is challenging, straightforward, and heroic speech failed to move
Procter. He stubbornly refused to make a stand at Amherstburg,
which, indeed, would have been fatal. Tecumseh, however, accused
him of cowardice, contrasting his conduct with that of the courageous
Barclay, and expressed his own fixed determination to remain and
meet the enemy.

CHAPTER X

TECUMSEH'S LAST FIGHT

Tecumseh felt that the great purpose of his life was
about to fail. He had been champion not only of the rights
of the Indians, but of their very existence as a nation.
Dear to his heart was the freedom of his people, and to
achieve this had been his sole ambition. All the powers
with which he had been endowed--his superb physical
strength, his keen intellect, his powerful oratory--had
been used to this one end. But now the cause for which
he had fought so heroically in the face of frequent
disaster seemed about to be overthrown by Procter's
weakness and irresolution. Tecumseh was born to command,
and his proud spirit, naturally intolerant of control,
chafed at following the dictates of a leader who had
deceived him. The Indians had lost faith in Procter.
There were daily desertions, and Tecumseh bitterly
meditated following the example of other chiefs. But his
courageous spirit revolted at the thought of retreat: to
fly before the enemy without striking a blow seemed to
him the action not of warriors but of cowards.

Procter pointed out that the fort, which had been dismantled
to equip the _Detroit_, was open to attack from the river;
that the hospital was filled with sick soldiers; and that
starvation stared the British in the face. But the argument
which weighed most with Tecumseh was that they would be
able to find along the river Thames a place much better
suited for battle. And at last the Indian leader reconciled
his mind to the thought of retreat.

The troops were soon busily engaged in loading the baggage.
Part was stowed in boats to be sent inland by way of the
Detroit river, Lake St Clair, and the Thames; the remainder
was placed in heavy wagons to be taken overland. The
women and children, among whom were the general's wife
and his sick daughter, were sent on ahead, the squaws
trudging along bearing their papooses on their backs.
The troops set fire to the shipyards, fortifications,
and public buildings on September 24, and marched out
leaving Amherstburg a mass of flames. Tecumseh seemed sad
and oppressed; and as he