The 1840 presidential election featured one of the most famous political slogans in American history.

You may have heard of it.

Typical New and Tyler II, the Tyler of the slogan was John Tyler, the vice presidential candidate.

But who is Typical New?

It wasn't a person. It was the site of a famous battle.

The general who won that battle was William Henry Harrison, the man who became the ninth president of the United States.

Born into a leading Virginia family on February 9, 1773, his father Benjamin Harrison the fifth,

was one of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence.

William, the youngest of seven children, grew up on the family's largest state.

But when his father died suddenly, the cushy life of his youth quickly became a memory.

Like most Virginia planters, the estate was more debt than profit.

And at 18, William was on his own.

He joined the army and was posted to the Northwest Territory, an area that includes what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Harrison quickly established himself as a brave soldier and competent administrator.

In 1801, when Harrison was just 27, President John Adams appointed him governor of the entire region, an office Harrison would hold for 12 years.

As governor, Harrison was a passionate promoter of Westward expansion.

He negotiated seven treaties with the tribes of the region, acquiring about 50 million acres of land for the United States in the process.

While many of the Indians adapted to changing circumstances and melded into the new settlements and towns, some refused to.

These gathered under the banner of Shawnee Chief to Cumpsy.

In November 1811, Tacumsy's warriors, led by his brother, Tenskwa Tallah, launched a surprise attack on Harrison's forces near the Tipikinu River in what is now Indiana.

After taking initial losses, Harrison and his men turned the tide and emerged victorious.

The Battle of Tipikinu made Harrison a national hero.

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