During this period of the early 1830s, Black Hawk listened closely to advice from the British. He traveled to Malden in Canada during the summer of 1830, receiving assurances that the “American Father” would treat the Sauk fairly. The next summer, Neapope, a young Sauk war chief, made the same trip, returning in the fall. Whatever Neapope was actually told in Canada, his message to Black Hawk—at best a misunderstanding of what he had heard—helped propel Black Hawk into making decisions that would result in the war that bears his name.
According to Black Hawk, Neapope told him that the British reaffirmed Sauk rights to the land along the Rock River. Further, the British would help the Sauk if war broke out between Black Hawk’s people and the U. S. government. Neapope had stopped at the Prophet’s village on the way home and claimed that he had received more promises from the British there—in this case, that they would supply the Sauk with guns, ammunition, and other supplies. The Prophet supposedly also stated that several other Indian nations (the Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Winnebago) would fight alongside the Sauk. None of this information turned out to be true, and Black Hawk in his autobiography noted Neapope’s falsehood. Yet Black Hawk was not alone in believing that the British would come to his help; throughout the region, concern about another British-Sauk alliance and a broader war between Britain and the United States was widespread among settlers and U. S. officials.
Black Hawk's Strategy
Fortified by Neapope’s promises, Black Hawk and his group (often referred to as the “British band” of Sauk) crossed the Mississippi River on April 5 or 6, 1832, carrying with them a British flag and intent on returning to Saukenuk. Various estimates place the total size of Black Hawk’s party at around 2,000, including women, children, and some 500 to 700 warriors. Some traveled by canoe toward their home village, others overland by horseback. On April 8, General Atkinson left Jefferson Barracks with six companies of the Sixth Infantry for Fort Armstrong at Rock Island, arriving on the night of April 11-12.
Black Hawk had crossed the Mississippi with a fallback position. If returning to Saukenuk did not prove feasible, he had an offer from the Prophet to go to his village on the Rock River north of Saukenuk and grow corn there. The Prophet exercised poor judgment in telling Felix St. Vrain, the Rock Island Indian agent, of his offer, and St. Vrain in turn relayed that information to Major John Bliss, commander at Fort Armstrong. Not surprisingly, Bliss began to prepare for war.
Approximately a week after arriving at Fort Armstrong, General Atkinson met with Keokuk and other chiefs who were not with Black Hawk. Atkinson also made hurried preparations for the anticipated showdown with Black Hawk, communicating with troops at Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien and Fort Winnebago on the Wisconsin River at Portage. He traveled personally to Fort Crawford; then, after returning to Rock Island, he accepted as prisoners three of the men who had attacked the Menominee camp the previous year. That the remaining participants were supposedly with Black Hawk simply fueled the general’s outrage.
Atkinson also exchanged letters with Governor Reynolds, perhaps reasoning that Black Hawk feared the militia more than the regular military and might be induced to surrender if he knew that he would be facing Reynolds’ men. The governor wasted no time mobilizing the militia for the second year in a row.
On April 24, by which time Black Hawk was camped at the Prophet’s village, he received a communication from Atkinson urging him to recross the Mississippi. On the same day, Black Hawk received a visit from Henry Gratiot, a subagent to the Winnebago who also ran a mining operation at Gratiot’s Grove (the future Gratiot, Wisconsin). Gratiot learned of Black Hawk’s plans to lead his group farther north, to another Winnebago camp on the Pecatonica River in what would become southwestern Wisconsin, and of his willingness to fight if Atkinson pursued him.
During the latter part of April, the militia, approximately 2,000 strong, gathered at Beardstown near the Illinois River. The militia departed on April 30, heading north to Yellow Banks, where Black Hawk had crossed the Mississippi. At that point, however, General Atkinson had not yet received authorization from his superiors to call the militia into action. This situation changed on May 5, when General Alexander Macomb, commanding general of the U. S. Army, ordered Atkinson to take decisive action against the Sauk and authorized him to use the militia to do so. Atkinson subsequently ordered Colonel Zachary Taylor, recently reinstalled as commander at Fort Crawford, to bring a contingent of troops to Fort Armstrong.
