In December, Commodore Bainbridge, the same officer who had been taken prisoner years before by the Tripolitans and had afterwards been promoted, was cruising with the frigate _Constitution_ off the coast of Brazil. He there encountered and captured the British frigate _Java_. But though so successful on the sea, the Americans were defeated many times on land. The possession of the Great Lakes was of the utmost importance to both the English and the Americans. Ever since the Revolution the English had kept a naval force on these lakes. They had hoped that some time they might be able to extend the Canadian territory along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi to New Orleans. This would give them the possession of the great west. Many prosperous towns and trading posts were scattered along the Canadian shores. To capture some of these was the task given to the American army. The campaign was opened by General William Hull. With two thousand men he crossed the Detroit River, and marched into Canada. After a few skirmishes with the Indians, he fell back to the fort at Detroit. Then, without firing a single gun, he gave up this fort to the English. This surrender was a great loss to the Americans for many reasons. There was, in the west, a bold Indian warrior whose name was Tecumseh. He had a brother whom the Indians called the Prophet, because he was a medicine man and could do wonderful things. [Illustration: TECUMSEH.] These two Indians wished to form a union of all the tribes from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They hoped that in this way they might prevent the white settlers from taking their hunting grounds. "The white men are continually driving the red people toward the west; by and by we shall be driven into the Great Water," they said. The governor-general of Canada made the Indians many promises, and tried to incite them against the United States. In this way he persuaded many warlike tribes to give aid to the English. Tecumseh himself crossed into Canada and joined the British army under General Proctor. After Hull's surrender of Detroit, the British and Indians took possession not only of that fort, but also of Fort Dearborn, where Chicago now stands. The territory of Michigan was completely in their hands, and the settlers along the lakes and all through the northwest were at the mercy of the Indians. [Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.] General William Henry Harrison tried to regain Detroit. His advance guard was met and defeated at the River Raisin, a few miles south of Detroit. Every American prisoner was murdered by the Indians; and for years afterward the River Raisin was a name of horror. The Americans felt that something desperate must be done. The first great thing to be gained was the control of the lakes. At this time nearly the whole of the western country was a wilderness. The only way of moving men and supplies from place to place, was by the use of boats on the lakes and water courses.