William Henry Harrison, ninth
president of the United States, born in Berkeley, Charles City County, Virginia,
9 February, 1773; died in Washington, D. C., 4 April, 1841, was educated at
Hampden Sidney college, Virginia, and began the study of medicine, but before he
had finished it accounts of the Indian outrages that had been committed on the
western frontier raised in him a desire to enter the army for its defense.
Robert Norris, who had been appointed his guardian on the death of his father in
1791, endeavored to dissuade him, but his purpose was approved by Washington,
who had been his father's friend, and he was commissioned ensign in the 1st
infantry on 16 August, 1791. He joined his regiment at Fort Washington, Ohio,
was appointed lieutenant of the 1st sub-legion, to rank from June, 1792, and
afterward joined the new army under General Anthony Wayne. He was made
aide-de-camp to the commanding officer, took part, in December, 1793, in the
expedition that erected Fort Recovery on the battlefield where St.
Clair had been defeated two years before, and, with others, was thanked by
name in general orders for his services.
He participated in the engagements with the Indians that began on 30 June,
1794, and on 19 August, at a council of war, submitted a plan of march, which
was adopted and led to the victory on the Miami on the following day. Lieutenant
Harrison was specially complimented by General Wayne, in his dispatch to the
secretary of war, for gallantry in this fight, and in May, 1797, was made
captain, and given command of Fort Washington. Here he was entrusted with the
duty of receiving and forwarding troops, arms, and provisions to the forts in
the northwest that had been evacuated by the British in obedience to the Jay
treaty of 1794, and was also instructed to report to the commanding general on
all movements in the south, and to prevent the passage of French agents with
military stores intended for an invasion of Louisiana. While in command of this
fort he formed an attachment for Anna, daughter of John Cleves Symmes. Her
father refused his consent to the match, but the young couple were married in
his house during his temporary absence, and Symmes soon became reconciled to his
son-in-law. Peace having been made with the Indians, Captain Harrison resigned
his commission on 1 June, 1798, and was immediately appointed by President John
Adams secretary of the northwest territory, under General Arthur St. Clair
as governor, but in October, 1799, resigned to take his seat as territorial
delegate in congress.
In his one year of service, though he was opposed by speculators, he
secured the subdivision of the public lands into small tracts, and the passage
of other measures for the welfare of the settlers. During the session, part of
the northwest territory was formed into the territory of Indiana, including the
present states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and Harrison was
made its governor and superintendent of Indian affairs. Resigning his seat in
congress, he entered on the duties of his office, which included the
confirmation of land grants, the defining of townships, and others that were
equally important. Governor Harrison was reappointed successively by President
Jefferson and President Madison. He organized the legislature at Vincennes
in 1805, and applied himself especially to improving the condition of the
Indians, trying to prevent the sale of intoxicating liquors among them, and to
introduce inoculation for the small-pox. He frequently held councils with them,
and, although his life was sometimes endangered, succeeded by his calmness and
courage in averting many outbreaks. On 30 September, 1809, he concluded a treaty
with several tribes by which they sold to the United States about 3,000,000
acres of land on Wabash and White rivers. This, and the former treaties of
cession that had been made, were condemned by Tecumseh (q. v.) and other chiefs
on the ground that the consent of all the tribes was necessary to a legal sale.
The discontent was increased by the action of speculators in ejecting Indians
from the lands, by agents of the British government, and by the preaching of
Tecumseh's brother, the "prophet" (see ELLSKWATAWA), and it was
evident that an outbreak was at hand.
The governor pursued a conciliatory course, gave to needy Indians
provisions from the public stores, and in July, 1810, invited Tecumseh and his
brother, the prophet, to a council at Vincennes, requesting them to bring with
them not more than thirty men. In response, the chief, accompanied by 400 fully
armed warriors, arrived at Vincennes on 12 August The council, which was held
under the trees in front of the governor's house, was nearly terminated by
bloodshed on the first day, but Harrison, who foresaw the importance of
conciliating Tecumseh, prevented, by his coolness, a conflict that almost had
been precipitated by the latter. The discussion was resumed on the next day, but
with no result, the Indians insisting on the return of all the lands that had
recently been acquired by treaty. On the day after the council Harrison visited
Tecumseh at his camp, accompanied only by an interpreter, but without success.
