Битва при Типпекано: Война Текумсе и поражение пророчества.

1811 battle of Tecumseh's War

The Battle of Tippecanoe (,/t//ɪ//p//ə//k//ə/'/n//uː/ TIPə kəNOO') was fought on November 7, 1811, in Battle Ground, Indiana, between American forces led by then Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and tribal forces associated with Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (commonly known as "The Prophet"), leaders of a confederacy of various tribes who opposed European American settlement of the American frontier. As tensions and violence increased, Governor Harrison marched with an army of about 1,000 men to attack the confederacy's headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe River and the Wabash River. Tecumseh was not yet ready to oppose the United States by force and was away recruiting allies when Harrison's army arrived. Tenskwatawa was a spiritual leader but not a military man, and he was in charge. Harrison camped near Prophetstown on November 6 and arranged to meet with Tenskwatawa the following day. Early the next morning warriors from Prophetstown attacked Harrison's army. They took the army by surprise, but Harrison and his men stood their ground for more than two hours. After the battle, Harrison's men burned Prophetstown to the ground, destroying the food supplies stored for the winter. The soldiers then returned to their homes. Harrison accomplished his goal of destroying Prophetstown. The win proved decisive and garnered Harrison the nickname of "Tippecanoe". Meanwhile, the defeat dealt a fatal blow for Tecumseh's confederacy and, though comeback attempts were made, it never fully recovered. So popular was Harrison’s nickname that the Whigs turned "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" into the slogan and a popular song for Harrison and his running mate John Tyler's 1840 presidential campaign.

William Henry Harrison was appointed governor of the newly formed Indiana Territory in 1800, and he sought to secure title to the area for settlement. He negotiated land cession treaties with the Miami, Pottawatomie, Lenape, and other tribes in which 3 million acres (approximately 12,000 km2) were acquired by the United States at the Treaty of Fort Wayne, the second of such treaties after the earlier treaty of 1803. The leader of the Shawnee, Tecumseh, opposed the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne. The previous generation Mohawk leader Joseph Brant advocated a similar philosophy and called for unification of tribes. Tecumseh's younger brother Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet, was a spiritual leader among the northwestern tribes, advocating for a return to traditional ancestral ways. Though Tecumseh resisted the 1809 treaty, he was reluctant to confront the United States directly. He traveled through tribal lands, urging warriors to abandon their chiefs to join his effort, threatening to kill chiefs and warriors who adhered to the terms of the treaty, building a resistance at Prophetstown.

In 1810, Tecumseh and Governor Harrison met at Grouseland (Harrison's Vincennes home). Tecumseh demanded nullification of the treaty and the lands returned to the tribes. Harrison insisted each tribe had individual and separate arrangements with the United States, ridiculing the idea of common ownership of lands. Tecumseh stated his position clearly: he would serve the American loyally if the lands were returned; if not he would seek an alliance with the British. As early as 1810, British agents had sought to secure an alliance with Tecumseh, who was reluctant to ally with them because he recognized that they used the tribes to fight their wars on the frontier. In the following year, Harrison blamed the Shawnee for the murder of a handful of men on the frontier and for the theft of a boatload of salt, but more importantly sent a stream of letters to Washington requesting permission to move against them. He wrote, "In Indian warfare there is no security but in offensive measures." Tecumseh informed Harrison he was leaving to recruit among the Muscogee and Choctaws and asked to wait upon his return to commence settlement on the disputed lands. He said he wanted "no mischief" during his absence, a plea he made to Harrison and Tenskwatawa. At the time of the battle, he had around 500 warriors available, although estimates range from 350 to 1,000. The Kickapoo under Mengoatowa, Potawatomi under Waubonsie, and Winnebago under Waweapakoosa were organized into large units of 125, with smaller units of Shawnee, Wyandot and other nations organized under Roundhead. Harrison thought that Tecumseh's warriors were "the finest light infantry troops in the world," and later wrote to Charles Scott that the confederation was better armed than most of his own force. Harrison started raising troops. About 400 militia came from Indiana and 120 cavalry volunteers from Kentucky, led by Kentucky's U. S District Attorney Joseph Hamilton Daveiss. There were 300 Army regulars commanded by Col. John Parker Boyd, and additional native scouts. All told he had an about 1,000 troops. Harrison gathered the scattered militia companies at Fort Knox north of Vincennes. They reached Terre Haute, Indiana where they camped and built Fort Harrison. The month of October was spent constructing the fort, resupplying and training the troops. The Shawnee captured a group of Delaware chiefs traveling to Harrison, who had asked them to act as negotiators; after their release they arrived at the end of October with accounts of various aggressive actions. When a guard was shot outside the fort, Harrison considered it an aggressive action and reason for military retaliation against Prophetstown. He wrote to Eustis: "Nothing now remains but to chastise him [Tenskwatawa] and he shall certainly get it.

