about going away from Malden, Tecumseh was very mad, awful mad at him.

"We all walked back to Malden very slow, keeping up with the cart of the general. The road was very rough. Tecumseh rode ahead on a horse. Just as we were coming into the village and about where the road goes down to the steamboat dock we passed a big stone on the side of the road. Tecumseh, he pull up his horse. He saw me. 'Little boy, come here,' he say. 'Hol' my horse for me.' Then Tecumseh get off and stand on the big stone where he waits for Procter to come up in the cart. He lift his hand and halt the march.

"I am holding the horse by the bridle rein. Tecumseh holding his tomahawk pipe in his left hand took hold of the pistol in his belt with his right hand and looked at Procter very fierce. Then he points his finger at him and wave it up an' down. Tecumseh didn't speak good English when he got excited. The words did not come but he shouts before all the people: 'You cow!' (he meant coward). 'You say you 'fraid they come and kill your soldiers. It's not your soldiers you afraid for; it's yourself. You're an old woman. You're not fit to command men. You run away when danger come. You leave poor Indian to fight alone.'

"Then Tecumseh gave me a silver shilling for holding his horse and rode on to the fort. Tecumseh was not a big man; about five feet eight inches tall and kind o' slim. He was very light colored for an Indian. I thought he was not full blood. But he was a fine man; kind to everybody; loved little children, but he hated the Americans because they were taking Indian lands. Everybody in Malden liked Tecumseh. He talked pleasantly with everybody, but in a fight he was different, they said. We were all very sad when the news came one day that Tecumseh was killed in a battle up on the River Thames. He was a fine Indian.”

The Indians at Malden were bewildered as they watched the gathering of canoes and bateaux and some small schooners for the removal of military stores from the fort. When everything was on board that could be carried away, the boats went up the

river and most of the soldiers and Indians went away on foot. The boats were ordered to go up the Thames River, where they would be joined by the forces on foot, and the people of Malden saw them no more. The barracks and stores that could not be carried away were set on fire by Procter's orders so that nothing might be of use to the Americans when they came.

Down on the Ohio shore there was equal anxiety until the messenger from Perry brought the good news to Gen. Harrison. There were men enough under Harrison's command to oppose. any attempt to invade the Ohio country, but a defeat of the lake squadron meant a long delay and a period of watchful uncertainty for the scattered settlers. Gen. Harrison was eager to get across the lake and into Canada as soon as possible, for there was the danger that reinforcements might be sent to Procter. There was a large force of British about Lake Ontario and Niagara River.

Harrison wrote from Portage River to Gen. McArthur at Fort Meigs, September 15: "I am so desirous of getting to the opposite side of the lake as soon as possible that I am determined to take none of the artillery from Fort Meigs except five 18-pounder gun carriages and two 12-pounder carriages. I want all the fixed ammunition for cannon and muskets except a small supply to be left for the garrison—about 30 rounds of musket ammunition. Plenty of flints also must be sent. I want all the salted provision and as much flour and biscuits as you can bring with the means of transport you have.

"Three of the vessels will go up the Maumee as far as they can get and I will send you as many boats as I can spare. If there are not enough for all the troops and their baggage, the rest must move by land. Hurry on, my friend, as soon as possible. If you do not come immediately I must leave you. If necessary you must work all night at the loading. Come on, for God's sake, as soon as possible.

Harrison had sent a letter to Gov. Isaac Shelby of Kentucky, asking him to̟ join the expedition with 1,500 men. The Kentuckians rallied to the call with their usual fine enthusiasm, and nearly 3,000 offered their services under their governor, who

was then 62 years old. Among his troops were Maj. John Adair and John J. Crittendon, who was later United States Senator, and Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, the entire force numbering 3,500 men. They arrived at Port Clinton on the Portage River a few days after Perry's victory. Part of them were detailed to conduct 300 British prisoners captured by Perry to Chillicothe and Franklinton. The Ohio Indians, seeing this massing of military forces, decided to throw in their lot with the winning side, and about 250 Wyandottes, Shawnees and Senecas offered their services to Harrison.

A heavy gale swept the lake two days after the battle, but the weather became calm again and was delightful when the embarkation began for the invasion of Canada. The war flotilla started from Put-in-Bay, and on the 25th the army stopped and camped on Middle Sister Island with 5,000 men crowded upon a space of less than seven acres. Harrison sent Com. Perry with the Ariel to reconnoiter at Malden and he returned with the report of the apparent evacuation. Next morning, just before the embarkation for the rest of the journey a proclamation was posted to this effect:

Soldiers: the general entreats his brave troops to remember that they are sons of sires whose fame is immortal; that they are to fight for the rights of their insulted country while their opponents combat for the unjust pretensions of a master. Kentuckians! remember the River Raisin! But remember it only while victory is suspended. The revenge of a soldier can not be gratified upon a fallen enemy."

At nine o'clock on the morning of September 27 the flotilla of 16 vessels and nearly 100 boats moved toward Fort Malden, some of them under instruction to make their landing at Hartley's Point at the mouth of the river and others to land on Bois Blanc Island. The landing was made at both places in perfect order. Meanwhile Col. R. M. Johnson marched up the American shore toward Detroit keeping pace with the flotilla on the lake.

As the troops moved on foot to Amherstburg they were met by the women of the town in their best attire. The women had

heard terrible stories about the savagery of the American troops recruited in the West, and particularly evil was the reputation of the Kentuckians among them. They implored mercy and the protection that is due to women, and were immediately reassured by Gov. Shelby, who led the column into the village. The last troop of British soldiers had left only an hour before, so a troop of horsemen was sent to prevent them from destroying the bridge over the River Canard. The bridge had just been set on fire when they reached it, but a volley scattered the rear guard and the bridge was saved.

Ο

CHAPTER XXXVI

THE BATTLE OF THE THAMES

N September 29 the Americans on the Canadian side camped at Sandwich and the flotilla reached Detroit. Col.

Johnson's force arrived in Detroit on the following day. Before his arrival Gen. McArthur had crossed the river with 700 men and driven away the Indians who were still haunting the town. The British had already fled with Procter's army toward the Thames, after setting all the buildings of the fort on fire and doing as much damage as possible. They had filled the well of the fort, 70 feet deep, with all manner of rubbish and filth. When the People's State Bank was built at the southeast corner of Fort and Shelby streets, a few years ago, the excavators for the foundation came upon this well and cleaned it out, recovering bits of broken muskets, cannon balls and other rubbish.

At Detroit it was learned that several small vessels had passed up the lake with military stores, bound to the River Thames, so Com. Perry sent the Niagara, the Lady Prevost, the Scorpion and the Tigress under Capt. Elliott in pursuit, and he himself soon followed in the Ariel, accompanied by the Caledonia. The British boats, however, had escaped up the Thames River.

Harrison pushed on after Procter and was met by seven British deserters, who told him that Procter with 700 soldiers and 1,200 Indians was in camp on Dolsen's farm, 15 miles from the mouth of the Thames and about 56 miles from Detroit. Procter continued his flight until he came to the present site of Chatham, where McGregor's Creek offered a barrier against attack. He told Tecumseh he would make a stand there and either defeat Harrison or leave his bones on the field. The Americans pressed on, and as they came close to the British line the old Chief Walk-in-the-Water with 60 Wyandotte warriors deserted Procter and joined the Americans, saying they would hereafter fight