Statewide County IL Archives Military Records.....The Black Hawk War 
Other War 
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The Black Hawk War
THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

  The rolls furnished from the War Department, and published in this volume,
although by no means complete, show that the State of Illinois furnished one hundred
and seventy-four companies of volunteer rangers and spies, which were actually
mustered into the service of the" United States for various periods of time, during
the Black Hawk War. This, of course, docs not include large numbers of the State
militia, who were under arms, and performed servies [sic] of greater or less
importance, and whose names will remain forever unknown, many of whom were never
actually mustered by any United States military officer, nor have any rolls or other
account of their service been preserved.

  That the public may understand the service of these companies, and the part
performd [sic] by them in that most important of any of the Indian wars of the West,
we give a brief sketch of the causes which led to, and the principal events which
occurred in, the Black Hawk War. The causes which led to that war reach back to, and
even before, the Winnebago or Sauk War of 1837, and are, as briefly stated by
Edwards, in his History of Illinois, as follows:

   "During Governor Edwards' administraion, [sic] as Executive of the State, the
Indians upon the Northwestern frontier began to be very troublesome. The different
tribes not only commenced a warfare among themselves, in regard to their respective
boundaries, but they extended their hostilities to the white settlements. A treaty
of peace, In which the whites acted more as mediators than as a party, had been
signed at Prairie du Chien, on the 19th day of August, 1825, by the terms of which
the boundaries between the Winnebagos and Sioux, Chippawas, Sauks, Foxes, and other
tribes, were defined, but it failed to keep them quiet. Their depredations and
murders continued frequent, and in the summer of 1827 their conduct, particularly
that of the Winnebagos, became very alarming.

   There is no doubt, however, that the whites, who at this period were immigrating
in large numbers to the Northwest, and earnestly desired their removal further
westward, purposely exasperated the Indians, at the same time that they greatly
exaggerated the hostilities committed."—(Edwards' Hist. p. 218.)

  A combination was soon formed by the different tribes of Indians under Red Bird, a
chief of the Sioux, to kill or drive off all the whites above Rock river. This
league, which included the Winnebagoes, Pottawotamies, and other tribes of the
Northwest, commenced their offensive operations by killing two white men in the
vicinity of Prairie du Chien, on the 24th day of July, 1827, and on the 30th of the
same month they attacked two returning keel boats which had, on their upward trip,
conveyed military stores to Fort Snelling, killing two of the crew and wounding four
others, before they were repulsed. Governor Edwards, anticipating trobule, [sic]
had, on the 14th day of July, issued an order to the commandants in Gen. Hanson's
brigade, (located on the cast side of the Illinois river), to detach one-fourth of
their respective regiments, and be ready to meet any attack made by the Indians. On
the same day he wrote to Col. Thomas M. Neale, of the Twentieth Regiment (from
Sangamon county), to accept six hundred volunteers, who were to equip themselves,
find their own subsistence, and continue in service thirty days, unless sooner
discharged; to rendezvous the same at Fort Clark, and march with all possible
expedition from there to Galena, to the assistance of the whites, as the Indians had
threatned [sic] the settlers at the lead mines, near that place. The possession of
these mines by the whites had always excited the serious jealousy of the Indians.

  Under this call Col. Neale recruited one cavalry company, which was commanded by
Capt. Edward Mitchell, and four companies of infantry, commanded, respectively, by
Captains Thomas Constant, Reuben Brown, Achiles Morris and Bowlin Green. The whole
force under command of Col. Neale, (the other field officers are unknown except
James D. Henry—Sheriff at the time of Sangamon County—Adjutant), marched to Peoria,
where the regiment was more fully organized, and from thence to Galena. Before their
arrival, however, in the Indian country Red Bird and six of his principal warriors
had surrendered, and the campaign being ended the volunteers returned to their
homes. No rolls of these companies have been obtained, and if they were mustered
into the United States service at all, the rolls were either never returned to the
department, or have been mislaid.

