USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 10
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"Tecumseh being absent at the time of the battle, a chief called White Loon was the chief commander of the Indians. He was seen in the morning after the battle, riding a large white horse in the woods across the prairie, where he was shot at by a volunteer named Montgomery, who is now living in the southwest part of this state. At the crack of his rifle the horse jumped as if the ball had hit him. The Indian rode off toward the town and we saw him no more. During the battle the Prophet was safely located on a hill, beyond the reach of our balls, praying to the Great Spirit to give victory to
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the Indians. having previously assured them that the Great Spirit woukl change our powder into ashes and sand.
"We had about forty head of beef cattle when we came to the battle. They all ran off the night of the battle, or they were driven off by the Indians, so that they were all lost. We received rations for two days on the morning after the action. We received no more rations until the next Tuesday evening, being six days afterwards. The Indians having retreated to their town, we performed the solemn duty of consigning to their graves our dead soldiers, without shrouds or coffins. They were placed in graves about two feet deep, from five to ten in each grave.
"General Harrison, having learned that Tecumseh was expected to return from the south with a number of Indians whom he had enlisted in his cause. called a council of his officers, who advised him to remain on the battlefield and fortify his camp by a breastwork of logs, about four feet high. This work was completed during the day and all the troops were placed immediately behind each line of the work when they were ordered to pass the watchword from right to left every five minutes, so that no man was permitted to sleep during the night. The watchword on the night before the battle was 'Wide awake, wide awake.' To me it was a long, cold, cheerless night.
"On the next day the dragoons went to Prophet's Town, which they found deserted by all the Indians, except an old squaw, whom they brought into camp and left her with the wounded chief before mentioned. The dra- goons set fire to the town and it was all consumed, casting up a brilliant light amid the darkness of the ensuing night. I arrived at the town when it was about half on fire. I found large quantities of corn, beans and peas. 1 filled my knapsack with these articles and carried them to the camp and divided them with the members of our mess, consisting of six men. Having these articles of food, we declined eating horse flesh. which was eaten by a large portion of our men."
TECUMSEH AND THE PROPHET IN THE SOUTII.
After the battle of Tippecanoe, these famous Indians went through the Indian country of the Southern states, including Florida, Alabama and Georgia : also through parts of Missouri, trying to complete a strong and long proposed confederation among the warring Indians. Tecumseh took his brother, the Prophet, along with him for two reasons-one because he feared he might not act wisely in the North. in his absence, and secondly because he wanted him to work among the superstitious tribes in the South, who had
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heard of the Prophet and the revelations he claimed had come to him from the Great Spirit. About thirty warriors accompanied them. His mission was to engage the barbarians as allies for the British government against the colonists. The Choctaws and Chickasaws, through whose country Te- cumseh passed, would not listen to him, but the Seminoles and Creeks lent him willing ears. He addressed the Creeks the first time in the lower part of Alabama, late in October. Soon afterward, having addressed the Creeks at different points, he approached the great council called by the United States Indian agent, at Toockabatcha, the ancient Creek capital, where fully five thousand of the barbarians were gathered. Tecumseh marched with dig- nity into the square with his train and thirty followers, entirely naked, ex- cepting their flaps and ornaments, their faces painted black, their heads adorned with eagle feathers, while buffalo tails dragged behind, suspended by bands around their waists. Like appendages were attached to their arms, and their whole appearance was as hideous as possible, while their bearing was uncommonly pompous and ceremonious. They marched round and round the square. They approached the Creek chiefs, gave them the Indian salutation of a handshake at arm's length, and exchanged tobacco in token of friendship. They kept up this pretense daily until the Indian agent departed. That night a council was held in the "Great Round House." It was packed with eager listeners. Tecumseh made a fiery speech, full of vengeance, ex- horting the Creeks to abandon the customs of the pale faces and return to those of their fathers for it was unworthy not to follow the footsteps of the noble hunter and warrior. Hle warned them that the whites were seeking to exterminate them and possess their country, and he told them that their British friends had sent him from the Great Lakes to invite them to the war- path. The wiley Prophet, who had been told by the British when a comet would appear. tokl the excited multitude that they would see the arm of Tecumseh, like pale fire, stretched out in the vault of the heavens at a certain time, and thus they would know by that sign when to begin war. The people looked upon him with awe. for the fame of Tecumseh and the Prophet had preceded them. Tecumseh continued his mission with partial success : however. met with opposition here and there. Among the most conspicuous of the opposition was Trustinuggee Thlucco, the Big Creek warrior. Te- eumseh tried every art to convert this big chief to his purpose. At length, the chief said: "Trustinuggee Thlucco, your blood is white. You have taken my red sticks and my talk, but you do not mean to fight. I know the reason-you do not believe the Great Spirit has sent me. You shall believe it. I will leave directly and go straight to Detroit. When I get there, I will
PROPHET'S ROCK
TECUMSEH TRAIL
TIPPECANOE BATTLEFIELD
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stamp my foot upon the ground and shake down every house in Toocka- batcha."
