The Ghost Dance and the War of 1812
Tecumseh
Tecumseh
We are taught in school about the war of 1812. If you google “War of 1812”, you get the following “The immediate causes of the War of 1812 were a series of economic sanctions taken by the British and French against the US as part of the Napoleonic Wars and American outrage at the British practice of impressment, especially after the Chesapeake incident of 1807.” This war started June the 18th 1812 and ended February 17th, 1815. It ended with the mutual ratification of the Treaty of Ghent.
What many people do not know, is that the British and the French were willing to go to any lengths to win. In fact, they leveraged the battle between the native American tribes to fight with (or for) them during many battles. One such Indian tribe was the Shawnee, and their leader Tecumseh.
Tecumseh was bent on revenge for the killing of his father and step-father. In fact, Tecumseh actually witnessed the killing of his step-father when he was a young child. The killings left him with a deep and warranted state of distrust of the white man, and as he grew older, masterminded many attacks in what is now known as the Great Lakes Region.
The mindset with Tecumseh was, he believed that all tribes MUST settle their differences and unite to retain their land and defeat the white man. His leadership and savvy sills slowly created a coalition of tribes, and they began their goal of defeating the white soldier, and did their best to drive them from their land.
But there was problem, victories became far and few between and many of the other tribal leaders began to lose confidence in Tecumseh. It was only when Tecumseh’s brother Lalawethika, who later changed his name Tenskwatawa, which means “The Prophet”, his visions were instrumental in keeping the tribes together. His brother was well known for his drinking, and yet, every tribe followed the two faithfully.
Tenskwatawa
Why? Lost battles, supplies running low, and a meeting of the leaders nearly became combative. The tribes were ready to disband, and Tecumseh was about to be left with nothing but his own tribe.
In 1805, Tenskwatawa told the council that during an alcohol induced stupor that if they followed the Native ways, they could defeat the white man and reclaim their land as promised in his vision. He then correctly predicted a Solar Eclipse in 1806, word spread, and many more tribes joined the cause. Tecumseh travels far and wide spreading the word to many other tribes that they needed to “Resist the American way of life and they could defeat the white man, and return to their former glory”.
While Tecumseh was away, his brother who did not have the tactical expertise of his brother, ignored Tecumseh’s warning of not battling William Henry Harrison. Tenskwatawa ignored that warning and the battle of Tippecanoe is now in the history books. Prophetstown is destroyed, and the all of the hard work of building an alliance is all but destroyed.
The next few years Tecumseh struggled to maintain his rag-tag group together and it was not until the war of 1812 would Tecumseh see serious battles and victories.
The first major victory actually occurred in Michigan in what is known as the Siege of Detroit which happened on the 15th and the 16th of August 1812. This two day site ended only when General William Hull saw a large British and Indian Force gathering outside of Detroit’s walls. It is believed that the General was preoccupied with the presence of his daughter and grandchildren visiting at the time. Not wanting bloodshed, he surrendered the fort, and British General Isaac Brock Hull and his 2,000 man army to return to their homes. With the victory at Fort Detroit, the land was declared to be mutually owned by the British and Tecumseh. This allowed Tecumseh to use this area as a home base and he increased his raids against Americans in the area.
This victory was a huge blow to the American morale, and eventually General William Henry Harrison, who later became the ninth President , recaptured the Fort in September 1813.
(As a side bar here-William Hull was officially court-martialed for cowardice and neglect of duty for not fighting and just surrendering the Fort Detroit and was sentenced to death. BUT because of his service during the Revolutionary War, President James Madison remitted his sentence. Remember this act for later reference, as it starts a level of cover-ups, and deceit to the very American People, these leaders were supposed to be protecting.)
1813 was the beginning of the end for The British, and Tecumseh’s dream. Ft Detroit is back into the hands of the American Troops, and Now a battle is brewing in upper Canada in Moraviantown, also known as the battle of the Thames which occurred on October the 5th 1813.
With a strong alliance with the British, Tecumseh and British Commander Major General Henry Procter were ill equipped for this battle. After General Harrison recaptured Ft Detroit, It set a series of events in motion, that included The British retreat to an area that relied heavily on supplies from Lake tries, as the area they were in, was seriously deficient to feed their troops. The British needed to maintain control of the Lake Erie waterways in order to keep General Proctor from being cut off all together. Meanwhile the tribes and families under Tecumseh control had gathered at Amherstburg. Both were going to rely heavily on supplies from those British ships. A series of mistakes from the British Naval Commander at Presque Isle Bay, led to the battle of Lake Erie, where the British Commander Robert Heriot Barclay was defeated. Perry’s Victory coined the phrase “we have met the enemy- and they are ours” .
Perry sent this message to General Harrison, and Harrison ordered his 2500 hundred troops to advance onto the retreating Proctor. Proctor was in no position to defend Ft Amherstburg so on the 27th of September 1813 Tecumseh had no other option but to retreat with Proctor to the Thames river area.
Military map of the Battle of Thames.
The battle became a series of mistakes and miscues by the British, basically leaving Tecumseh and his tribes in the woods to fend for themselves against the better fed, and better armed American Troops. They over ran Tecumseh, where he and Chief Roundhead were killed. With their deaths, it became a crushing blow to the alliance Tecumseh had worked so hard to build. An armistice was signed with the remaining chiefs in the area, essentially relinquishing land to the victors.
As in any major Battle involving native American Leaders, Controversy ruled the truth. Several individuals claimed that they had killed Tecumseh, Most prominent was Richard Johnson, a Kentucky politician who fought at the Thames as a cavalry commander. Whether or not he was indeed "The Man Who Killed Tecumseh," a great many of his constituents believed he was. With supporters chanting "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh," Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Senate and then, in 1836, to the Vice Presidency. With a little help from another catchy jingle, "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too," William Henry Harrison became President four years later. Later in life, there are many times, the killing of a leader led to major political positions. We will see this repeated many time during the Wars, battles and killings of Indian leaders.
Where Victors of any Indian Battle were revered, losers were often punished severely. General Proctor of the British Army was charged with negligence and improper conduct, failing to secure his stores and also disposed and managed his troops ineffectively. He was later court martialed and sentenced to six months of no pay and suspension of his rank as well.
SO the die is cast-Lose a war, get court-martialed. You will win against the “natives” at any cost. Or die trying. You have to wonder if this message from 1812 was the building blocks for Future soldiers like Custer, General Miles and many others, who resorted to immoral and heinous acts to gain control over the Native Americans later in our history.
BUT-I want you to think of this-What is Tecumseh had won? Or if he and Chief Roundhead had lived? Would the vision have counted to grow? Would the very face of our country be different? This is another sample of the vision being squashed by fate. Or was it fate at all?
