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Posted on 06/26/2003 12:00:13 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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At the Battle of Moraviantown - also known as the Battle of the Thames - American troops came as close as they ever would, to their goal of conquering Canada. The rout of the British-Native army on October 5, 1813, was the first decisive land victory of the war for the United States. Along with the success of U.S. naval forces at the Battle of Put-in-Bay less than a month earlier, it provided a tremendous boost to American morale. The great Indian leader Tecumseh was slain in hand-to-hand combat and his Native Alliance shattered. The retreating British troops were left in complete disarray. After the battle, British officials faced the prospect of losing all of Upper Canada west of Kingston.  The Battle of Moraviantown played a central role in the creation of the myths surrounding the three commanders involved in the conflict. Tecumseh was perceived to have heroically sacrificed his life in defense of his people while his British ally Major General Henry Procter, became known as an ineffective, if not outright cowardly, leader. While the American general William Henry Harrison used the popular acclaim which followed his success at the Thames to galvanize a long political career. He went on to become president of the United States. Although the British continued to occupy Fort Mackinac, the defeat at Moraviantown effectively ended their control west of Lake Ontario. The Detroit Frontier, coveted in the first year of the war, ceased to be a major theatre of conflict. With the death of Tecumseh and Procter's retreat, British support of the First Nations in the Old Northwest dried up. The Native Alliance collapsed and the lands Tecumseh fought so hard to protect were opened up for settlement. From Amherstburg To Moraviantown For Tecumseh and his native alliance, the retreat to Moraviantown is a trail of disillusionment and betrayal. The warriors don’t want to withdraw from Amherstburg. Tecumseh isn’t concerned about British strategy; he wants to fight his arch-enemy William Henry Harrison. Tecumseh has heard the gunfire from the Battle of Put-in-Bay. But Procter treats him like a fool, refusing to say who has won the engagement. When the general finally talks to the Natives, he lies to cover up the British defeat.  Moraviantown, Upper Canada -- October 5, 1813 The Natives become increasingly angry when they see the British preparing to abandon Fort Malden. Tecumseh resents being kept in the dark about Procter’s plans. He calls Procter, “a miserable old squaw,” and invites his followers to a meeting. In a dramatic confrontation with Procter, Tecumseh compares the British to a, “fat animal,” that likes to show off but which, “drops its tail between its legs,” when the time comes to fight. Tecumseh’s speech has such a strong effect on the warriors, that some of them jump to their feet to attack the British on the spot. The warriors don’t understand the British lack of resolve. Tecumseh’s followers outnumber their allies three-to-one and are threatening to massacre the British unless Procter stays to fight the Americans. Tecumseh is trapped. Certain tribes are already making peace with the advancing U.S. Army. Whether Tecumseh likes it or not, Procter has decided to retreat. The Shawnee leader has little choice but to follow. When Procter promises to make a stand against the Americans at Chatham, Tecumseh persuades his alliance to join the withdrawal. But the Shawnee leader makes the decision with a heavy heart. “We are going to follow the British,” he says, “and I feel that I shall never return.” The one consolation is that Procter has said he will fortify a strong defensive position at the forks of the Thames River. Even after the retreat has begun, Tecumseh has second thoughts. According to one account, Tecumseh is invited to dinner at the Sandwich home of fur trader and militia officer Jacques Baby. During the meal a messenger arrives with news that the Americans are sailing north on the Detroit River near Amherstburg. Tecumseh grabs his pistols and addresses Procter: “Father, we must go to meet the enemy and prevent him from coming here... We must not retreat, for if you take us from this post you will lead us far, far away... and there you will tell us Good-bye forever, and leave us to the mercy of the Longknives.”  