wo
subalterns' guards of twenty men and non-commissioned officers each--the
whole amounting to about one hundred and thirty men, under command of a
field officer of the day. The night was dark and cloudy, and after
midnight there was a drizzling rain.

At four o'clock in the morning of Nov. 7, 1811, Governor Harrison,
according to practice, had risen, preparatory to the calling up of the
troops, and was engaged, while drawing on his boots by the fire, in
conversation with General Wells, Colonel Owens, and Majors Taylor and
Hurst. The orderly drum had been roused to sound the reveille for the
troops to turn out, when there came the report of a sentry's rifle on
the left flank, followed by a score of shots, and the morning air rang
loud with the wild war-whoops of savages.

In an instant the army was in line, the campfires were extinguished, and
the governor mounted his horse and proceeded to the point of attack.
Several companies had taken their places in the line within forty
seconds after the report of the first gun, and in two minutes the whole
army was ready for action; a fact as creditable to their own activity
and bravery, as to the skill and energy of their officers. The battle
soon became general, and was maintained on both sides with signal and
even desperate valor. The Indians advanced or retreated by the aid of a
rattling noise, made with deer hoofs, and persevered in their
treacherous attack with an apparent determination to conquer or die on
the spot. The battle raged with unabated fury and mutual slaughter until
daylight, when a gallant and successful charge by the troops drove the
enemy into the swamp, and put an end to the conflict.

Prior to the assault, the prophet had given his followers assurance,
that, in the coming contest, the Great Spirit would render the arms of
the Americans unavailing; that their bullets would fall harmless at the
feet of the Indians; that the latter should have light in abundance,
while the former would be involved in thick darkness. Availing himself
of the privilege conferred by his peculiar office, and, perhaps,
unwilling in his own person to test the rival powers of a sham prophecy
and a real American bullet, he prudently took a position on an adjacent
eminence; and, when the action began, he entered upon the performance
of certain mystic rites, at the same time singing a war song. Soon after
the engagement commenced, he was informed that his men were falling. He
told th