Original subtitles

In the year 1812, a young United States of America declared war on the British

Empire and launched a full-scale invasion of Canada.

No one expected the poorly defended British colony to hold out against a

much larger American foe, and yet it did.

Canada's salvation came arguably in the form of one man, Tecumseh. He was

fighting for his people, the indigenous tribes of North America.

His alliance with the British was out of convenience alone, and his true goal was

simple, to create a united native nation across the American frontier and retake

the land that had been lost.

Welcome to our video on the life of Tecumseh.

To tell Tecumseh's story from the very beginning, we must explain the world he

was born into.

Native tribes had inhabited North America for over 12,000 years.

but diseases brought upon them by Europeans had apocalyptic effects on

their society.

By the time the first English pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620, a

smallpox epidemic had killed 90% of the local population.

By the 18th century, the eastern seaboard was dominated by Britain's 13

colonies. with tribes like the Pequot, Powhatan and Massachusetts all but wiped

out and pushed out of their homes.

Now, peoples like the Odawas, Shawnees, Lenape and the powerful Iroquois

Confederacy were on the border of this expansion.

Further inland, the French Empire claimed a vast swath of territory from

Labrador to Louisiana.

it was a sparsely populated land where native tribes exercised full autonomy

and were more or less equal partners in the incredibly lucrative fur trade the

french tended not to impose on native territory and their presence provided a

buffer against british expansion this all changed in seventeen fifty four as

when the seven years war erupted in north america england and france found

themselves in a war for dominance over the new world and the natives were

forced to pick sides.

The six nations of the Iroquois declared for England, but nearly all the other

local tribes fought alongside the French.

The French were ultimately defeated and their territory annexed.

The British now ventured inland, occupying formerly French forts along

the Great Lakes and Ohio.

It was well known that unlike the French, The British did not come to

trade furs, but to flatten and tame the land and displace the natives who hunted

and gathered there.

As settlers began to trickle westwards and British soldiers treated the locals

with contempt, whispers of war began to spread amongst the tribes of the Old

North West.

In 1763, the odawa chieftain pontiac created an alliance of fourteen tribes

and proceeded to wage a bloody and vengeful war upon the british his native

confederacy raised hell capturing eight forts along the great lakes killing over

two thousand settlers and four hundred soldiers

Pontiac's fierce resistance forced the British to pull back, and reaffirm an

earlier treaty in which the 13 colonies promised not to settle land west of the

Allegheny Mountains.

Peace was made in 1766, and the tide of expansion had been stemmed for now, but

war would soon come to native peoples once more.

Two years later, the man fated to lead them into battle entered the world.

In March of 1768, Tecumseh was born to the Shawnee people in a village along

the Ohio River.

It is said that upon giving birth, his mother looked to the heavens and saw a

comet blazing across the night sky.

This is where the child got his name, Tecumseh, the Shooting Star.

The Shawnee had long been a wandering people, beset by conflicts with other

tribes.

In centuries past, the Iroquois had pushed them eastward from their old

territory. They had settled in many places before coming to their present

spot along the Ohio River, but turmoil and warfare would carry over into

Tecumseh's childhood.

In the same year he was born, the Iroquois sold land in Kentucky and West

Virginia to the British.

These were plains the Shawnee depended on for hunting, But when they voiced

their protests, they were ignored both by the British and the Iroquois.

So, when continental settlers began pouring westward into their newly

purchased territory, Shawnee warriors prepared to defend their lands.

In 1774, a six-year-old Tecumseh watched his father, Pukishinwau, and his eldest

brother, Chisikau, partake in a ritual war dance before heading away to battle.

They met their foe at Point Pleasant.

a force of Virginia militiamen, who the natives called the Big Knives, on

account of the sabers worn by the colonial officers.

Outnumbered and outgunned, the native warriors were driven back.

As a result, the Shawnee were forced to relinquish their hunting grounds,

allowing the settlers to move westward with impunity.

Tickham's father was mortally wounded in the battle.

with his dying breath he beseeched his first-born son to preserve the dignity

of his family line and one day lead his younger brothers into battle the news of

pukashinwa's death devastated tecumseh's mother who was pregnant with the last of

his children it was no less hard upon the boy himself fatherless at six years

old his family was uprooted and forced to move west that winter his mother gave

birth to triplets Of the two that survived, one was named Lalawethika.

Initially a useless layabout, the sickly boy would later have a profound impact

on Tecumseh's life.

A year later, the 13 colonies declared their independence from the British

Empire, plunging the region into war and imposing a new threat upon native

peoples.

as the revolutionary war raged between patriot and loyalist many native bands

now joined the fray on the side of the british crown among them were the

shawnee who sought to reclaim the lands lost to the now rebellious frontiersmen

this invoked the ire of the americans who responded wrathfully sending

soldiers into shawnee lands before long a large band of kentucky militia were

advancing upon tecumseh's village

Still too young to fight, Tecumseh had fled alongside the women and children to

nearby bluffs, while the warriors of the village tried to hold off the militia,

to no avail.

It was not the first time Tecumseh was forced to move, but this time he was

there to see his village burn, witnessing with his own eyes the

destruction caused by the big knives.

Never again would Tecumseh sit idly by while his people's land was ravaged.

