He sprang from his horse, caught one by the throat and the other by the breast, and threw them to the ground; drawing his tomahawk and scalping knife, he ran in between the Americans and Indians, brandishing them with the fury of a mad man, and daring any one of the hundreds that surrounded him, to attempt to murder another American.  They all appeared confounded, and immediately desisted.  His mind appeared rent with passion, and he exclaimed almost with tears in his eyes, ’Oh! what will become of my Indians.’  He then demanded in an authoritative tone, where Proctor was; but casting his eye upon him at a small distance, sternly enquired why he had not put a stop to the inhuman massacre.  ‘Sir,’ said Proctor, ‘your Indians cannot be commanded.’  ‘Begone’ retorted Tecumseh, with the greatest disdain, ’you are unfit to command; go and put on petticoats.’”

[Footnote A:  This letter is from Mr. Wm. G. Ewing, formerly of Piqua, O., and is addressed, under date of May 2d, 1818, to John H. James, Esq. now of Urbana.]

This was not the only occasion on which Tecumseh openly manifested the contempt which he felt for the character and conduct of general Proctor.  Among other instances, it is stated by an officer of the United States’ army, in a letter, under date of 28th September, 1813,[A] that in a conversation between these two commanders of the allied British army, Tecumseh said to Proctor, “I conquer to save, and you to murder;”—­an expression founded in truth, and worthy of the magnanimous hero from whose lips it fell.

[Footnote A:  Niles’ Register.]

There is another incident connected with the defeat of Dudley, which justice to the character of Tecumseh requires should be recorded.  Shortly after he had put a stop to the horrid massacre of the prisoners, his attention was called to a small group of Indians occupied in looking at some object in their midst.  Colonel Elliott observed to him, “Yonder are four of your nation who have been taken prisoners; you may take charge of them, and dispose of them as you think proper.”  Tecumseh walked up to the crowd, where he found four Shawanoes, two brothers by the name of Perry, Big Jim, and the Soldier.  “Friends,” said he, “colonel Elliott has placed you under my charge, and I will send you back to your nation with a talk to our people.”  He accordingly took them on with the army as far as the river Raisin, from which point their return home would be less dangerous, and then appointed two of his followers to accompany them, with some friendly messages to the chiefs of the Shawanoe nation.  They were thus discharged under their parole, not to fight against the British during the war.

CHAPTER XIII.