Strange enough to relate, at about the time Tecumseh arrived at Detroit, there was heard a deep rumbling under ground all over Alabama and there was a heaving of the earth that made the houses of Toockabatcha reel and totter as if about to fall. The startled savages ran out, exclaiming, "Tecumseh is at Detroit! Tecumseh is at Detroit! We feel the stamp of his foot!" It was the slight shock of an earthquake that was felt all over the Gulf region. At the same time, the comet, "the blazing arm of Tecumseh," ap- peared in the sky. These events made a powerful impression on nearly the whole Creek nation, but did it not move the "Big Warrior" from his alle- giance to the United States. The Creeks, however, rose in arms, and in less than two years their nation was ruined. Tecumseh's visit brought dread- ful calamity upon them.
After being driven out of Indiana, Tecumseh joined the British army and was commissioned brigadier-general. He was killed at the Thames in Canada. October 5. 1813. It is supposed that his slayer was Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, who afterwards became Vice-President of the United States .*
THE SITE OF TIIE BATTLEGROUND.
John Tipton, a native of Tennessee, was an ensign ( second lieutenant) when he left Corydon. Indiana, on the expedition which ended in the battle of Tippecanoe, but was finally commissioned general. November 13, 1829, he purchased the entire tract, covering an area of one hundred fifty-six and three-quarters acres, in section 23, township 24 north, range 4 west. In the spring of 1830, a short time after he acquired this land, at his instance and under his supervision, a general meeting was held of the survivors of the conflict and other eminent citizens, who gathered together the bones of the dead heroes and placed them in a common grave near the point where the encampment was first attacked. November 7, 1836, he donated to the state of Indiana the area of the battlefield, containing about sixteen acres, to be enclosed and preserved as public grounds, on which to erect a suitable monu- ment. Years rolled by and nothing was done in regard to the matter. Finally the plan for a monument was placed in the hands of the Masonic fraternity
*The above facts have been expunged from "The Life of General John Tipton." by M. W. Pershing. General Tipton participated in the battle of Tippecanoe and later bought the land on which it was fought and through him it was placed in the hands of the authorities of the state. Many of the facts herein stated were furnished by Lafayette men, including Hon. A. O. Reser, M. W. Phillips and Thomas E. Burt.
(7)
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under the charge of the grand lodge of Indiana, but no appropriate monu- ment ever graced the spot until 1908, when the handsome shaft was unveiled, the history of which is given in full at another place within this volume.
Then it appears that prior to 1830 the bones of the soldiers who fell in the battle of Tippecanoe and which had been disinterred by the Indians for revenge and robbery, were gathered together and buried again. The battleground was bought by General Tipton, the evi- dence of which is a deed record at Crawfordsville. The record in the recorder's office at Lafayette shows that General Tipton donated to the state of Indiana. this ground, the transfer being dated November 7, 1836, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the battle. This record was lost and was for several years a matter of dispute and the title itself dis- puted. Ilon. Alva O. Reser (present county recorder and official court re- porter ), of Tippecanoe county, residing at Lafayette, became interested in the history of the battle and while preparing an address to be delivered before the Battle Ground Chautauqua, he went to Logansport and by the assistance of a granddaughter of General Tipton, found the original letters tied up in a bundle and kept in an old trunk owned by her grandfather. Among these papers were documents that quieted the title to the battlegrounds. On Feb- ruary 4, 1837, a year after the donation of the grounds. a resolution was passed by the legislature instructing the Governor to offer a suitable premium for a design for a monument to be erected on the battlefield, pledging the faith of the state to complete the same. This promise had not been fulfilled until more than seventy years had rolled into oblivion, when the present mag- nificent shaft was unveiled.
