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The Battle of Moraviantown (The Battle of the Thames)
Further Reading An Overview of the Battle of Moraviantown The First Nations at Moraviantown British Retreat From Amherstburg To Moraviantown
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First Nations at Retreat From Amherstburg To MoraviantownEven after the retreat has begun, Tecumseh has second thoughts. According to one account, Tecumseh is invited to dinner at the Sandwich home of fur trader and militia officer Jacques Baby. During the meal a messenger arrives with news that the Americans are sailing north on the Detroit River near Amherstburg. Tecumseh grabs his pistols and addresses Procter:
When the Indians finally arrive at Chatham, on October 3, their suspicions about the British are confirmed; Procter has betrayed them. The general promised to build defensive works at the forks but the site is empty. All the natives find is an arms stash and some dismantled guns. This is the last straw. The warriors fly into a rage and insult the British in no uncertain terms. They threaten to kill Procter and the British Indian Agent Mathew Elliot. As far the warriors are concerned, only Tecumseh’s threats managed to convinced Procter to make a stand at all. Now they have arrived at the designated battle site and the general is nowhere to be found. To make matters worse the British Army under Lieutenant Colonel Warburton is across the river on the north side of the Thames. The Americans are advancing up the south bank but Warburton tells Tecumseh he doesn’t have enough boats to ferry his men across the river. Convinced that the British have abandoned them, the indians, led by the influential Wyandot chief Walk-in-the-Water, start to desert. Tecumseh had to use all of his considerable political skills to convince the warriors to retreat in the first place. Now, faced with Procter’s broken promise, the Native Alliance starts to disintegrate. Some 1,200 of Tecumseh’s warriors follow him to Chatham. Only 500 remain to fight two days later at Moraviantown.
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