When the Indians finally arrive at Chatham, on October 3, their suspicions about the British are confirmed; Procter has betrayed them. The general promised to build defensive works at the forks but the site is empty. All the natives find is an arms stash and some dismantled guns. This is the last straw. The warriors fly into a rage and insult the British in no uncertain terms. They threaten to kill Procter and the British Indian Agent Mathew Elliot. As far the warriors are concerned, only Tecumseh’s threats managed to convinced Procter to make a stand at all. Now they have arrived at the designated battle site and the general is nowhere to be found. To make matters worse the British Army under Lieutenant Colonel Warburton is across the river on the north side of the Thames. The Americans are advancing up the south bank but Warburton tells Tecumseh he doesn’t have enough boats to ferry his men across the river. Convinced that the British have abandoned them, the indians, led by the influential Wyandot chief Walk-in-the-Water, start to desert. Tecumseh had to use all of his considerable political skills to convince the warriors to retreat in the first place. Now, faced with Procter’s broken promise, the Native Alliance starts to disintegrate. Some 1,200 of Tecumseh’s warriors follow him to Chatham. Only 500 remain to fight two days later at Moraviantown. On October 4, 1813, some of Tecumseh’s warriors try to slow down the advancing American troops at the forks of the Thames. The Natives demolish the upper part of the bridge at McGregor’s Creek and then hide in the trees on the north bank of the stream. When Harrison’s army arrives at the remnants of the bridge, the warriors open fire. The skirmish lasts two hours. The warriors kill three Americans and wound six others but in the end there is little they can do to stop the three thousand strong U.S. Army. Tecumseh retreats upriver.  Henry Procter The following day, what is left of Tecumseh's confederacy joins the British Army on the north bank of the Thames near Moraviantown. Procter has finally decided to turn and face the Americans. The warriors don’t like to fight in the open and take up position in a dense swamp to the right of the British lines. They will try to turn the American flank and squeeze the enemy towards the river. Tecumseh’s warriors hear the bugles sound the US cavalry charge against the British lines. Within minutes, the Americans advance against the the Indians as well. Colonel Richard Johnson’s “Forlorn Hope” squad leads the US cavalry charge on the swamp. The warriors ferociously resist the American attack and kill or wound all twenty of Johnson’s men. As Tecusmeh expected, the swamp’s undergrowth and wet ground forces the American horsemen to dismount. With Tecumseh’s war cries spurring them on, the warriors fight the US soldiers in bitter hand-to-hand combat. The Americans are not kept at bay for long, however. The warriors don’t realize that they have been abandoned by their British allies. Procter’s troops put up little resistance to the US charge. By the time the Natives start fighting, the British line has broken. The Redcoats are scattered through the forest, running for their lives. This enables the Americans to quickly swing to the left and concentrate on the battle in the swamp.  Tecumseh The Native army is greatly outnumbered. Tecumseh is perhaps the only chief able to inspire the warriors to continue fighting in a situation like this. But the Shawnee leader’s unmistakable war cries have disappeared from the roar of the battle. His life-long enemies, the Kentuckians, have cut him down. When word of Tecumseh’s death and British Retreat spreads, the Natives are shaken. An American soldier later recalled that, “they gave the loudest yells I ever heard from human beings and that ended the fight.” The warriors slowly withdraw into the forest. In total, six chiefs and nine warriors are killed, including Wahsikegaboe (Firm Fellow), the husband of Tecumseh’s sister Tecumapeace. Tecumseh’s once-proud army is destroyed. After the battle, only some 300 warriors make the trek to the British-controlled head of Lake Ontario. The two thousand native women and children who have followed the retreat are reduced to begging for food at the village of Burlington. Across the Detroit River, chiefs from six tribes sign a peace treaty with Harrison. They leave their families as hostages. Native women and children are seen scavenging the streets for food scraps and eating the offal discarded from slaughterhouses. The death of Tecumseh is a tragedy of enormous proportions for the First Nations. The intertribal Alliance which Tecumseh worked so tirelessly to create dies along with its leader. The fate of the First Nations of the Northwest Frontier is sealed; their way of life is doomed to be destroyed by the inexorable onslaught of white settlers.
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Wonderful piece of American History! Outstanding.
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