Roundhead, A Celebrated Chief

"Roundhead, a celebrated chief of the Wyandots, an Indian warror and strategist, captured Gen. Winchester at the battle of the Raisin. Proctor considered the death of Roundhead at the battle of the Thames a serious loss to the British cause. A proved warrior as this incident will show. At the capture of Detroit Gen. Brock took off his own rich crimson silk sash and fastened it around the waist of Tecumseh. Next day Tecumseh appearing without the much prized sash. Brock inquired the reason. Tecumseh answered: 'I do not want to wear such a mark of distinction when an older and abler warrior than myself is present.'  He had given the sash to Roundhead. [Source - Michigan Historical Collections, Volume 15]

General George Trotter

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The Mutual Destruction Of Tecumseh And Colonel Whitley

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From Pioneer Collections...(recollections of Aura P. Stewart of St. Clair County, Michigan):

"...an account of a very singular and daring old man by the name of Whitney [sic; it's Whitley], a Kentuckian, and at the time about seventy years old.  "...Col. Whitney's [Whitley's] adventures and death at the Battle of the Thames.  It appeared that....[he] was an old resident of Kentucky, and had fought many a battle with the Indians on the bloody ground."


"...in their search they first came to Colonel [Whitley], and about four rods distant lay Tecumseh, both dead on the battlefield.  My father [Mr. Stewart] had seen Tecumseh often in Detroit and pointed him out to the officer who never saw him before.  The shout that Tecumseh was dead brought all of the parties together to see him...".

Tecumseh Statue

"Who killed Tecumseh is a question that cannot be answered, buy Judge Connor, my father, and many others believe that Colonel [Whitley] went into battle with a desire to meet Tecumseh, and it is possible that he killed him; General Harrison and his officers lamented the death of the old veteran...".

General James Garrard

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Bounty On Knaggs' Head

James Knaggs' testimony from the Congressional serial set:

I hereby certify that the foregoing testimony of James Knaggs... . ...of good reputation in the community. ...intimately conversant with the manners circumstances etc. of the old French population.

Source - Canadian Side Of Detroit River

He was engaged in the various conflicts near the Detroit River already described, and in 1813, was in the battle of the Thames under Colonel Richard M. Johnson. While with Hull at Sandwich attached to Colonel McArthur's regiment, he performed important scout service.

On one occasion, accompanied by four men, he penetrated the country as far as the site of the present village of Chatham on the Thames and there captured a Colonel McGregor a burly British officer and a [man] named Jacobs and carried them to Hull's camp. He tied McGregor to a horse and thus took him to the headquarters of his chief. After the surrender, McGregor offered five hundred dollars for the capture of Knaggs dead or alive.

Battle Of The Thames Map

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Le Breton On The Thames

On The Thames

From .... the Le Breton flats.... :

After the disastrous battle at Moraviantown [AKA Thames] where the British were badly defeated and were obliged to retreat to the Niagara River, giving up the whole western portion of the Province, LeBreton volunteered and was sent with a flag of truce to General Harrison to arrange for an exchange of prisoners.

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A Band Of Brothers

From the Library of Congress, First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820, a letter written by
Isaac Shelby.

Headquarters

Camp at the mouth of Portage Upon Lake Erie

20th Oct. 1813

The Army having now returned to this place [from the Battle of the Thames].....October 20....united...a Band of Brothers.....

From The Battle of the Thames: In which Kentuckians ...:

"On October 20th the day following their arrival a general order was issued for the troops to return to Kentucky by way of Franklinton (Columbus), at which point those who had received government arms were to deposit them...".

LeBreton And The Flag Of Truce

General Harrison

"After the disastrous battle at Moraviantown where the British were badly defeated and were obliged to retreat to the Niagara River, giving up the whole western portion of the Province, LeBreton volunteered and was sent with a flag of truce to General Harrison to arrange for an exchange of prisoners." [Source]

More about what happened in the aftermath of LeBreton's encounter with General Harrison (excerpted below*):

Source

*"General Harrison received, by messenger Lieutenant Le Breton, a letter from Major General Proctor dated October 18th (place of writing not given) addressed to him at the Moravian towns by the Thames but delivered at Detroit before his departure from that place."

"Lieutenant Le Breton was given good opportunity to see that the proprieties of civilization had been complied with in regard to the British. He was not permitted to return by land, however, but was taken across Lake Erie in boat with General Harrison."

Note: In other actions, LeBreton was severely wounded at Lundy's Lane.

Thames Map

Source

Soldiers Buried At Thames Battlefield

From The battle of the Thames: in which Kentuckians defeated the British, French ...:

Mound of Battlefield of the Thames where the dead soldiers were buried.

