The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B.: Interspersed with notices of the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, and comprising brief memoirs of Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic TupperBrock, Isaac, Sir
History
The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B.: Interspersed with notices of the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, and comprising brief memoirs of Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper
heavens, "the sun is my father, and the earth is my mother; she gives me
nourishment, and I will repose on her bosom." He then threw himself on
the ground. When the governor, who was seated in front of the dragoons,
commenced his address, Tecumseh declared that he could not hear him, and
requested him to remove his seat to an open space near himself, The
governor complied, and in his speech complained of the constant
depredations and murders which were committed by the Indians of
Tippecanoe; of the refusal on their part to give up the criminals; and
of the increasing accumulation of force in that quarter, for the avowed
purpose of compelling the United States to relinquish lands, which they
had fairly purchased of the rightful owners. Tecumseh, in his answer,
denied that he had afforded protection to the guilty, but manfully
admitted his design of forming a confederacy of all the red nations of
that continent. He observed, that "the system, which the United States
pursued of purchasing lands from the Indians, he viewed as a _mighty
water_, ready to overflow his people, and that the confederacy which he
was forming among the tribes, to prevent any tribe from selling land
without the consent of the others, was the _dam_ he was erecting, to
resist this mighty water." And he added, "your great father, the
president, may sit over the mountains and drink his wine, but if he
continue this policy, you and I will have to meet on the battle field."
He also admitted, that he was then on his way to the Creek nation, for
the purpose he had just avowed, and he continued his journey two days
after, with twelve or fifteen of his warriors. Having visited the Creek
and other southern tribes, he crossed the Mississippi, and continued a
northern course as far as the river Demoins, whence he returned to the
Wabash by land. But a sad reverse of fortune awaited his return; he
found his town consumed, his bravest warriors slain, and a large deposit
of provisions destroyed. On his departure, the settlement at Tippecanoe
was left in charge of his brother, the prophet, with strict injunctions
to prevent all hostile incursions, as they might lead to extremities
before his plans were matured. The prophet, however, wanted either the
inclination or the authority to follow these injunctions; and the
Americans assert, that murder and rapine occurred now so frequently,
that they were compelled, in their own defence, to punish the
delinquents. Accordingly, General Harrison proceeded with nearly 1,000
men to Tippecanoe, and on his approach, in November, 1811, was met by
about 600 warriors; a battle ensued, in which the Indians, deprived by
the absence of their chief of his counsel and example, were defeated,
but with nearly equal loss on both sides. Assured by the prophet that
the American bullets would not injure them, they rushed on the bayonets
with their war clubs, and exposed their persons with a fatal
fearlessness. But the prophet himself remained during the battle in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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