Counterpoint: Tecumseh vs. William Henry Harrison

by James A. Huston

Counterpoint is a saga of theconflict of cultures between White settlers and Indian inhabitants of the Old Northwest as personified in the rivalry between Tecumseh andWilliam Henry Harrison.¿ Alternating fromone to the other, it traces the early training and education of each,Tecumseh's disappointing romances, including his deep friendship with the WhiteRebekah Galloway, and Harrison'searly disappointments in love until his enduring romance with Anna Symmes.It goes on to relate their riseto positions of leadership among their respective people - Tecumseh, as thegreat war chief, with his brother, The Prophet, who became the spiritualleader; Harrison, as Governor of the Indiana Territory for twelve years andthen as commander in chief of the Northwestern Army during the War of 1812.They first met in the Battle ofFallen Timbers, when Anthony Wayne's Legion defeated a combination of Indiansunder Blue Jacket.¿ Later came theconfrontations at Vincennes; Harrison's move against Prophet's Town and theBattle of Tippescanow while Tecumseh was away; theirencounter at Fort Meigs in northwestern Ohio, and atlast the showdown at the Battle of the Thames in Canada.Many people consider WilliamHenry Harrison the ablest of all the territorial governors.¿ Many consider Tecumseh the greatest Indian ofthem all.¿ On the one side there wasdaring and bold enterprise and struggle to reach out to a bright, promisingfuture.¿ On the other there was daringand bold enterprise and struggle to hold to a present against the despairingprospect of no future at all.

616 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

James A. Huston was Professor of History at Purdue University. He received the B.A. and M.A. degrees from Indiana University and the Ph.D. from New York University.

Huston served in the U.S. Army as a rifle-battalion operations officer with the 134th Infantry, which fought in France in 1944-45 as a part of Patton's Third Army. Later, he served with the Office of the Chief of Military History and the Office of the Chief of Army Field Forces, U.S. Army, and has held the Ernest J. King Chair of Maritime History at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I.

Huston is also the author of 'Combat History of the 134th Infantry', 'Biography of a Battalion,' and some fifty articles on military and foreign affairs. Presently, he is a professor emeritus of history at Lynchburg College, Virginia

Reviews

[BJ Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book - it followed the lives and careers of William Henry Harrison and Tecumseh; their actions pretty much defined the Red Man/White Man conflict in the Northwest Territories. As Territorial Governor, Harrison had virtually dictatorial powers in making agreements/treaties with Indian tribes - no wonder they called him White Devil Harrison. Tecumseh's dream was to establish a confederation of tribes so they would have the strength/power to prevail against the Long Knives. This dream was shattered at Tippecanoe, and when he took his forces north to Canada to join up with the British, he was disillusioned by the way the British failed to carry out their promises; he was killed at the Battle of Thames, which Harrison successfully co-ordinated & won.

The style of the book really appealed to me - the author covered concurrent stages/events in the lives of these two men, from childhood to death, and since their actions often affected each other, the melding of events which culminated in their meeting in battle was almost seamless.

This would have been a 5* rating, but the author got carried away a couple of times in describing the interior of houses in minute detail, which interrupted the flow of the story for me.

[Mary Alderete · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. It was written in 1987. The book had so many racist images. The Shawnee and Creek peoples were referred to as Red Men. There was overindulgent use of the S-word (an offensive word used to described indigenous women). I stopped reading after 4 chapters.

And the book was boring.