Okay, here's Chapter 5. This chapter takes a look at the first post-POD Amero-Indian conflicts.
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May 9, 1811
Louisville, Kentucky
United States of America
"Damn those savages!" a very upset George Condell muttered, making his best attempt not to yell out his frustrations until his lungs gave out. The militiaman looked around the formerly bustling town he once called home for almost 5 whole years. It angered him to no end that these Indians, these savages, had the nerve to destroy parts of a white man's town[1], and a prosperous one at that. Louisville had about 11,000 people only the day before, and now, over half of them had left and over 2 dozen now lay dead. The downtown area had been so badly wrecked, it could take months, maybe even a few years. And even worse for George, his father Andrew, a Scottish immigrant, was amongst the dead. Still, no amount of rage & hatred could fix whatever was left of Louisville. To make matters worse for those still there, flames burned in quite a few buildings in town and the afternoon sky was starting to turn black with smoke from all the ashes; so much so that it was starting to get a little hard to breathe for George given where he was now. So he decided to take a long walk back to his home across the river in the Indiana Territory.
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Extracts from “The Indian Wars: A Complete Analysis”
By Thomas P.W. Muldoon
San Francisco, California
United States of America
© 1937 Freedom Press: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Used with permission.
Chapter 2: The Raid of Louisville & The First Sign of Imminent Conflict.
The raid of Louisville on the morning on May 8th, 1811, was to be one of the incidents that were to have a major impact on the U.S. Policy over the next decade. It represented the first major Indian reprisal of what they thought was an unacceptable encroachment on their lands, particularly those areas in Ohio, the Indiana & Illinois territories, as well as western Kentucky. Although the approximately 500 Shawnees, Maumees, who raided the city were out by morning the next day, they had caused a significant amount of property damage. Though only 25 black and white civilians died during the attack, it was still a blow to the psyches of many of the people in this area, Kentuckians in particular, who thought their home territory was mostly safe from such attacks, especially large scale attacks like this, And just as importantly, when the Indians who had allied with Tecumseh received word of the success of the Louisville raiding party, it raised their morale. If a smallish party of only 500 could fight a destructive enough battle to trash the entire center of a town of 10,000 inhabitants, imagine what 5,000 could do to a whole country......or 50,000 to a whole state! Or so was the thinking of many of the
Indian chiefs at that time, as history informs us[2]. On the other side of the conflict, the U.S. Army began to mobilize in mid-May preparing for more large scale invasions, not just into Indiana and Kentucky, but perhaps further east as well. On June 23rd , 1811, the first significant offensive was to occur in Ohio, not far from the city of Chillicothe...
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June 23, 1811
Near Gnessau[3], Ohio
United States of America
Tecumseh surveyed the area around him. It was a warm, and pleasant summer morning in this area, and he took a little time to enjoy his surroundings. Since the end of April, the Shawnee had been waiting for the perfect moment to start their first raids against the United States, and that day in May had been it.
“Tecumseh?” The Shawnee Chief turned around to see who was speaking to him. It was an old comrade, Maywathekeha[4].
“Maywathekeha! How are you doing on this fine morning?” Tecumseh asked.
“I'm doing well, thank you.” Maywathekeha replied.
“Have you received word about the latest movements by the Americans?” Tecumseh inquired. The Shawnee Chief turned to the east for a moment. Though he did not know when, he believed trouble might soon come; the American government had been most upset & angered by the recent decimation of Louisville, and many generals were now calling for a wider war against not just the Shawnee, but the Indians in general. Even more importantly, U.S. Army troops were now mobilizing for a possible assault on enemy positions in the area. Unfortunately, his fears were not all that far-fetched.
“Unfortunately, none of it is good. Though their Great Father Madison is willing to consider a peaceful end to the conflict, the paleface warriors will accept no such solutions. Already, there are rumors of an army grouping not far from here, and some of the settlers are coming with them, armed.” Maywathekeha pointed to the east-northeast.
“Then,” Tecumseh added, “we must prepare for battle. Inform our men of this immediately.”
Maywathekeha nodded, and then left rather quickly to warn the other Indians. Tecumseh hoped that at least some of his allies would be able to assist him in this time of need. Especially if there was a large U.S. Army grouping headed their way. In that case, he thought it best to invoke the protection of the Great Spirit, just in case things didn't go all that well for the Shawnee and their allies.
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[1]Not my own personal view, of course, let's make that crystal clear right now.
[2]This author does seem to have a little anti-Native bias, to be honest. But not quite as badly as some others writing on the subject, though.
[3]A minor town that is OTL's Frankfort, Ohio. You can find it on Google Maps.
[4]He was a relatively minor figure IOTL, albeit one close to Tecumseh.
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