  While Col. Neale was recruiting and marching his regiment to Galena, the settlers
there were not idle. A committee of safety had been formed and temporary defences
were erected, and in pursuance of an order from Governor Edwards the miners were
formed into companies and equipped for action, (the rolls of only one company of
these militia have been furnished us, Capt. James M. Strode's, page 187.) These
militia were placed under the immediate command of Gen. Henry Dodge, and formed an
auxiliary force to the command of Brig.-Gen. Henry Atkinson, U. S. A., whose force
consisted of six hundred regulars. Before the arrival of Col. Neale, these forces
combining under Gen. Atkinson, marched into the Winnebago country and captured Red
Bird, who, it appears by a letter of Gen. Street to Governor Edwards, voluntarily
surrendered himself to the whites, coming into camp displaying a white flag. With
Red Bird there also surrendered themselves six other Indians, including Black Hawk,
who had not yet become famous. These Indians were retained in captivity several
months, Red Bird dying during confinement; and some of them having been tried and
convicted of complicity in the murder of white settlers, were executed on the 26th
day of December, 1827. Black Hawk, against whom nothing could be proven, was
acquitted, but it is alleged afterwards acknowledged his guilt and boasted of his
connection with the murders for which he had been tried. With the death of Red Bird
ended the Winnebago war. The tribe seemed to be thoroughly humbled by the result of
the campaign, and although fears of further hostilities from them were for some time
after entertained, they continued peaceable. In regard to the lands about which the
difficulty originated, until the question of ownership could be adjusted amicably,
they promised to keep away from the mines entirely, Gen. Atkinson promising them
that "the next summer persons would come from their Great Father to consult with
them about the matter."

"A talk was subsequently had with them in which they abandoned all the country south
of the Wisconsin river. After this there was a general peace with the Indians
throughout the western frontier.' (Edwards' His. p. 224.) In the meantime Governor
Edwards did not cease his efforts to urge on the War Department the necessity of the
entire removal of the Indians from the State, their presence being a constant
menace, and their continued residence on lands which they had ceded being dangerous
to the peace of the white settlers, who were constantly increasing in numbers, and
whose animals the Indians did not hesitate to appropriate whenever opportunity
offered. In October the Secretary of War informed the Governor that Governor Cass
had been instructed to "take measures with regard to the removal of the Indians."
But delays having occurred, and the Indians still remaining, on the 25th day of May,
1828, Governor Edwards wrote to Gen. Clark urging immediate action on the part of
the Government. This he followed by a letter addressed to the Secretary of War,
dated June 17th, in which he stated: "This grievance still continuing, and
aggravated as it is by recent occurrences of which I am bound to presume you are
informed, I feel it my duty to ask you what further in regard to this matter may be
expected from the General Government.' (Edwards' Hist. p. 226.)

  Upon the urgent request of the Indians, and notwithstanding the earnest protest of
the Governor (Edwards), twelve months additional time was given them in which to
remove from the State. With regard to this delay and in a spirit of protest against
the action of the Government in the premises, Governor Edwards wrote Gen. Clark,
Indian agent at St. Louis, a letter, in the conclusion of which he used the
following significant language: "If any act of hostility shall be committed on the
frontiers, I will not hesitate to remove them on my own responsibility as Governor
of the State."

  As to the subsequent history of the causes which finally led to this outbreak,
Edwards says:

   About this time (1829) the President issued his proclamation, according to law,
and, in pursuance thereof, all the country above the mouth of Rock River (the
ancient seat of the Sauk nation) was sold to American families, and in the year
following it was taken possession of by them. To avoid difficulty with the tribes
another treaty, confirming previous ones, was made with the Sacs and Foxes, on the
15th of July, 1830, by the provisions of which they were to remove peacefully from
the Illinois country. A portion of the Sacs, with their principal chief, Keokuk, at
their head, quietly retired across the Mississippi. With those who remained in the
village, at the mouth of Rock River, an arrangement was made by the Americans who
had purchased the land, by which they were to live together as neighbors, the
Indians still cultivating their old fields as formerly. Black Hawk, however, a
restless and uneasy spirit, who had ceased to recognize Keokuk as chief, and who was
known to be still under the pay of the British, emphaticalily [sic] refused either
to remove from the lands or to respect the rights of the Americans to them. He
insisted that Keokuk had no authority for making such a treaty, and he proceeded to
gather around him a large number of the warriors and young men of the tribe, who
were anxious to distinguish themselves as "braves," and, placing himself at their
head, he determined to dispute with the whites the possession of the ancient seat of
his nation. He had conceived the gigantic scheme, as appears by his own admissions,
of uniting all the Indians, from the Rock River to the Gulf of Mexico, in a war
against the United States, and he made use of every pretext for gaining accessions
to his party.

  In the meantime, on the 9th day of December, 1830, the Hon. John Reynolds had been
elected Governor of the State.

  In pursuance of his declared intention of regaining possession of the ancient
hunting grounds and the principal village of his tribe, in the month of April, 1831,
Black Hawk recrossed the river, at the head of a force variously estimated at from
three to five hundred braves of his own tribe, with from one to two hundred allies
of the Pottawotamies and Kickapoos, bringing with them his women and children, with
the avowed purpose of remaining.

