904

BATTLE OF THE THAMES.

1813.

pursuit of Proctor, whom they overtook upon the 5th. He had posted his army with its left resting upon the river, while the right flank was defended by a marsh; the ground between the river and the marsh was divided lengthwise by a smaller swamp, so as to make two distinct fields in which the troops were to operate. The British were in two lines, occupying the field between the river and small swamp ; the Indians extended from the small to the large morass, the ground being suitable to their mode of warfare, and unfavorable for cavalry.

Harrison at first ordered the mounted Kentuckiaus to the left of the American army, that is, to the field furthest from the river, in order to act against the Indians, while with his infantry formed in three lines and strongly protected on the left flank to secure it against the savages, he proposed to meet the British troops themselves. Before the battle commenced, however, he learned two facts, which induced him to change his plans; one was the bad nature of the ground on his left for the operations of horse ; the other was the open order of the English regulars, which made them liable to a fatal attack by cavalry. Learning these things, Harrison, but whether upon his own suggestion or not, is unknown, ordered Colonel Johnston with his mounted men to charge, and try to break the regular troops, by passing through their ranks and forming in their rear. In arranging to do this, Johnson found the space between the river and small swamp too narrow for all his men to act in with effect; so, dividing them, he gave the right hand body opposite the regulars in charge to his brother James, while crossing the swamp wdth the remainder, he himself led the way against Tecumthe and his savage followers. The charge of James Johnson was perfectly successful; the Kentuckiaus received the fire of the British, broke through their ranks, and forming beyond them, produced such a panic by the novelty of the attack, that the whole body of troops yielded at once.

On the left the Indians fought more obstinately, and the horsemen were forced to dismount, but in ten minutes Tecumthe was dead,* and his followers, who had learned the fate of their allies, soon gave up the contest. In half an hour all was over, except the pursuit of Proctor, who had fled at the onset. The whole number in both armies was about five thousand, tbe whole number killed, less than forty, so entirely was the affair decided by panic.

*As to who killed Tecumthe, see Drake's life of that chief, p. 199 to 219.