Tecumseh , (born 1768, Old Piqua, in modern Clark county, Ohio, U.S.—died Oct. 5, 1813, near Thames River, Upper Canada), Shawnee Indian chief. As a boy during the American Revolution, Tecumseh participated in combined British and Indian attacks on American colonists. In 1794 he fought unsuccessfully against Gen. Anthony Wayne. He eventually established a confederation made up of members of the Creek and other nations. In 1811 his brother’s attack on William H. Harrison’s troops at Tippecanoe, Ind., ended in defeat. As the War of 1812 approached, Tecumseh assembled his followers under the British banner and captured Detroit. Several lesser successes followed, ending with his death at the Thames River in what is now Ontario, marking the end of Indian resistance in the Old Northwest (as the East North Central states were sometimes known).
Discover