaries, mostly Chickasaw and Choctaw warriors.  These warriors did not sympathize with Tecumseh.  Further, riding with Harrison force was a group of men from the Raisin River area under Col. Richard Mentor Johnson, bent on revenge and one man.  Meanwhile, compounding Proctor's problem were the large number of refugees crowding into Amherstburg, just across the Detroit River from Fort Detroit.  The pressure on him to give battle, if at least to keep Tecumseh's Natives from deserting to find more willing allies, was increasing. 

On October 5, 1813, with Harrison's force mounted and coming on fast, Proctor ordered his men to draw up in battle on the bank of the Thames River the mission at Moraviantown, hence the other name for this battle, the Battle of Moraviantown.  He planned to trap Harrison against the river, though how he intended to do this with one artillery piece and no cavalry no one knows.   He did not dig his men in or try to fortify the area, such as was usually done with cavalry.  Proctor's half-hearted preparation suggested he did not believe in this battle.  Tecumseh formed his men in a swamp area alongside the British lines.  Oral history indicates Tecumseh was certain this was his last battle.  Prior to the fight, either out of gratitude or respect, he visited the British lines, shaking hands with several officers before departing to join his own men. 

When Harrison arrived on scene, he saw that no preparations had been made for a cavalry attack and ordered the mounted volunteers forward.  Before Proctor could fire his cannon, the American broke through his line and the British regulars fell back.  Proctor and about 250 men fled the battlefield, while others dropped their weapons and gave themselves up.  Johnson focused his attention on the Natives in the swamp area and his forces became bogged down.  Johnson pressed forward, looking for Tecumseh.  There were other men looking for him, too, including a Kentuckian named William Whitley.  During the fight, both Johnson and Whitley engaged with warriors who appeared to be in command of the Native contingent and each believed they were facing Tecumseh.  Johnson would go on to make his killing of Tecumseh a talking point in his successful Vice-Presidential campaign.  Whitley died attacking whoever was attacking him.  His horse, rifle, powder horn and other belongings were returned to his family, who preserved their claims of him killing Tecumseh. 

When the smoke cleared, Harrison's losses totaled 10-27 killed and 17-57 wounded.  The British lost 12-18 killed, 22-35 wounded and captured, and 579 captured otherwise.  Among Tecumseh's contingent, 16-33 killed, unknown wounded or captured.  As Harrison and other commanders toured the battlefield after the fight, Harrison is supposed to have spotted a dead Shawnee warrior and asked frontiersman Simon Kenton if this was Tecumseh.  He was told no.  Other men, too, were looking for the Shawnee leader as word spread that he had been killed.  But he was not to be found.

So, who killed Tecumseh and what happened to his body?