In the years that followed, Tecumseh began training to become the warrior his

father had wanted him to be.

His eldest brother Chisikao took full responsibility for his younger brother's

growth, obeying his dying father's last wish.

Tecumseh was taught how to hunt, how to fight, and how to live as a Shawnee

warrior should.

When he entered adolescence, Chisikao blackened Tecumseh's face and sent him

alone into the woods to find his guardian spirit.

tecumseh fasted and meditated and his spirit came to him in a vision he never

revealed to anyone what form his ethereal guardian took tecumseh soon

matured into a strong intelligent young man allegedly he once slew sixteen bison

with only a bow and a single quiver of arrows he also drew no small amount of

attention from the opposite sex the women of the shawnee were very fond of

tecumseh but he did not indulge in their attention, often brushing off their

advances.

Tecumseh's first taste of battle came in 1786.

The young warrior confronted a host of big knives alongside Chisicao and a host

of Shawnee warriors at Mad River, Ohio.

When the Americans fired a musket volley across the river, Tecumseh's nerve broke

and he panicked and ran.

He had failed his first test as a warrior.

He was disgusted with himself.

and vowed to never show cowardice again.

The following years saw Tecumseh come into his own as a capable warrior,

albeit still in the shadow of his eldest brother.

Continued conflict with the United States seemed inevitable, the young

nation was burgeoning and hungry for expansion.

Many tribes were resolved to do whatever was necessary to stop colonial

encroachment onto their land.

in seventeen eighty five this tension evolved into a prolonged frontier

conflict known to the americans as the northwest indian war rarely able to take

on the u s army head on many native warbands resorted to hit-and-run tactics

by seventeen eighty eight tecumseh and chisicao were involved in more than

their fair share of skirmishes initially camped on the ohio river the two

brothers and their band of warriors habitually raided the flatboat that

traversed the busy thoroughfare.

These boats carried food, provisions, and settlers, and their waylaying

discouraged many from entering native land.

During this turbulent period of his life, Tecumseh began to see the world in

a new way.

He was fighting alongside not just the Shawnee, but also Cherokees, Mingos, and

Delawares. He began to see himself as a native first and a Shawnee second, and

realized that his people would never be free of the yoke of colonialism unless

they banded together as one.

He began to detest the idea that any one tribe could sell land to the whites,

whatever the consequences it brought upon other tribes.

Tecumseh came to the revelation that land belonged to no one band, but to all

native peoples.

thus he began to dream of a united and independent nation held together by a

shared indigenous identity in seventeen ninety one an alliance of tribes formed

to push the americans back east of the ohio river led by the little turtle of

the miami and blue jacket of the shawnee they fell upon a force of one thousand u

s soldiers camped at the wabash river and massacred

It is to this day the single greatest victory won alone by native peoples

against the Americans.

Tecumseh was not at the battle at the Wabash, but certainly took part in the

increased back-and-forth raiding that followed in its wake.

In September of 1792, Tecumseh and Chisicao joined a war party of Cherokees

and Creeks and launched an assault upon Buchanan Station in Tennessee.

From inside a stockaded blockhouse, twenty frontiersmen were able to hold

off three hundred native warriors in this fateful battle chisicao was slain

shot dead by an american soldier through a porthole while tecumseh managed to

retreat with his life the loss of his older brother fell hard upon the young

shawnee but chisicao had accomplished what his dying father had beseeched he

do all those years ago Among many native groups, leadership was not determined

through formal appointment, but by earning the respect of one's peers.

In the years that followed Chisikao's death, Tecumseh had become a fighter of

great renown and began to accumulate a small war band loyal to him.

By 1794, the Northwest Indian War was nearing its climax.

Tecumseh and his warriors joined forces with the Confederacy led by Little

Turtle and Blue Jacket, forming a combined army of 1,300 men.

Fighting alongside them was a British-led contingent of Canadian

militias, who had a vested interest in undermining American influence in the

region.

Together, they faced an army of 2,000 American soldiers on the bank of the

Maumee River.

in what would later be known as the battle of fallen timbers the natives

were overwhelmed by american gunfire and attempted to retreat behind the walls of

the british held fort miami the british would not let them in not willing to

risk all-out war with the u s facing a massacre the natives were forced to

scatter the betrayal tecumseh suffered at the hands of the british was one he

would not forget

the engagement at the fallen timbers ended the ten-year frontier war and the

united states finally managed to impose their sovereignty over the old northwest

native leaders were compelled to sign the treaty of greenville a document that

forced them to recognize large chunks of ohio and the great lakes as american

soil tecumseh was disgusted by this capitulation and stubbornly refused to

sign the treaty

instead he retreated with his followers to buck creek where he founded a village

for the next ten years tecumseh bided his time waiting for the opportunity in

which he could make his dream a reality a dream of a united self-sufficient

native nation that opportunity would arrive in eighteen o five when

tecumseh's laggard of a younger brother received a vision from the great spirit

The idler, known as Lallawethika, would transform into Tenskwetaway, the great

prophet, and lead a religious revival that would bring together tribes from

all corners of the American frontier.

