Tecumseh (March 1768 - October 5, 1813) was a Native American leader of the Shawnee. He grew up in the Ohio Country during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, where he was constantly exposed to warfare. With a vision of establishing an independent Native American nation east of the Mississippi under British protection, Tecumseh worked to recruit additional tribes to the confederacy from the southern United States. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh's confederacy allied with the British and helped in the capture of Fort Detroit. After the U.S. Navy took control of Lake Erie in 1813, the Indians and British retreated. American forces caught them at the Battle of the Thames, and killed Tecumseh in October 1813. With his death, his confederation disintegrated, and the Indians had to move west again.