been at the date of the issue of his proclamation, and five days before Brock's arrival he had made the best of his way back into Michigan. A further reverse bad befallen the American arms within the last few days. A certain Major Van Horne had been sent from Detroit with despatches from General Hull, accompanied by a detachment of 200 men, to meet another detatchment at the River Raisin with a convoy of provisions for Hull's army. Seventy Indians, devoted to the British, and under the command of the redoubtable Tecumseh, surprised this body near Brownstown, killed a good many, chased the rest a distance of seven miles, and captured General Hull's despatches. These despatches were placed in General Brock's hands immediately upon his arrival at Amherstburg. They were couched in a very despondent tone, induced partly by the reverses sustained by the Americans, and partly by a spirit of disaffection which had begun to manifest itself among Hull's troops. The latter's lack of spirit was so apparent that Brock determined upon crossing the river and striking a decisive blow by the capture of Detroit before the enemy could receive reinforcements.
The part played in this war by the dauntless Tecumseh, will be related in the sketch devoted to the life of that hero, to be included in the present work. On the night of Brock's arrival at Amherstburg these two great warriors were for the first time brought into personal contact. On account of the lateness of the hour the interview was very brief, and their conversation was hampered by Tecumseh's very imperfect knowledge of English, but it lasted long enough to enable each of them to take a pretty accurate measure of the other. It was impossible, indeed, for any one of average intelligence to be five minutes in Tecumseh's presence without realizing the fact that he was a very extraordinary man. Upon being ushered into Brock's presence, he stepped lightly forward and shook his host cordially by the hand. The latter subsequently admitted that, as, the lithe and finely-proportioned figure stood there, with the fire of genius and enthusiasm flashing from his lustrous eyes, he himself felt that he was in the presence of one who, in natural endowments, was the superior of any man he had ever met. Captain Clegg, the aide-de-camp, was present at the interview, and has left the following description of the great Shawnee:—"His appearance was very prepossessing; his figure light and finely formed; his age I imagine to be about five-and-thirty; in height, five feet nine or ten inches; his
