Autumn 1811.
The Indian leader Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, have assembled a large coalition of Indian tribes. Their goal is to drive the whites out of the Indiana and Illinois Territories, and, if possible, all of the Old Northwest.
Tecumseh has managed to bring about 3,000 Indians together in a new town near modern Lafayette, Indiana. Nearly a third of these are fighting men -- an enormous force by the standards of frontier warfare. But Tecumseh understands the strength of the whites, and knows that he needs more. He sets off on a long tour to the south, trying to win additional allies from the Cherokees, Chickasaws and Creeks. He leaves his brother, the Prophet, in charge, instructing him to play a waiting game and avoid open battle.
Unfortunately, Indiana Territory governor William Henry Harrison has no intention of waiting on the Indians. He assembles a force of about 750 men and marches on the Prophet's town, demanding that the Indians disband and return to their home grounds. (1)
The Prophet dithers, then finally decides on battle. After all, he has nearly a thousand warriors, many of them veterans and most of them ready to be whipped into a fanatical frenzy by his oratory.
The Indians launched a night attack at about 4 am on November 6, 1811. The attack started with one hundred carefully selected infiltrators, who were supposed to creep forward, killing the white soldiers as they slept and spreading chaos throughout the enemy camp. Several of these infiltrators -- it's not clear how many -- were particularly tasked with killing Governor-General Harrison, the enemy commander.
It almost worked. But at the last minute a white sentry spotted an Indian and fired an alarm. The infiltrators rushed forward, but without the advantage of surprise were able to do only limited damage. The assassins got within arm's reach of Harrison, but mistakenly killed one of his aides instead.
The battle turned into a pitched combat that lasted several hours until dawn. Tactically it was a draw; casualties were about equal, and the whites were so rattled that they didn't advance for several days.
Strategically, though, it was a major disaster for the Indians. The various tribes lost all faith in the Prophet. They scattered back to their homelands, abandoning Prophet's Town. When Harrison's force finally entered the town, they found large supplies of corn and other foodstuffs. They seized what they could carry and burned the rest, thus ensuring that the Indians could not regroup there.
Four years of Tecumseh's laborious work had been undone in a night. Although he carried on, and did signal work in cooperation with the British in the War of 1812, the best chance for organized Indian resistance in the Old Northwest had been lost.
So. Have that sentry look this way instead of that. The infiltrators gain another minute or two. They reach Harrison's tent and kill him in his sleep, as planned.
Leaderless and surprised, the American force falls into confusion. (2) The whites fight for a little while, then break in panic. Their little army is not destroyed, but it is routed; about 300 men, over a third of those present, are dead or captured, while the rest are routed. (3) In frontier terms, it's an enormous defeat.
Now what?
-- I don't think for a moment that the Indians can hang on to any part of the Old Northwest. But this could have interesting knock-on effects on the War of 1812. (To start with, there might not *be* a War of 1812 As We Know It. And if there is, it's likely to run a rather different course.) And later, of course, William Henry Harrison won't be available to run for President in 1840.
I have some thoughts on how this might play out, but does anyone else want to jump in first?
Doug M.
(1) The level of deception on both sides was pretty high. Both Harrison and the Prophet swore up and down that they wanted peace, only peace, while both were preparing vigorously for war. Harrison was just a bit faster off the mark.
(2) This might be a bit pat. Settler forces were relatively decentralized, and sometimes showed a great ability to make shift in bad circumstances. On the other hand, OTL Tippecanoe seems to have been a close-run thing, and having the commander murdered at the outset of battle is not usually good for morale.
(3) This is a worst-case outcome. Indian forces tended to disintegrate once a battle was won, so it's unlikely there'd be organized pursuit of the defeated Americans.
The Indian leader Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, have assembled a large coalition of Indian tribes. Their goal is to drive the whites out of the Indiana and Illinois Territories, and, if possible, all of the Old Northwest.
Tecumseh has managed to bring about 3,000 Indians together in a new town near modern Lafayette, Indiana. Nearly a third of these are fighting men -- an enormous force by the standards of frontier warfare. But Tecumseh understands the strength of the whites, and knows that he needs more. He sets off on a long tour to the south, trying to win additional allies from the Cherokees, Chickasaws and Creeks. He leaves his brother, the Prophet, in charge, instructing him to play a waiting game and avoid open battle.
Unfortunately, Indiana Territory governor William Henry Harrison has no intention of waiting on the Indians. He assembles a force of about 750 men and marches on the Prophet's town, demanding that the Indians disband and return to their home grounds. (1)
The Prophet dithers, then finally decides on battle. After all, he has nearly a thousand warriors, many of them veterans and most of them ready to be whipped into a fanatical frenzy by his oratory.
The Indians launched a night attack at about 4 am on November 6, 1811. The attack started with one hundred carefully selected infiltrators, who were supposed to creep forward, killing the white soldiers as they slept and spreading chaos throughout the enemy camp. Several of these infiltrators -- it's not clear how many -- were particularly tasked with killing Governor-General Harrison, the enemy commander.
It almost worked. But at the last minute a white sentry spotted an Indian and fired an alarm. The infiltrators rushed forward, but without the advantage of surprise were able to do only limited damage. The assassins got within arm's reach of Harrison, but mistakenly killed one of his aides instead.
The battle turned into a pitched combat that lasted several hours until dawn. Tactically it was a draw; casualties were about equal, and the whites were so rattled that they didn't advance for several days.
Strategically, though, it was a major disaster for the Indians. The various tribes lost all faith in the Prophet. They scattered back to their homelands, abandoning Prophet's Town. When Harrison's force finally entered the town, they found large supplies of corn and other foodstuffs. They seized what they could carry and burned the rest, thus ensuring that the Indians could not regroup there.
Four years of Tecumseh's laborious work had been undone in a night. Although he carried on, and did signal work in cooperation with the British in the War of 1812, the best chance for organized Indian resistance in the Old Northwest had been lost.
So. Have that sentry look this way instead of that. The infiltrators gain another minute or two. They reach Harrison's tent and kill him in his sleep, as planned.
Leaderless and surprised, the American force falls into confusion. (2) The whites fight for a little while, then break in panic. Their little army is not destroyed, but it is routed; about 300 men, over a third of those present, are dead or captured, while the rest are routed. (3) In frontier terms, it's an enormous defeat.
Now what?
-- I don't think for a moment that the Indians can hang on to any part of the Old Northwest. But this could have interesting knock-on effects on the War of 1812. (To start with, there might not *be* a War of 1812 As We Know It. And if there is, it's likely to run a rather different course.) And later, of course, William Henry Harrison won't be available to run for President in 1840.
I have some thoughts on how this might play out, but does anyone else want to jump in first?
Doug M.
(1) The level of deception on both sides was pretty high. Both Harrison and the Prophet swore up and down that they wanted peace, only peace, while both were preparing vigorously for war. Harrison was just a bit faster off the mark.
(2) This might be a bit pat. Settler forces were relatively decentralized, and sometimes showed a great ability to make shift in bad circumstances. On the other hand, OTL Tippecanoe seems to have been a close-run thing, and having the commander murdered at the outset of battle is not usually good for morale.
(3) This is a worst-case outcome. Indian forces tended to disintegrate once a battle was won, so it's unlikely there'd be organized pursuit of the defeated Americans.