Tecumseh's war aims -- he was still incredibly, I have to say, in 1812 looking at some possible way to regain the Ohio boundary as a boundary between the white settlements and the Indians.
And he sold that goal to the British.
Narrator: Arriving at the undermanned British outpost of Fort Malden in the waning days of June -- where most were convinced that Canada would fall before the approaching American army -- Tecumseh changed the military equation on the ground in less than three weeks, rallying wavering Indian allies to the cause and bolstering British resolve, and astonishing the British commander in charge, General Isaac Brock, with his extraordinary military skills and sheer force of personality.
John Sugden, biographer: Brock's remark is a classic one. He spoke to Tecumseh for a very short time, a mere few weeks.
But he wrote back to the British Prime Minister, and he says that, "I've talked to the Indian chiefs, and there are some extraordinary characters amongst them. But here's Tecumseh," he says, "a more gallant or sagacious warrior does not exist."
Narrator:
Tecumseh's brilliance on the field of battle in the summer of 1812 would cement his reputation
among the British high command as one of the greatest military leaders of all time. In little more than three weeks, the small but highly mobile force under his command completely unnerved the American army led by William Hull, forcing him to retreat back across the Detroit River to the American side and effectively bringing the invasion of Canada to an end.
On August 4th, at the Battle of Brownstown south of Detroit, with only 24 warriors at his command,
Tecumseh attacked and routed an American force six times as large -- killing 19, wounding 12, while himself losing only a single warrior.
Colin Calloway, historian:
Tecumseh's finest hour is probably Detroit in 1812, when Tecumseh teams up with Isaac Brock, who finally seems to be the person who is going to deliver on the promises that the British have been making so long. Tecumseh and Brock together mastermind the capture of Detroit.
Narrator:
On August 16th, at the Battle of Detroit, Tecumseh convinced the American defenders inside the
fort that they were facing an army many times greater than their own, parading his small host of warriors again and again through a clearing in the forest. Before the British and Indian attack had even begun, a white flag appeared above the ramparts of the fort, and the American army marched out and surrendered their weapons. It was one of the most humiliating defeats ever suffered by an American army.
David Edmunds, historian:
Fort Detroit falls, Fort Michillimackinaw falls.
Tecumseh and Brock, who were very close, are able to take Fort Detroit.
They're able to, generally, gain the upper hand here on the Detroit frontier.
Colin Calloway, historian:
And it seems as if the vision of an independent Indian confederacy -- an independent Indian state, if you like, supported by British allies, but independent of the United States -- is on the brink of becoming a reality.
David Edmunds, historian:
And then, unfortunately for Tecumseh -- and unfortunately for tribal people --
General Isaac Brock is killed fighting the Americans over by Niagara. And the new British commander is named Proctor. And he's much less aggressive, and much more interested in just defending Canada, and in not really helping tribal people retake part of Ohio from the Americans. Tecumseh has to continually goad Proctor to march against the Americans.
They invade Ohio twice, attempting to take Fort Meigs, which was an American fort near modern Toledo, and are unsuccessful.
Narrator: In the fall of 1813, the British fleet was defeated not far from Detroit at the Battle of Lake Erie, ceding control of the Great Lakes to the Americans.
By then, Lalawethika and a ragged band of followers had appeared in his brother's camp along the Detroit River in Ontario -- driven from Indiana by their old nemesis, William Henry Harrison -- who even now was moving north at the head of a vastly reinforced American army.
David Edmunds, historian:
The Americans invade Canada. And particularly after Perry's victory on Lake Erie, the British want to abandon the Detroit frontier and flee to what is now Toronto. And Tecumseh makes them stand and fight.
Colin Calloway, historian:
The British-Indian army turns to make a stand at Moraviantown, on the Thames River in Ontario, in 1813. The outcome of the battle seems really to have been a foregone conclusion. By the time the British general Proctor actually stops to turn to fight, he has lost the confidence not only of his Indian allies, but of his own men. When the fighting breaks out, the British resistance is minimal. What resistance is mounted is mounted by Tecumseh and the Indian warriors.
Narrator:
The final British betrayal would come on the cold, misty morning of October 5th, 1813, when, as
Harrison's vastly superior American forces began their attack, the British simply abandoned their Indian allies entirely and left them to fend for themselves on the field of battle.
David Edmunds, historian:
And in one of the more remarkable speeches given throughout American history, Tecumseh says to the British, "Look. You have somewhere to go.
But we are standing here, and we are fighting for our homeland.
And if you want to run, you run.
But leave us the guns and ammunition, because we will stand and fight."
Tecumseh (Michael Greyeyes):
Listen! Father! We are much astonished to see you tying up everything and preparing to run the other way. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands. It made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. But now we see you drawing back like a fat animal, running off with its tail between its legs.
Listen! Father! The Americans have not yet defeated us by land. We, therefore, wish to remain and face ourenemy should they make their appearance. If you have an idea of going away, leave us the guns and ammunition and you may go and welcome for it. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it is his will, we shall leave our bones upon them.
John Sugden, historian:
And then, finally, at the end, you often tell great leaders in the way they react in adversity. He knew that the British had given way before they engaged themselves. And, yet, there is no question of him retreating -- there is no question of him doing the "sensible" thing, which is to fight another day. He has committed himself to this act. He has said he's going to defend this land, and, if necessary, he's
going die for this land. And that's what he does.
David Edmunds, historian:
And you couldn't think, in some ways, of a more fitting way for Tecumseh to die. He dies in the final battle here for the control of the Great Lakes. And he dies surrounded by his comrades. He dies killed by the Americans. And in the aftermath, his body is mutilated so badly by Harrison's Kentucky militia that the Americans who know him can't really identify him.
Colin Calloway, historian:
And with Tecumseh dies, of course, the person who has held together the Indian
confederacy -- the person who has represented the best hope for Indian independence in North America. The death of Tecumseh puts, in a sense, finality on the American conquest of that area that what we know now as an American heartland, is going to be American. There will be no place in there for Indian people.
Stephen Warren, historian:
I think Tecumseh is, in a sense, saved by his death. He's saved for immortality through death on the battlefield.
John Sugden, biographer:
One of the great things in icons is to bow out at the right time, and one of the things Tecumseh does is he never lets you down.
He was there, articulating his position -- uncompromisingly pro-Native American position.
He never signs the treaties.
He never reneges on those basic as principles of the sacrosanct aboriginal holding of this territory.
He bows out at the peak of this great movement he is leading.
He's there, right at the end, whatever the odds are, fighting for it into the dying moments.
Colin Calloway, historian:
I think one of the things that is so important about Tecumseh is that he is person who by his vision and by his personality and the way he conducts himself gives us glimpses of humanity at its best.
That in the most difficult of situations -- in the most hopeless of situations, perhaps -- people can have the courage to stand up and fight for what they believe in.
Courage in The Face of Adversity : Tecumseh Personifies It
Kevin Williams, Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma:
Hope -- hope and freedom. That's what I thought he stood for. And his vision that he had, the way he looked into the future and tried to stop progress for the red people.
Sherman Tiger, Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma:
For some people, they may call him a troublemaker. And I think that's because, in the end, he lost.
Had he won, he'd have been, you know, a hero.
But I think, to a degree, he still has to be recognized as a hero, for what he attempted to do. If he had a little more help, maybe he would have got a little farther down the line. If the British would have backed him up, like they were supposed to have, maybe the United States is only half as big as it is today.
