Thames, battle of the
When
General Harrison landed his invading army near Fort Malden,
Canada, in 1813,
General Proctor, in command of the
British troops there, fled northward, leaving the fort, navy buildings, and store-houses in flames.
Proctor had impressed into his service all the horses of the inhabitants to facilitate his flight.
Harrison wrote to the
Secretary of War (Sept. 27): “I will pursue the enemy to-morrow, although there is no probability of overtaking him, as he has upwards of 1,000 horses and we have not one in the army.
I shall think myself fortunate to collect a sufficiency to mount the
general officers.”
Harrison did pursue.
On Oct. 1 he was joined by
Col. Richard M. Johnson, with his cavalry, at
Sandwich.
There a council of officers was held.
Only two lines of pursuit were feasible—one by
Lake Erie to
Long Point, the other by land to the rear of the fugitives.
The latter was chosen.
McArthur and his brigade were left to hold
Detroit;
Cass's brigade and
Ball's regiment were left at
Sandwich, and 3,500 men, mostly Kentucky volunteers, started in pursuit towards
Chatham, on the
Thames River, where, it was ascertained,
Proctor had encamped.
General Cass accompanied
Harrison as volunteer aide.
Learning that some small vessels containing the enemy's artillery and baggage were escaping on
Lake St. Clair towards the mouth of the
Thames,
Commodore Perry despatched a portion of his fleet, under
Captain Elliott, in pursuit.
Perry soon followed in the
Ariel, accompanied by the
Caledonia.
The little squadron reached (Oct. 2 ) the mouth of the
Thames, with the baggage, provisions, and ammunition wagons of the
Americans, but the vessels of the enemy had escaped up that stream.
Harrison pressed forward rapidly, along the border of the lake and
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Appearance of the Thames battle-ground in 1860. |
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up the
Thames.
Three of
Perry's armed vessels also went up the river as convoys to transports.
The
British had encamped at Dolsen's—700 white men and 1,200
Indians—but on the approach of
Harrison they continued their flight,
Tecumseh cursing
Proctor for his cowardice.
The former boasted of the victory he should win, but kept on retreating, destroying bridges and other property in his flight, burning his own vessels and leaving arms behind.
At last the pursuit was so sharp and close that
Proctor was compelled to make a stand on the bank of the
Thames, near the
Moravian town, his left on the river, where the bank is high and precipitous, and on his right a marsh, running almost parallel with the river for about 2 miles. The space between was covered with woods, with very little undergrowth.
The British regulars were formed in two lines between a smaller swamp and the river, their artillery being planted in the road, near the bank of that stream.
The
Indians were posted between the two swamps, and so disposed as easily to flank
Harrison's left.
They were commanded by
Tecumseh, assisted by Oshawahnah, a brave
Chippewa chief.
Harrison's force was now little more than 3,000 in number, composed of 120 regulars, five brigades of Kentucky volunteers, under
Governor Shelby, and
Colonel Johnson's regiment of mounted men.
Harrison attacked (Oct. 5 ), and a severe battle ensued.
Tecumseh was slain, and his amazed followers, who had fought desperately, broke and fled to the shelter of the swamp.
The whole British force was speedily vanquished, and most of them were made prisoners.
Proctor escaped in a carriage, with his personal staff, a few dragoons, and mounted
Indians, hotly pursued some distance by
Johnson and his horsemen.
He made his way to the western end of
Lake Ontario, and there his military career was ended.
Censured by his superiors, rebuked by the
Prince Regent, and scorned by honorable men for his career of cruelty and cowardice in
America,
Proctor sank into merited obscurity.
Harrison's victory was complete.
The whole country resounded with his praises.
Congress gave him and
Shelby the thanks
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Oshawahna 1 |
of the nation and each a gold medal.
At the battle of the
Thames six brass cannon taken from
Hull at
Detroit were recovered, on two of which were engraved the words, “Surrendered by
Burgoyne at
Saratoga.”
These may now be seen at
West Point.
The loss in this short but decisive battle is not exactly known.
It
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lasted only about fifteen minutes. The
Americans lost about forty-five killed and wounded; the
British forty-four, besides 600 made prisoners.
Harrison had recovered all that
Hull had lost.
He had gained much.
He had subdued
western Canada, broken up the
Indian Confederacy, and ended the war on the northwestern border of the
Union.
The frontier being secured,
Harrison dismissed a greater portion of the volunteers.
Leaving
General Cass (whom he had appointed civil and military governor of
Michigan) in command of a garrison at
Detroit, composed of 1,000 regulars, he proceeded (Oct. 23) with the remainder of his troops to
Niagara, to join the Army of the Centre.
For some unexplained reason
General Armstrong, the
Secretary of War, treated
Harrison so badly that the latter left the army, and the country was deprived of his valuable services at a most critical time.
See
Harrison, William Henry.
