The Battle of Tippecanoe (/ˌtɪpəkəˈnuː/ TIP-ə-kə-NOO) was fought on November 7, 1811, in Battle Ground, Indiana, between American forces led by then Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and tribal forces associated with Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (commonly known as "The Prophet"), leaders of a confederacy of various tribes who opposed European-American settlement of the American frontier.

William Henry Harrison was appointed governor of the newly formed Indiana Territory in 1800, and he sought to secure title to the area for settlement.

[7] Tecumseh's younger brother Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet, was a spiritual leader among the northwestern tribes, advocating for a return to traditional ancestral ways.

Harrison insisted each tribe had individual and separate arrangements with the United States, ridiculing the idea of common ownership of lands.

[11] As early as 1810, British agents had sought to secure an alliance with Tecumseh,[12] who was reluctant to ally with them because he recognized that they used the tribes to fight their wars on the frontier.

[13] In the following year, Harrison blamed the Shawnee for the murder of a handful of men on the frontier and for the theft of a boatload of salt,[14] but more importantly sent a stream of letters to Washington requesting permission to move against them.

[15] Tecumseh informed Harrison he was leaving to recruit among the Muscogee and Choctaws and asked to wait upon his return to commence settlement on the disputed lands.

[17] Tenskwatawa stayed with the Shawnee who were camped at the Tippecanoe in Prophetstown, a settlement that had grown to a few hundred structures and a sizable population.

[19] Harrison thought that Tecumseh's warriors were "the finest light infantry troops in the world,"[20] and later wrote to Charles Scott that the confederation was better armed than most of his own force.

[19] In addition to muskets, knives, tomahawks, and clubs, Tecumseh's forces were armed with spears in order to repel bayonet charges, which the U.S. used effectively at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Secretary of War William Eustis sent orders to preserve peace with the Native Americans, but went on to say, "but if the Prophet should commence, or seriously threaten, hostilities he ought to be attacked.

The Shawnee captured a group of Delaware chiefs traveling to Harrison, who had asked them to act as negotiators; after their release they arrived at the end of October with accounts of various aggressive actions.

They made camp on Burnett's Creek, (Battleground, Indiana); the troops bedded down fully dressed and armed, based on Harrison's Aide-de-camp Bartholomew's advice.

[26] Captain Spier Spencer's Indiana Yellow Jacket riflemen, (known for their light-colored buckskins),[28] was posted on the southern end of the camp perimeter.

[32] In council the night of November 6, Tenskwatawa seems to have agreed to a preemptive strike against the Americans, and to sending in a party under the cover of dark to murder Harrison in his tent.

[32] Accounts are unclear about how the battle began, but Harrison's sentinels encountered advancing warriors in the pre-dawn hours of November 7.

Harrison found the front line under fire (facing Prophetstown), pressed by warriors with rifles situated in a grove of trees.

The element of surprise was lost at the start of the battle, forcing the warriors to attack in a disorganized and uncoordinated fashion, with numerous small assaults.

"[37] Harrison moved two reserve companies under the command of Captain Robb to join Spencer's only living officer, ensign John Tipton, and they sealed the breach in the line.

The warriors began to run low on ammunition; the rising sun revealed the dwindling size of Tenskwatawa's forces who quickly dispersed into the woods.

[35][39] The warriors retreated to Prophetstown where, according to one chief's account, they confronted Tenskwatawa, accusing him of deceit because of the many deaths, which his spells were supposed to have prevented.

He blamed his wife for desecrating his magic medicine and offered to cast a new spell; he insisted that the warriors launch a second attack, but they refused.

[31] The following day, November 8, Harrison sent a small group of men to inspect the Shawnee town and found it was deserted except for one elderly woman too sick to flee.

[42] After Harrison's troops departed the area, the villagers returned, digging up many of the American corpses and scattering the bodies in retaliation.

"In none of the [contemporaneous] reports from Indian agents, traders, and public officials on the aftermath of Tippecanoe can we find confirmation of the claim that Harrison had won a decisive victory", according to Alfred Cave.

[49] They increased their attacks against American settlers and against isolated outposts in Indiana and the Illinois Territory, resulting in the deaths of many civilians.

[49] His warriors were with British forces that captured Fort Detroit from the United States in the War of 1812, and it was not until Tecumseh's death at the Battle of the Thames in 1813 that his confederacy ceased to threaten the Americans.

Harrison considered this to be an insult, thinking that Congress implied that he was the one person in the campaign not worthy of accolades, and he suggested that it held him up to obloquy and disrespect.

[60] A number of counties in Indiana were named for American soldiers at the battle: Bartholomew, Daviess, Spencer, Tipton and Warrick.

[62] Harrison returned to the battlefield in 1835 to give speeches during his first presidential campaign, and he called for the creation of a memorial to preserve the battle site.