By the turn of the 19th century, it was clear that the Americans' hunger for

territory had not been sated.

the louisiana purchase which saw a massive stretch of land sold by the

french to the united states all but confirmed that further ingress into

native inhabited lands was inevitable in the aftermath of their victory in the

northwest indian war over six hundred thousand american pioneers would settle

in the newly established states of kentucky and ohio as well as the

territory of indiana land once dominated by native tribes

Disunited and outnumbered, the natives of the frontier were direly outmatched.

Despite this, Tecumseh never gave up his grand ambitions to retake native

territories. As fate would have it, it would actually be his brother who would

spark the movement that would snowball into the creation of his great

confederacy. This man was lalawethika, meaning he who makes a loud noise.

He had always been the black sheep of the family, having never become a great

warrior like his brothers.

A freak accident had taken out his eye when he was young, and he spent the

majority of his youth as a perpetually drunk good-for-nothing.

In the year 1805, everything changed.

One day, Laloethica was smoking in his wigwam when suddenly his body seized up

and he fell into a trance.

His stupor was so deep that those around him thought he had died, yet soon he

awoke as a changed man.

lalawethika told everyone that he had received a vision from the great spirit

in which he had seen his people led onto a path of doom and was now convinced

that the great spirit had sent him on a mission to purify native culture for

their salvation he took on a new name the open door in time he became

known to his people as the prophet the prophet soon began spreading his

teachings amongst the shawnee he preached that his people were the great

spirit's original creations in contrast the white people were children of the

evil spirit that grew from the scum of the great waters as such natives bore an

innate responsibility to keep their way of life pure of colonial influence to

this endeavor he denounced intermarriage between natives and whites which had

become commonplace in the last few decades

He spoke out against alcoholism and forbade the evils of drink.

He renounced European clothing and other such innovations brought to his land

since first contact, mandating his followers wear the traditional garments

of their people.

In the winter of 1805, a familiar calamity struck the Old Northwest.

Native communities were once more afflicted by an outbreak of smallpox,

leaving many communities crippled or entirely depopulated.

Disease had sadly become old news to the natives by this point, who often coped

by blaming their misfortune on witches, who supposedly were sinister herbalists

capable of brewing malicious potions and spreading illness.

Thus, in the spring of 1806, the prophet became a major ringleader in a witch

hunt that spread across the old northwest, a hunt he used to further

spread the influence of his religious movement.

Tengskwatawa hounded down all those who denounced him, and all who embraced the

ways of the white man.

Under his watch, Christian natives and chieftains friendly to the Americans

were captured, tortured, and killed, all in the name of rooting allegedly evil

witches out of native communities.

The prophet soon had a growing following, not just among the Shawnee,

but many neighboring tribes as well.

The growing unrest in the native Northwest began to make American

settlers on the frontier uneasy.

One such man was William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory.

He had fought in the Northwest Indian Wars a decade earlier, and a religious

uprising centered around resisting colonialism was a threat to the settlers

in his jurisdiction.

Seeking to pacify the movement, Harrison denounced Tenskwatawa to the Delawares

with conviction, saying, Who is this pretended prophet who dares to speak in

the name of the Great Creator?

Is he more wise or virtuous than you are yourselves that he should convey to you

the orders of your God?

To affirm his spiritual powers, the prophet told his followers of a day of

black sun.

He was correct.

By accurately predicting a solar eclipse, Tenskwatawa had proven his

power in the eyes of his followers.

In 1808, the prophet joined forces with Tecumseh.

Together, the two brothers founded a village upon the confluence of the

Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers.

The old chieftain, Little Turtle, who had fought at Fallen Timbers, warned

Tecumseh that he was settling on the lands of the Miami, to which Tecumseh

replied devoutly that he was settling on native lands.

The brother's village came to be known as Prophetstown.

and would serve as the staging point for their pan-native resistance movement.

In the following years, people from all over the Old Northwest filtered into

Prophetstown, drawn to Tenskwatawa's teachings and Tecumseh's reputation as a

warrior. The community grew quickly from a small village into a bustling multi

-tribal township, a hub of Native American cultural and political

activity.

in the end it was tecumseh who assumed the ultimate chieftaincy of their

budding community tecumseh soon set out from prophetstown on a mission to

convince the tribes of the old northwest that resistance not assimilation was the

key to their survival and to build a confederacy that stretched across the

american frontier the chieftain traveled from village to village dazzling people

with his charismatic orations and legendary strength Chieftains of the

Ojibwe, Weandots, Fox, Sauk, Odawas, Kickapoos, Lenape, Miami, Seneca,

Onondaga, and Delawares all joined his cause, as of course did the Shawnee. But

Tecumseh was not all honeyed words.

He imposed himself harshly, threatening death to any chiefs who collaborated

with the Americans.

Meanwhile, as more tribes joined Tecumseh's cause, more and more natives

migrated into Prophetstown.

which had evolved into the center of the native confederacy, a swelling city

-state that provided a powerful buffer against white settlers' westward

expansion.

The rapid growth of Tecumseh's confederacy, its active anti-colonial

rhetoric, and its existence within lands claimed by the United States put it on

an inevitable collision course with the Americans.

The catalyst of this confrontation came in 1809, when Governor Harrison of

Indiana, coerced select chieftains of the Delaware, Potawatomi and Kickapoo to

sign the Treaty of Fort Wayne, which ceded a 12,000 square kilometer piece of

land along the Wabash River to the United States government.