Harrison's forces approached Prophetstown on November 6. He was to meet the next day with Tenskwatawa but believed negotiation futile. They made camp on Burnett's Creek, (Battleground, Indiana); the troops bedded down fully dressed and armed, based on Harrison's Aide de camp Bartholomew's advice. Positioned in pickets according to battle lines, they kept blazing fires alight in the rain, which illuminated the camp. Harrison did not command fortifications erected. The perimeter was guarded by two companies of sentries. was posted on the southern end of the camp perimeter. The rest of the militia established an irregular rectangular formation along the edges of the bluff surrounding the camp. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bartholomew commanded all infantry units guarding the front line. The regulars and dragoons were kept in reserve behind the main line, commanded by Major Floyd, Major Daveiss,

Tenskwatawa told Michigan Governor Lewis Cass in 1816 that he did not order his warriors to attack Harrison, and he blamed the Ho Chunk (Winnebago) warriors in his camp for launching the attack. Not long after the battle a Kickapoo chief told British Indian agent Matthew Elliot, that the shooting of two Winnebago warriors by the sentries "aroused the indignation of the Indians and they determined to be revenged and accordingly commenced the attack." Tenskwatawa's followers were worried by the nearby army and feared an imminent attack. They had begun to fortify the town but had not completed their defenses. He assured the warriors that he would cast spells to prevent them from being harmed and to cause confusion among Harrison's army so that they would not resist. The warriors began to surround Harrison's army, looking for a way to enter the camp undetected. Accounts are unclear about how the battle began, but Harrison's sentinels encountered advancing warriors in the pre dawn hours of November 7. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bartholomew was officer of the day, and he had ordered the troops to sleep with their weapons loaded. Around 4:30 a. m., the soldiers awoke to scattered gunshots, and found that they were nearly encircled by Tenskwatawa's forces. Contact was first made on the left flank of the perimeter, then to the front of the camp, the right flank and the rear. Captain Robert Barton's regulars and Captain Frederick Geiger's Kentucky militia faced immediate fierce attacks and were unable to hold their line. Harrison replaced them with the Indiana militia, commanded by Lieutenant Peters – their commander Wentworth died in the first attack. Harrison found the front line under fire (facing Prophetstown), pressed by warriors with rifles situated in a grove of trees. The Americans held their position as the attacks continued, the regulars reinforcing that critical section of the line. White Loon and Stone Eater were Tenskwatawa's war chiefs. The Prophet situated himself on a small hill overlooking the battle. The element of surprise was lost at the start of the battle, forcing the warriors to attack in a disorganized and uncoordinated fashion, with numerous small assaults. They reorganized and rushed the Americans whenever Harrison's troops drove them off. Meanwhile, warriors with rifles crawled on their stomachs from the woods towards the line. On the northern end of the camp, Major Daveiss led the dragoons on a counter charge. Most of Daveiss' company subsequently retreated to Harrison's main line following the charge, but Daveiss was killed. Harrison moved two reserve companies under the command of Captain Robb to join Spencer's only living officer, ensign John Tipton, and they sealed the breach in the line. Throughout the next hour, Harrison's troops fought off several more charges. The warriors began to run low on ammunition; the rising sun revealed the dwindling size of Tenskwatawa's forces who quickly dispersed into the woods. Harrison's troops pursued. They discovered the bodies of 36 warriors in the woods, scalping them. The battle lasted about two hours and Harrison sustained 188 casualties: 37 died in action, 25 were mortally wounded. Another 126 sustained less serious wounds. The Yellow Jackets suffered the highest casualties of the battle, with all but one officer killed. The number of Native American casualties is still the subject of debate, but it was certainly lower than that of the American forces. Historians estimate that as many as 50 were killed and about 70 to 80 were wounded. After Harrison's troops departed the area, the villagers returned, digging up many of the American corpses and scattering the bodies in retaliation.

