Battle of the Thames

 

engagement fought on the Thames River near Chatham, Ont. (Oct. 5, 1813), in the War of 1812. Gen. William H. Harrison led an American force of about 3,000 against a British army of approximately 400 regulars commanded by Gen. Henry A. Procter, reinforced by 1,000 Native Americans under Tecumseh. After the British were driven from Detroit, Harrison followed their retreating army into Ontario and up the Thames River until General Procter was forced to give battle. A cavalry charge broke the British ranks, and the Native Americans offered the only real resistance. Tecumseh was slain in battle, thus completely destroying the native confederacy he had raised against the United States. By the battle of the Thames, U.S. control in the Northwest was restored.

Battle of the Thames Part of the War of 1812 A speculative depiction of Tecumseh's death at the hands of Richard M. Johnson. Date October 5, 1813 Location Near Chatham, Ontario Result Decisive American victory Combatants British Empire Indian Confederation United States Commanders Henry Procter Tecumseh † William Henry Harrison Strength 800 regulars 500 natives1 2,380 militia 1,000 cavalry 120 regulars 260 natives1 Casualties 45 killed 35 wounded prisoners 442 surrendered 15 killed 30 wounded

Detroit frontier Tippecanoe – 1st Mackinac Island – Brownstown - Maguaga – Fort Dearborn – Detroit – Fort Harrison – Fort Wayne – Mississinewa – Frenchtown – Fort Meigs – Fort Stephenson – Lake Erie – Thames – Longwoods – Prairie du Chien – 2nd Mackinac Island – Lake Huron – Malcolm's Mills

The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive American victory in the War of 1812 which took place on October 5, 1813, near Chatham, Ontario, in Upper Canada. It was an American victory, resulting in the death of Tecumseh, and the destruction of the Aboriginal coalition that he led.

Background

In September 1813, the United States Navy under Oliver Hazard Perry scored a decisive victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. British General Henry Procter feared losing his supply lines and—against the advice of his ally Tecumseh—was retreating from Fort Malden. American General William Henry Harrison trailed Procter through Upper Canada. Tecumseh had pleaded with Procter to stop and face Harrison several times. Finally Procter was convinced to face Harrison at Moraviantown on the Thames River.

Forces

William Henry Harrison's force totaled at least 3,500 infantry and cavalry. Harrison had two regular infantry brigades under generals Duncan McArthur and Lewis Cass. Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson commanded the Kentucky cavalry; five brigades of Kentucky militia were led by Isaac Shelby, the sixty-three year-old governor of Kentucky and a hero of the American Revolutionary War. Many of the volunteers under Johnson were from the River Raisin area and enlisted with the slogan "Remember the Raisin".

Procter had about 800 soldiers along with about 500 American Indians led by Tecumseh. The British soldiers were becoming increasingly demoralized, and Tecumseh's warriors grew even more impatient with Procter for his unwillingness to stop and fight, giving Procter reason to fear a mutiny by the warriors. The British had endured a long, rapid march to try to escape Harrison's Army and had been reduced to half rations. As they advanced, Harrison's men began to encounter a steady stream of British stragglers, whom they captured.

Battle

On October 4, Tecumseh skirmished with the Americans near Chatham, Ontario, to slow the American advance. The warriors were quickly overwhelmed, and Procter's aide Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Warburton lost his supplies and ammunition to an American raiding party. On October 5, Procter formed the British regulars in line of battle at Moraviantown and planned to trap Harrison on the banks of the Thames, driving the Americans off the road with cannon fire. Tecumseh's warriors took up positions in a swamp on the British right to flank the Americans. General Harrison surveyed the battlefield and ordered James Johnson (brother of Richard Mentor Johnson) to make a frontal attack against the British regulars. Despite the Indians' flanking fire, Johnson broke through, the British cannon having failed to fire. Immediately Procter and the British turned and fled from the field, many of them surrendering. Tecumseh and his followers remained and kept up the fighting.

Richard Johnson was at the head of about 20 horsemen and charged into the Indian position to draw attention away from the main American force, but Tecumseh and his warriors answered with a volley of musket fire that stopped the cavalry charge. Fifteen of Johnson's were killed or wounded, and Johnson was himself hit five times. Johnson's main force became bogged down in the mud of the swamp. Tecumseh was killed in this fighting. Colonel Johnson may have been the one who shot Tecumseh, though the evidence is unclear. William Whitley, a Revolutionary War veteran, is another man credited with the killing of Tecumseh. Whitley, of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, volunteered for the raid on Tecumseh's camp. He requested that General Harrison have his scalp removed when his body was found and sent to his wife. The main force finally made its way through the swamp, and James Johnson's troops were freed from their attack on the British. With the American reinforcements converging and news of the death of Tecumseh spreading quickly, Indian resistance quickly dissolved. Mounted troops then moved on and burned Moraviantown, a peaceful settlement of Christian Munsee Indians, who had no involvement in the conflict.

The British had 12 killed, 35 wounded taken prisoner and 442 others who surrendered. The Indians lost 33 warriors killed. The exhausted, dispirited and half-starved British troops fired only one ragged fusillade, which wounded just 3 Americans, before giving way. The rest of the American casualties were inflicted by the Indians, who, although demoralized, fought with far greater determination.

Results

The Battle of the Thames was a decisive victory for the Americans that led to the re-establishment of American control over the Northwest frontier for the remainder of the war. However, Harrison failed to exploit this success and withdrew to Detroit after burning Moraviantown. The front remained quiet for the rest of the war.

Harrison's popularity grew, and he was eventually elected President of the United States. Richard Mentor Johnson eventually became Vice President based partly on the belief that he had killed Tecumseh.

Procter was later court-martialed for cowardice and removed from command. Historians have been somewhat kinder to Procter, noting that with the Americans in control of Lake Erie, the Detroit frontier was no longer tenable with the limited men and supplies available to Procter. The death of Tecumseh was a crushing blow to the Indian alliance he had created, and it effectively dissolved following the battle.

Notes

1. ^  Strength numbers and composition from John Sugden, Tecumseh: A Life (New York: Holt, 1997), pp. 368-72; casualty figures from John R. Elting Amateurs, To Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812 (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin, 1991;Da Capo reprint, 1995) p. 113.

References

• Carter-Edwards, Dennis. "The War of 1812 Along the Detroit Frontier: A Canadian Perspective," in The Michigan Historical Review, 13:2 (Fall 1987), pp. 25-50.
• Cleaves, Freeman. Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time. New York: Scribner, 1939. ISBN 0-945707-01-0 (1990 reissue).
• Edmunds, R. David. "Forgotten Allies: The Loyal Shawnees and the War of 1812" in David Curtis Skaggs and Larry L. Nelson, eds., The Sixty Years' War for the Great Lakes, 1754-1814, pp. 337-51. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-87013-569-4.
• Elting, John R. Amateurs, To Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin, 1991. ISBN 0-945575-08-4 (hardcover); ISBN 0-306-80653-3 (1995 Da Capo Press paperback).
• Sugden, John. Tecumseh's Last Stand. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8061-1944-6.
• ———. Tecumseh: A Life. New York: Holt, 1997. ISBN 0-8050-4138-9 (hardcover); ISBN 0-8050-6121-5 (1999 paperback).

External links

• Overview of the battle from Galafilm
• Another short overview

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