  Black Hawk immediately notified the whites that they must depart from the village,
and they refusing to comply, their property was destroyed, and they suffered in
person various indignities at the hands of the Indians. On the 30th of April, forty
of these settlers sent a petition to Governor Reynolds, setting forth their
grievances, and asking relief. Governor Reynolds, thus informed of the state of
affairs, and believing that Black Hawk and his band were determined to retain
possession of the country by force, resolved to effect their expulsion. A call was
therefore made for volunteers (May 27, 1831), and when it became known, the whole
northwestern [sic] part of the State resounded with the clamor of war. No county
south of St. Clair nor east of Sangamon was included in the call, which was limited
to seven hundred men, who were to report within fifteen days' time, mounted and
equipped, at the place of rendezvous, which was fixed at Beardstown, on the Illinois
river. More than twice the number of men called for responded, and the Governor,
finding so many willing and ready to go, decided to accept the services of the whole
1,600 men. They were moved to a camp two miles north of Rushville,  and there
organized into two regiments, and two battalions. One of the regiments elected James
D. Henry, of Sagamon [sic] county, Colonel,* and the other elected Daniel Lieb,
while Major Nathaniel Buckmaster was elected to command the "Odd Battalion." Major
Samuel Whitesides was appointed by the Governor to the command of the "Spy
Battalion," and the whole brigade was placed under the command of Hon. Joseph
Duncan, then the member in Congress, and afterward Governor of the State, who was
commissioned by Governor Reynolds as Brigadier General of militia. Colonels Enoch C.
Marsh and Samuel C. Christy were appointed quartermasters, while the Governor
himself accompanied the expedition in his capacity, as Commander-in-Chief of the
militia of the State. They immediately (June 15th, 1831), took up their march from
camp near Rushville to Rock river, where they arrived on the 25th of June. Six
companies of regular troops, which had been dispatched from Jefferson Barracks,
under the command of Gen. Gaines, had arrived at Fort Armstrong a few days before,
and had already had an unsatisfactory conference with Black Hawk, who declined to
return across the river. Gen. Gaines met Governor Reynolds and his force at their
encampment on the Mississippi, eight miles below the old Sac village, and after
receiving the volunteers into the United States service, Gens. Gaines and Duncan
concerted measures of attack. But the wily Black Hawk, no doubt well apprised of the
number of the force which was ready to attack him, concluded not to risk an
engagement, but on the night of the 25th had quietly recrossed the river, leaving
his deserted camp and village to be peaceably taken possession of by the forces of
the opposing Generals on the following morning. Out of vengeance, no doubt, for
their disappointment at the escape of the Indians, and to remove future cause of
dispute, the soldiers destroyed the village entirely by fire. As Governor Ford says
in his history, "Thus perished this ancient village, which had been, the delightful
home of 6,000 to 7,000 Indians, where generation after generation had been born, had
died and been buried." Gen. Gaines sent an order to Black Hawk requiring him and his
band to return and enter into a treaty., They refusing to respond to the first
invitation, a second and more peremptory mandate had the desired effect, and on the
30th day of June, 1831, Black Hawk and about thirty chiefs of the Sacs came, and in
full council with Governor Reynolds and Gen. Gaines, signed an agreement, in which
they agreed, among other things, that "no one or more shall ever be permitted to
recross said river, to the usual place of residence, nor any part of their old
hunting grounds east of the Mississippi, without permission of the President of the
United States, or the Governor of the State of Illinois." The volunteer troops were
then disbanded, and returned to their homes, while the subsistence gathered for
their sustenance, was from time to time givn [sic] by Gens. Gaines and the
kind-hearted Governor to the Indians, who had, by their foolish invasion, rendered
it impossible to raise any crop for that season, it being too late to plant any crop
after the war had closed. Thus ended without bloodshed the first campaign of the
Black Hawk war. Of the forces engaged therein, there are but the rolls of two
companies, published herein, Capt. Solomon Miller's, from St. Clair county, and
Capt. William Moore's, of the same county, both in Maj. Buckmaster's "Odd
Battalion."  (See pages 188, 190.)

* Jacob Fry was Lieutenant-Colonel, and John T. Stuart Major.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

RECORD OF THE SERVICES OF ILLINOIS SOLDIERS IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR
1831-32

AND IN THE MEXICAN WAR
1846-48

CONTAINING A COMPLETE ROSTER OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN OF BOTH WARS,
TAKEN FROM THE OFFICIAL ROLLS ON FILE IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.

WITH AN APPENDIX GIVING RECORD OF THE SERVICES OF THE ILLINOIS MILITIA, RANGERS
AND RIFLEMEN, IN PROTECTING THE FRONTIER FROM THE RAVAGES OF THE INDIANS FROM 1810
TO 1813.

PREPARED AND PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE THIRTY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
BY ISAAC H. ELLIOTT
ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL: JOURNAL COMPANY, PRINTERS AND BINDERS,
1902.


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