William Henry Harrison was born at the seat of his father, at Berkely, on James river, twenty-five miles from Richmond, Virginia. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was a descendant of the celebrated leader of that name in the wars of Oliver Cromwell. He appears to have inherited republicanism, for he acted a most conspicuous part in our own revolutionary struggle. He represented Virginia in Congress, in the years 1774, 1775 and 1776, and was chairman of the committee of the whole house when the Declaration of Independence was read, and was one of the signers of that act. In 1782 he succeeded Governor Nelson in the executive chair of that state. William Henry Harrison, the subject of this memoir, was educated at the college of Hampden Sydney, which he left at the age of seventeen, to obey the wishes of his father in the study of medicine, and for that purpose repaired to Philadelphia in 1791, that he might prosecute his studies with greater advantage.

He had hardly commenced the study of his new profession when the death of his distinguished parent obliged him to return. After his return, and during the time appropriated for the settlement of his father’s estate, the preparations for a campaign against the Indians of the west caused much excitement, and Harrison resolved to enter the service of his government despite the most eloquent entreaties and persuasions of his guardian and friends. Nothing could check his enthusiastic ardor. He begged, he importuned, and Washington at last yielded to his constant importunities, and presented him with an ensign’s commission. With a heart beating with enthusiasm, he departed for Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, where he arrived only in time to learn the unparalleled massacre of St. Clair’s army, and the deaths of several distinguished officers. The sight of the broken troops had no effect on the warlike zeal of young Harrison. In the following year, General Wayne assumed the command, and appointed Ensign Harrison as one of his aids.

The first time he had a chance to distinguish himself was in the engagement of Roche de Bouc, in the official report of which, his general did him the justice to name him especially.

After the departure of General Wayne for the Atlantic States, in 1795, Harrison was left in command of Fort Washington. During the first year of his garrison life, he married the daughter of Judge Symmes, the proprietor of the Miami purchase. But the active mind of Harrison could not be confined within the walls of a garrison; he therefore resigned his commission, and obtained an appointment as secretary of the northwestern territory. His able talents, exercised in that capacity, soon made him popular, and in 1799 he was elected the first delegate in Congress for that extensive region, now comprising the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the territory of Michigan. The first object of his attention was a repeal of the obnoxious land bill, which ordained, that not less than four thousand acres could be sold at once. He became chairman of the committee on lands and framed a bill, which was carried with very little opposition. This bill lowered the number of acres to sections, half-sections, and quarter-sections, so as to enable the industrious husbandman to commence his labors; also providing for the payment of the lands in such a way as to meet the exigences of the most frugal means.

To this grand and important act of William Henry Harrison, is imputed the rapid settlement of the whole of that extensive region; and had he only been permitted to live to see this noble act completed, he would richly have merited the title of a benefactor to mankind. Shortly after, Indiana was erected into a separate territory, and Mr. Adams appointed Harrison the first governor.

In 1801, Governor Harrison entered upon the duties of his new office, with powers never before conferred upon any other officer, either civil or military, that of commissioner to treat with the Indians. In this capacity he negotiated and concluded fifteen treaties, with their title to upwards of seventy millions of acres of land. Although he was surrounded by numerous tribes of warlike Indians, whose hostile feelings were constantly inflamed by the intrigues of British agents and traders, and often by the American hunters themselves, Harrison kept down Indian invasion in the territory, only by conciliation accompanied by firmness. His administration of justice was always tempered with mildness. In this way he surmounted difficulties which would have prostrated any ordinary capacity. The ability and success of the administration of Governor Harrison are recorded in his voluminous correspondence with Mr. Jefferson from 1802 till 1809.

