MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
[Victory of the Thames.]
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM H. (Henry) HARRISON. Bust of General Harrison, in uniform, facing the right. FÜRST. F. (fecit).
RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS APRIL 4, 1818. America, personified as a maiden, with a spear in her right hand and resting on the American shield, places with her left a crown of laurel on a trophy formed of the arms of the enemy, on which hangs a buckler, with the inscription FORT MEIGS BATTLE OF THE THAMES. Exergue: BATTLE OF THE THAMES OCTOBER 5. 1813. FÜRST. F. (fecit).
William Henry Harrison was born in Berkeley, Charles City County, Virginia, February 9, 1773. He entered the army as ensign in 1791; served in the north-west against the Indians, under General St. Clair, and afterward under General Wayne, to whom he was aid-de-camp; became captain in 1795; resigned in 1797; was appointed secretary of the North-west territory, and was its delegate in Congress, 1799. He was governor of the territory of Indiana, 1801-1813; defeated Tecumseh at Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811; was made brigadier-general and commander of the North-west territory in 1812, major-general in 1813; gallantly defended Fort Meigs, and defeated the British army at the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, for which victory Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal. He resigned his commission shortly afterwards. Was a member of Congress from Ohio, 1816-1819; Ohio State senator, 1819-1824; United States senator, 1825-1828, and President of the United States, March 4, 1841. He died in the White House, Washington, on April 4, one month after his inauguration. He was known in the West by the sobriquet of "Old Tippecanoe." No presidential medal of him was struck.