-Bay, from whence
they were conveyed to Amherstburgh, which they occupied on the 23rd of
December. Proctor retreated through woods and morasses, upon the
Thames, hotly pursued by Harrison. The brave Tecumseh, at the head of
the Indians, endeavored to cover his retreat. But on the 4th of
October, the enemy came so close upon the British rear as to succeed in
capturing all their stores and ammunition. Destitute of the means of
subsistence, worn down with fatigue, and low-spirited by misfortune,
Proctor came to the determination of staking all on the hazard of a
die. He resolved upon bringing the enemy to an engagement, and took up
a position near the Moravian village upon the Thames. Tecumseh and his
Indians assumed a position, well to the British right, in a thicket.
Prescott drew out his right in line on a swamp, and supported it by a
field piece, while his left stretched along, towards the Thames,
supported by another field piece. The ground was not well chosen.
Between Proctor and his enemy there was a dry or rather elevated piece
of ground, covered with lofty trees, without underbrush. On the
following day the enemy came up. Harrison drew up his army in two
lines, the cavalry in front, and ordered the Kentucky Riflemen,
commanded by Colonel Johnson, to charge the British, which they could
not so easily or effectually have done, had the British been either on
the summit of the wooded knoll or some distance behind the swamp. The
Kentuckians slowly advanced through the wood, receiving two vollies
from the British line, before they were out of it. It was then that
they dashed forward at full speed, broke the British ranks, and wheeled
about. Taken, as it were, suddenly, in the rear, Proctor's men became
confused. To resist or to retreat was equally impossible. They could
only retreat by forcing the American infantry, in front, and they could
only resist by facing the Kentucky Riflemen in the rear, who had
already ridden through them and had now raised their rifles to decimate
them. The British threw down their arms and the Indians, with the
exception of Tecumseh and a chosen few fled, yelling, through the
woods. Tecumseh fought desperately, even with the mounted rifles. He
sprang upon their leader, Colonel Johnson, wounded him and pulled him
to the earth. But, at this moment, Johnson's faithful dragoons spurred
to his rescue. Tecumseh was surrounded and pierced with bullets.
Raising his hands aloft, to the great Father of