To further explain, it may be stated that Governor Noble went out of office in 1837 and after the death of General Tipton in 1839, the project was entirely forgotten. Even the grounds were uncared for and cattle and other stock were permitted to roam at will over the graves of the fallen heroes. The historic oaks, showing bullet holes made by the rifles of November 7, 1811, were cut down in instances, until finally at the meeting of the Con- stitutional Convention of 1850, when, on December 21, John Pettit, a member of that convention from Tippecanoe county, introduced a resolution to incor- porate a section in the constitution of Indiana, article 4, section 10, which reads as follows: "It shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide for the permanent enclosure and preservation of the Tippecanoe battlefield."
In 1873, sixty-two years after the battle was fought. an appropriation of twenty-four thousand dollars was made by the legislature to enclose the ground with an iron fence and to otherwise provide for the care of the
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grounds. Only eighteen thousand dollars of this amount was expended and six thousand dollars reverted to the state treasury. In 1887 an appropriation of three thousand five hundred dollars was made for painting the fence and other expenses. There is now an annual appropriation for the care of these sacred grounds, the same to be prudently expended by the county commis- sioners. Hon. E. D. Crumpacker, congressman from this district, introduced a bill in congress for an appropriation of twelve thousand five hundred dollars which was finally passed. The state of Indiana had previously appropriated a similar amount. The original bill called for the payment of twenty-five thousand dollars by the United States, but finally the sum was reduced and the state's appropriation was turned over to the war department, which de- partment pushed the enterprise to completion, through a "Monument Com- mission" made up of Governor J. Frank Hanly, Albert A. Jones and Job S. Sims. But prior to all this, and on May 1. 1892, the Grand Army posts met, by invitation, at the battlegrounds and several speeches were made-the last one by Job S. Sims, who suggested that an association be formed not only to care for the grounds, but to decorate the graves and to take up the project of a monument in memory of the dead. Next, a meeting was held at the office of James B. Shaw, in the city of Lafayette, Saturday May 7, 1892, when the Tippecanoe Battlefield Monument Association was formed with the following officers : Job S. Sims, president : J. W. Henderson. first vice-presi- dent : Thomas Pierce, second vice-president: J. B. Shaw, secretary ; George D. Chenoweth, assistant secretary; W. P. Youkey. treasurer. These and other similar officers served for sixteen years and looked after the matter in view of the original design of the association. Captain Shaw served as the secretary until 1904. when Hon. Alva O. Reser was elected and remained in such position until the association had completed its work by having an appropriation made by congress and another by the Indiana legislature, when the matter was taken up by the "Tippecanoe Monument Commission," ap- pointed by the war department, by the Governor and the national act.
On January 6, 1908, Governor J. Frank Hanly, Job S. Sims. A. A. Jones and Wesley E. Wells, members of the Tippecanoe Monument Commis- sion, met and organized as follows: President, Governor J. Frank Hanly ; treasurer, Job S. Sims ; secretary, A. A. Jones.
On February 12, 1908, contract for erection of monument was let to McDonnell & Sons, Buffalo, New York, for the sum of twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars.
The beautiful monument was dedicated Saturday. November 7. 1908, when befitting addresses were made by the following gentlemen : Hon. E. D.
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Crumpacker (congressman). Hon. Will R. Wood, Job S. Sims, who pre- sented the monument to the government, acceptance speech by Governor Hanly, one by the acting secretary of war, General Carmen, on behalf of the United States, Gen. R. P. DeHart, Capt. Alfred Pirtle and Col. Russell B. Harrison, great-grandson of the hero of "Tippecanoe."
THE UNVEILING OF THE MONUMENT.
At the unveiling of the monument, November 7, 1908, Hon. Alva O. Reser was chairman. The invocation was made by Rev. A. L. Miller, of Battle Ground, followed by the address of Job S. Sims in presenting the mon- ument to the government and the state. It was then formally unveiled, by Miss June Etta Wallis, of Battle Ground. Then followed the speeches above mentioned. The monument is in extreme height ninety-two feet; is of the modern type of square obelisk-a quadrangular pyramid. It is a granite, nearly white in color and fashioned in a chaste and plain manner. On the east side of the column cornered base is carved a life size statue of Gen. William Henry Harrison, in his military garb. The base is provided with a highly polished rich colored tablet. on each of its four sides. The one on the east has this inscription :
ERECTED JOINTLY BY THE NATION AND THE STATE IN MEMORY OF THE HEROES WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE NOVEMBER 7, ISII. THIS MONUMENT COMPLETED AND DEDICATED NOVEMBER 7, 1908.
