Editing William Henry Harrison (section)

==Army general==

===Tecumseh and Tippecanoe===
{{main|Tecumseh's War|Battle of Tippecanoe}}
Indian resistance to American expansion came to a head, with the leadership of Shawnee brothers [[Tecumseh]] and [[Tenskwatawa]] ("The Prophet"), in a conflict that became known as [[Tecumseh's War]].{{sfn|Langguth|2007|pp=158–160}} Tenskwatawa convinced the tribes that they would be protected by the [[Great Spirit]] and that no harm could befall them if they rose up against the settlers. He encouraged resistance by telling the tribes to pay white traders only half of what they owed and to give up all the white man's ways, including their clothing, muskets, and especially whiskey.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|pp=158–160}} Harrison received word of the resistance through spies he had placed within the tribes, and asked Madison to fund military preparations. Madison dragged his feet, and Harrison attempted to negotiate, sending a letter to Tecumseh saying, "Our Blue Coats (U.S. Army soldiers) are more numerous than you can count, and our hunting shirts (volunteer militiamen) are like the leaves of the forests or the grains of sand on the Wabash."<ref name="Freehling"/>

[[File:Tecumseh02.jpg|thumb|upright|1915 depiction of [[Tecumseh]], believed to be copying an 1808 sketch]]

In August 1810, Tecumseh led 400 warriors down the [[Wabash River]] to meet with Harrison in Vincennes. They were dressed in war paint, and their sudden appearance at first frightened the soldiers at Vincennes.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=164}} The leaders of the group were escorted to [[Grouseland]], where they met Harrison. Tecumseh berated the condescending Harrison repeatedly, and insisted that the Fort Wayne Treaty was illegitimate, arguing that one tribe could not sell land without the approval of the other tribes. He asked Harrison to nullify it and warned that Americans should not attempt to settle the lands sold in the treaty.<ref name="Freehling"/> Tecumseh informed Harrison that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty if they carried out its terms and that his confederation of tribes was growing rapidly.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=165}} Harrison said that the individual tribes were the owners of the land and could sell it as they wished. He rejected Tecumseh's claim that all the Indians formed one nation and said that each tribe could have separate relations with the United States if they chose to do so. Harrison argued that the Great Spirit would have made all the tribes speak one language if they were to be one nation.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=165}}

Tecumseh launched an "impassioned rebuttal", in the words of one historian, but Harrison was unable to understand his language.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=165}} Tecumseh then began shouting at Harrison and called him a liar.<ref name="Freehling"/> A Shawnee friendly to Harrison cocked his pistol from the sidelines to alert Harrison that Tecumseh's speech was leading to trouble, and some witnesses reported that Tecumseh was encouraging the warriors to kill Harrison. Many of them began to pull their weapons, representing a substantial threat to Harrison and the town, which held a population of only 1,000. Harrison drew his sword, and Tecumseh's warriors backed down when the officers presented their firearms in his defense.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=165}} Chief [[Winamac]] was friendly to Harrison, and he countered Tecumseh's arguments, telling the warriors that they should return home in peace since they had come in peace. Before leaving, Tecumseh informed Harrison that he would seek an alliance with the British if the Fort Wayne Treaty was not nullified.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=166}} After the meeting, Tecumseh journeyed to meet with many of the tribes in the region, hoping to create a [[Tecumseh's Confederacy|confederation]] to battle the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Tecumseh|title=Tecumseh|publisher=Ohio History Central|access-date=November 21, 2021}}</ref>

Harrison was concerned that Tecumseh's actions would endanger the statehood of Indiana, as well as his political future, leaving it "the haunt of a few wretched savages".<ref name="Freehling"/> Tecumseh was traveling in 1811, leaving Tenskwatawa in charge of Indian forces. Harrison saw a window of opportunity in Tecumseh's absence, and advised Secretary of War [[William Eustis]] to present a show of force to the Indian confederation.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=167}} Despite being 13 years removed from military action, Harrison convinced Madison and Eustis to allow him to assume command.<ref name="Freehling"/> He led an army north with 950 men to intimidate the Shawnee into making peace, but the tribes launched a surprise attack early on November 7 in the [[Battle of Tippecanoe]].{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=168}} Harrison countered and defeated the tribal forces at [[Prophetstown State Park|Prophetstown]] next to the Wabash and [[Tippecanoe River]]s; the battle became famous and he was hailed as a national hero. Although his troops had suffered 62 dead and 126 wounded during the battle and the Shawnee just 150 casualties, the Shawnee prophet's vision of spiritual protection had been shattered. Tenskwatawa and his forces fled to Canada, and their campaign to unite the tribes of the region to reject assimilation failed.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|p=169}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Pirtle|first=Alfred|publisher=John P. Morton & Co.|year=1900|location=Louisville|title=The Battle of Tippecanoe| page=158 |isbn=978-0-7222-6509-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvA7AAAAMAAJ&q=Pirtle,+Alfred.+(1900).+The+Battle+of+Tippecanoe&pg=PR1}}</ref>

