Military officer; conspicuous in the
War of 1812-15.
In August, 1812,
Governor Meigs sent
Captain Brush with men, cattle, provisions, and a mail for
Hull's army.
At the
Raisin River, Brush sent word to
Hull that he had information that a body of Indians under
Tecumseh was lying in wait for him near
Brownstown, at the mouth of the
Huron River, 25 miles below
Detroit, and he asked the general to send down a detachment of soldiers as an escort.
Hull ordered
Major Van Home, of
Colonel Findlay's regiment, with 200 men, to join Brush, and escort him and his treasures to headquarters.
The major crossed the
Detroit from
Hull's forces in
Canada, Aug. 4.
On the morning of the
5th, while the detachment was moving cautiously,
Van Horne was told by a Frenchman that several hundred Indians lay in ambush near
Brownstown.
Accustomed to alarmists, he did not believe the story, and pushed forward his men in two columns, when they were fired upon from both sides by Indians concealed in the thickets and woods.
The attack was sudden, sharp, and deadly, and the troops were thrown into confusion.
Apprehensive that he might be surrounded,
Van Horne ordered a retreat.
The
Indians pursued, and a running fight was kept up for some distance, the
Americans frequently turning upon the savage foe and giving them deadly volleys.
The mail carried by the
Americans was lost, and fell into the hands of the
British at Fort Malden, by which most valuable information concerning the army under
Hull was revealed, for officers and soldiers had written freely to their friends at home.
The
Americans lost seventeen killed and several wounded, who were left behind.
