Tippecanoe Battlefield Investigation

The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811 between American forces led by then Governor and future president, William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American 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 and Wabash Rivers.

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^th 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.

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. In council the night of November 6^th, Tenskwatawa seems to have agreed to a preemptive strike against the Americans, and to sending in a party under the cover of dark to murder Harrison in his tent. 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. A man named Ben was a wagon driver traveling with Harrison’s army, and he deserted to the Shawnees during the expedition. He agreed to lead a group of warriors through the line to Harrison’s tent during the late night hours, but he was captured by the camp sentries, taken back to camp and bound. He was later convicted of treason, but Harrison pardoned him.

Accounts are unclear about how the battle began, but Harrison’s sentries encountered advancing warriors in the pre-dawn hours of November 7^th. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Bartholomew was officer of the day, and he ordered the troops to sleep with their weapons loaded. Around 4:30am, 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 Indian 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. The militia’s small-caliber rifles had little effect on the warriors as they rushed the defenders.

On the northern end of the camp, Major Daviess led the dragoons on a counter-charge. Most of Daviess’ company retreated to Harrison’s main line, but Daviess was killed. The grove was cleared by the 4^th regiment regulars. To the rear, the attack was the strongest. The Indiana Yellow Jackets were under heavy fire, unable to hold their line, their commander, Captain Spencer, dead. His death is documented in Harrison’s November 18, 1811 dispatch to Eustis:”   Spencer was wounded in the head. He exhorted his men to fight valiantly. He was shot through both thighs and fell; still continuing to encourage them, he was raised up, and received a ball through his body, which put an immediate end to his existence.” 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 that quickly dispersed into the woods. Harrison’s troops pursue. They discovered the bodies of 36 warriors in the woods, scalping them.

While Loon and Stone Eater were Tenskwatawa’s war chiefs. The Prophet situated himself on a small hill overlooking the battle. (Later known as Prophet’s Rock) 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.

The battle lasted two hours and Harrison sustained 188 casualties; 37 died in action, 25 were mortally wounded. Another 126 sustained less serious wounds. The Yellow Jackets were a mounted militia company from Harrison County in the Indiana Territory. The company numbered sixty men and officers. They suffered the highest casualties of the battle, with all but on 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 70-80 were wounded. The warriors retreated to Prophetstown where, according to one chief’s account, they confronted Tenskwatawa, accusing him of deceit because of the many deaths, which his spells were supposed to prevent. He blamed his wife for desecrating his magic medicine and offered to cast a new spell; he insisted that the warriors launch a second attack, but they refused.

The following day, November 8^th, Harrison sent a small group of men to inspect the Shawnee town and found it deserted except for one elderly woman too sick to flee. The remainder of the defeated villagers had evacuated during the night. Harrison ordered the village burned, including 5,000 bushels of corn and beans in the storehouse. Furthermore he had the village cemetery dug up, with corpses left strewn about. (This is a common practice as it is said that the spirits of those Indians dug up would forever haunt the location. The same thing happened during the Fort Dearborn Massacre on August 15, 1812. This time it would be the Indians that dug up and strewn the early settler’s corpses around so that the area would remain haunted forever.) After Harrison’s troops departed the area, the villagers returned, digging up many of the American corpses and scattering the bodies in retaliation.

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 Tecumsah’s confederacy and though comeback attempts were made, it never fully recovered. So popular was Harrison’s nickname that “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” became his campaign slogan and a popularized campaign song when he ran for president in 1840 with John Tyler as his running mate.

Address: 200 Battle Ground Ave., Battle Ground, Indiana 47920

Phone: 765-567-2147

Hauntings: American soldiers have been seen appearing and disappearing. Sounds of a battle taking place have also been reported from time to time. There are reports still cheering on his warriors from above the valley. In fact a marker on top of Prophet’s Rock reads, “Prophet’s Rock, where the Prophet sat and sang to encourage the Indians in the battle of November 2, 1811. Erected 1929 by General De Lafayette Chapter D.A.R.”

There is another marker, no longer here on the hill that used to read in part, “…Listen carefully. It is said that the Prophet still walks this hill singing to his warriors.” (I find this highly unusual for a State Park sign to perpetuate a ghost story because it clearly states that the ghost of Prophet is still around and can be heard encouraging his warriors to fight.)

Because so many died and then the dead were desecrated, I would find it unusual if there weren’t some reports of ghosts and paranormal activity encountered here.

The Ghost Research Society visited Tippecanoe Battlefield on May 15, 2021 and the team members included: Mike Rosario, Charles Williams and Dale Kaczmarek.