An article, from a Chatham, Ontario, newspaper, added this:

"....those who fell in battle were either left on the field for locals to deal with, or hastily buried by their comrades.  Such was the fate of Privates [William] Hardwick and Foster Bartlett.  ...the fact is, they are here, somewhere. Even more startling than that fact though, is the realization that they're not alone. ...not just...the Americans, who were the victors of the battle. The remains of British soldiers and their Indian allies no doubt also lie beneath Chatham-Kent soil, unmarked. Nobody knows exactly how many people died in battle that day, but it looks like between 38 and 78 casualties were recorded altogether."

The Kentucky Guard blog mentioned William Hardwick and Foster Bartlett and the search for their burial sites.  Even DNA is requested via Facebook in Henry County, Kentucky, for Bartlett relatives!

Captain William Griffith

From The Pictorial History of Fort Wayne, Indiana: A Review of Two ..., Volume 1:

"...Quartermaster Sergeant (later Captain) William Griffith, one of the survivors of the Fort Dearborn massacre... ."

"Detroit was surrendered the day before the Chicago Massacre took place. As soon as information of the tragedy reached Detroit, Judge Woodward appealed to Colonel Proctor in behalf of the prisoners and possible survivors of the Massacre at Fort Dearborn. The information given by Judge Woodward in this letter to Colonel Proctor probably came from William Griffith, a survivor who had reached Detroit." [Source]

"...William Griffith, afterward a captain of General Harrison's spies. He joined Harrison's army after his escape to Michigan, was placed in command of the spies, and received two wounds in the skirmish at the Moravian towns a few days before the battle of the Thames, but participated also in the latter engagement."

"He was the son of William Griffith, Sr., a farmer of Welsh descent whose home was near the present site of Geneseo, NY. His sister, Mrs. Alexander Ewing, removed with her husband to Michigan in 1802 and thence to Piqua Ohio in 1807 from which place William Griffith probably came to Chicago. He died in 1824, leaving two sons and a daughter and was buried near old Fort Meigs, Ohio." [Source]

Portrait Of Tecumseh

Source

See a blog post about Tecumseh's bones here.  Tippecanoe and Tecumseh, Too blog post here.  The Eluding Tecumseh post is here.

He died October 5, 1813.

The Old Tecumseh Hotel Near The Battle Of The Thames

The Old Tecumseh Hotel On The Thames Battlefield

Near Mound Where The Dead Were Buried

From The battle of the Thames: in which Kentuckians defeated the British, French ... By Bennett Henderson Young

Thames Battleground Scene

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Battle of the Thames

Richard M. Johnson

He was thought to have been the soldier who killed Tecumseh in battle.

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Richard Mentor Johnson

Richard M. Johnson, a Kentucky politician, was Martin Van Buren's Vice President.  One of the most unique aspects of his life, however, was his common-law marriage to Julia Chinn, who was 1/8 black.  He and Julia had two daughters.  After Julia's death, he had two other common-law marriages with slave women.

A Short History On A Sign

The War of 1812 on a sign:

The sign also tells the story of Colonel Pogue (Poague) and Fort Amanda.

Map Of The Thames Battle

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Battle Of The Thames Map

Isaac Shelby

[Source]

Isaac Shelby (1750-1826), the first Governor of Kentucky, commanded troops at the Battle of The Thames.

In summing up the character of Isaac Shelby we may emphatically exclaim he was a good and a gallant man. His life, like that of all the leading spirits of his day, was an eventful one; and, in bravery and patriotism, he was, perhaps, surpassed by none of his cotemporaries.  And Shelby's memory is safe.  He will not be forgotten--at least by the sons of Kentucky; for his name on their lips is a "household word." Louisville Literary News-Letter  [Source: The Hesperian, Volume 3, Sketch of Isaac Shelby]

A Soldier's Life Story

William Fulton's story in a genealogical context.  William was born in 1787 and died in 1874. [I am not related to Mr. Fulton; I simply found his story online.]


WILLIAM FULTON enlisted at Chillicothe, Ohio and served from 14 September 1812 until 14 October 1812 in the War of 1812 as a private in the Ohio Militia, under Captain Henry Brush.  According to his obituary, [he]...was involved in the battle of Thames when Chief Tecumseh was killed.

WILLIAM FULTON was honorably discharged at "Urbanna in the Wilderness" in October 1812.  [He] again served in the War of 1812 from 28 July 1813 until 17 August 1813 as a private in Captain John Eutrican's company of the Ohio Militia.