Black Hawk War
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| Black Hawk War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chief Black Hawk |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 United States |
Sauk Nation | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Henry Atkinson Henry Dodge Adam Snyder Isaiah Stillman Samuel Whiteside |
Black Hawk | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2,000 Miltia 1,500 Regulars volunteers? Indian allies ? |
1000 The majority were women and children |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| 33 killed in action 39 non-combatants killed |
450-600 | ||||||
| Black Hawk War of 1832 |
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| Stillman's Run – Old Man Creek – Buffalo Grove – Indian Creek – St. Vrain – Spafford Farm – Bloody Lake – Kellogg's Grove – Yellow River – Apple River Fort – Wisconsin Heights – Bad Axe |
The Black Hawk War was fought in 1832 in the Midwestern United States. The war was named for Black Hawk, the leader of a band of Sauk and Fox Indians, who fought against the United States Army and militia from Illinois and the Michigan Territory (present-day Wisconsin) for possession of lands in the area.
Contents |
[edit] Return of Black Hawk
The land included the village of Saukenuk, at the junction of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, which had been the principal summer village of the Sauk, which had been settled less than 100 years before, and probably shortly before Black Hawk's birth, in the mid-18th century. In the spring of 1830, when Black Hawk and his followers returned from their hunt, they found white settlers occupying their village. Black Hawk did not sanction the sale of this land and was determined to regain the village; after a year of tension, he returned again in 1831, and Illinois Governor John Reynolds proclaimed it an “invasion of the state”.
Responding to Governor Reynolds' call, General Edmund Pendleton Gaines brought his army troops from St. Louis, Missouri to Saukenuk to insist upon Black Hawk's immediate departure. Black Hawk refused but soon returned, without bloodshed, across the Mississippi, threatened by Gaines' troops and an additional 1,400 militia called up by Reynolds. At this point, Black Hawk signed a surrender agreement in which he promised to remain west of the Mississippi. This did not last long, however.
On 6 April 1832, chafing under the rule of Keokuk and stirred up by promises of British support by Sauk chief Neapope and of welcome by the Winnebago prophet White Cloud in Illinois, Black Hawk and his group of 1,000, called the “British band,” returned to Illinois in an attempt to reclaim their homeland. The governor, considering this an invasion, mobilized 1,600 men and called for additional support from U.S. troops. Brevet Brigadier General Henry Atkinson was given charge for prosecuting the war. Federal authorities, along with Sauk and Fox tribal councils, ordered Black Hawk and his band to retreat west of the Mississippi, but they refused to leave. Soon after, Black Hawk was informed that none of the Illinois or Michigan Indian tribes, or the Canadian government, would aid his band. Facing starvation, Black Hawk decided to surrender and return across the Mississippi. By that time, however, events had overtaken him.
[edit] Hostilities
The governor issued a proclamation on 16 April, mustering five brigades of volunteers to form at Beardstown and to head north to force Black Hawk out of Illinois. Although federal army troops were also involved, the militia were the majority. On 9 May, a small Illinois militia battalion began an aggressive pursuit from the army's point of rendezvous on the Rock River at Dixon. After a strenuous march (the militia was mounted and followed by several supply wagons) the Americans finally came into contact with Black Hawk and his warriors north of the Kishwaukee River near present day Stillman Valley. When the militia killed a member of a three-man parley that had been sent by Neapope, Black Hawk rallied 40 mounted warriors and attacked the militia camp at dusk. Although the militia numbered more than 275 men, cohesion rapidly collapsed, and they fled to Dixon's Ferry, some 35 miles (56 km) away. This would become known as the Battle of Stillman's Run.
Soon after, the exaggerated claim that 2,000 “bloodthirsty warriors were sweeping all Northern Illinois with the bosom of destruction” sent shock waves of terror through the region. After this initial skirmish, Black Hawk led his band to the Michigan Territory. On 19 May, the militia traveled up the Rock River in search of Black Hawk. Several small skirmishes ensued when they encountered the Indians raiding the Illinois settlements in Northern Illinois. Following these skirmishes, the governor recruited additional militia forces, raising the number to 4,000. With the one-month enlistment for militia already expired, the governor mustered them out of service on 27 May and 28 May. The federal government then ordered General Winfield Scott with 1,000 regulars and 300 mounted volunteers to resume the chase. For the moment it looked as though Atkinson's role in this campaign would end soon, but a cholera epidemic struck much of the United States. Winfield Scott's troops would bring it over from the east into Illinois.