By May 8, Taylor with his force and Reynolds with his militia were at Fort Armstrong. The following day, Atkinson began his campaign against Black
Hawk. By this time, Black Hawk’s situation was deteriorating. His people were low on food, and some of his companions were deserting him. In another blow, he had not received any military support from the Winnebago or Potawatomi or any supplies from the British.
Stillman's Run
The first major engagement of the Black Hawk War occurred on May 14, 1832. Black Hawk was camped in north-central Illinois on the Kishwaukee River, not far south of the present site of Rockford. Governor Reynolds, determined to gain the glory himself for defeating Black Hawk, ordered one of his militia officers, Brigade Major Nathaniel Buckmaster, to dispatch Major Isaiah Stillman in search of Black Hawk. Stillman led a force of about 130 volunteers northward. Another contingent of about 150 men accompanied Stillman under the command of Major David Bailey. At about 2:00 p. m. on May 14, one of Stillman’s scouts sighted two Indians and, according to Stillman, killed both of them. Later that same day, Black Hawk learned of a large force of men approaching and sent more of his own men under a white flag to meet them. These Sauk also came under fire. Accounts vary regarding the fate of the men, although there is agreement that some were killed and some were taken prisoner. Stillman reported that six Indians were involved, with three killed and three captured. Black Hawk’s account describes his sending three men with a white flag, all of whom were taken prisoner. He reportedly sent five more warriors to follow and see what would take place with the first set. Black Hawk states that this group was pursued by the soldiers and fled, with two being killed.12
As Stillman’s men approached the Sauk camp, Black Hawk ordered his men, who numbered only about 40, to mount their horses and charge the attackers. Black Hawk expected that he and his men would be killed, but the sudden assault by the Sauk so confounded the militia, whose numbers far exceeded the Sauk force, that they turned and fled. This action earned them lasting ignominy along with a permanent name for their encounter: Stillman’s Run. During the battle, 12 of Stillman’s men were killed but none of Black Hawk’s band died, except for the members of the peace delegation.
Continued Fighting
Black Hawk’s victory over Stillman was followed by a number of raids on settlers’ homes and farms. In an engagement on May 24, a Winnebago party killed four men at Kellogg’s Grove west of the site of Stillman’s Run and near Kent, Illinois. The dead included the Rock Island agent Felix St. Vrain. Unable to catch Black Hawk and increasingly scorned by angry and frightened settlers, the militia largely disbanded by the end of May. Approximately 300 agreed to serve an additional 20 days to provide some sense of protection for the area. A notable member of this group was young Abraham Lincoln, who had been serving as a captain but was reduced in rank to private in the abbreviated militia.
The most frightening attack on settlers took place on May 21, although the attackers were Potawatomi rather than Sauk. At Big Indian Creek in Illinois, 15 men, women, and children were killed and severely mutilated. Two teenage girls, Sylvia and Rachel Hall, were taken captive. Some Sauk who had accompanied the Potawatomi took the girls to Black Hawk’s camp. There they were kept unharmed, but were forced to travel with the Sauk for several days until they were released. Nonetheless, Black Hawk received the blame for the attack, largely because he was the most famous Indian leader involved in the war.
Another attack that spread fear occurred on June 14 south of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, on a farm owned by Omri Spafford. Six men were working in a cornfield when they were attacked, and Spafford and three others were killed. Two days later, along the Pecatonica River, 30 volunteers under the command of Henry Dodge (some of them out of Fort Defiance south of Mineral Point) fought what became known as the Battle of Pecatonica. Dodge, who had founded a mining settlement that he named after himself, was a tall, swashbuckling, natural leader, and later became governor of the state of Wisconsin.
Dodge and his men followed a war party across the east branch of the Pecatonica. There, near present-day Woodford, Wisconsin, they killed all nine members of the party, all of them Kickapoo. Black Hawk was not there, as he had not been at the Spafford farm. Nonetheless, this battle—really more of a small skirmish—helped settlers regain some confidence that they could defeat Black Hawk’s Sauk and their allies. The Battle of Pecatonica, small as it was, removed at least some of the fear and uncertainty that had arisen in the wake of Stillman’s Run and the succession of sporadic raids against which the farmers and villagers seemingly had no defense.
