ceeded until he was within 150 yards of the town. Here he was met by a number of Indians, with whom was the chief, who had been principal in the previous interview with the commander of the force of the United States. He pointed out a spot suitable for an encampment. The governor and the chief reiterated their engagements, and separated.

The army was encamped upon the ground, that had been designated by the Indians. It was a piece of dry oak land, considerably elevated, and situated between two prairies. The two columns of infantry occupied the front and rear, separated, on the left flank, 180 yards, and, on the right, about half that distance. The left flank was covered by two companies of mounted rifle men, amounting to 150 men, and commanded by major-general Wells, of Kentucky. The right flank was covered by Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, to the number of eighty. The front line was composed of one battalion of the 4th regiment of the United States infantry, major Floyd, flanked on the right by two companies of militia, and on the left by one. The rear line was formed of one battalion of the 4th United States infantry, captain Baen, acting as major, flanked by four companies of militia, under lieut. colonel Decker: two troops of dragoons, amounting to sixty, encamped in the rear of the left flank; and another, somewhat stronger, in the rear of the front line. To guard against a night attack, the order of encampment was the order of battle; and each man slept immediately opposite his post in the line.

The camp was defended by two captain's guards, each of four non-commissioned officers, and forty-two privates; and two subaltern's guards, each of twenty non-commissioned officers and privates. Just at the moment when the signal for calling up the men was about to be given, on the morning of the 7th of November, 1811, an attack commenced, on the left flank. A single musket only was fired in that direction, by the guard, who, abandoning their officer, fled into camp. The first notice, which the left flank had, of the approach of an enemy, was the usual yells of the savages, within a short distance of the line. They had broken their engagements to

:

keep the peace, until the ensuing day; which, it would seem, they had stipulated, purposely to gain an opportunity of surprising their adversaries, in their usual manner. They had, as it has been conjectured, pointed out a spot to governor Harrison, for his encampment, most suitable for their purpose and nothing but the precaution of encamping in order of battle, and the deliberate firmness of the officers, in counteracting the effects of the surprise and alarm, saved the army from a total defeat. The storm first fell upon captain Barton's company of regulars, and captain Geiger's company of mounted riflemen; which formed the left angle of the rear line. Some Indians forced themselves through the angle, and thence penetrated into the encampment, before they were killed. The companies, that had been thus suddenly and severely attacked, were reinforced, with all possible speed. A heavy fire was then commenced, on the left of the front, immediately on the regular companies, of captains Baen, Snelling, and Prescot. A gallant charge by the cavalry, from the rear of the front line, under major Davies, was made, for the purpose of breaking the Indians, who appeared to be in great force, among some trees, a few yards distant in front. In this charge, major Davies was unfortunately wounded, and his men were driven back, by the force of the enemy. Captain Snelling then ordered his company to charge, with fixed bayonets. His order was gallantly executed, and the enemy dislodged. Captain Snelling had just returned into the line, when the fire of the enemy extended along the left flank, the whole of the front, the right flank, and part of the rear line. Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen, and the right of Warwick's company, it was excessively severe. Captain Spencer and his first and second lieutenants were killed; and captain Warwick was mortally wounded. The men, notwithstanding the fall of their officers, bravely maintained their posts, until they were reinforced. At the approach of day, the right and left flanks were strongly reinforced, from the front and rear lines, and every disposition made for a vigorous charge, as soon as the light should suffificiently discover the position of the enemy. Major Wells,

on the left, while these dispositions were making, charged the enemy so efficiently, that they were completely broken inthat quarter. At this favouring moment, a small detachment from the cavalry, dashed furiously upon the retreating Indians, and precipitated them into the marsh. Simultaneously with these successful efforts on the left, the enemy were charged, on the right, by the companies of captain Cook and lieutenant Larabee. They were vigorously supported by the mounted riflemen, who pursued, and killed a number of Indians in their flight. Driven now at both points, by these successful charges, and pursued as far as the ground would permit, the Indians did not return to the combat. They were handled so severely, in the end, that they were compelled, contrary to their practice in battle, to abandon many of their killed, and several wounded, on the field. This fact alone establishes a decisive victory by general Harrison and his army. The attempt to conquer by surprise was completely frustrated; and the design of a butchering extermination of the whole American force by the savages, was chas tised by a bloody defeat. Forty Indians were found dead on the field of battle. Numbers were carried off, some of whom were found the next day, thrown two, three, and four into one hole, and covered, with a design to conceal them from the victorious army. Governor Harrison estimated their loss in killed and wounded, at one hundred and fifty.

