o a line to oppose the British. They faultered a little, but
very soon we perceived a large body of horse (Colonel Johnson's regiment
of mounted Kentuckians) preparing to charge upon us in the swamp. They
came bravely on, yet we never stirred until they were so close that we
could see the flints in their guns, when Tecumthe springing to his feet,
gave the Shawnee war cry, and discharged his rifle. This was the signal
for us to commence the fight; but it did not last long; the Americans
answered the shout, returning our fire, and at the first discharge of
their guns, I saw Tecumthe stagger forwards over a fallen tree near
which he was standing, letting his rifle drop at his feet. As soon as
the Indians discovered he was killed, a sudden fear came over them, and
thinking that the Great Spirit was displeased, they fought no longer,
and were quickly put to flight. That night we returned to bury our dead,
and search for the body of Tecumthe. He was found lying where he had
first fallen; a bullet had struck him above the hip, and his skull had
been broken by the butt end of the gun of some soldier, who had found
him, perhaps, when life was not yet quite gone. With the exception of
these wounds, his body was untouched; lying near him, however, was a
large, fine looking Potawattimie, who had been killed, decked off in his
plumes and war paint, whom the Americans no doubt had taken for
Tecumthe; for he was scalped, and every particle of skin flayed from his
body. Tecumthe himself, had no ornaments about his person save a British
medal. During the night we buried our dead, and brought off the body of
Tecumthe, although we were within sight of the fires of the American
camp.'

"This is somewhat different from the account which is commonly given of
Tecumthe's death, yet I believe it to be true; for after hearing Black
Hawk relate it, I heard it corroborated by one of the Potawattimie
chiefs, mentioned by him. I asked him if he had ever fought against the
whites after the death of Tecumthe. He said not--that he returned home
to his village on the Mississippi, at the mouth of Rock River, and there
he remained until driven away by the whites, in the year 1832. The wish
to hold possession of this village, was the cause of the war which he
waged against the whites during that year. He told me that he never
wished to fight; that he was made to do so; that the whites killed his
warriors when they went with a white flag to beg a parley, and