s of apprehension, much cunning and a
captivating eloquence of speech. These qualities fitted him for playing
his part with great success; and sustaining for a series of years, the
character of one inspired by the Great Spirit. He was, however, rash,
presumptuous and deficient in judgment. And no sooner was he left
without the sagacious counsel and positive control of Tecumseh, than he
foolishly annihilated his own power, and suddenly crashed the grand
confederacy upon which he and his brother had expended years of labor,
and in the organization of which they had incurred much personal peril
and endured great privation.

Tecumseh returned from the south through Missouri, visited the tribes
on the Des Moins, and crossing the head waters of the Illinois, reached
the Wabash a few days after the disastrous battle of Tippecanoe. It is
believed that he made a strong impression upon all the tribes visited
by him in his extended mission; and that he had laid the foundation of
numerous accessions to his confederacy. He reached the banks of the
Tippecanoe, just in time to witness the dispersion of his followers,
the disgrace of his brother, and the final overthrow of the great
object of his ambition, a union of all the Indian tribes against the
United States: and all this, the result of a disregard to his positive
commands. His mortification was extreme; and it is related on good
authority, that when he first met the Prophet, he reproached him in
bitter terms for having departed from his instructions to preserve
peace with the United States at all hazards. The attempt of the Prophet
to palliate his own conduct, excited the haughty chieftain still more,
and seizing him by the hair and shaking him violently, he threatened to
take his life.

During the ensuing winter, there was peace on the frontiers. In the
month of January, 1812, Little Turtle, the celebrated Miami chief,
wrote to governor Harrison, that all the Prophet's followers had left
him, except two camps of his own tribe, and that Tecumseh had just
joined him with only eight men; from which he concluded there was no
present danger to be apprehended from them. Shortly afterwards,
Tecumseh sent a message to governor Harrison informing him of his
return from the south; and that he was now ready to make the promised
visit to the President. The governor replied, giving his permission for
Tecumseh to go to Washington, but not as the leader of any party of
Indians. The chieftai