Stephen Ruddell/Tecumseh

Draper Manuscript Collection 2YY:189-190 – Letter and narrative of Stephen Ruddell to Benjamin Drake.

Clarksville, Mo., Jany 17, 1822.
Benjn Drake Esq.

Dear Sir:
I received yours a few days ago and with pleasure have endeavored to comply with your request - I have stated as many facts concerning my old friend & brother as I can recollect at this distant period of time. I presume you can collect from authentic sources all that passed in which Tecumthe was an actor after the peace of Greenville - If you cannot I will at any time communicate to you what I know of him - I will refer you to Gov. Worthington, Gov. Cass & Genl. McArthur for the particulars of a meeting that took place at Greenville old fort, & also at Chilicothe [Ohio], at both which places Tecumthe delivered speeches, and at which all these gentlemen together with myself were present. If I could see you I could probably relate to you many particulars which would be serviceable on your intended work - I have hastily written my statement & have not tried to even transcribe it and correct the errors in the composition. You I hope however will excuse its crude & indigested form – You can extract from it whatever may be of service to you –

I am truly glad you are engaged in writing the biography of Tecumthe - the name of so great & good a man ought not to be suffered to sink into oblivion.

I am very respectfully
Your friend &c
Stephen Ruddell

Tecumtheth (as the Indians pronounced the name of the celebrated Tecumseh [or the blazing comet in English from his mother seeing a meteor shooting across the sky in the evening of his birth]) was born in the neighbourhood of old Chilicothe in the year 1768. He was of the Hispookoo tribe of the Shawnoe Indians - The Shawnoes were divided like the Israelites into twelve tribes and with the exception of the Maykoche tribe which had a king the chiefs used their power & authority to their merit; but the tribe just mentioned had a king Over them whose authority was hereditary. His father was a great war chief & fell at the head of his tribe in the battle at the mouth of the Kenhaway [Kanawha, at Point Pleasant] between thewhites & Indians - he was a man highly respected among the tribe both as a statesman & warrior - At his dying moment he called to him his oldest son a youth of twelve or thirteen years named Passquannakeek (or gun shot) and strongly enjoined on him to preserve unsullied the dignity and honour of his family; and directed him in future to lead forth to battle his younger Brothers. The mother of Tecumtheth was one of the most respectable families in the Pickoway tribe of Shawnoes.

They had five sons & one daughter (viz, Tecumtheth was the second son. Passquannake, Tecumtheth, Lolloway (or the Prophet) - the other three's name I cannot recollect - the Prophet and two other boys were born at one birth. The oldest was a great warrior and fell at the head of a war party which he had conducted to attack some fort in the south during Wayne's war. Agreeably to the instructions of his father at his death he took upon himself the education of his brothers and used every means to instil into the mind of Tecumtheth correct, manly & honourable principles, leading him forth himself to battle and instructing him in warfare. He taught him to look with contempt upon every thing that was mean - He used frequently to take Tecumtheth & they alone would go and commit depredations on their enemies when they were mere boys.

I first became acquainted with Tecumseth at the age of twelve years, and being the same age myself; we became inseparable companions - Tecumtheth was always remarkable from his boyhood up for the dignity & rectitude of his deportment There was a certain something in his countenance and manner that always commanded respect & at the same time made those about him love him. He was very easy of access. At the age of twelve & from. During his boyhood he used to place himself at the head of the youngsters and divide them, when he would make them fight sham battles, in which he always distinguished himself by his activity, strength & skill-He was a great hunter and what was remarkable would never if he could avoid it hunt in parties where women were. He was free hearted & generous to excess - always ready to relieve the wants of others. Whenever he returned from a hunting expedition he would harrangue his companions, and made use of all his eloquence to instil into their minds honourable and humane sentiments. He never or rarely ever drank ardent spirits to excess. When inebriated he was widely different from the other Indians - perfectly good humoured & free from those savage ideas which distinguished his companions; and always reproving them for their folly. He was by no means savage in his nature - always expressed the greatest abhorrence when he heard of or saw acts of cruelty or barbarity practiced.