This treaty infuriated Tecumseh, as it flew right in the face of his core

belief that land belonged collectively to all natives.

He saw it as theft, a plain and simple attempt to extort weak chieftains whose

land had been made poor by white settlers.

In August of 1810, Tecumseh met with Harrison face to face outside the

governor's colonial estate, and the two engaged in a heated parley.

Tecumseh insisted that native land could not be bought or sold unless done so

collectively by all the tribes acting as one.

and that the land ceded to the americans in the recent treaties still rightfully

belonged to the natives harrison replied that individual tribes were free to make

treaties with the united states but tecumseh's confederacy was not

recognized nor did the local tribes welcome his interference in their

affairs the back-and-forth debate inspired a passionate reply from

tecumseh and his most iconic quote sell a country why not sell the air the great

sea as well as the earth did not the great spirit make them all for the use

of his children tension soon grew between the two parties harrison was

quick to point out that the shawnee themselves had taken land from the

miamis so what right had they to dictate the affairs of other tribes if the

tribes were all one nation as tecumseh claimed why did the great spirit not

have them all speak one language

tecumseh lost his temper declaring that everything harrison said was a lie and

that the americans had cheated the native peoples he brandished his

tomahawk at the governor prompting harrison to draw his saber and point it

at tecumseh a tense stand-off ensued but neither side attacked harrison brought

the meeting to an end and demanded tecumseh and his followers leave

tecumseh soon realized he had been wrong to threaten harrison and the two met

once more the following day this time at the shawnees camp this time tecumseh

opted for a more diplomatic route he offered the united states alliance

against britain but only if they would renounce their claim to native lands

purchased in recent treaties harrison replied cordially saying he would

present tecumseh's terms to the president but did not expect the natives

conditions to be met to this tecumseh replied regretfully i hope the great

chief will give up this land he is so far off he may sit still and drink his

wine whilst you and i will have to fight it out harrison was impressed by the

integrity of his enemy he remarked that if it were not for the vicinity of the

united states he would perhaps be the founder of an empire in eighteen eleven

tecumseh traveled southwards to present-day alabama the natives of that

region were known to the americans as the five civilized tribes due to their

more positive predisposition to adopting european practices tecumseh's goal was

to extend his alliance along the entirety of the american frontier but he

met fierce resistance in the south the tribes there rejected his calls for

unity more often than not instead preferring to abide by the treaties they

had signed with the united states

This is exemplified in an exchange between Tecumseh and Pushmataha, a

chieftain of the Choctaws.

Pushmataha stood firm against Tecumseh, delivering a pithy statement.

These white Americans give us fair exchange, their cloth, their guns, their

tools, implements, and other things which the Choctaws need but do not make.

It will be seen that the whites and Indians in this section are living on

friendly and mutually beneficial terms.

Tecumseh delivered a vehement reply.

Where today are the Pequot, where are the Narragansett, the Mochican, the

Poconet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before

the avarice and oppression of the white man.

Sleep not longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws.

Will not the bones of our dead be ploughed up, and their graves turned

into ploughed fields?

Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears, and the Choctaws refused to join

his cause.

nevertheless tecumseh did find limited success in the south in september he

rode into the muscogee town of tucabatchi there he delivered another

impassioned speech about the unity of natives and resistance against the white

man thousands of warriors raised their tomahawks and cheered but one old

chieftain remained silent one story claims that tecumseh stalked over to

this chieftain and declared that he would march to fort detroit stamp his

foot into the earth and shake down every house in tucabache to prove that he had

been chosen by the great spirit tecumseh then ventured back northwards and sure

enough on december sixteenth eighteen eleven the new madrid earthquake rocked

the southern united states and every house in tucabache was shaken to its

foundations

many interpreted this as the coming of tecumseh's prophecy and proof they

should join his confederacy henceforth a significant amount of muscogees declared

themselves for tecumseh a faction which became known as the red sticks meanwhile

in indiana governor harrison was aware that tecumseh was away from prophetstown

which was currently under the administration of

harrison knew that tecumseh was the main military power in the native confederacy

and his absence made this the right time to strike harrison's goal was to conquer

prophetstown thereby ripping the heart out of the growing confederacy and

eliminating the threat of a native invasion of indiana before it could

begin harrison sent the prophet an ultimatum all potawatomis kickapoos and

winnebagoes were to be expelled from prophetstown all warriors who had

launched raids upon united states citizens had to be surrendered and all

goods and horses stolen from settlers had to be returned these terms served to

effectively disband the native confederacy and unsurprisingly were

unilaterally rejected on september twentieth eighteen eleven harrison

marched northwards with an army of one thousand men Comprising this force were

325 army regulars and 625 volunteers, largely from Kentucky and

the Indiana Territory.

The militia was made up primarily of infantrymen, but also featured mounted

sharpshooters and dragoons.

The principal weapon used by this expeditionary force was the Model 1795

Springfield Flintlock musket, a firearm capable of discharging three rounds per

minute.

The army stopped at present-day Terre Haute, Indiana, and constructed a

stockade, named Fort Harrison, which would be a staging point for their

upcoming assault.