In fact, some of Black Hawk’s battles were far less than total successes. An attack on the Apple River Fort south of Galena, Illinois, on June 24, resulted in the death of one soldier and the capture of livestock and supplies but a quick abandonment of any attempt to capture the fort or set it afire. A second battle of Kellogg’s Grove two days later against a militia force led by Major John Dement resulted in the death of five of Dement’s men and a large number of their horses. For their part, however, the Sauk lost two chiefs and seven other warriors.
Black Hawk's Retreat
As the summer progressed, Black Hawk and his people, who numbered approximately 1,000, increasingly faced hunger and the stress of not knowing when their pursuers might locate them. Camped in the swampy terrain near Lake Koshkonong southeast of where Madison is now situated, the Sauk were reduced to eating their horses, digging up roots, and stripping bark for their food. The elderly began to die.
Black Hawk decided to lead his party west to the Wisconsin River and take the river route down to the Mississippi, which he hoped to cross to safety. Desperate to reach the Wisconsin as quickly as possible, the Sauk left a long line of supplies behind them, making pursuit easy for anyone who picked up their trail, as Henry Dodge and his force had done. Dodge’s men caught up with the Sauk on July 21 near the Wisconsin. Neapope and a contingent of 20 warriors remained behind and faked attacks in an effort to slow down the pursuers and allow the main body of Sauk to cross the river. As the Sauk were crossing to an island in the middle of the Wisconsin, Dodge’s forces arrived. Black Hawk led about 50 warriors against them, while his remaining men tried to help the women and children cross. The Sauk tried a frontal attack and then attempted to flank Dodge, who gave permission for a bayonet charge that drove the Sauk back from the heights (known as Wisconsin Heights) to the woods and grass along the river. During the battle, Black Hawk’s horse was twice wounded. Strangely enough, Dodge did not continue the engagement, a development that astonished Black Hawk.
The Sauk completed their crossing of the river, having managed to escape a disastrous defeat. The number killed by Dodge’s troops is unknown. Black Hawk put the figure at six, by all other accounts far too low. Estimates from the other side ranged from 40 or more (Dodge’s report) to close to 70. Dodge’s men and their Winnebago scouts scalped many of the fallen Sauk.
On the other side of the Wisconsin, Black Hawk’s party split. Some started downriver toward the Mississippi, Neapope and one companion left to sit out the rest of the war at a Winnebago village, and Black Hawk and the remaining Sauk started overland toward the Mississippi north of Prairie du Chien. Many of the latter band of Sauk were forced to walk because of a shortage of horses. Most members of the first party, which consisted primarily of women, children, and elderly men traveling in hastily constructed canoes, met disaster at the hands of troops from Fort Crawford stationed at the mouth of the Wisconsin. Many were either killed or captured outright, while others escaped the troops only to perish from starvation or be hunted down and killed by Menominee recruited by the army.
Black Hawk and his companions continued toward the Mississippi. On August 1, they were on the east bank about two miles south of the Bad Axe River when Black Hawk saw a steamboat, the Warrior, approaching. Black Hawk was acquainted with its captain, Joseph Throckmorton. Intending to surrender so as to save the children and women, he hoisted a white cloth and called out to Throckmorton. Two factors conspired to thwart Black Hawk’s plan. First, the military had chartered the Warrior to carry about 20 troops to a Sioux village; thus, in addition to a six-pound cannon, the boat carried a cargo of soldiers. Second, Throckmorton apparently did not recognize Black Hawk and suspected an ambush. He dropped anchor and called out an invitation for a representative to come to him in a boat. Having no boat, the Sauk could not comply, and Throckmorton, assuming a refusal and trickery, ordered the cannon to open fire, as did the soldiers. As night fell, Throckmorton left for Prairie du Chien, leaving 23 Sauk reportedly killed.
