The Canadian Brothers; Or, The Prophecy Fulfilled: A Tale of the Late American War — CompleteRichardson, Major (John)
History
The Canadian Brothers; Or, The Prophecy Fulfilled: A Tale of the Late American War — Complete
Richardson, Major (John)
United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Fiction; War stories
the defender and saviour of their race, and so well did
he merit the confidence reposed in him, that it was not
long after his first appearance as a leader in the
war-path, that the Americans were made sensible, by
repeated defeat, of the formidable character of the chief
who had thrown himself into the breach of his nation's
tottering fortunes, resolved rather to perish on the spot
on which he stood, than to retire one foot from the home
of their forefathers. What self-ennobling actions the
warrior performed, and what talent he displayed during
that warfare, the page of American history must tell.
With the spirit to struggle against, and the subsequent
good fortune to worst the Americans in many conflicts,
these latter, although beaten, have not been wanting in
generosity to admire their formidable enemy while living,
neither have they failed to venerate his memory when
dead. If they have helped to bind the laurel around his
living brow, they have not been the less willing to weave
the cypress that encircles his memory.
In almost every encounter with them, Tecumseh was more
or less successful; but, like the conqueror of other
days, he might have exclaimed, "another such victory and
I am lost." Weakened in a constant succession of
engagements, the Indians, and the Shawnees in particular,
now presented but a skeleton of their former selves,
while the Americans, on the contrary, with an
indefatigability that would have done credit to a better
cause, kept pouring in fresh forces to the frontier,
until, in the end, opposition to their purpose seemed
almost hopeless. It is doubtful, however, what would have
been the final result of a contest against a warrior of
such acknowledged ability and resource as Tecumseh, had
it not unfortunately happened that the Americans, taking
advantage of the performance of some of those mummeries
by which the Prophet still sought to uphold his fast
declining power, managed to surprise the Shawanee encampment
in the dead of night, when, favoured by circumstances,
they committed fearful havoc, nearly annihilating their
enemies.
Finding every effort to preserve his situation on the
Wabash unavailing, Tecumseh, accompanied by the remnant
of his followers, fell back on the Ohio, Miami, and
Detroit, where his first object was to enter into a
treaty, offensive and defensive, with the formidable
nations of the Delawares, Hurons, etc. An alliance with
the English, then momentarily apprehending a rupture with
the United States, was, moreover renewed, and then with
the hope strong at his heart of combating his enemies
once more, with success, he had with exulting spirit and
bounding step, set out to win to the common interest,
the more distant tribes of the Sioux, Minouminies,
Winnebagoes, Kickapoos, etc., of whom he had secured the
services of the warriors just arrived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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