It is stated that although Tecumseh could speak English, he never spoke any language but his own at any council or when in the presence of any officer or agent of a government, preferring to make use of an interpreter. He held the opinion that the honour of his people and race required official intercourse to be carried on in the Shawanese tongue. He is described as being of about five feet nine inches in height, very erect, with an oval face, clear hazel eyes, straight nose, and a Napoleonic mouth, finely formed and expressive. He was invariably dressed in tanned buckskin made in the usual Indian fashion, that is, a fringed hunting frock descending to the knee, over underclothes of the same material. Leggings and moccasins and a mantle, also of buckskin, completed the costume. In his belt was a silver-mounted tomahawk, also a knife in a strong leather case. On the occasion of their first interview General Brock presented Tecumseh with his sash, but the next morning he appeared without it. When asked the reason, he said an abler warrior than himself, the Wyandot chief Roundhead, was present, and he had transferred it to him. This little piece of diplomacy shows how well Tecumseh understood the art of {247} keeping his savage allies in good humour. In a letter to Lord Liverpool, General Brock gives his impression of the chief. He writes: "Among the Indians whom I found at Amherstburg, who had arrived from distant parts of the country, were some extraordinary characters. He who attracted most of my attention was the Shawanese chief, Tecumseh, brother to the prophet, who for the last two years has carried on, contrary to our remonstrances, an active warfare against the United States. A more sagacious or more gallant warrior does not exist. He was the admiration of every one who conversed with him. From a life of dissipation, he has not only become in every respect abstemious, but has likewise prevailed on all his nation and many of the other tribes to follow his example." On August 14th, at Amherstburg, General Brock issued the following general order: "The troops in the western district will be formed into three brigades. 1st Brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel St. George, to consist of a detachment of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and of the Kent and 1st and 2nd Regiments of Essex Militia; 2nd Brigade, under Major Chambers, to consist of fifty men of the 41st Regiment, and the whole of the detachments of the York, Lincoln, Oxford, and Norfolk Militia; 3rd Brigade, under Major Tallon, to consist of the remainder of the 41st Regiment. Colonel Procter will have charge of the whole line under the orders of the major-general. James Givins, {248} late captain of the 5th Regiment, is appointed provincial aide-de-camp, with the rank of major of the militia."