Battle of Tippecanoe, engagement that helped the United States win control of the Northwest Territory, and established the reputation of William Henry Harrison. It was fought on November 7, 1811, in the town of Battle Ground, Indiana, near the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers, in Tippecanoe County. The battle was between an American force of about 1000 men led by the future president of the U.S. William H. Harrison, then governor of Indiana Territory, and a Native American force estimated by Harrison at about 6000 Shawnee, but probably much smaller, led by Tenskwatawa, called the Prophet or Shawnee Prophet, brother of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, who was absent at the time. After one of his sentinels was killed in an ambush, Harrison marched against the Indian village of Prophetstown, the headquarters of Tenskwatawa and his brother, who had been organizing the tribes into a confederation to oppose the occupation of Native American lands by American settlers. The Native Americans resisted the attack bravely, but after more than two hours of stubborn fighting, they were driven from the field. The next day, Harrison advanced to the town and almost completely destroyed it.

The battle rendered virtually impossible the realization of Tecumseh's plans of confederation, weakened and almost destroyed the prestige of the Prophet, and hastened the general outbreak of hostilities by the Native Americans against the Americans in the Northwest. At the same time, it greatly enhanced the reputation of General Harrison, who acquired the nickname Tippecanoe.