The American forces, from the commander to the privates, displayed great bravery, throughout this treacherous attack; and effectually resisted one of the most furious assaults, to be found in the annals of savage warfare. They were saved alone by their soldierly conduct. Had they fallen into a panic, in the first onset of the savages, and been thrown into disorder, they would probably, to a man, have become the victims of the most merciless of foes. They however sustained a severe loss in officers and men. The report of adjutant Adams, after the battle, makes the killed, one aid-de-camp, one captain, two subalterns, one serjeant, two corporals, and thirty privates, 37; mortally wounded, and subsequently dead, one major, two captains, and twenty-two privates, 25;

wounded, two lieutenant-colonels, one adjutant, one surgeon's mate, two captains, three subalterns, nine sergeants, five corporals, one musician, and one hundred and two privates, 126. Total killed and wounded, 181.

The exact number of Indians in the battle could not be accurately ascertained. Governor Harrison estimated them, at not less than six hundred, and perhaps not inferior to his own army, which, at the commencement of the action, amounted in the whole to seven hundred and fifty, regulars and militia.

There were in the field, as volunteer officers and privates, several respectable citizens of Kentucky; among whom were major Joseph H. Davies, and colonel Abraham Owens. Major Davies commanded the cavalry, attached to the army. He fell early in the action; greatly lamented by all his associates. He held the first standing in Kentucky, as a lawyer, and the highest rank, as an orator; behaved with the greatest bravery in the field; and died in the full display of the traits of a hero. The legislature of Kentucky, in testimony of their regret for the deaths of Davies, Owens and other volunteers, who fell in the battle, resolved to wear mourning for thirty days; and appointed John Rowan, Esquire, to deliver, in the capitol, a funeral oration in honour of those brave and lamented citizens.

Governor Harrison, on the 9th of November, after having burned the Prophet's town, and laid waste the surrounding settlement, from both of which he obliged the defeated enemy to fly, returned at leisure with his forces into the settled country. The expedition was productive of the best consequences.

The Prophet was immediately abandoned by his followers; who, on his defeat, lost all faith in his supernatural pretensions. Even his life was endangered, by the sudden change in the feelings of those, whom he had too successfully deluded. Most of the Indian tribes, who had been influenced, by his impious pretensions, to assume an attitude of hostility towards the United States, after his expulsion from his imagined sanctuary, offered their submissions, and sued for peace.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Call of Congress in 1811; President communicates the state of the relations of the United States with Great Britain and France; Congress makes preparations to arm the nation; Declaration of war.

THE language held by the British minister at Washington, in his correspondence with the secretary of state, very soon dissipated all hope of accommodation with Great Britain. Although his deportment, as a minister, was acceptable to the American government, yet it soon appeared, that he had brought no instructions that would authorise him to propose the slightest relaxation of the system, which Great Britain had pursued against the neutral commerce of the United States. On the contrary, his letters teemed with high-toned justifications of it. Under the impression, that the crisis had arrived, when it became necessary that the United States should assume a new course towards Great Britain, the president issued his proclamation convening the 12th congress, on the 4th of November, 1811.

When the two houses were organized, he communicated an interesting message; in which he gave an exposition of the state of the relations of the United States with Great Britain and France. "It was hoped," he said, "that the successive confirmations of the extinction of the French decrees, so far as they violated the neutral commerce of the United States, would have induced the government of Great Britain, to repeal its orders in council, and thereby authorise the removal of the existing obstructions, to her commerce with the United States.

"Instead of this reasonable step towards satisfaction and friendship, between the two nations, the orders were, at a moment when least to have been expected, put into more rigorous execution: and it was communicated, through the