Tecumseh and His Brother

Tecumseh was born in 1768 near Chillicothe, Ohio. His father Pucksinwah was a minor Shawnee war chief and his mother Methotaske was also Shawnee. Tecumseh came of age during the height of the French and Indian War and in 1774 his father was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant during Lord Dunmore’s War. This had a lasting effect on Tecumseh and he promised to become a fierce warrior like his father. As a teenager, he joined the American Indian Confederacy under the leadership of Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant. Brant encouraged tribes to share ownership of their territory and pool their resources and manpower to defend that territory against upcoming settlers. Tecumseh led a group of raiders in the efforts, attacking American boats trying to make their way down the Ohio River. These raids were tremendously successful, almost cutting off river access to the territory for a time.

In 1791 he further proved himself at the Battle of the Wabash as one of the warriors who defeated General Arthur St. Clair and his army. Tecumseh fought under Blue Jacket and Little Turtle and the American Indian Confederacy was victorious slaying 940 of the 1,000 American soldiers in St. Clair’s army. St. Clair was forced to resign. In 1794 Tecumseh also fought in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. This decisive conflict against General Anthony Wayne and his American forces ended in a brutal defeat for the American Indian Confederacy. A small contingent of about 240 stayed with Tecumseh after the battle, following him eventually to what would become Prophetstown and a new pan-Indian alliance. The prophet Tenskwatawa, Tecumseh’s younger brother, assisted Tecumseh in uniting the Indians together. He had a vision where the Shawnee Indians prime god told him to have the Indians gave up all white customs and products, including religious beliefs, agricultural practices, guns, iron cookware, alcohol, and many other various items. The Indians had turned their backs on their traditional ways, and thus offended their prime god, the master if life. If they resumed their native customs, their god would reward them, by driving the white people from the land. Many Shawnees took heart to this message and joined Tecumseh and his brother in returning to their previous Indian customs and traditions.

In 1811, William Harrison, governor of the Indian territory lead an army to Prophetstown, where an ever-increasing amount of Indians were congregating. Tecumseh began recruiting Indian allies and left orders with his brother not to attack the Americans. At this time, the Prophet received another vision from the Shawnees God, who told him to send his warriors against the Americans, contrary to Tecumseh’s demand. The Master of Life even told the prophet that American soldiers bullets would not harm the Indians. As a result, the battle of Tippecanoe started. Sadly, the prophet and his followers got escalated by the Americans, and even Prophetstown was ransacked beyond repair. This defeat tremendously weekend Tecumseh confederation, who had really faced dilemmas in persuading tribes to defeat Americans. During the war of 1812, Tecumseh and his remaining followers joined the British in defeating the Americans.Tecumseh hoped that if the Indians and the British get along that they will get their land back. Perhaps the most significant battle took place in 1813 in Canada. Tecumseh’s relationship with the British began to decline as he did not agree with their new commander, Henry Procter, over warring tactics. Procter did not support the war between his territory and America. He preferred withdrawing into the North over fighting. Contrastingly, Tecumseh was eager to launch a decisive battle against the Americans to end their military might. Meanwhile, the American forces were busy eating into the northern territory and Tecumseh was hard to put to stop this worrying trend. He made a deal with Proctor to combine their armies at Ontario to stop the American insurgents from taking over more of the Shawnees land. However, Procter did not honor the deal and left Tecumseh to fight alone despite numerous pleas for support.

In October of 1813, the American forces attacked regions near Moravian Town and achieved victory over the Native American and British forces. In this encounter, dubbed the Battle of Thames, Tecumseh was killed. As a result, most of the tribes that had been under his command surrendered to Harrison.

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