It might have been expected, that a person of his pretensions, with so many rivals and enemies, would be exposed to the hazard of assassination. But here again he was on his guard; for it was always one of his strong positions, that the least violence offered to him or his followers, would be punished by the immediate interposition of the Great Spirit. The religious character, indeed, was sustained to the last. The Delaware messengers already mentioned found his forces at Tippecanoe in the highest state of excitement, owing to his magical rites, his harangues, and the war-dance which he performed with them day and night. Hence the unexampled bravery manifested in the attack upon the American army. They rushed on the very bayonets of our troops; and in some instances, pressing aside the soldier's musket, they brained him with the war-club. The Prophet, meanwhile, is said to have been comfortably seated on an adjacent eminence, singing a war-song. He had assured his followers, that the American bullets would do them no harm; and that, while they should have light, their enemies should be involved in thick darkness. [FN] Soon after the battle commenced, he was told that the Indians were falling. "Fight on! fight on!" cried he, never at a loss, "It will soon be as I predicted;" and he howled his war-song louder than ever. * * * * * [FN] He was not so much out of the way in this prediction, as in some others. McAfee observes, that the _campfires,_ so long as they remained burning, were "more serviceable to the Indians than our men."