HARRISON 



2704 



HARRISON 



Indians attacked. The fighting continued for 

 two hours, until daylight, when the Indians 

 were driven from the field by a charge. This 

 victory made Harrison a national hero, and 

 was responsible, more than anything else, for 

 his election to the Presidency twenty-nine 

 years later (see TIPPECANOE, BATTLE OF). 



In the War of 1812. The battle of Tippe- 

 canoe was followed by a general uprising of 

 the Indians, and in the summer of 1812 the 

 United States found itself at war with the 

 British as well. War was declared in June, 

 and on August 25 Harrison was appointed 

 major-general of the Kentucky militia, al- 

 though he was not a citizen of that state, and 

 took command of a detachment intended to 

 relieve General Hull at Detroit. While on 

 the march he received notice of his appoint- 

 ment as brigadier-general of the regular army. 

 He had proceeded as. far as Fort Wayne when 

 word came that he was to have the chief com- 

 mand in the Northwest. The letter of the 

 Secretary of War instructed him to "exercise 

 your own discretion, and act in all cases ac- 

 cording to your own judgment." Such wide 

 powers had been given to no other American 

 commander since Washington. 



The new commander prepared to concentrate 

 his forces and march on Detroit, but various 

 difficulties postponed this advance until the 

 next year. Through a misunderstanding of 

 orders a part of his forces was -lost in the 

 bloody massacre on Raisin River (which see). 

 Harrison then established Fort Meigs, where 

 he was besieged in May, 1813, and again in 

 July, by a superior force under the British 

 Colonel Proctor. Meanwhile, Harrison had 

 been urging the construction of a fleet on 

 Lake Erie, and Perry's naval victory, resulting 

 from this foresight, opened the way to Canada 

 for the American army. It was to General 

 Harrison that Perry sent his laconic message, 

 "We have met the enemy and they are ours: 

 two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one 

 sloop" (see ERIE, LAKE, subhead Battle of Lake 

 Erie). 



Harrison's army was now transported across 

 Lake Erie in Perry's ships, and on September 

 27 landed on Canadian soil. In the Battle of 

 the Thames, October 2, the British were deci- 

 sively defeated, and Tecumseh, their brave 

 ally, was killed. Together with Perry's vic- 

 tory, this battle ended the war of the West. 

 In the next year, the Secretary of War as- 

 signed Harrison to a military district in which 

 ke could see no active service, and even issued 



orders to one of his subordinate officers with- 

 out consulting Harrison. This combination of 

 slights induced the latter to offer his resigna- 

 tion, which, in the temporary absence of Presi- 

 dent Madison, was promptly accepted. 



A Quarter Century of Varied Activity. 

 Though Harrison's military career was at an 

 end, he remained more or less in the public 

 eye. The ink on his resignation from the 

 army was scarcely dry before President Madi- 

 son appointed him to negotiate a treaty with 

 the Indians, and in the following year again 



ELECTION OF 1840 



States shown in black were Whig, electing Har- 

 rison and Tyler ; cross-shaded, Democratic, vot- 

 ing for Van Buren. 



employed him on a similar errand. From 1816 

 to 1819 he served in Congress as Representa- 

 tive from Ohio, and from 1819 to 1821 was a 

 member of the state senate. He was elected 

 United States Senator in 1825, but resigned 

 in 1828 to become first minister to Colombia. 

 As a diplomat he was not very successful, and 

 in 1829 he was recalled, being one of the first 

 victims of Jackson's to-the-victor-belong-the- 

 spoils policy (see CIVIL SERVICE IN THE UNITED 

 STATES). 



On his return from Colombia he lived in 

 semi-retirement at his home in North Bend, 

 Ohio. He delivered occasional speeches on 

 political topics and was frequently mentioned 

 as a possible candidate for public office. Foj 

 several years he was clerk of the cqu.nty 



