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At the battle, United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory fought with Native American warriors led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (who was known as "The Prophet") were leaders of a confederacy of Native Americans from various tribes that opposed U.S. expansion into Native territory. As tensions and violence increased, Harrison marched with an army of about 1,000 men to disperse the confederacy's headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers.
Tecumseh was away recruiting allies when Harrison's army arrived. Tenskwatawa, was in charge, but he was a spiritual leader, not a military man. Harrison camped his army near Prophetstown on November 6 and arranged to meet with Tenskwatawa the following day. Early the next morning, warriors from Prophetstown attacked Harrison's army. Although the outnumbered Natives took Harrison's army by surprise, Harrison and his men stood their ground for more than two hours. The Natives were ultimately repulsed when their ammunition ran low. After the battle, the Natives abandoned Prophetstown. Harrison's men burned the town and returned home.The battle lasted about two hours and Harrison lost 62 men (37 killed in action and 25 mortally wounded). About 126 others were injured. The number of Native American casualties is still the subject of debate, but it was certainly lower than that of the United States forces. Historians estimate that as many as 50 were killed and between 70 and 80 were wounded.
Harrison accomplished his goal of destroying Prophetstown. He proclaimed that he had won a decisive victory, although many historians now question this spin. Harrison acquired the nickname "Old Tippecanoe", which was popularized in the song '"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" during the election of 1840, when Harrison was elected president. Some of Harrison's contemporaries, as well as some historians, argue that the expedition was not a success. Although the defeat was a setback for Tecumseh's confederacy, the Natives soon rebuilt Prophetstown, and frontier violence actually increased after the battle.
Public opinion in the United States blamed the violence on British interference. This suspicion led to further deterioration of U.S. relations with Great Britain and served as a catalyst for the War of 1812, which began only six months later. By the time the U.S. declared war on Great Britain, Tecumseh's confederacy was ready to launch its war against the United States and embrace an alliance with the British.
William Henry Harrison returned to the battlefield in 1835 to give speeches during his first presidential campaign, when he lost to Martin Van Buren. He would later defeat Van Buren in the rematch in 1840.