Within their town, the Prophet's warriors numbered anywhere from 500 to

700, divided into tribal contingents of Winnebagoes, Kickapoos, Potawatomis,

Weandots and Shawnees, each numbering about 125 men.

Most of the natives were armed with British Brown Bess muskets, and carried

knives, tomahawks, and war clubs.

By November 6th, the Americans had advanced out of Fort Harrison and made

camp on a high ridge around a thousand yards west of Prophetstown.

Before he had headed south, Tecumseh had warned his brother not to engage in

combat, for he did not want open war before his confederacy was fully

mobilized. Despite this, he was not present, and the warriors of

Prophetstown looked to Tenskwatawa for guidance.

The prophet had made overtures for peace that afternoon, but this was a fruitless

endeavor, as Harrison could not accept any terms short of the abandonment of

Prophetstown and the dispersal of its inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the natives had become deeply uneased by the army at their doorstep,

and many itched for confrontation.

the most popular story claimed the winnebago faction denounced any attempt

at peace and demanded tenskwatawa send them into battle thus the prophet sought

a vision with the great spirit and returned to his warriors with a plan to

assassinate governor harrison thereby beheading the american army and making

them unable to fight the winnebagos demanded that the attack had to be that

night thus tenskwatawa invoked his shamanic powers to confer with the great

spirit promising that the elimination of harrison could be carried out via a

night-time assault upon the american camp thus at four a m on the morning of

november seventh the war-chiefs began their attack having been given the

blessing of their prophet they advanced upon the american camp in a crescent

formation the right horn was made up of kickapoos led by chief

the left made up of winnebagoes led by chief waweapacoosa and the center made

up of potawatomis led by roundhead and wabaunsee the plan was to have the

kickapoos infiltrate the camp's northeastern corner and slay harrison

under the cover of darkness at which point they would signal the rest of the

warriors and massacre the u s soldiers this would not come to pass for harrison

was a shrewd commander and knew well not to underestimate his native foes

remembering all too well how one thousand u s soldiers had been massacred

at the ambush at the wabash back in seventeen ninety one he had ordered the

tents in his camp to be set up in a crescent formation and for his men to

sleep on top of their muskets which were to be loaded with their bayonets affixed

the kickapoos reached the american camp ahead of the other native contingents

crawling on the flats of their stomachs at around four thirty a m they

encountered an advanced watchman who managed to fire off a shot before being

killed. The crack of the rifle caused the Americans to grow alert, with

Harrison himself being awoken by 5.30, by which point the Kickapoos had reached

the northwestern edge of the camp.

At precisely 5.50, one Corporal Stephan Mars managed to train his sights on a

Kickapoo warrior and shoot him dead.

The presence of the natives was now known.

and they had precious little time before the entire american stockade was alerted

realizing that an assassination of harrison was now impossible the

kickapoos raised their weapons and charged beginning the battle in earnest

for roughly fifteen minutes the kickapoos kept the american's northwest

flank in a state of chaos killing a handful of soldiers and forcing the

fourth infantry regiment and kentucky riflemen to retreat deeper into their

camp

however harrison's foresight had paid off as by six a m all hands in the

american camp were alerted and had been assembled into battle positions around

the perimeter it was around this time that the rest of the native warriors

arrived on the sea with the potawatomis launching an assault on the northwest

the battle had devolved into a slugfest a contest decided by numbers and

firepower in this the natives were outmatched As the hour progressed, the

tides began to turn.

A company under one Captain Snelling had driven the Potawatomis from the woods,

who regrouped and assaulted the northern center, causing a company led by Captain

Robb to collapse and fall back, only to have Snelling's contingent fall in and

beat back the ensuing Potawatomi advance.

Meanwhile, the Winnebagoes struck from the south, engaging in a fierce shootout

with the companies of Captain Spencer and Warwick.

This, too, was futile.

as rob's reformed unit arrived to reinforce their compatriots and drive

off their enemy by seven a m the sun was beginning to rise and the natives

realized they were outnumbered two to one heavily demoralized they began

retreating back to prophetstown here the americans launched a counter-attack

fully mobilized and invigorated after repelling an attack they encircled and

charged the fleeing natives, slaying a handful more before the warriors made it

back behind the fortifications of Prophetstown.

Upon their return, many warriors were outraged at the Prophet, for he had

promised them that the Great Spirit had ensured him of victory.

The powerful Shaman was called out for being a fraud, many renounced their

loyalty to him and deserted Prophetstown.

quatuor made desperate pleas to have them stand and fight but they fell upon

deaf ears the next morning the american troops marched into prophetstown to find

it had been abandoned and burned it to the ground the prophet who had laid the

groundwork of tecumseh's confederacy had lost almost all his influence the town

that served as the heart of native unity had been burned down this was a harsh

blow to the native resistance but it was not the end tecumseh himself still had

power for chieftains of many tribes were still loyal to him in the face of this

setback he was forced to turn to an old ally against the american threat the

british empire on june seventeenth eighteen twelve the united

states senate voted narrowly in favor of armed conflict with great britain this

war had been a long time coming As a certain Napoleon Bonaparte had been

conquering across Europe, the British had imposed themselves upon US

sovereignty, embargoing American trade with France and her allies, while

kidnapping sailors off American ships to supplement the Royal Navy's perpetual

need for manpower.

