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But the Prophet began to have trouble feeding his hordes at his "holy city" and when the Ottawas and Chippewas near Lake Michigan defected, Harrison thought that the Shawnee leader was slipping and he made plans for further land encroachment. In September 1809 he signed a Treaty of Fort Wayne with Miamis, Delawares and some Potawatomis, obtaining over 3,000,000 acres of land in Indiana and Illinois. The Shawnees were incensed and Tecumseh set out south to try to gather more of his scattered kinsmen for a final confrontation. He also visited the British at Malden and, as we noted on page 1139, the British, foreseeing possible war with the United States, began to court these Indians, sending them food, arms and ammunition. Finally in the fall of 1811, after several unsuccessful conferences, Harrison started north from Vincennes with an army to put an end to Prophetstown. The famous Battle of Tippecanoe began in the early morning of November 7, 1811.

"Harrison described the battle as a 'complete and decisive' American victory, and three decades later he would gain the presidency as 'Old Tippecanoe', a military hero who had soundly beaten the Indians on the Wabash. But a closer examination of the battle and its outcome indicates that Harrison's claims were exaggerated. Both white and Indian losses were much the same. The American force numbered close to 1,000 officers and men. They suffered 188 casualties, of which at least 62 were fatal. The number of Indians engaged in the contest is much more difficult to ascertain, but there were probably between 600 and 700 warriors. Reports of Indian casualties also vary widely, but probably at least fifty were killed and seventy were wounded.''

Quotation from Edmunds (Ref. 293 ), page 115)

The war of 1812

War was declared on the basis of the impressment of American seamen, repeated violations of American territorial rights and alleged blockading of the American coast. Although New England, where 3/4 of the American shipping was owned and which supplied most of the seamen, wanted no part of the war

When the president ordered the militia of the northern states to the frontiers, Connecticut and Massachusetts refused to obey. (Ref. 217 )
, the war-hawks thought the fight, if successful, would result in the conquering of Canada, end the Indian menace and throw more western land open. Many politicians, including William Henry Harrison, had already grabbed land in the amount of about 48,000,000 acres between 1795 and 1809. The belief of many that Britain was behind the Shawnee Confederacy just described above, helped force the declaration of war on June 18th. Greatly outnumbered, the one saving fact for the United States navy vessels was that the Royal Navy was so deeply engaged in war at the same time with France and could spare only 1 ship of the line, 7 frigates and a number of smaller ships to operate off the American coast. The British did blockade much of the east coast and there was action, as we have seen (pages 1139-40) on and around the Great Lakes. The war was unpopular everywhere, perhaps due to poor leadership from Madison. After Napoleon's abdication in April, 1814, Britain was able to provide Canada with an adequate army and things changed rapidly, with the British war office planning a three pronged invasion attack - at Niagara, Lake Champlain and New Orleans - as well as raiding at Chesapeake. A British raiding party did enter Washington, ate at the White House (which Madison had evacuated) and burned all public buildings of the capitol. Otherwise execution was poor, however, and the final New Orleans attack was thwarted by General Andrew Jackson, although unknown to those participants, the peace had already been signed in Ghent.

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Source:  OpenStax, A comprehensive outline of world history. OpenStax CNX. Nov 30, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col10595/1.3
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