When reporting to Secretary Eustis, Harrison had informed him of the battle near the Tippecanoe River and that he had anticipated an attack. A first dispatch had not been clear which side had won the conflict, and the secretary interpreted it as a defeat until the follow-up dispatch clarified the situation.{{sfn|Owens|2007|pp=219–220}} When no second attack came, the Shawnee defeat had become more certain. Eustis demanded to know why Harrison had not taken adequate precautions in fortifying his camp against the initial attack, and Harrison said that he had considered the position strong enough. The dispute was the catalyst of a disagreement between Harrison and the Department of War, which continued into the War of 1812.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Indiana|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryindiana00dillgoog|last=Dillon|first=John Brown|publisher=Bingham & Doughty|year=1859|isbn=978-0-253-20305-2|pages=466–471}}</ref> Freehling says that Harrison's rusty skills resulted in his troops setting campfires the night before the battle, exposing their position to a surprise attack and casualties.<ref name="Freehling"/>

The press did not cover the battle at first, until one Ohio paper misinterpreted Harrison's first dispatch to mean that he was defeated.{{sfn|Owens|2007|p=220}} By December, however, most major American papers carried stories on the battle victory, and public outrage grew over the Shawnee.{{sfn|Owens|2007|pp=220–222}} Americans blamed the British for inciting the tribes to violence and supplying them with firearms, and Congress passed resolutions condemning the British for interfering in American domestic affairs. Congress declared war on June 18, 1812, and Harrison left Vincennes to seek a military appointment.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=23}}

===War of 1812===
[[File:Rembrandt Peale - William Henry Harrison - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|This portrait of Harrison originally showed him in civilian clothes as a congressional delegate in 1800; the uniform was added after service in the War of 1812.|329x329px]]
The outbreak of war with the British in 1812 led to continued conflict with Indians in the Northwest. Harrison briefly served as a major general in the [[Kentucky]] militia until the government commissioned him on September 17 to command the [[Army of the Northwest (United States)|Army of the Northwest]].{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=23}} He received federal military pay for his service, and he also collected a territorial governor's salary from September until December 28, when he formally resigned as governor and continued his military service. Authors Gugin and St. Clair claim the resignation was forced upon him.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=23}} Harrison was succeeded by John Gibson as acting governor of the territory.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=23}}

The Americans suffered a defeat in the [[siege of Detroit]]. General [[James Winchester (general)|James Winchester]] offered Harrison the rank of brigadier general, but Harrison wanted sole command of the army. President [[James Madison]] removed Winchester from command in September, and Harrison became commander of the fresh recruits.{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=23}} He received orders to retake Detroit and boost morale, but he initially held back, unwilling to press the war northward.<ref name="Freehling"/> The British and their Indian allies greatly outnumbered Harrison's troops, so Harrison constructed a defensive position during the winter along the [[Maumee River]] in northwest Ohio. He named it [[Fort Meigs]] in honor of Ohio governor [[Return J. Meigs Jr.]] He then received reinforcements in 1813, took the offensive, and led the army north to battle. He won victories in the Indiana Territory as well as Ohio and recaptured Detroit before invading Upper [[Canada]] ([[Ontario]]). His army defeated the British, and Tecumseh was killed, on October 5, 1813, at the [[Battle of the Thames]]. It was considered to be one of the great American victories in the war, second only to the [[Battle of New Orleans]], and secured a national reputation for Harrison.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|pp=257–70}}<ref name="Freehling"/>

In 1814, Secretary of War [[John Armstrong Jr.|John Armstrong]] divided the command of the army, assigning Harrison to an outlying post and giving control of the front to one of Harrison's subordinates.{{sfn|Burr|1840|pp=232–244}} Armstrong and Harrison had disagreed over the lack of coordination and effectiveness in the invasion of Canada, and Harrison resigned from the army in May.{{sfn|Langguth|2007|pp=290–291}}{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2006|p=24}} After the war ended, Congress investigated Harrison's resignation and determined that Armstrong had mistreated him during his military campaign and that his resignation was justified. Congress awarded Harrison a gold medal for his services during the war.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Presidential Series – William H. Harrison|url=https://www.nationalguard.mil/Resources/Image-Gallery/Historical-Paintings/Presidential-Series/William-H-Harrison/|access-date=June 18, 2020|publisher=National Guard}}</ref>

Harrison and [[Michigan Territory]]'s Governor [[Lewis Cass]] were responsible for negotiating the [[Treaty of Greenville (1814)|peace treaty]] with the Indians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Treaty_with_the_Wyandots,_Delawares,_Shawnees,_Senecas,_and_Miamis_(1814)|title=Treaty with the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Senecas, and Miamis (1814)|publisher=Ohio History Central|access-date=December 1, 2021}}</ref> President Madison appointed Harrison in June 1815 to help in negotiating a second treaty with the Indians that became known as the [[Treaty of Springwells]], in which the tribes ceded a large tract of land in the west, providing additional land for American purchase and settlement.<ref name="cb"/>