But these were not the real causes of the war.

For decades, the British Empire had been empowering native tribes on the US

frontier to resist American expansion.

Indeed, most of the muskets used by Tecumseh's warriors were British

manufactured. For the Warhawks in Washington, this provided the excuse

needed to pursue American territorial expansion, first by annexing British

Canada, then by expanding deeper into the lands of the native tribes on their

western frontier.

One of the main obstacles preventing American expansionism was still alive

and well.

Tecumseh had never stopped preparing for war.

He had no love for the British, but realized it was only through their

manpower and resources that the reconquest of native lands annexed by

America and the establishment of an independent pan-tribal native state was

possible. To this end, he mobilized his warriors for battle.

It was the general consensus that if the United States launched an invasion into

Canada, the territory would fall quickly.

The ongoing war with Napoleon kept the majority of Britain's armies in Europe,

and the local Canadian colonials were unlikely to be willing to fight against

a far superior foe.

On July the 12th, 1812, The United States began their invasion when

Brigadier General William Hull marched across into Old Sandwich Town in present

-day Ontario, occupying it without a fight.

He offered peace to the locals should they become Americans, but to those who

fought alongside the British or their native allies, he had a much darker

promise. The first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt with the

scalping knife, will be the signal for one indiscriminate scene of desolation.

no white man found fighting by the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner,

instant destruction will be his lot.

However, Hull proved to be an ineffective general.

The main British garrison in the region was isolated in nearby Fort Malden, but

Hull refused to strike, instead holding position in Sandwich Town while

obsessing over his supply lines across the Detroit River.

On July 17th, 700 native warriors of the Great Lakes nations arrived at Fort St.

Joseph on the shores of the Huron to join the British cause.

The local British commander had only 50 redcoats under his charge, but empowered

by his new allies, he swooped down into Michigan and besieged nearby Fort

Mackinac. Unaware that the war had been declared, the American garrison

surrendered without a fight.

as tecumseh's warriors took arms the great chieftain himself was heading

north to join the fray at brownstown creek he fell fiercely upon a supply

convoy of two hundred u s soldiers scattering them with only twenty-five

warriors at his side following this string of humiliating defeats hull's

nerve broke and on august seventh he retreated back into american territory

to garrison in fort detroit having accomplished little to nothing

Back in Washington, Thomas Jefferson famously asserted that the acquisition

of Canada this year will be a mere matter of marching, but this was no

longer the reality.

Tecumseh and his natives had delivered the British a fighting chance, and with

that, the inspiration for the local Canadians to resist the conquest.

But in truth, the war had just begun.

There was much to do before Tecumseh's dream could be realized.

It was at this point that the Shawnee chieftain's greatest ally enters the

story.

Major General Isaac Brock was a career soldier and a loyal British subject.

In 1802, he was appointed a station in Lower Canada, where he eventually became

head of the colonial army.

Modern Canadians consider him a national hero, but in truth he resented his

outpost. In comparison with the Napoleonic War, Canada was a sleepy and

irrelevant sideshow.

Nevertheless, Brock did his duty well.

He reformed the provincial militia and bolstered the defences of forts on the

American border.

A few months before the war's outbreak, Brock was offered a posting in Europe.

Despite his personal desires, he refused, believing he now had a duty to

defend Canada against the invasion he knew was soon to come.

on the night of august thirteenth eighteen twelve brock arrived at fort

malden aboard a flotilla of ships by way of lake erie tecumseh was there waiting

for him and the two men were eager to see one another both had heard of the

other's deeds and both knew that they needed each other brock could not defend

canada without tecumseh's aid nor could tecumseh retake his people's lands

without british support

The two leaders soon met face to face, and quickly developed a mutual respect.

They agreed that only through a quick and decisive offensive could they hope

to win this war.

To that end, they resolved to attack Fort Detroit, the place where the bulk

of American forces in the Northwest were stationed.

It was risky, since the Allies knew they would be outnumbered two to one.

Most of Brock's officers were against it.

yet the Major General would not relent.

Tecumseh was impressed by his new partner's resolve, famously saying, This

is a man! A more sagacious and a more gallant warrior does not, I believe,

exist.

On the morning of the 15th of August, an allied force of Canadian militias,

Redcoats, and natives made camp in Sandwich Town, opposite the river to the

American-held Fort Detroit.

Major General Brock commanded a force about 700 strong, while Tecumseh and his

warriors numbered around 600.

Meanwhile, General Hull had 2,500 men garrisoned inside his well-fortified

walls, double the number of his opponent.

Brock wrote a letter to his American adversary demanding his immediate

surrender, saying, It is far from my inclination to join in a war of

extermination. but you must be aware that the numerous body of indians who

have attached themselves to my troops will be beyond my control the moment the

contest commences in truth tecumseh was no butcher and in fact abhorred

unnecessary killing but through captured intelligence he and brock both knew that

general hull was terrified of native warriors and that the fear of a savage

massacre may be enough to break him yet still no surrender came

The following night, Brock began to ferry his troops across the river.

The British opened fire with their three heavy cannons and two mortars to cover

the crossing.

Hull ordered his 24-pounders to return fire.