In the following spring depredations by the savages were frequent, and the
governor sent word to Tecumseh that, unless they should cease, the Indians would
be punished. The chief promised another interview, and appeared at Vincennes on
27 July, 1811, with 300 followers, but, awed probably by the presence of 750
militia, professed to be friendly. Soon afterward, Harrison, convinced of the
chief's insincerity, but not approving the plan of the government to seize him
as a hostage, proposed, instead, the establishment of a military post near
Tippecanoe, a town that had been established by the prophet on the upper Wabash.
The news that the government had given assent to this scheme was received
with joy, and volunteers flocked to Vincennes. Harrison marched from that town
on 26 September, with about 900 men, including 350 regular infantry, completed
Fort Harrison, near the site of Terre Haute, Indiana, on 28 October, and,
leaving a garrison there, pressed forward toward Tippecanoe. On 6 November, when
the army had reached a point a mile and a half distant from the town, it was met
by messengers demanding a parley. A council was proposed for the next day, and
Harrison at once went into camp. taking, however, every precaution against a
surprise. At four o'clock on the following morning a fierce attack was made on
the camp by the savages, and the fighting continued till daylight, when the
Indians were driven from the field by a cavalry charge. During the battle, in
which the American loss was 108 killed and wounded, the governor directed the
movements of the troops, he was highly complimented by President Madison in his
message of 18 Dec., 1811, and was also thanked by the legislatures of Kentucky
and Indiana.
On 18 June, 1812, war was declared between Great Britain and the United
States. On 25 August, Governor Harrison, although not a citizen of Kentucky, was
commissioned major-general of the militia of that state, and given command of a
detachment that was sent to re-enforce General Hull, the news of whose surrender
had not yet reached Kentucky. On 2 September, while on the march, he received a
brigadier-general's commission in the regular army, but withheld his acceptance
till he could learn whether or not he was to be subordinate to General James
Winchester, who had been appointed to the command of the northwestern army.
After relieving Fort Wayne, which had been invested by the Indians, he turned
over his force to General Winchester, and was returning to his home in Indiana
when he met an express with a letter from the secretary of war, appointing him
to the chief command in the northwest. "You will exercise,"
said the letter, "your own discretion, and act in all cases according to
your own judgment."
No latitude as great as this had been given to any commander since Washington.
Harrison now prepared to concentrate his force on the rapids of the Maumee, and
thence to move on Malden and Detroit. Various difficulties, however, prevented
him from carrying out his design immediately. Forts were erected and supplies
forwarded, but, with the exception of a few minor engagements with Indians, the
remainder of the year was occupied merely in preparation for the coming
campaign. Winchester had been ordered by Harrison to advance to the Rapids, but
the order was countermanded on receipt of information that Tecumseh, with a
large force, was at the head-waters of the Wabash. Through a misunderstanding,
however, Winchester continued, and on 18 January captured Frenchtown (now
Monroe, Michigan), but three days later met with a bloody repulse on the river
Raisin from Colonel Henry Proctor. Harrison hastened to his aid, but was too
late. After establishing a fortified camp, which he named Fort Meigs, after the
governor of Ohio, the commander visited Cincinnati to obtain supplies, and while
there urged the construction of a fleet on Lake Erie.
On 2 March, 1813, he was given a major-general's commission. Shortly
afterward, having heard that the British were preparing to attack Fort Meigs, he
hastened thither, arriving on 12 April. On 28 April it was ascertained that the
enemy under Proctor was advancing in force, and on 1 May siege was laid to the
fort. While a heavy fire was kept up on both sides for five days,
re-enforcements under General Green Clay were hurried forward and came to the
relief of the Americans in two bodies, one on each side of Maumee river. Those
on the opposite side from the fort put the enemy to flight, but, disregarding
Harrison's signals, allowed themselves to be drawn into the woods, and were
finally dispersed or captured. The other detachment fought their way to the
fort, and at the same time the garrison made a sortie and spiked the enemy's
guns. Three days later Proctor raised the siege. He renewed his attack in July
with 5,000 men, but after a few days again withdrew.
On 10 September Commander Perry gained his victory on Lake Erie, and on 16
September Harrison embarked his artillery and supplies for a descent on Canada.
