Tecumseh

te-kum'seh (1768-1813), a noted Shawnee chieftain. He was born near the present town of Springfield, Ohio, in 1768, and was shot in the battle of the Thames, Canada, October 5, 1813. He was a warrior of courage, intelligence, and resource. In 1811, alarmed by the influx of whites into the hunting grounds of his people, and instigated, it is believed, by British officers in the Detroit region, he cooperated with his brother, the Prophet, to form a widespread conspiracy. The settlers in alarm places themselves under the leadership of General William Henry Harrison, afterward president. He defeated the Indians at the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811. Tecumseh was absent. Naturally he took the part of the British in the War of 1812. he was given the rank of a brigadier-general. He Stirred up the Creeks to fall on Fort Mimms in Alabama and massacre about 400 men, women, and children. While general Andrew Jackson was cornering the Creeks in the Great Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa, Tecumseh was taking part in the military events centering about the western end of Lake Erie. He served at Raisin River led 2,000 Indians at the siege of fort Meigs, and commanded the right wing of the British at the battle of the Thames. The Conflict took place in the woods. The Americans were the attacking party. Until he fell before the rifles of the American frontiersmen, Tecumseh's tremendous voice could be heard encouraging his warriors to fight on. At his death the Indian fled in dismay.

Tecumseh possessed all the native dignity of an Indian. Meeting General Harrison on one occasion for a conference, an interpreter motioned him to a seat near the General, saying, "Your father requests you to take a seat by him." Tecumseh replied, "The Great Spirit is my father. I will rest on the bosom of my mother," and drawing his blanket about him with an air of offended dignity, he took his seat, Indian fashion, on the ground.

See Shawnee; Black Hawk; Red Jacket, etc.