HISTORY

October 6, 1813
Battle of the Thames

Since Agincourt the English have had a good history of stopping a retreat, turning and facing their enemy over swampy or wet terrain where a large group of attackers are forced into a narrow defile. The site selected for this by Proctor should have been perfect for another British victory of this type, but it didn't turn out that way.

All in all, the Battle of the Thames was unique in two ways. First it was the only large battle of the War of 1812 characterized almost exclusively by a cavalry charge and second . . . it was all over in about 20 minutes.

The Americans started by crossing the Thames River in direct pursuit of Proctor. The Kentuckians, under Shelby, led with each man taking one of the infantry behind him on his horse. At 2PM, the Americans discovered the smoldering embers of the recently-occupied camp of Proctor's rear-guard. It was evident that the force was nearly overtaken. Col. Johnson scouted forward to gain intelligence. Within about three miles of the Moraviantown he captured a British soldier and learned that Proctor had halted only three hundred yards farther on. Johnson found the enemy awaiting the arrival of the Americans in battle order. He obtained sufficient information respecting their position to enable General Harrison and a council of officers, held on horseback, to determine the proper order for attack. Harrison's force was now little more than 3,000 in number, consisting of 120 regulars of the 27th Regiment, five brigades of Kentucky volunteers under Governor Shelby, and Col. Johnson's regiment of mounted infantry.

The ground chosen by Proctor to make a stand was perfect for defending against a larger mounted force. The ground over which the battle would be fought, and indeed the whole space between the river and the great swamp, was swampy covered trees, with very little undergrowth. The British regulars (a part of the 41st Regiment) were formed in two lines, between the small swamp and the river, their artillery being planted in the road near the bank of the stream.

British Native American allies were posted between the two swamps, where the undergrowth was thicker extending some distance along and just within the borders of the larger marsh, and so disposed as to easily flank Harrison's left. Their left, commanded in person by Tecumseh, occupied the narrowest point between the two swamps.

In the disposition of his army for battle, General Harrison made arrangements for the horsemen to fall back, allow the infantry to make the attack, and then charge upon the British lines. For this purpose General Calmes's brigade, 500 strong, under Col. Trotter was placed in the front line and followed by Gen. John E. King's brigade and Gen. David Chile's brigade. These three brigades were under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry. Johnson's mounted regiment in two columns and a small company of regulars, under Col. Paul advanced under a wooded bank, to attempt to capture Proctor's artillery.

The American Attack

When preparation for attack completed, Maj. Wood reported that the British lines were drawn up in open order. Harrison then changed the mode of attack at the last moment. Instead of having Henry's regulars attack the British front, he ordered Johnson to charge their line with his mounted riflemen.

With a bugle signal the Americans moved. When at some distance from the front line of the British regulars, they opened fire. The horses of the mounted Kentuckians were frightened, recoiled, and produced some confusion at the head of the columns. Before order was restored, another volley came from the British. With a tremendous shout the American cavalry charged the British line, broke it, and scattered it in all directions. The second line, thirty paces in the rear, was broken and confused in the same way. The horsemen now wheeled right and left, and poured a destructive fire upon the rear of the broken columns. The British surrendered as fast as they could throw down their arms, and in less than five minutes after the first shot of the battle was fired, the whole British force, more than 800 strong, were mostly made prisoners. Only about 50 men and a single officer of the 41st Regiment, escaped. Proctor fled in his carriage, with his personal staff, a few dragoons, and some mounted Indians, hotly pursued by a part of Johnson's corps under Maj. Payne.

Col. Johnson and the second battalion of his troops moved against the British allies almost simultaneously with the attack on the British line. The Native Americans, under the immediate command of Tecumseh, reserved their fire until the Americans were within a few paces of them, when opened up taking down a large portion of the vanguard and wounding Col. Johnson severely.

Unable to negotiate the trees and the undergrowth in this part of the field, Johnson ordered them to dismount. For seven or eight minutes the battle raged furiously and there were many hand-to-hand fights between the Kentuckians and Native American forces, the cry "Remember the River Raisin!" was heard. Shelby then ordered Lt Col. John Donaldson's regiment to the support of Johnson, and directed Gen. King to press forward to the front with his brigade. The Native Americans had already recoiled from the shock of the Kentucky rifles, and only a part of Donaldson's regiment participated in the fight. The Native Americans fled pursued by Maj. Thompson and his men.

Aftermath

The Americans took six brass cannon, taken from Hull at Detroit. Harrison reported American losses were 15 killed and 30 wounded (this may be a low number but it's in the right ball park). The British lost about 18 killed, 26 wounded, and around 600 prisoners. Harrison estimated the number of small-arms taken from the enemy during the pursuit and the battle and those destroyed by them at more than 5,000, nearly all of which had been captured from the Americans at Detroit, Frenchtown, and the Maumee. The Native Americans left 33 of their dead on the field including Tecumseh. Tradition has it that he had just wounded Col. Johnson with a musket, and was ready to dispatch him with his tomahawk, when Johnson drew a pistol from his belt and shot Tecumseh through the head.

The story of Tecumseh's death was questioned when Johnson was later a candidate for the Vice-President of the United States; the question caused much heated discussion. Johnson never affirmed or denied the story. He did claim he killed a warrior under the circumstances and in the manner described were the bodies of two warriors were found there after the battle, one of whom it was believed was Tecumseh. Johnson had been hit in the thigh and the hand even before this event, so it's unlike that he could have made an effective identification on the spot.

Harrison's successes and the annihilation of the British Western Army proved a great morale booster throughout the United States. All that Hull had lost had now been recovered, and then some. Harrison became the Hero of Tippecanoe and of the Thames. The Congress of the United States, in appreciation of his services, afterward voted him a gold medal (This was what Congress did before the Medal of Honor was created.) Proctor, on the other hand, was censured by his superiors. He was sentenced to be "publicly reprimanded, and suspended from rank and pay for six months." The Prince Regent severely reprimanded his superiors for their "mistaken leniency."

The few British regulars and militia who escaped after the battle fled in confusion toward Lake Ontario. They reassembled seven miles west of Hamilton and the head of the lake. The survivors amounted to 256. The battle broke up the Indian confederacy of the Northwest, effective ending Native America support of the British in Upper Canada.

The American troops occupied the battleground on the Thames, and on October 7, Gen. Harrison departed for Detroit, leaving Governor Shelby in command. The army commenced moving that day in the same direction, taking with them the property they had captured and the prisoners. On the 10th they arrived at Sandwich in the midst of a snow storm, during which much of the captured property was lost. Harrison and Perry had planned an immediate attack on Ft. Mackinac, and Capt. Elliott had volunteered to command the naval force, but the extreme cold forced them to abandon the enterprise.

Gen. Harrison appointed Gen. Cass military and civil governor of Michigan, and directed him to retain his brigade (about 970) to keep the natives in check, and hold possession of that portion of Canada just conquered west of Lake Ontario. Harrison arrived at Buffalo on October 24, with about 1,300 men, only 1,000 of them effectives. There he joined Gen. McClure in preparations on the Niagara Frontier.