xii                   Introduction

The English took no open or active part in this battle,
but their arms and ammunition and rations were in it,
and after it was lost the Indians went to the English and
became their open allies when the War of i8I2 really
began. Whether the English were allies of the Indians
or the Indians allies of the English, they fought and bled
and died and were conquered together after the initial
conflict at Tippecanoe, in i8ii, to the final battle at New
Orleans in I815, which crowned the American arms with
a glory never to fade.
   The Filson Club, whose broad field of work in history,
literature, science, and art is hardly indicated by the name
of the first historian of Kentucky, which it bears, has
deemed three of the battles which were fought during
the War of i812 as the most important of the many that
were waged. These three were, first, the battle of Tippe-
canoe, regarded as the opening scene of the bloody drama;
second, the battle of the Thames, by which the power
of the British was crushed in the west and northwest,
and third, the battle of New Orleans, which ended the
war in a glorious victory for the Americans. The Club
determined to have the history of these three battles
written and filed among its archives, and to have the
matter published for the benefit of the public. Hence,
the task was undertaken by three different members of
the Club.