6
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
scalping knife, dashed between th e In d ian s and helpless A m ericans and
dared any one of th e savages su rro u n d in g him to attem pt to m u rd er a n
other prisoner. T h e tribesm en were in stan tly cowed into subm ission.
F o rt M eigs was not taken, but T ecum seh for his service in th at siege
w as given th e com mission and pay of a brigadier-general in the B ritish
arm y. In Ju ly a second attem pt was made to capture F o rt Meigs, then
occupied by G eneral Clay.
T h e united force of the enem y (B ritish )
num bered 5000, T ecum seh hav in g 3000 w arriors in his com m and, prob
ably the largest In d ian arm y ever under the direction of a chief.
A gain the siege was unavailing, and the B ritish force, accom panied by
T ecum seh and his m u ltitu d e of w arriors, advanced upon F o rt S tep h e n
son, on the S andusky, now site of F rem o n t.
T h is siege, in A u g u st,
(1813), is renow ned for the m iraculous bravery of L ieu ten an t G eorge
C roghan, and one hundred and six ty K en tu ck y soldiers, who success
fully defended, for days, the little stockade fort, enclosing only an acre
of g ro u n d . T h e thousands of trained B ritish reg u lars, some of them
veterans from th e ran k s of W ellington, and the how ling m yraids of
savages u n d er T ecum seh, were held at bay until wearied and driven
back. P roctor and th e chief were com pelled to retire to th eir base at
M alden and th e th e atre of w ar and its scenes were shifted to Canada.
T ecu m seh ’s prophetic vision discovered th e h an d w ritin g on the wall.
A gain the star of his destiny was to be eclipsed. H e realized the hope
lessness of his cause. H is alliance w ith the B ritish ceased to give
prom ise of victory.
T he B ritish followed by H arrison and his arm y, co ntinued to retreat,
under protest of T ecum seh, until at the M oravian town on the T ham es,
th e chief positively refused to fu rth e r flee before the enem y. T ecu m
seh dictated th e plan of battle. T h e British front faced down the
stream , w hich was on th e left. T h e cow ering Proctor took a safe p o
sition, a q u arter of a mile aw ay, in the rear of his colum ns of Britons.
On the rig h t, by the side of a sm all sw am p, w ere stationed th e thousand
In d ian s u n d er T ecum seh. T h e savage laconically addressed his forces:
B rother W arriors, we are now about to en ter an engagem ent from
w hich I shall never come out: my body will rem ain on th e battle field .”
T o P roctor he said: Tell yo u r y o ung men to be brave and all will be
w ell. ’ ’ U n b uckling his sw ord, he banded it to a chief saying, “ W hen
m y son becomes a noted w arrior, give him th is .” H e then rem oved
his b ritish m ilitary uniform and took his place in line, attired only in
th e ordinary buckskin h u n tin g suit of his people. T h e sentim ent of
th e tru e p atrio t dom inated the soul of this savage in th e face of im
p ending fate; to th e ignom iny of death in a failing cause on a foreign
field, afar from th e forest of his beloved native soil, he would not add
the disgrace of w earing as his shroud th e insignia of a nation profess-