Indiana, to serve as a staging area for their military forces. As Harrison's army marched toward Prophetstown, Tenskwatawa decided to stand firm and take action. On November 6, 1811, while Tecumseh was still in the South, a United States military force of an estimated 1,000 men under Harrison's command approached the village. Hoping to delay a confrontation until additional warriors arrived, Tenskwatawa requested a meeting with Harrison, who agreed to negotiate. With the meeting set for the following day, Harrison and his men set up camp about a mile from Prophetstown. Although they were slightly outnumbered and had little ammunition, Tenskwatawa's force of 600 to 700 men attacked before dawn on November 7. This attack failed, and during the evening Tenskwatawa consulted with the spirits and decided that sending a party to assassinate Harrison in his tent was the best way to avoid a battle. He assured the warriors that he would cast spells that would make them immune to their bullets and any other harm as well as confuse Harrison's army so they would not resist. The warriors moved out and began to surround Harrison's army, looking for a way to enter the camp undetected. After a two-hour engagement that became known as the Battle of Tippecanoe, Tenskwatawa's forces retreated from the field and abandoned Prophetstown to avoid capture. On November 8, Harrison's army burned the village to the ground. Nearly one-fifth of Harrison's forces either died or were wounded in battle (according to one source, 188 casualties; 63 of them fatalities). Harrison claimed hundreds of Indian fatalities; however, the actual number fell, according to another source, between thirty and fifty, with an additional seventy to eighty wounded. Tenskwatawa, who did not take part in the action on the field, remained out of range of U.S. bullets. The battle did not end the Indians' resistance to the United States, but their retreat caused the Prophet, who proved to be a poor military leader, to lose his influence. Some of the Indians wanted to kill him for losing, but he survived; others sought revenge by raiding area farms and travelers. When Tecumseh returned to the Indiana Territory, he resumed his role as the Indian confederation's military leader, but the loss at Prophetstown ended his efforts to establish a stronger Indian alliance. Tenskwatawa became an outcast, and some of his followers returned to rebuild Prophetstown in July 1812, but settler militia