At this critical juncture, intelligence was received that General Clay, with twelve hundred men, was hastening to their relief. He was already but a few miles up the river, and an officer was immediately dispatched, directing him to land one-half of his force on the opposite side, for the purpose of forcing the enemy's batteries and spiking his cannon.
The gallant Colonel Dudley was deputed to execute this order; but, unfortunately, his troops pursued the retreating enemy until, suddenly, a party of Indians, under command of the celebrated Tecumseh, rose from ambush upon them. The slaughter was terrible. The brave Colonel Dudley was among the killed, and more than five hundred of his detachment were taken prisoners. The other part of General Clay's troops were more fortunate. And yet, lured by a party of Indians, whom they wished to destroy, they proceeded into the woods, where they would have been cut off, had not General Harrison dispatched a company of cavalry to cover their retreat.
At length, the British gave up the contest. Although they had made many prisoners, this did not aid them, in relation to the fort. The 8th of May brought an end to the toils of the Americans in the fort of Camp Meigs. An exchange of prisoners took place, and on the morning of the 9th, the enemy commenced their retreat. Thus did Harrison sustain, in effect, a siege of twelve days; during which, the enemy had fired eighteen hundred shells and cannon-balls, besides keeping up an almost continual discharge of small arms. The loss of each was about equal.
Perry's Victory.—During the summer, by the exertions of Commodore Perry, an American squadron had been fitted out on Lake Erie. It consisted of nine small vessels, carrying fifty-four guns. A British squadron had also been built and equipped, under the superintendence of Commodore Barclay. It consisted of six vessels, mounting sixty-three guns. Commodore Perry, immediately sailing, offered battle to his adversary; and on the 10th of September the British commander left the harbor of Malden, to accept the offer. In a few hours, the wind shifted, giving the Americans the advantage. Perry, forming the line of battle, hoisted his flag, on which was inscribed the words of the dying Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship!" Loud huzzas from all the vessels proclaimed the animation which this motto inspired. About noon, the firing commenced; after a short action, two of the British vessels surrendered; and the rest of the American squadron now joining in the battle, the victory was rendered decisive and complete. The British loss was forty-one killed and ninety-four wounded. The American loss was twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded; of which number, twenty-one were killed and sixty wounded on board the flag-ship Lawrence, whose whole complement of able-bodied men, before the action, was about one hundred. The commodore gave intelligence of the victory to General Harrison in these words: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."
Battle of the Thames.—By means of the victory of Commodore Perry, the Americans became masters of Lake Erie, but the territory of Michigan, which had been surrendered by Hull, was still in possession of Colonel Procter. The next movements of General Harrison were therefore against the British and Indians at Detroit and Malden. General Harrison had previously assembled a portion of the Ohio militia on the Sandusky river; and on the 7th of September four thousand from Kentucky, the flower of the state, with Governor Shelby at their head, arrived at his camp. With the cöoperation of the fleet, it was determined to proceed at once to Malden. On the 27th, the troops were received on board, and reached Malden on the same day; but the British had, in the mean time, destroyed the fort and public stores, and had retreated along the Thames towards the Moravian villages, together with Tecumseh's Indians, consisting of twelve or fifteen hundred. It was now resolved to proceed in pursuit of Procter. On the 5th of October, a severe action occurred between the two armies at the river Thames, by which the British army fell into the hands of the Americans. In this battle, Tecumseh was killed, and the Indians fled. The British loss was nineteen regulars killed, fifty wounded, and about six hundred prisoners. The American loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to upwards of fifty. Procter made his escape down the Thames.
On the 29th of September, the Americans took possession of Detroit, which, on the approach of Harrison's army, had been abandoned by the British.