Neither side managed to inflict much damage upon the other, but on the

morning of the 16th, a cannonball struck the fort's mess hall and killed two

Americans.

Upon crossing the river, Brock organized his troops into two rows a mile out from

the fortress walls, boldly placing himself at the front of the line.

An officer pleaded that he not expose himself so plainly, to which he replied,

When

news arrived that a force of four hundred Ohio

militiamen were arriving from his rear, brock doubled down and marched his

troops to the far side of the fort opposite to the river meanwhile tecumseh

and his warriors had quietly made the river crossing five miles south

filtering his men into a forest within view of the fort ingeniously he paraded

his men in circles repeatedly having them pass through a gap in the tree-line

within view of the americans delivering ferocious war-cries all the while this

created the illusion that there were far more natives at detroit's gates than

there actually were and made the weight of an indian massacre all the more real

by now general hull had been psychologically broken with contemporary

reports claiming he sat in a muted daze saliva and tobacco dripping limply from

his chin within his fort there were women and children including his very

own daughter and grandchild the man had never had the will of a soldier and the

mind games of brock and tecumseh had broken him after only a few hours of

siege the gates opened and hull's own son rode out bearing a white flag fort

detroit had surrendered it was a stunning defeat for the americans the

largest garrison in the northern united states had surrendered without a fight 2

,493 soldiers were taken captive by a force barely half their number.

Tecumseh had done his part, and delivered the British a great victory.

Now it was time for his Imperial allies to help him push deeper into American

territory, and help him establish a homeland for his people.

Unfortunately for him, this would never come to pass.

The United States was determined to avenge their humiliation at Detroit.

and thus launched an offensive upon Queenston Heights, managing to capture

the town.

This provoked Brock to rally a force of militiamen from nearby York and some

native Mohawk allies to once more drive the Americans from Canadian soil.

It was in this engagement where the Major General met his end.

He charged up the heights with his men, wearing a silk sash given to him by

Tecumseh. this made him a conspicuous target and as he ran up the hill he was

shot fatally through the chest three hundred mohawk warriors jumped into the

fray holding off a much larger american army until british reinforcements

arrived queenston was retaken and nearly one thousand americans were captured or

killed despite this with brock dead the native confederacy had now lost its only

reliable ally meanwhile An old foe of Tecumseh had come to assume command of

the American forces in the northwest, none other than William Henry Harrison,

the conqueror of Prophetstown.

Unlike his predecessor Hull, Harrison was a natural leader and a decisive

soldier. His first act was to construct a bastion along the Maumee River, which

he called Fort Meigs.

From there he planned to strike upwards and retake Detroit.

Meanwhile, the Governor-General of Canada had promoted an officer by the

name of Henry Proctor to lead the British Army due to Isaac Brock's

untimely death.

Proctor and Tecumseh went on the southwards offensive.

In January of 1813, the native British forces encountered an expeditionary

platoon of mounted Kentucky riflemen sallying north from Fort Meigs.

They clashed on a battlefield outside the borough of Frenchtown.

For once, the Americans were outnumbered and suffered a resounding defeat.

Nearly 500 Kentuckians were killed in the fighting, the highest American

casualty count of any battle in the war, and yet another 500 were captured.

The American prisoners were put on a forced march back to Fort Mulden for

detainment. Native warriors began taking liberties with their captives, robbing

and killing the injured, and cutting down any who would not keep pace with

the slog.

Tecumseh himself had left before the battle's end, and was not present to see

the massacre.

He abhorred needless death, so when he caught wind of the prisoner's fate he

was outraged.

Confronting Proctor, he demanded to know why the British general would allow such

a thing, to which Proctor snidely replied that Tecumseh's natives were

impossible to control.

At this, the chieftain replied temperously, Begone!

You are unfit to command!

Go and put on petticoats!

From there, cracks continued to form in Tecumseh's tenuous alliance with the

British. With Brock, the chieftain had built a strong rapport, but he had no

such respect for Proctor, who refused to fight the war on the natives' terms as

Brock had.

Meanwhile, the Americans would remember the massacre at Frenchtown, their slain

prisoners would become martyrs, and the event became a rallying cry for the rest

of the war.

Sure enough, the tides began to turn.

In the spring of 1813, Tecumseh convinced a begrudging proctor into

launching a joint assault upon Fort Meigs.

Twice a force of 1200 natives and 900 British soldiers laid siege to the fort.

but twice harrison managed to repel them despite suffering heavy casualties as

more americans fell into british captivity during these battles tecumseh

continued to prevent massacres as much as he could it is because of this that

many americans to this day regard him with the respect befitting a noble foe

The failing relationship between Tecumseh and his allies was further

exacerbated when the United States won a decisive naval engagement in September

of 1813.

The Battle of Put-in-Bay put the entirety of Lake Erie in American hands

and cut off British supply lines, forcing them to abandon Fort Malden and

Fort Detroit, thereby erasing all the victories won by Tecumseh and Brock a

year earlier.

With winter looming, General Proctor retreated eastward, banking on the fact

that Harrison would not pursue him through the winter snows.

This enraged Tecumseh, for the Shawnee chieftain still wanted to go on the

offensive. He felt betrayed.

