As General William Henry Harrison Prepares His Troops for the Decisive 1813 Campaign, He Disparages His Indian Allies

"The Wyandots I am told have all been drunk at their village by Whisky bought from the militia sutlers."

The outbreak of war with the British in 1812 led to heightened conflict with Native Americans in the Old Northwest. After the loss of Detroit, General James Winchester became the commander of the Army of the Northwest. He offered Harrison the rank of brigadier general, which he refused, as he wanted sole command of the army. President James Madison removed Winchester and made Harrison the commander on September 17, 1812. Harrison inherited an army of fresh recruits, which he endeavored to drill. Initially he was greatly outnumbered by the British with their Indian allies.

In the winter of 1812–13, Harrison constructed a defensive position at the rapids on the Maumee River in northwest Ohio. He named it Fort Meigs in honor of the Ohio governor, Return J. Meigs, Jr.  Harrison also built Fort Ferree in Upper Sandusky.  In July of 1813, Fort Meigs was under siege in a series of maneuvers by an alliance of the British and the Native Americans under Chief Tecumseh.  Second in command was the leader of the Wyandot tribe, Roundhead. The Wyandots lived in British and American territory and split their allegiances, with many opposing Roundhead's stand and instead supporting the U.S. Governor Meigs set out with several thousand Ohio militia on his way to the relief of Fort Meigs, and these men encamped a mile below Fort Ferree at what was called the Great Encampment.  

To trick the militias inside Fort Meigs and lure them out, the Indians besieging it enacted a fake skirmish, but this failed. Unable to take Fort Meigs, this alliance of tribes moved up along the Sandusky River and fought the Americans at Fort Stephenson, a victory for the latter. Harrison himself left his camp at Seneca Town to congratulate the victors.  Using this victory as momentum, Harrison would marshal an army to move against the British, leading to his decisive victory at the Battle of the Thames in October. That battle dashed British hopes for a victory in the West, and resulted in the death of Tecumseh and the destruction of the Native American coalition that he led.

The consumption of whiskey was a problem for Harrison's soldiers. Although he had banned the sale of it near his forces, its sale continued and threatened the battle-readiness of his forces at a crucial time. He also felt that Meigs should take action to curtail the evils of alcohol among his militia. And although some of the Wyandots had taken the risk of splitting off from their main body to support the Americans, he was critical of what he called their drunkenness.

Autograph letter signed, Headquarters, Seneca Town, August 12, 1813, to R. J. Meigs, Governor of Ohio, in Upper Sandusky (Fort Ferree).  "Dear Sir, Selling of Whisky at any of the forts and garrisons has been forbidden by a general order in consequence of my having ascertained that the venders of it cannot be restrained by any regulation that could be made.  I am informed that persons having that pernicious liquor have come out with the Militia.  Let me entreat you my dear sir to banish them from your camp.  You may rely upon it that you will govern your men with two times the facility.  The Wyandots I am told have all been drunk at their village by Whisky bought from the militia sutlers." This is a very uncommon letter of Harrison from the war of 1812, and it is very interesting to see him disparage the very Indians who had chosen to ally themselves with him.

Just weeks after writing this letter, Harrison and Seneca Town were buoyed by news of Oliver Perry's victory on Lake Erie.  The next month, Harrison won his decisive victory at the Battle of the Thames.

This letter was once the property of the legendary autograph dealer ASW Rosenbach, who was active from the 1920s to 1951, and comes in his folder. It has remained in the family of the collector to whom Rosenbach originally sold it since then, and only now appears again on the market.