On the south and west sides of the base are tablets containing the names of all officers and men who lost their lives in the battle and also those who died as a result, before the army left on its return march, which gives a total of forty-six names, instead of thirty-seven who were killed outright. The north tablet reads as follows :
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TIPPECANOE MONUMENT
ERECTED JOINTLY BY THE NATION AND THE STATE. IN MEMORY OF THE HEROES WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE NOVEMBER 7, 1811.
THIS MONUMENT COMPLETED AND DEDICATED NOVEMBER 7,1908.
EAST TABLET MONUMENT
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AMERICAN FORCES. MEN ENGAGED, 910. GENERAL WM. HENRY HARRISON COMMANDING. ATTACKED AT 4 O CLOCK A. M. INDIAN FORCES LED BY PROPHIET. NUMBER ENGAGED ABOUT THE SAME AS AMERICANS.
LOSS AMERICANS, KILLED, 37. WOUNDED, 151.
INDIAN LOSS UNKNOWN.
These tablets are about three by six feet in dimension and are inscribed in clear, plain capital letters. The monument is situated at the extreme northern end of the battleground enclosure, and far overtops the stately forest kings, who have kept their silent, but faithful watch over the heroes who for all these decades-almost a century-have been sleeping at their feet. There are also several other granite "markers" here and there throughout the iron fence enclosure, that note the spot where some gallant officer fell at the sure aim of an Indian bullet or arrow.
ADDRESS OF GEN. R. P. DEHART.
[The publishers have assumed the right to insert this address made at the unveiling of the monument ( covering as it does excellent historic points not mentioned by others), notwithstanding the General is editor-in-chief of this historic volume of "Past and Present of Tippecanoe County."]
On the 7th day of November. 1811. was fought the battle of Tippecanoe upon this beautiful plateau of ground. On the evening of the 6th of Novem- ber, General Harrison with his army of about nine hundred effective men, reached a point near the Prophet's village. At that time the Prophet sent runners out to him, saying, "Why do you come here with your army? We have none here but women and children. Go into camp and we will treat with you on the morrow."
Now, some people have been so unkind as to condemn the Prophet for his deceiving, or attempt to deceive. Harrison and his army ; but today among civilized men the politician will say to you things that he does not mean. He will tell you what he proposes to do, and he will not do it on the morrow. Let us be just in these things.
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The Indian believed he was fighting for his home and the graves of his fathers, and he sought to deceive Harrison, as a part of the strategy of Indian warfare. "Where is the best camp ground?" said one of the scouts, and the Indian said, "To the north and west a little over a mile." If you will look vonder a mile and a quarter, you can see the site of the Indian village where Tecumseh and his brother held their place, and that was the seat of Indian diplomacy and strategy for many years. Now, some people have said that Tecumseh was defeated at this battle. He was not in this fight. He had made a speech at the city of Vincennes, in answer to one made by General Harrison, who had maintained the treaty between the Indians and the pale faces, and in response to that Tecumseh had said to him, "If you will acknowl- edge the title of the land upon the Wabash to be in my people, I will be your friend. I will be your brother. I will die for you. I will fight for you to the end: but if you don't. then look out!" Harrison maintained the treaty. Tecumseh went to the southland. following the plan of the league of the great Pontiac, and while he was gone, Harrison with his army came to this locality. They went into camp on the evening of the 6th of November, 1811. Their campfires were built all over these grounds, and there is no doubt but the Indians stood upon yonder ridge and counted each fire and knew the location of every line of the army. The Indians were close observers and we might learn many things from them.
The story is told of an old Indian coming along and he said to some white men, "Did you see a little old white man with a short gun, and a short piece of venison, and a stump-tailed dog, pass this way?" They said, "Yes." He replied. "He stole my venison." "Why didn't you stop him?" said the white men. The Indian said, "I wasn't there." "Then how could you tell these things so correctly?" "Why." he said. "I knew he was a small short man, because he had to stand upon a log to reach the venison, from the height it was hung from the ground : and I knew he had a short gun, because I could see where the breech stood on the ground, and how far up the tree the muzzle extended ; and I knew he had a stump-tailed dog, because the dog sat watching his master cut down the venison, and his short tail made a hole in the sand." ( Laughter.)
The Indian observed all these things. He knew the force Harrison had ; and while we have no means of ascertaining the exact number of the Indians, yet we know they knew the number of Harrison's army, and they never would have made the assault upon that army without having an equal or a greater number. Harrison did not really anticipate an Indian fight on the morning of the 7th of November. There were but very few of the men under his
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command who thought there would be a battle. In fact, the Kentuckians, who had come from their mountain homes as did the heather-hidden warriors of Clan Alpine to the whistle of their chief, cursed and swore because there would be no Indian fight. They hated the Indian and believed the best Indian was a dead Indian.