From his earliest days he was remarkably easily awoke out of sleep. He was always on the alert and it was impossible to take him by surprise - He was always averse to taking prisoners in his warfare; but when prisoners fell into his hands he always treated them with as much humanity asif they had been in the hands of civilized people - no burning - no torturing - He never tolerated the practice of killing women and children - He was a man of good courage and conduct – perfectly fearless of danger - He always inspired his companions with confidence and valeur - He never evinced any great regard for the female sex - it was a custom among the Shawnoes to marry as many wives as they pleased and to keep them as long as they pleased - Tecumtheth had at different times a wife whom he did not keep very long before he parted from her - He had a Cherokee squaw who he lived with the longest of any other - The women were very fond of him - much more than he was of them. He was a very jovial companion, fond of cracking his jokes; but his wit was never aimed to wound the feelings of his comrades.

The first engagement in which he particularly distinguished himself was in an attack on some boats coming down the Ohio, he being then about fifteen years old - the boats were taken & all the persons on board were killed. In the action Tecumthe behaved with great bravery & even left in the background some of the oldest & bravest warriors. After in the action in which one prisoner, as well as I recollect, was taken – the Indians proceeded to burn him and after it had been done Tecumthe who had been a spectator expressed great abhorrence of the deed and finally it was concluded among them not to burn any more prisoners that should afterwards be taken, which was ever after Strictly adhered to by him. The boats were owned by traders - number of persons on board not recollected. These boats were taken in the spring and in the fall they moved towards-the south on an; expedition against the whites. On the route to the south Tecumthe's horse-fell with him & broke his thigh which confined him until spring following, when the party headed by Tecumthe's oldest brother proceeded on their expedition. He was then able to walk with the assistance of crutches & his brother endeavoured to persuade him to remain behind but he could not be prevailed on to comply. They had several engagements with the whites on this expedition which kept them away from home three years – Tecumthe always distinguished himself – It was on this expedition that his oldest brother fell in an attach: on some fort the name or situation of which I cannot now tell. The party was chiefly composed of Cherokees – A few days before they attacked the fort this oldest brother or Gun shot harrangued the party & told them that on such a day and such a time of the day they would arrive at the fort – that they would attack the fort in the morning & would succeed if they would persevere in the fight – that precisely at noon he would be shot through the centre of his forehead. When he related this, the Indians endeavoured to persuade him to turn back, which he refused to do. (The attack was commenced & as he had predicted he received the shot in his head & fell) saying that his father had fell gloriously in battle – that he considered it an honor to die Sr that it was what he wished & did not wish to be buried at home like an old squaw, to which he preferred that the fowls of the air should pick his bones.

After his death the party was disheartened & in spite of all the exertion of Tecumthe the Cherokees left the ground. – thus they failed in their attempt – Tecumthe then told the party that he would not go home until he had done something to shew his good conduct – He accordingly took with him a small party of eight or ten sr a short time after attacked a family & perhaps killed the man & took the woman & children prisoners. I cannot recollect any of the particulars of the other engagements which occurred on this expedition. He was three times attacked in the night in his encampment; but being remarkably watchful, he was always ready for the enemy & they seldom gained any advantage. He always examined with great care the ground on which he encamped no matter whether in the neighbourhood of the enemy or not, so that it was almost impossible to gain any advantage of him – during this expedition he was attacked on the edge of a cain brake; perhaps on the waters of the Tennessee, whilst dressing some meat, by a party of about thirty whites. He immediately ordered his small party to charge & leading on himself with the most determined bravery, he put the whole party to-flight - two whites were killed - At the expiration of three years from the time he left home he returned - This I think was shortly after Harmers defeat - He was not in St. Clair's defeat, being at that time on a hunting expedition & not having heard of the approach of St. Clair.