The troops followed between the 20th and 24th, and on the 27th the army landed
on the enemy's territory. Proctor burned the fort and navy yard at Malden and
retreated, and Harrison followed on the next day. Proctor was overtaken on 5
October, and took position with his left flanked by the Thames, and a swamp
covering his right, which was still further protected by Tecumseh and his
Indians. He had made the mistake of forming his men in open order, which was the
plan that was adopted in Indian fighting, and Harrison, taking advantage of the
error, ordered Colonel Richard M. Johnson to lead a cavalry charge, which broke
through the British lines, and virtually ended the battle. Within five minutes
almost the entire British force was captured, and Proctor escaped only by
abandoning his carriage and taking to the woods. Another band of cavalry charged
the Indians, who lost their leader, Tecumseh, in the beginning of the fight, and
afterward made no great resistance. This battle, which, if mere numbers alone be
considered, was insignificant, was most important in its results. Together with
Perry's victory it gave the United States possession of the chain of lakes above
Erie, and put an end to the war in uppermost Canada. Harrison's praises were
sung in the president's message, in congress, and in the legislatures of the
different states.
Celebrations in honor of his victory were held in the principal cities of
the Union, and he was one of the heroes of the hour. He now sent his troops to
Niagara, and proceeded to Washington, where he was ordered by the president to
Cincinnati to devise means of protection for the Indiana border. General John
Armstrong, who was at this time secretary of war, in planning the campaign of
1814 assigned Harrison to the 8th military district, including only western
states, where he could see no active service, and on 25 April issued an order to
Major Holmes, one of Harrison's subordinates, without consulting the latter.
Harrison thereupon tendered his resignation, which, President Madison being
absent, was accepted by Armstrong. This terminated Harrison's military career.
In 1814, and again in 1815 he was appointed on commissions that concluded
satisfactory Indian treaties, and in 1816 he was chosen to congress to fill a
vacancy, serving till 1819. While he was in congress he was charged by a
dissatisfied contractor with misuse of the public money while in command of the
northwestern army, but was completely exonerated by an investigating committee
of the house. At this time his opponents succeeded, by a vote of 13 to 11 in the
senate, in striking his name from a resolution that had already passed the
house, directing gold medals to be struck in honor of Governor Shelby, of
Kentucky, and himself, for the victory of the Thames. The resolution was passed
unanimously two years later, on 24 March, 1818, and Harrison received the medal.
Among the charges that were made against him was that he would not have pursued
Proctor at all, after the latter's abandonment of Malden, had it not been for
Governor Shelby; but the latter denied this in a letter that was read before the
senate, and gave General Harrison the highest praise for his promptitude and
vigilance.
While in congress, Harrison drew up and advocated a general militia bill,
which was not successful, and also proposed a measure for the relief of
soldiers, which was passed. In 1819 General Harrison was chosen to the senate of
Ohio, and in 1822 was a candidate for congress, but was defeated on account of
his vote against the admission of Missouri to the Union with the restriction
that slavery was to be prohibited there. In 1824 he was a presidential elector,
voting for Henry Clay, and in the same year he was sent to the United States
senate, where he succeeded Andrew
Jackson as chairman of the committee on military affairs, introduced a bill
to prevent desertions, and exerted himself to obtain pensions for old soldiers.
He resigned in 1828, having been appointed by President John
Quincy Adams United States minister to the United States of Colombia. While
there he wrote a letter to General Simon Bolivar urging him not to accept
dictatorial powers. He was recalled at the outset of Jackson's administration,
as is asserted by some, at the demand of General Bolivar, and retired to his
farm at North Bend, near Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lived quietly, filling the
offices of clerk of the county court and president of the county agricultural
society.
In 1835 General Harrison was nominated for the presidency by meetings in
Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and other states; but the opposition to Van
Buren was not united on him, and he received only 73 electoral votes to the
former's 170. Four years later the National Whig convention, which was called at
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for 4 December, 1839, to decide between the claims of
several rival candidates, nominated him for the same office, with John
Tyler, of Virginia, for vice president. The Democrats renominated President
Van Buren. The canvass that followed has been often called the "log
cabin and hard cider campaign."
