Battle of Tippecanoe

Battle of Tippecanoe
Part of American Indian Wars and Tecumseh's War
19th-century depiction by Kurz and Allison, American troops under the leadership of General William Henry Harrison fighting the Indian forces of The Prophet, Tenskwatawa (the brother of Tecumseh) in a forest.
Date November 7, 1811 Location Near Battle Ground, Tippecanoe County, Indiana 40°30′25″N 86°50′38″W / 40.50694°N 86.84389°W / 40.50694; -86.84389 Result United States victory
Belligerents
Tecumseh's Confederacy	United States
Commanders and leaders
Tenskwatawa	William Henry Harrison
Strength
500–700 warriors	250 infantry, 90 cavalry, 700 militia
Casualties and losses
Unknown 36 known dead (Estimated 50–65 killed and 70–80 wounded)+ 1 POW	62 killed, 126 wounded
class=notpageimage| Location within Indiana Show map of Indiana Battle of Tippecanoe (the United States) Show map of the United States

The Battle of Tippecanoe (/ˌtɪpəkəˈnuː/ TIP-ə-kə-NOO) was fought on November 7, 1811, in Battle Ground, Indiana, between American forces led by then Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and tribal 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 River and the Wabash River.

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 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.

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 Tecumseh's confederacy and, though comeback attempts were made, it never fully recovered.^[1][2] So popular was Harrison's nickname that the Whigs turned "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" into the slogan and a popular song for Harrison and his running mate John Tyler's 1840 presidential campaign.