[edit] Cholera
General Scott assembled a force of 1,000 federal troops. They embarked on boats from Buffalo, New York, making their way towards Chicago. To wide-spread horror, cholera was reported among the troops. The expedition was doomed. Troops became ill, and many of them died. At each place the vessels landed, the sick were deposited and soldiers deserted, only to further spread the illness to other parts of the country. By the time the expedition landed in Chicago, there were only two hundred effective troops left. Scott felt the need to cancel his plans for an immediate march into the war zone. Instead he waited for reinforcements, supplies, and tended to his stricken men. Winfield Scott arrived too late for military action, but he played an important part in drafting the terms of peace. But for the moment, Atkinson was given a second chance to capture Black Hawk.
[edit] Final confrontation
From the end of June to the beginning of August, the federal troops pursued Black Hawk and his group throughout northern Illinois, and into part of the Michigan Territory which is now Wisconsin. They remained on his trail but always seemed to be two to three days behind. A brigade of Illinois militia and a squadron of Michigan Territory militia collectively lead by Gen. Henry and Col. Henry Dodge caught up with the British band at the Wisconsin Heights where a battle ensued. Despite high casualties (about 70 killed) among the warriors, the majority of the band safely crossed the Wisconsin River. Milita casualties were low (one dead and perhaps 7 or 8 wounded) and the victory at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights restored the morale among many of the troops who had traveled hundreds of miles without even seeing the foe. Neapope, the Civil Chief of the band, left Black Hawk before the battle and Black Hawk split the remaining group, sending many of the less capable downriver in hastily built canoes. This group was intercepted by U.S. troops and hostile Indians, and many were killed. The remainder continued an overland retreat towards the west.
On 1 August, with his people depleted and hungry, Black Hawk reached the Mississippi River several miles south of the confluence of the Mississippi and Bad Axe River. The steamboat Warrior, a vessel which had been chartered by the U.S. Army to communicate with Sioux tribal leaders north of present-day La Crosse, Wisconsin, discovered them quite by accident.
Black Hawk waved a white flag of surrender, but the steamboat captain feared a ruse; he believed warriors were readying their weapons in the woodline. He opened fire with the boat's single cannon. Leaving several dead, the steamboat returned to Prairie du Chien for more fuel. Black Hawk and his family along with about a dozen followers left during the night, heading north to hide among Winnebago. Those left on the banks of the Mississippi prepared to cross the river the next morning. On 2 August, the army finally reached the heights near the river. A small party of Indians decoyed Atkinson's main attack north from the main band on the river bank. General Henry's brigade, which was in the rear of Atkinson's column, discovered the main trail of the Black Hawk's group by accident and followed it down to the crossing site. Atkinson's troops killed the decoy party, then quickly marched to the sound of Henry's volleys. The U.S. Regulars, by now exhausted, ragged and many shoeless, lost their sense of discipline and pitched into the fighting with a will. The battle dissolved into a massacre. At least 150 of Black Hawk's people were killed, with hundreds more taken prisoner. Eight American soldiers were killed. Those that did escape across the river were soon attacked by the Sioux, an old enemy of the Sauk.
On 27 August, Black Hawk surrendered to the Winnebago. He was dressed in new clothes of white deerskin and was delivered to the Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien. On 21 September, a peace treaty was signed with the Sauk and Fox Tribes and Black Hawk. Black Hawk never again attempted to regain his homeland.
[edit] Aftermath
The Black Hawk War of 1832 resulted in the deaths of 70 settlers and soldiers, and hundreds of Black Hawk's band. As well as the combat casualties of the war, a relief force under General Winfield Scott suffered dozens dead and hundreds deserted, among whom the casualties are unknown. The war also the settlement of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Black Hawk War was responsible for the end of conflict between settlers and Indians in these states. One of the Illinois militia, Captain Abraham Lincoln, eventually rose to prominence in national politics becoming President of the United States.
Other notable participants were:
- Jefferson Davis, future President of the Confederate States of America
- Zachary Taylor, future U.S. President
- Major Robert Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter at the start of the American Civil War.
- William S. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton. William recruited Indian allies for the U.S. during the war.
- John Marsh, later prominent resident of Contra Costa County, California
- Albert Sidney Johnston later joined the Confederate States Army.