In Wayne's battle, he took a conspicuous part, or at least as much as the nature of the case would admit of – There he commanded a band of the Shawnoes – At the time the Indians commenced retreating he together with another Indian two or three others rushed on a part of the whites that had a field peace in charge, drove the artillery-men from their posts, cut loose the horses, mounted them & cleared themselves –

In the spring before one night April 1793 [a] hunting party headed by Tecumthe were one night attacked by a company of men under Simon Kenton, the circumstances of which are as follows – In the day one of our party was out hunting up the horses and being discovered by Kentons party was shot – They put forward on his crack and on coming in sight of our camp, they discovered that we were unalarmed and after making all the observations they wished they returned back some distance where they made their preparations for the attack – Tecumthe had laid down at night out side of the camp or tents, along side of the fire where we had been gherking some venison through the day – In the night the attack was made by firing into the tents – Tecumthe sprang to his feet with his war club in his hand, a weapon which he invariably carried both in peace & war, hunting & in battle, and calling to me asked Big Fish where are you? Here I am, says I – Then do you charge on that side & I will charge on this. With that he rushed on those on his side, knocked one in the head with his club sr drove the rest back -I on my side met a man as I came out of the tent, whom I afterward found out to be Kenton himself – I fired on him but my gun having gotten a little wet through the day, it blowed considerably & at last just blowed out the ball without injuring Kenton, who had taken to his heels – I raised the Indian yell & called that they were running upon which the rest of the Indians in the tent who had till now remained silent sprang out and raising the War whoop, we ran them off the ground – This took place on the waters of either the Little Miami or brush creek. We had ten men including the one killed in the morning – They had twenty eight men.
Tecumthe was particularly attached to the war club – It was a weapon which he said had been used by his forefathers. One of Kenton's party named McIntire a resolute fellow resolved to take a horse and leaving the rest of his company accordingly went to where our horses were feeding & carried one off. In the morning Tecumthe with four others followed after them & after going some distance they came to where McIntire had turned off the road – He had struck a fire & was cooking some victuals - They charged on him – McI. took to his heels; but after running some distance he discovered the Indians fast gaining on him - he faced about & presented his gun – two Indians that were some what in advance of Tecumthe sprang to trees; but he rushed right up to McIntire & made him prisoner. McI. was brought back to camp & tied – We then concluded that we must retreat & requested then to the rest of the Indians to go out for the horses; but they being somewhat timid, Tecumthe proposed that he & myself should go outOn our return we found that the rest of the Indians had killed McIntire at which Tecumthe was very angry telling them that it was a cowardly act to kill a man who was tied and that expressed in the strongest terms his disapproval of their conduct - It may be proper for me to state that Sinnamatha or Big Fish was the name the Indians gave me.

In the Spring before the battle with Wayne he was on a hunting expedition in the same neighbourhood where the action with Kenton took place – His party was composed of 6 or 7 warriors – He was attacked by a scouting party of whites of above between 20 and 30 men - In the fight one [of] Tecumthes party, a white man named Joseph Ward who had been taken prisoner when a small boy during Dunmore's war & had been raised by the Indians, was killed – T.& his party were compelled to give ground after lighting desperately; but he made out to carry off Ward-His company deserted him during the battle. He then returned home; but not being pleased with an inactive life, he again went out to hunt & continued in that employment until the Indians collected to give major battles in fall of ‘94.

He was not engaged in any other battles or skirmishes after that with Wayne during my continuance with the Indians. He was pleased with the peace of Greenville – said that now he was happy – that he could pursue his hunting without danger &c. &c. He had no children whilst I knew him. He was naturally eloquent – very fluent – graceful in his gesticulation but not in the habit of using many gestures – There was no violence, no vehemence in his mode of delivering his speeches – He always made a great impression on his audience. He was about five feet ten inches high, very well made, full of activity, & possessed of great strength – I know of no peculiarity about him, that gained him popularity – His talents, a rectitude of deportment and friendly disposition commanded the respect and regard of all about him – In short I consider him a very great as well as a very good man, who, if he had enjoyed the advantage of a liberal education, would have done honour to any age or any nation. [A note on the back of the last sheet reads:]

This account of Tecumseh is from Stephen Ruddle, procured for me from him by Maj. R. Graham - Ruddle lived at the time, in Missouri – a man of great veracity. B. Drake.