Page "Richard Mentor Johnson" Paragraph 26

In September, Oliver Hazard Perry destroyed most of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie, taking control of the lake.

This put the British army, then at Fort Malden ( now Amherstburg, Ontario ) out of supply, and threatened to cut it off from the rest of Canada by a landing to the east.

The British, under General Henry Procter, withdrew to the northeast, followed by Harrison, who had advanced through Michigan while Johnson kept the Indians engaged.

Tecumseh covered the British retreat, but was countered by Johnson, who had been called back from a raid on Kaskaskia that had taken the post where the British had distributed arms and money.

Johnson's cavalry defeated Tecumseh's main force on September 29, took British supply trains on October 3, and was one of the factors inducing Procter to stand and fight at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, as Tecumseh had been demanding he do.