Thames

River in southern Ontario, Canada; length 260 km/160 mi. It rises northwest of Woodstock and flows to London, where the North Thames joins it, and out to Lake St Clair, southwest of Chatham.

History The Thames was imagined in the 1790s as the chief river of an Upper Canada whose capital would be London, but historical developments, including the rise of York (Toronto), diverted growth from the area.

In October 1813 the Battle of the Thames was fought at Moraviantown (Thamesville), northeast of Chatham, where Americans defeated British-Native American forces, including the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, who was killed here. Having established superiority, however, the Americans withdrew.