The eastern end of General Harrison's house at North Bend consisted of a
log cabin that had been built by one of the first settlers of Ohio, but which
had long since been covered with clapboards. The republican simplicity of his
home was extolled by his admirers, and a political biography of that time says
that "his table, instead of being covered with exciting wines, is well
supplied with the best cider." Log cabins and hard cider, then, became
the party emblems, and both were features of all the political demonstrations of
the canvass, which witnessed the introduction of the enormous mass-meetings and
processions that have since been common just before presidential elections. The
result of the contest was the choice of Harrison, who received 234 electoral
votes to Van Buren's 60.
He was inaugurated at Washington on 4 March, 1841, and immediately
sent to the senate his nominations for cabinet officers, which were confirmed.
They were Daniel
Webster, of Massachusetts, secretary of state; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio,
secretary of the treasury; John Bell, of Tennessee, secretary of war; George E.
Badger, of North Carolina, secretary of the navy; Francis Granger, of New York,
postmaster-general; and John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, attorney-general. The
senate adjourned on 15 March, and two days afterward the president called
congress together in extra session to consider financial measures. On 27 March,
after several days of indisposition, he was prostrated by a chill, which was
followed by bilious pneumonia, and on Sunday morning, 4 April, he died.
The end came so suddenly that his wife, who had remained at North Bend on
account of illness, was unable to be present at his death-bed. The event was a
shock to the country, the more so that a chief magistrate had never before died
in office, and especially to the Whig party, who had formed high hopes of his
administration. His body was interred in the congressional cemetery at
Washington; but a few years later, at the request of his family, it was removed
to North Bend, where it was placed in a tomb, overlooking the Ohio river. This
was subsequently allowed to fall into neglect, but afterward General Harrison's
son, John Scott, deeded it and the surrounding land to the state of Ohio, on
condition that it should be kept in repair. In 1887 the legislature of the state
voted to raise money by taxation for the purpose of erecting a monument to
General Harrison's memory.
He was the author of a "Discourse on the Aborigines of the Valley
of the Ohio" (Cincinnati, 1838). His life has been written by Noses
Dawson (Cincinnati, 1834); by James Hall (Philadelphia, 1836); by Richard
Hildreth (1839); by Samuel J. Burr (New York, 1840)" by Isaac R. Jackson;
and by H. Montgomery (New York, 1853).
--His wife, Anna, born near Norristown, New Jersey, 25 July, 1775; died
near North Bend, Ohio, 25 February, 1864, was a daughter of John Cleves Symmes,
and married General Harrison 22 November, 1795. After her husband's death she
lived at North Bend till 1855, when she went to the house of her son, John Scott
Harrison, a few miles distant. Her funeral sermon was preached by Horace
Bushnell, and her body lies by the side of her husband at North Bend.
--Their son, John Scott, born in Vincennes, Indiana, 4 October, 1804; died
near North Bend, Ohio, 26 May, 1878, received a liberal education, and was
elected to congress as a Whig, serving from 5 December, 1853, till 3 March,
1857.--A daughter, Lucy, born in Richmond, Virginia; died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 7
April, 1826, became the wife of David K. Este, of the latter city, and was noted
for her piety and benevolence.
--Benjamin, son of John Scott, senator, born in North Bend, Ohio, 20
August, 1833, was graduated at Miami university, Ohio, in 1852, studied law in
Cincinnati, and in 1854 removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he has since
resided. He was elected reporter of the state supreme court in 1860, and in 1862
entered the army as a 2d lieutenant of Indiana volunteers. After a short service
he organized a company of the 70th Indiana regiment, was commissioned colonel on
the completion of the regiment, and served through the war, receiving the brevet
of brigadier-general of volunteers on 23 January 1865. He then returned to
Indianapolis, and resumed his office of supreme court reporter, to which he had
been re-elected during his absence in 1864. In 1876 he was the Republican
candidate for governor of Indiana, but was defeated by a small plurality.
President Hayes appointed him on the Mississippi river commission in 1878, and
in 1880 he was elected United States senator, taking his seat on 4 March, 1881.
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President William Henry Harrison message nominating his cabinet,
including Daniel Webster as Secretary of State, Thomas Ewing as Secretary of the
Treasury, John Bell as Secretary of War, George E. Badger as Secretary of the
Navy, John J. Crittenden as Attorney General, and Francis Granger as Post Master
General. Page 1 and
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