After all, he had delivered the British several victories in their war, only to

receive no aid in return for it.

As it turned out, Proctor's gamble was incorrect.

harrison was all too willing to risk a winter campaign to press his advantage

after retaking fort detroit the american general marched eastwards to pursue the

british forces still proctor continued to withdraw much to the disgust of

tecumseh who now realized that his unreliable ally could not be further

removed from the gallantry and bravery of brock reluctantly The Shawnee took

his warriors and joined the British retreat.

But soon, he had had enough.

Realising there was no end to Proctor's timidity, Tecumseh stood before the

general and put his foot in the earth, issuing him an ultimatum.

The British would withdraw no further, or the alliance between them and his

native confederacy was over.

In declaring this, Tecumseh had said choice words that would go down in

history. our lives are in the hands of the great spirit we are determined to

defend our lands and if it be his will we wish to leave our bones upon them

with his hand being forced proctor agreed to face harrison's army he chose

to make his stand on the banks of the canadian river thames near moraviantown

a village of christian delawares proctor's nine hundred men lined

themselves in rows perpendicular to the river

exhausted and starving from their forced march the redcoats were in no state to

fight tecumseh stationed his warriors in a black ash swamp to the british right

where they would have ample cover and could flank the approaching american

army the emboldened grand chieftain personally shook the hand of each

british officer before rejoining his men before long the americans were in sight

harrison's force was imposing nearly four thousand strong they more than

doubled the numbers of the british and natives combined proctor had made no

attempt to build earthworks to fortify his position and so the plains between

him and the americans remained entirely uncontested harrison knew that the best

way to break his enemy was to move fast and strike hard much like he had done at

prophetstown two years earlier

The American general kept the bulk of his militia and infantry in reserve, and

organized a center column of mounted Kentucky riflemen to barrel down towards

the British line.

Tecumseh and his warriors opened fire from the swamp, but were unable to stop

the cavalry from thundering into their redcoat allies.

This devastating charge broke the British morale.

Gripped by panic, they broke formation and scattered.

offering only a token resistance through disorganized and scattered gunfire

general proctor fled the field with two hundred and fifty of his men while the

remaining six hundred british soldiers were either captured or cut down when

tecumseh was young he had taken an oath to never again flee in the face of

battle even now with his allies abandoning him and outnumbered eight to

one by his enemy he would uphold that oath

entrenched deep in the swamps the natives fought on without british aid

harrison ordered his kentucky cavalrymen to break their lines but their initial

charge was cut down by a fusillade of native gunfire from there the battle

devolved into a drawn-out shootout with both sides trading fire amidst the cover

of the swampy thicket it is here in a battlefield of smoky air and muddy mire

that the story of tecumseh ends as the chaotic shootout continued an american

soldier managed to train his sights on the proud shawnee chieftain and shoot

him through the chest tecumseh was killed immediately upon the impact it

didn't take long for news of tecumseh's death to spread among the native

warriors deeply demoralized by this and afeard by the rest of harrison's army

descending upon them they fled the battlefield and scattered

the battle of the thames was a decisive victory for the americans and spelled

the end of the great native coalition tecumseh had been the glue that bound

them together no other warrior among them had as much respect from so many

diverse tribes after the engagement at moravian town many individual chieftains

surrendered to governor harrison and returned to their homes beholden to the

will of the united states there would be no more united native front and no more

attempts to form a united indigenous nation on north american soil the

confederacy that tecumseh had spent so many years building in life inevitably

dissolved with his death the war of eighteen twelve would rage on for

another two years after tecumseh's passing but native warriors no longer

played a major role both british and american armies scored later victories

with the British sacking the capital of Washington and the Americans winning an

iconic engagement at New Orleans.

The war ended in stalemate.

The British had successfully defended their territory, while the Americans had

asserted their sovereignty.

Canada would not be annexed, and America would no longer have their economic and

territorial interests imposed upon.

In the end, The only true losers of the War of 1812 were the indigenous tribes

of the continent.

During peace talks, the British had originally negotiated to establish a

native nation, albeit only to create a buffer state to block further American

expansion.

Naturally, the Americans outright denied this proposal.

Realising they did not have the leverage to enforce such a thing, the British

quickly abandoned the notion.

When the Treaty of Ghent was signed in December of 1814, no provisions existed

to stem the tide of American westward expansion, and expand they did.

Without a strong leader like Tecumseh to bind them, the indigenous peoples of the

American continent were largely helpless to combat the flood of settlers that

came to take their lands.

The Redstick Muscogees who had declared for Tecumseh fought on for a time.

engaging the Americans in the Deep South, but they too were eventually

defeated by future President Andrew Jackson in a massacre at Horseshoe Bend.

In the end, the story of Tecumseh is a tragic tale.

A man of remarkable charisma, integrity, bravery and strength, who spent his

whole life fighting for independence and unity, only to have it all taken away

upon his death.

Even his greatest foe in William Henry Harrison, had remarked that this brave

warrior had the makings of an emperor and it is easy to wonder what great

things he could have done if only he had lived a little longer nevertheless

tecumseh's memory is alive and well today to the americans he was a noble

opponent to canadians the savior of their nation but to the indigenous

peoples of north america he is and always will be above all things an icon

of resistance

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