During the year 1811, affairs approached a crisis which appeared to render hostilities unavoidable; and Governor Harrison found it necessary to apply to Colonel Boyd, of the 4th United States regiment, then at Pittsburgh, who immediately joined him, with as large a force of militia as time permitted him to collect, together with a small but gallant band of volunteers from Kentucky, numbering about seventy persons. With these he marched towards the prophet’s town, at Tippecanoe. His object was to bring about a negotiation with Tecumseh and his prophet brother, who for a long time had been harassing and plundering the inhabitants of that part of the country. On the 6th of November he arrived in sight of the Indian village, and commenced his attempts at negotiation with these ruthless savages. Finding, however, that all his attempts were fruitless, he resolved to encamp for the night, the chiefs having promised to listen to him on the day following. Governor Harrison was careful in selecting a spot for the encampment, in case of a sudden attack, which he anticipated. His anticipation proved too true; for on the morning of the 7th, before daylight, the onset of these blood-thirsty savages was announced by their hideous yells. The Indians fought with their usual desperation, and for some time were victorious; but the extraordinary skill and courage of the American officers changed the tide against them, and they fled before their pursuers. Victory was propitious, but at the expense of some of the most gallant spirits of the age.

Colonels Davis and Owen, of Kentucky, and Captain Spencer, of Indiana, were among the slain. Governor Harrison received a bullet through his stock, but without injury.

Governor Harrison still continued to negotiate with the Indians, until the declaration of war against England, in 1812. He then received a commission as a major-general in the army of the United States, embracing a larger sphere of action. At that period the greatest confusion prevailed. Money, arms, and men must be raised, but who would assume the responsibility of procuring them?

All the talents and energies of our hero were called into action. He organized his army, obtained money, arms, and ammunition, and on the 5th of October, 1813, he brought the British army, with their Indian allies under Tecumseh, to action, near the river Thames. The decisive victory achieved by militia over the disciplined troops of England, was a matter of joy and exultation through the whole Union. This gallant victory is attributed to the novel maneuver of General Harrison, that of charging through the British lines with mounted infantry. For this important action, Congress presented a vote of thanks and a gold medal. (See Plate VIII.)

General Harrison, having given the necessary aid to Niagara and the western frontier, left his troops at Sacket’s Harbor under the command of Colonel Smith, and repaired to Washington for the purpose of resigning his commission, in consequence of a misunderstanding between the Secretary of War and himself. The resignation was presented and accepted by Secretary Armstrong, much to the regret of the President, who was absent at the time; on his return he remarked, in a letter to a friend, “that had he been in Washington, it should not have been accepted.” General Harrison retired to his estate at North Bend, in Ohio. Thence he was successively called to represent the people of Ohio in the House of Representatives, and Senate of the United States, by which he was appointed minister to Colombia, till recalled by President Jackson. On his return to the United States, General Harrison again enjoyed the pursuits of agriculture in the bosom of his family at North Bend, until 1834, when he was appointed prothonotary of the court of Hamilton county. This office he punctually attended in person, until 1840, when he was triumphantly elected to the presidency of the United States. He was inaugurated and entered upon the duties of his office on the 4th of March, 1841, and died on the following 4th of April. In their official announcement of the death of General Harrison, the members of his cabinet say, “that the people of the United States, overwhelmed, like ourselves, by an event so unexpected and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that his death was calm and resigned, as his life had been patriotic, useful, and distinguished, and that the last utterance of his lips expressed a fervent desire for the perpetuity of the constitution, and the preservation of its true principles.”

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDAL.

Occasion.—Battle of the Thames.

Device.—Bust of General Harrison.

Legend.—Major General William H. Harrison.

Reverse.—A female placing a wreath round two bayonets fixed on muskets, and a color staff stacked, over a drum and a cannon, a bow and a quiver; her right hand resting on a shield, bearing the stars and stripes of the United States, and holding a halbert. From the point of union of the stack, hangs a badge with the inscription, Fort Meigs, Battle of the Thames.

Legend.—Resolution of Congress, April 4th, 1818.

Exergue.—Battle of the Thames, Oct. 5th, 1813.