Today in Indiana History

November 7 , 2009

On this day in 1811, Indiana territorial governor William Henry Harrison and his troops fought the Indians at the famous Battle of Tippecanoe. Harrison had marched up the Wabash River from Fort Harrison, near Terre Haute, with about one thousand men. In the predawn hours of November 7, near present-day Battle Ground, several hundred Indians under the leadership of the Shawnee Tenskwatawa, better known as the Prophet, attacked Harrison's troops. After two hours of fighting, the Indians withdrew. Though Harrison claimed victory, the Americans suffered heavy casualties, with nearly one-fifth killed or wounded.