Battle of Tipton's Island

Tipton's Island
	Part of the War of 1812
Date	April 1813
Location	White River
Result	Indecisive
Belligerents
Kickapoo	United States; Indiana Rangers
Commanders and leaders
	John Tipton
Strength
Unknown	30
Casualties and losses
1 killed; 3 drowned in escape; Several wounded	3 settlers killed; 2 settlers wounded

The Battle of Tipton's Island was an engagement between a Kickapoo war party and Indiana Rangers under command of John Tipton in April 1813, on the White River near Seymour, Indiana.

In April 1813, during the War of 1812, a Kickapoo war party killed two white settlers eight miles from Fort Vallonia. The war party continued towards the fort, killing another settler and wounding three more.^[1] The Kickapoo then put some distance between themselves and the fort, but were soon pursued by 30 Indiana Rangers under Major John Tipton known as "Corydon's Yellow Jackets".^[2]

The Kickapoo crossed the flooded Driftwood River, and thinking they had lost their pursuers, set up camp on an island in the east fork of the White River. One of Tipton's scouts located the trail, however, and the rangers cautiously approached the river. Major Tipton ordered the rangers to maintain absolute silence, and tied one ranger to a tree when he kept talking.^[3] The rangers took positions along the bank of the river and opened fire. The Kickapoo were taken by surprise, but returned fire for about half an hour. Few casualties were suffered due to the firing distance across the river and the shelter provided by the wooded island.^[4] One Kickapoo was killed and several were wounded, but a few drowned when they deserted the island and tried to swim across the flooded White River.

The Rangers could not pursue the Kickapoo across the river, so they returned to Fort Vallonia. There was a celebration of the Rangers' victory, but as details of the skirmish became known, it was determined to be a small engagement against a war party that managed to escape. "Tipton's Island" became a term of ridicule.^[5]

Notes

^ Allison, 249
^ Carmony, Donald F. (1916). "Section 15". Indiana Magazine of History. Indiana University, Dept. of History.
^ *Pershing, Marvin W (c. 1900). Life of General John Tipton and Early Indiana History. Tipton literary and Suffrage Club. Also on archive.org
^ Allison, 250
^ Allison, 251

Allison, Harold (1986). The Tragic Saga of the Indiana Indians. Paducah: Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 0-938021-07-9.

[A249-1] Allison, 249

[2] Carmony, Donald F. (1916). "Section 15". Indiana Magazine of History. Indiana University, Dept. of History.

[3] *Pershing, Marvin W (c. 1900). Life of General John Tipton and Early Indiana History. Tipton literary and Suffrage Club. Also on archive.org

[4] Allison, 250

[5] Allison, 251

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Indiana Territory in the War of 1812
People	William Henry Harrison Zachary Taylor Tecumseh John Tipton William Wells Indiana Rangers
Places	Eel River Fort Knox Fort Wayne Fort Vallonia Pigeon Roost
Battles/raids	Fort Harrison Fort Wayne Mississinewa Spur's Defeat Tipton's Island
See also: Tecumseh's War and Battle of Tippecanoe

v t e History of Indiana
Early history	Clovis Adena Hopewell Mississippian Beaver Wars European contact La Salle Expeditions French Rule
1700–1799	Vincennes Fort Miamis Ouiatenon French and Indian War British Rule Pontiac's War American Revolution George Rogers Clark Illinois campaign Clark's Grant Northwest Territory Wabash Confederacy Northwest Indian War Petit Fort
1800–1816	Indiana Territory Buffalo Trace Treaty of Vincennes Johnny Appleseed Treaty of Grouseland Indiana Rangers Tecumseh's War Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812 Abolitionist movement Harmony 1st Indiana Canal Company Constitutional Convention
1817–1899	Statehood Polly v. Lasselle Mary Clark v. G.W. Johnston Treaty of St. Mary's Indian Removals Fall Creek massacre Bank of Indiana 2nd Indiana Canal Company Whitewater Canal Wabash and Erie Canal Public Works and Bankruptcy Underground Railroad Mexican-American War New Constitution Civil War Golden Age Eli Lilly & Company Reno Gang Gas boom Black Day of the General Assembly Indiana Pi Bill Golden Age of Literature
1900–1999	White Caps Elwood Haynes Indianapolis Motor Speedway World War I Indianapolis strike and riots Samuel Woodfill Indiana Klan Great Depression John Dillinger World War II Freeman Field mutiny Shipp & Smith lynchings Flood of 1937 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion Supreme Court Reorganization
Since 2000	Flood of 2008 Indiana State Fair stage collapse
By topic	Auto racing Battles Disasters Economy Elections Ghostlore General Assembly Governors Historic sites People Historical political strength Native Americans Slavery
By city and locale	Evansville Fort Wayne Gary Hartford City Indianapolis Lafayette Lake Wawasee South Bend Terre Haute
See also: History of the United States, History of the Midwestern United States and Portal:Indiana WikiProject Indiana's History Department

See also

Notes