The day after the battle, the American wounded were loaded onto wagons and brought back to Vincennes. They arrived at Fort Harrison about six days later. They boarded boats for the return to Vincennes on the river, arriving on November 18, at which point the militia was released home. Harrison informed Eustis of a battle near the Tippecanoe River, giving extensive details. Eustis replied with a note demanding to know why Harrison had not taken adequate precautions in fortifying his camp. Harrison replied that he had considered the position strong enough without fortification. At first, newspapers carried little information about the battle, as they were focused on the highlights of the on going Napoleonic Wars in Europe. An Ohio newspaper printed a copy of dispatches from Kentucky and characterized the battle as a defeat for the United States. Shocked at the loss of Daveiss, well known and liked, Kentucky papers criticized Harrison and one ran a front page lament for Daveiss. When the story was picked up in the east it was critical of Harrison, the Long Island Star writing, "Governor Harrison's account with the Indians, in general, is not very satisfying." Harrison claimed that he had won a decisive victory, but some modern historians raise doubts. "In none of the [contemporaneous] reports from Indian agents, traders, and public officials on the aftermath of Tippecanoe can we find confirmation of the claim that Harrison had won a decisive victory", according to Alfred Cave. The defeat was a setback for Tecumseh's confederacy, although they rebuilt Prophetstown, and native violence increased on the frontier after the battle. Adam Jortner says that the battle was a disaster for both sides, except in strengthening Tenskwatawa's religious movement. They increased their attacks against American settlers and against isolated outposts in Indiana and the Illinois Territory, resulting in the deaths of many civilians. Tecumseh continued to play a major role in military operations on the frontier. By the time that the U. S. declared war on Great Britain in the War of 1812, Tecumseh's confederacy was ready to launch its own war against the United States – this time with the British in open alliance. The Shawnee partially rebuilt Prophetstown over the next year. Tecumseh continued to play a major role in military operations on the frontier.

The white participants in the battle received the Thanks of Congress. The resolution originally included William Henry Harrison by name, but his name was removed before passage. Harrison considered this to be an insult, thinking that Congress implied that he was the one person in the campaign not worthy of accolades, and he suggested that it held him up to obloquy and disrespect. After Tippecanoe, Boyd's vocal criticism caused controversy. He said without the presence of the regulars, the militia would have been routed, and he questioned Harrison's fitness as commander. Harrison was, however, awarded the Thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal in 1818 for victory at the Battle of the Thames. A number of counties in Indiana were named for American soldiers at the battle: Bartholomew, Daviess, Spencer, Tipton and Warrick. Harrison returned to the battlefield in 1835 to give speeches during his first presidential campaign, and he called for the creation of a memorial to preserve the battle site. John Tipton later purchased the land to preserve it and deeded it to the state on November 7, 1836 which was the twenty fifth anniversary of the battle. In 1908, the Indiana General Assembly commissioned an obelisk memorial at the battleground that was 85 feet (26 m) high. On October 9, 1960, the Tippecanoe Battlefield was named a national historic landmark. In 1961, some 10,000 people attended the 150th anniversary of the battle.