Retreat up the Thames
The Americans continued their shipbuilding efforts at Presque Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania) unabated. Proctor wanted to use a naval attack to destroy the fruits of their labors but he was just not ready. All summer long they waited for supplies and ammunition to arrive. The supplies included sails and guns for the brig Detroit which was still under construction. There were few trained seamen at Amherstburg to sail the other three war ships anchored there. On June 3rd 1813 Captain Robert Heriot Barclay arrived at Amherstburg with nineteen sailors and the schooners Lady Prevost and Chippewa. These two brought the British fleet to six ships. Barclay had arrived from England that spring fresh from naval action in the Napoleonic wars. He had lost an arm at Trafalgar.
In charge of the American Lake Erie fleet was Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry. He was in charge of the shipbuilding at Presque Isle when Barclay arrived at Amherstburg. He also had to oversee the transfer of five ships built at Black Rock which, with the ships built and under construction at Presque Isle would consolidate his Erie fleet there. During the third week of June while Barclay was cruising the lake trying to catch the transfer Perry slipped the five vessels into the harbor at Presque Isle under the cover of fog. Barclay missed them. The American fleet was now consolidated and the construction phase was nearing completion. But the British fleet was still not ready so Barclay advised Proctor to attack the U.S. shipyards by land. Proctor had 500 regulars and Tecumseh with 1,000 warriors at Amherstburg but he vacillated saying that he needed to wait for reinforcements to bolster his regiment the 41st Foot.
By August 10th Perry was out on the lake with his fleet of nine war ships. They included the brigs Lawrence 20 guns, Niagara 20, Caledonia 3, schooner Ariel 4, schooner Scorpion 2, sloop Trippe 1 and schooners Tigress, Porcupine and Ohio 1 each. His plan was to attack Barclay’s fleet at Amherstburg before the Detroit could be completed but he became gravely ill along with 270 of his sailors with lake fever and had to postpone.
The British were now in a desperate situation. Supplies were held up at Long Point because Perry now controlled the lake. DeRottenburg had to impress wagons from the general populace and haul them to the Thames where they could be barged down river to Proctor. On September 5th some supplies along with thirty-six more sailors arrived at Amherstburg. Still not enough but Prevost and DeRottenburg both pressed Proctor to take action. Proctor gave in and stripped Fort Malden of its guns to outfit Detroit.
On September 14th Barclay sailed out of the Detroit River and into Lake Erie woefully out maned and out gunned. His fleet consisted of H.M.S. Detroit 21 guns, H.M.S. Queen Charlotte 18, schooners Lady Prevost 14 and Chippewa 1, the brig Hunter 10 and the sloop Little Belt 3. He could only supply each ship with ten experienced sailors. The balance of the compliment of 440 men was made up of infantrymen supplied by the 41st.
They engaged Perry off the Bass Islands. For two hours the roar of the ship’s big guns could be heard back at Amherstburg but could not be seen. Then silence. It would be two days before Proctor got word of Barclay’s total defeat. In the meantime Harrison was moving north toward Detroit with 2,500 regulars, 3,000 Kentucky Militia and 150 Pennsylvania Militia. Proctor’s situation had gone from being desperate to hopeless. He planned to evacuate the fort and retreat up the Thames but kept his decision to himself for three days.
Tecumseh wanted to cross back into Michigan and ambush Harrison at the Huron River. But some men were seen dismantling Fort Malden and Tecumseh and the other chiefs demanded a conference with Proctor. Ojibwa war chiefs Naiwash and Nahdee were with him but his closest ally and staunchest supporter Roundhead was not. He had died unexpectedly of natural causes early that summer. Finally, after several days they met in council. Tecumseh spoke for the chiefs:
Listen! When war was declared, our Father [Proctor] stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and told us he was now ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance; and that he certainly would get us our lands back which the Americans had taken from us. Listen! You told us at that time to bring forward our families to this place. We did so, and you promised to take care of them, and that they should want for nothing while the men would go and fight the enemy . . . When we last went to the rapids [Fort Meigs] it is true we gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like groundhogs. Father, listen! We know that our fleet has gone out. We know they have fought. We had heard the great guns, but know nothing of what has happened to Our Father with One Arm . . . We are astonished to see our Father tying up everything and preparing to run . . . without letting his red children know what his intentions are . . . and we are sorry to see our Father doing so without seeing the enemy . . . Listen Father! The Americans have not yet defeated us by land; neither are we sure they have done so by water. We, therefore, wish to remain here and fight our enemy should they make their appearance. Father! You have got the arms and ammunition, which our Great Father [the King] sent for his red children. If you have an idea of going away, give them to us, and you may go . . . Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it is his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them.
Proctor was embarrassed by Tecumseh’s speech so promised his answer in two days. Again they met in council but this time Proctor was more forthcoming. With a map of the Detroit area laid out on a table he explained that both his supply lines were now cut off. Fort Malden was now defenseless having lost her guns along with the brig Detroit. Not only did Perry control Lake Erie but he could sail right past the fort into Lake St. Clair to stop supplies arriving via the Thames. Proctor saw no other option but to retreat up the Thames and make a stand near Chatham. Tecumseh reluctantly agreed but Main Poc left with his Potawatomi warriors crossing back into Michigan determined to harass Harrison’s advance.
Harrison crossed into Canada occupying Amherstburg unopposed seventeen days after the battle of Lake Erie. Proctor and Tecumseh left Sandwich about the same time heading for the Thames. Twelve miles upriver they passed the great burial mound left over from the Iroquois War more than a century earlier. They passed Chatham deciding instead to make a stand at the Delaware village of Moraviantown. Harrison left Brigadier General Duncan McArthur with 700 men to defend Detroit and pursued Proctor and Tecumseh up the Thames. On October 3rd Tecumseh decided to test the Americans. He had 1,500 warriors and he prepared an ambush after destroying the two bridges over McGregor’s Creek. One they burnt but the other was too wet so they tore up the planks. Harrison had over 3,000 men and the skirmish lasted for over two hours. Tecumseh’s lines finally broke and he retreated back to Moraviantown. Seeing the strength of the Harrison’s forces many of his warriors drifted away and he was left with only 500.
On the morning of October 5th Proctor formed a line three and one half miles west of the village of Moraviantown. It ran north from the river for 500 yards to a large swamp. That line was held by 540 men of the 41st Foot Regiment and 290 men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. The warriors took up positions in the swamp and they waited.
Harrison arrived at 8:00 o’clock in the morning with 1,000 Mounted Kentucky Riflemen, 2,300 Kentucky Volunteers and 140 regulars. The mounted riflemen were unusually well-trained by Colonel Richard M. Johnson. Each carried a tomahawk, a scalping knife and a long rifle and Johnson had drilled them over again in a highly unusual maneuver Instead of charging a defensive line then dismounting and continuing the fight on foot they rode right through the line then dismounted attacking from the rear. This took the British by surprise and they surrendered almost immediately. When Proctor saw this he fled in his carriage.
Tecumseh fought on. Johnson’s tactic could not be employed because of the swamp. So they dismounted and advanced on foot. The warriors would wait until the Kentuckians were almost upon them then shower them with a hail of bullets. The Kentuckians kept coming screeching cries of “Remember the Raisin”. Then the great leader fell and the warriors broke away. The British suffered twelve killed, twenty-two wounded and 600 captured. The Americans lost seven killed and twenty-two wounded. The warriors’ casualties are unknown except for the incalculable loss of their august Shawnee leader Tecumseh.
NEXT WEEK: The Beginning of the End
