It is March 19th. Welcome to Episode 78 of History in a Year. Today, the greatest indigenous resistance movement in North American history dies on a battlefield in Canada. Following Oliver Hazard Perry’s stunning naval victory on Lake Erie, the British supply lines to Detroit are completely severed. The British Army has no choice but to retreat, leaving their Native American allies furious and betrayed. We follow the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh as he forces the British to make a final stand at the Battle of the Thames. We witness the cowardly flight of the British general, the brutal cavalry charge of the Kentuckians, and the tragic death of the visionary warrior who almost stopped the expansion of the United States.
STEPHEN:
Welcome to History in a Year: America’s First 250 Years.
LEAH:
Join us every single day as we journey from the Revolution of 1776 to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
STEPHEN:
You can find every episode and join the discussion at PointedWords.com. I’m Stephen.
LEAH:
And I’m Leah.
STEPHEN:
It is March 19th. Welcome to Episode 78. Yesterday, a 28-year-old Oliver Hazard Perry rowed through a hail of cannon fire to secure the Great Lakes for the United States Navy.
LEAH:
And that naval victory completely changed the reality on the ground. Because the British Army occupying Detroit suddenly realized they were trapped.
STEPHEN:
Without control of Lake Erie, the British couldn’t get food, they couldn’t get gunpowder, and they couldn’t get reinforcements.
LEAH:
The British commander was Major General Henry Procter. And Procter was no Isaac Brock. Brock was the brilliant, aggressive general who had captured Detroit, but he had recently been killed in battle near Niagara.
STEPHEN:
Procter was overly cautious, and quite frankly, he was a coward. As soon as he heard the Americans had won on Lake Erie, he immediately ordered his army to abandon Detroit and start retreating deep into Upper Canada.
LEAH:
But retreating was the absolute last thing his Native American allies wanted to do.
STEPHEN:
Remember, the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh had allied his massive confederacy with the British for one specific reason: To protect Native American land in the Ohio Valley.
LEAH:
Retreating hundreds of miles into Canada meant abandoning their homelands to the Americans forever.
STEPHEN:
Tecumseh was absolutely disgusted with General Procter. He stood up in a council of war and delivered a blistering, insulting speech right to the British general’s face.
LEAH:
Tecumseh compared Procter to a “fat animal that carries its tail upon its back,” dropping its tail between its legs and running away in fear. He demanded that Procter leave the British weapons with the Native Americans so they could stay and fight for their land.
STEPHEN:
But Tecumseh also knew the reality of the situation. Without British supplies and artillery, his warriors would be slaughtered.
LEAH:
He had no choice. The Native American confederacy packed up their families and followed the retreating British Army up the Thames River into Ontario.
STEPHEN:
And right behind them, closing the distance every single day, was a massive American army led by the man who had burned Prophetstown to the ground: General William Henry Harrison.
LEAH:
Harrison’s army was full of angry Kentucky militiamen who were desperate for revenge against the Native Americans.
STEPHEN:
By October 5, 1813, Harrison’s army had caught up to the retreating British at a place called Moraviantown, on the banks of the Thames River.
LEAH:
General Procter finally realized he couldn’t outrun the Americans. He had to turn and fight.
STEPHEN:
He set up his British regular troops in a line across the main road. Tecumseh and his warriors positioned themselves in a massive, tangled swamp on the British right flank.
LEAH:
Before the battle started, Tecumseh walked down the British line. He had taken off his British general’s uniform and was dressed in traditional Shawnee deerskin. He told the British officers, “Father, have a big heart. Tell your young men to stand firm, and all will be well.”
STEPHEN:
But the British did not stand firm.
LEAH:
General Harrison ordered his cavalry—a massive regiment of mounted Kentuckians led by Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson—to charge directly into the British line.
STEPHEN:
The American horses smashed into the British infantry. And instead of holding their ground and firing a second volley, the British soldiers completely panicked.
LEAH:
They broke formation, threw down their muskets, and surrendered by the hundreds.
STEPHEN:
And their commander, General Henry Procter? The moment he saw the American cavalry break through his line, he literally jumped into his personal carriage and fled the battlefield, leaving his men and his allies behind.
LEAH:
The British had collapsed in minutes. But in the swamp on the right flank, the Native Americans were holding their ground.
STEPHEN:
Tecumseh’s warriors fought fiercely. The American cavalry couldn’t maneuver in the thick mud and trees, so they had to dismount and fight hand-to-hand in the brush.
LEAH:
The fighting was incredibly brutal and chaotic. Above the roar of the muskets, the Americans could hear Tecumseh’s booming voice, shouting orders and encouraging his warriors.
STEPHEN:
Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson led a “forlorn hope” charge directly into the thickest part of the Native American line. His horse was shot out from under him, and he was wounded five times.
LEAH:
During this desperate melee in the swamp, the great Shawnee leader was struck in the chest.
STEPHEN:
Tecumseh fell.
LEAH:
The exact details of who killed him are still debated by historians. Colonel Johnson would later use the claim that he personally killed Tecumseh to launch a successful political campaign for Vice President of the United States.
STEPHEN:
But what is absolutely certain is the immediate aftermath of his death.
LEAH:
The moment the warriors realized Tecumseh was dead, the resistance broke. The Native Americans retreated into the deep woods, and the battle was over.
STEPHEN:
And it wasn’t just the Battle of the Thames that was over. It was the end of an era.
LEAH:
Tecumseh’s pan-Indian confederacy was completely built on his sheer force of personality, his brilliance, and his vision. Without him, the alliance shattered instantly. The tribes scattered, and many of them signed peace treaties with the Americans shortly after.
STEPHEN:
The dream of an independent Native American nation in the Old Northwest died in the mud of the Thames River. The United States had secured the western frontier.
LEAH:
But back on the East Coast, the War of 1812 was about to enter its darkest, most terrifying chapter.
STEPHEN:
Join us tomorrow for Episode 79. The Burning of Washington. In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte is finally defeated in Europe. And that means the full, undivided, terrifying might of the British military is now sailing directly for the United States. We watch the American government flee in panic as the British Army marches into the capital and sets the White House on fire.
LEAH:
I’m Leah.
STEPHEN:
And I’m Stephen.
STEPHEN:
You can find every episode at PointedWords.com. And this… is our story.