But Harrison took the precaution to have his men formed and lie down in line of battle. At four o'clock in the morning a drizzling rain had set in. Harrison had arisen and was pulling on his boots and was talking to one of his aides, when on the north, as you see yonder beyond those houses, the sound of a musket was heard. All stood up in line of battle, and those brave men touched one another's shoulders as they had agreed beforehand. in the event of an Indian attack, and said, "Don't flinch ! Don't flinch!" And they never did flinch, and never gave up until the victory was won upon this field upon that bloody morning of the 7th of November. At that point yonder ( to the north and west ) the first assault was made upon Harrison's line, and there the brave Owen fell; there the brave Baen fell; there Ilarrison had a lock cut from his hair by an Indian bullet. When the musket was fired the picket did so because he saw the grass and weeds moving. He challenged and fired his musket. The Indians sprang in the air and they rushed and followed the picket within the lines, and two of them were killed within twenty feet of Harrison's tent.
Braver men never lived. Truer men never drew the bow than those who fought upon this field upon that morning. The line was broken at that point. Reinforcements drove them back; and then the storm seemed to burst along the entire south and front. At the south end of this line was what were called the Yellow Jackets, and in the gloom and dark, their uniform of yellow looked not unlike the color of the brave and grand men who have come here today wearing the uniform of our country. There it was the brave Spencer fought. There it was that Warrick fought; and so fierce was the conflict at that point. at the southern point of the line, that Harrison rode there in haste. A stripling of a boy stepped up, and Harrison said to him, "Where is your captain?" "He is dead, sir." "Where is your lieutenant?" "He is dead." "Where is your second-lieutenant?" "He is dead." "Where is your ensign ?" "I am here." Harrison complimented him and told him to hold the line. They have said that the commander of that company was wounded in the head and he tied a handkerchief around it and fought on until he was shot through both limbs and he fell upon the line, and while the Indians rushed with tomahawk and scalping knives to break the line, the words of Spencer to his gallant band were: "Hold the line! Ilold the line, my men!" And they drove back and kept back the savage horde. Oh, I tell you the
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Roncesvalles Pass, when before the opposing lance went down the harnessed chivalry of Spain, looked not on a braver or a better band than fought at that point. They held the line, and the daylight came. The Indians had drifted to the south end, and from the tree tops and from the banks they enfiladed the line. I talked with an old pioneer, homespun soldier who fought upon that front. He said, "The bark was flying from the trees. I could see the Indians running from point to point with tomahawk and scalping knife, and with bow and arrow, while the air whizzed with flying bullets, because the Indians had the best powder and the best arms as well as the bow and arrow." The bow and arrow was intended to shoot the pickets with, and then they intended to rush forward with scalping knife and tomahawk upon the sleeping army. They fought on until the daylight came, and at the southern point the Indian took his last stand. Harrison had been with Mad Anthony Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers, and he knew the Indian could stand in line or behind a tree as long as he could shoot, but that he could not stand the cold bayonet. Wayne had said to his men at the Fallen Timbers, when the foe was still in the chaparral for two miles: "Withdraw your charges from your guns. Fix your bayonets, and charge through the lines and drive them out." Harrison was there, and remembered what Mad Anthony Wayne had said. When the morning had come they had held the line against the savage foe from four o'clock until seven o'clock. Thirty-seven brave men had fallen asleep upon this field. Their bones are here today. Then it was that a gray- haired captain, whose name I cannot now recall, commanded his company to form in platoons, with fixed bayonets, and charged the foe. Said this old pioneer to me, "That was the sweetest talk I ever heard in my life. We knew then that the command would come, and I hugged my tree as closely as I could, and the command was given, 'Forward,' and that gallant band moved along that front line, and the Indians would fire a volley knocking out a man here and there in front, and the command would come, 'Close up in the rear!' Above it all as we moved on I could hear the voice of the captain, 'Close up, men! Steady! Steady! Close up! Steady! Steady!' The men wanted to seek the refuge and protection of the trees. The rattling of the deer hoofs and the shrieks of the Indians were like the shrieks of starved eagles. We went on and moved on in a steady line and when we reached the front, the Indians broke from the trees and from the bank and rocks and fled across the swamp, and a shout went up from the victors upon this field."
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