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Medal Name: Victory of the Thames
Struck for: Major-General William Henry Harrison
Approval: Act of Congress
OBVERSE
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM H. (Henry) HARRISON.
Bust of General Harrison, in uniform, facing the right.
REVERSE
RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS APRIL 4, 1818.
America, personified as a maiden, with a spear in her right hand and resting on the American shield, places with her left a crown of laurel on a trophy formed of the arms of the enemy, on which hangs a buckler, with the inscription FORT MEIGS BATTLE OF THE THAMES.
Exergue: BATTLE OF THE THAMES OCTOBER 5. 1813
BACKGROUND
William Henry Harrison was born in Berkeley, Charles City County, Virginia, February 9, 1773. He entered the army as ensign in 1791; served in the northwest against the Indians, under General St. Clair, and afterward under General Wayne, to whom he was aid-de-camp; became captain in 1795; resigned in 1797; was appointed secretary of the Northwest territory, and was its delegate in Congress, 1799. He was governor of the territory of Indiana,1801-1813; defeated Tecumseh at Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811; was made brigadier-general and commander of the Northwest territory in 1812, major-general in 1813; gallantly defended Fort Meigs, and defeated the British army at the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, for which victory Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal. He resigned his commission shortly afterwards. Was a member of Congress from Ohio, 1816-1819; Ohio State senator, 1819-1824; United States senator, 1825-1828, and President of the United States, March 4,1841. He died in the White House, Washington, on April 4, one month after his inauguration. He was known in the West by the sobriquet of "Old Tippecanoe." No presidential medal of him was struck.
Resolution of Congress Voting Medals to General Harrison and Governor Shelby, etc.
Resolved unanimously by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Major-General William Henry Harrison, and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, and, through them, to the officers and men under their command, for their gallantry and good conduct in defeating the combined British and Indian forces under Major-General Proctor, on the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the fifth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, capturing the British army, with their baggage, camp equipage and artillery; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause two gold medals to be struck,emblematical of this triumph, and presented to General Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky.
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to present to Colonel Richard M. Johnson a sword, as a testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of the daring and distinguished valour displayed by himself and the regiment of volunteers under his command, in charging and essentially contributing to vanquish the combined British and Indian forces under Major-General Proctor, on the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the fifth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen.
Approved April 4, 1818.
Source: The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by J. F. Loubat, LL.D. (1878)