Battle of

Moraviantown

Tecumseh

October 5 1813

An Important Site for all

Canadians:
Those loyal to the British crown, who had fled the
United States in the years following the American
Revolution, now found themselves under attack in
their new country, and this proved to be an
important moment in their new land. The
American forces under William Henry Harrison
invaded from Detroit and swept through the Thames
Valley, leaving behind burnt farms and destroyed
settlements.*1 This stiffened the resolve of these
settlers to not join with the Americans who had used
them so mercilessly, and started them on the road to
a Canadian identity separate from both the
Americans who invaded them, and the British who
did not protect them sufficiently from attack.
Meanwhile, they honoured the memory of the
Shawnee from the Ohio Valley who fought for their
land as well as his own. The Battle of Moraviantown
was one of those events of the War of 1812 which
started the development of a unique Canadian

identity.

A mighty warrior for his people

and his British allies
d Born in the Ohio Valley 1768

Upper Canada is invaded

and loses a valued ally in
the war against
American aggression.

d Fought for the land rights of the

Shawnee and all First Nations
d worked with Sir Isaac Brock to
defend Canada from American invasion
d Died defending the rights of First
Nations and his British allies October 5
1813

Battle of

William Henry
Harrison:

the

This Battle matters to all

Americans:
Despite the fact that the Battle of the
Tham es took place on foreign soil, it was a
key event in the territorial expansion of
the United States. The settlers m oving into
the Ohio Valley w ere under constant
attack by the native tribes of the area, who

Thames

w ere united into Tecum sehs Confederacy.

Tecum seh w as an able and effective war
leader and politician, w hose plans to hold
the M id-w est against further settlem ent by
the expanding Am erican nation brought

October 5 1813

together m any native tribes into one larger

force. Their defeat at Tippecanoe in 1811
w as not enough to end the threat. It took

4
5

the death of Tecum seh w hile fighting by

the side of the British at M oraviantow n to
end the attem pt by his confederates to

A great American war

hero and our 9 th President

i Born in Virginia Feb 9 1773

i Defended white settlements
America defeats a
dangerous enemy and
makes itself safer from
attack from within and
without.

against Indian attack for

23 years

i In 1811 Defeated Tecumsehs

Confederacy at Tippecanoe

i Elected President in 1840

i Died April 4 1841 *2

block Am erican expansion into w hat is

now Ohio and M ichigan. W ithout the
Harrisons victory at the Battle of the
Tham es, the Am erican M id-west could look
very different today.

Picture Credits
1.
History Along the Thames River, Photograph: Tecumsehs Memorial,
http://groups.msn.com/HistoryalongtheThamesRiver/battleofthethames1813
.msnw (accessed October 26 2006).
2.
Hamilton Plantagenet MacCarthy, Portrait Bust of Tecumseh, 1896,
Government of Ontario Art Collection, http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/
english/exhibits/1812/detroit_defeat.htm, (accessed October 26 2006).
3.
Mapquest, http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address
&country=CA&popflag=1&latlongtype=internal&latitude=HGMM7%2BXsUJx3I
laByeB1eg%3D%3D&longitude=PgDrecf5yeo8sW8%2Bn0ImOQ%3D%3D&nam
e=&phone=&level=CITY&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&city=Chatham-kent&s
tate=ON&zipcode=, (accessed October 26 2006).
4.
Ohio Historical Society, Battle of the Thames, Ohio History Central:
An Online Encyclopaedia of Ohio History, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/
entry.php?rec+481 (accessed October 26 2006).
5.
AmericanPresidents.org, William Henry Harrison,
http://www.americanpresident.org/history/williamhharrison/biography/resou
rces/images/GeneralHarrison.image.jpg (accessed October 26 2006).
6.

Ohio Historical Society .

End Notes
1.
Galafilm, The War of 1812, http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/
morav_ame (accessed October 26 2006).
2.

The White House, William Henry Harrison,

http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh9.html (accessed October

26 2006).

Bibliography
MacCarthy, Hamilton Plantaganet.Portrait Bust of Tecumseh, 1896.
Government of Ontario Art Collection. http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/
english/exhibits/1812/detroit_defeat.htm.
AmericanPresidents.org. William Henry Harrison.
http://www.americanpresident.org/history/williamhharrison/biography
/resources/images/GeneralHarrison.image.jpg .
Galafilm. The War of 1812. http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/
morav_ame.
History Along the Thames River. Photograph: Tecumsehs Memorial.
http://groups.msn.com/HistoryalongtheThamesRiver/
battleofthethames1813.msnw.
Mapquest. http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address
&country=CA&popflag=1&latlongtype=internal&latitude=HGMM7%2BXs
UJx3IlaByeB1eg%3D%3D&longitude=PgDrecf5yeo8sW8%2Bn0ImOQ%
3D%3D&name=&phone=&level=CITY&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&cit
y=Chatham-kent&state=ON&zipcode=.
Ohio Historical Society. Battle of the Thames. Ohio History Central: An
Online Encyclopaedia of Ohio History.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php? rec+481.
The White House. William Henry Harrison. http://www.whitehouse.gov/
history/presidents/wh9.html.