After the Warrior departed, Black Hawk told the Sauk that those who wished could cross the river. Black Hawk himself, accompanied by the Prophet and a small group of Sauk, headed north to take refuge with the Chippewa. He also directed a party of about 20 warriors to take up position east of the Mississippi and, if the soldiers arrived, lead them away from the main band.
Slaughter on the Mississippi
Early in the morning of August 2, a party of Henry Dodge’s scouts under Captain Joseph Dickson of Platteville encountered the decoy group. In the ensuing fighting, eight Sauk were killed. By eight o’clock, General Atkinson’s main body of soldiers, some 1,000 strong, reached the river. Some Sauk desperately tried to fashion rafts to cross the river, while others tried to swim across.
The attack by Atkinson’s force was supplemented by the return of the Warrior. The resulting slaughter yielded 150 or more dead.13 Approximately 200 Sauk managed to cross the Mississippi. In the following days, many who had initially escaped were caught and killed by militia and Sioux. Major General Winfield Scott, who in June had been put in charge of defeating the hostile Indians in Illinois and the Michigan Territory, later apologized for the killing of women and children.
Black Hawk and the Prophet, among a party of about 30, made their way westward, establishing a temporary camp near the present town of Tomah, Wisconsin. There they were discovered by a Winnebago and subsequently convinced to come to the Winnebago village at Prairie La Crosse (now La Crosse) and surrender. Black Hawk left the precious medicine bag that had long been in his possession with the Winnebago chief and, along with the Prophet, traveled to Prairie du Chien.
On August 27, 1832, Black Hawk and the Prophet arrived at the home of Joseph Street, the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien. Black Hawk was wearing a new suit of white tanned deerskin that the Winnebago women had made for him so that he could surrender with dignity. Street was amazed by his sudden arrival and delighted that the famous Black Hawk was putting himself under Street’s control and effectively ending the war. Street then turned Black Hawk over to Colonel Zachary Taylor at Fort Crawford.
A Prisoner
Lieutenant Jefferson Davis (later to become famous as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War) escorted both Black Hawk and the Prophet to Jefferson Barracks. Along the way, they paused at Rock Island, where General Winfield Scott came out in a boat to see them rather than have the party land and possibly contract cholera, which had spread among the military that year. Black Hawk spent the winter imprisoned and in chains. Also imprisoned were Black Hawk’s sons (Nasheweskaska and Wathametha), the Prophet,
Neapope, and several other Sauk. During his incarceration, Black Hawk received visits from such luminaries as the writer Washington Irving and the painter George Catlin, who completed portraits of several of the prisoners. George Davenport, Antoine LeClaire, and Keokuk also visited, the latter bringing with him Black Hawk’s wife, Singing Bird, and their daughter, Nauasia.
Despite their past differences, Keokuk appealed directly to President Andrew Jackson to have Black Hawk released. Instead of being freed, however, Black Hawk was sent to Washington, D. C., as part of a six-man group that also included the Prophet, Neapope, and Black Hawk’s son Nasheweskaska. Lieutenant Thomas Alexander, two other soldiers, and an interpreter, Charles St. Vrain, accompanied them. They arrived in Washington on April 24, 1833, and met briefly with President Jackson. They then were sent to Fort Monroe in Virginia to be imprisoned. At Fort Monroe, Colonel Abraham Eustis treated them more as guests than prisoners, removing their shackles and holding dinners in their honor. A long stream of painters came by to execute their portraits, contributing to a continuing elevation of Black Hawk among the Euro-American public, especially in the East, as the prime exemplum of the “noble savage.”
After about a month at Fort Monroe, the decision was made to release Black Hawk but bring him back to the Midwest on a journey through several major cities to impress on him the might of the United States and the futility of further opposition. On June 4, 1833, the group, led by Brevet Major John Garland, departed Fort Monroe.
The caravan’s progress introduced Black Hawk to adulatory crowds in Norfolk and then in Baltimore, where the old Sauk warrior attended a performance of the play Jim Crow in an audience that included President Jackson, who greeted his former enemy pleasantly after the performance. It then wended its way through Philadelphia and New York. Newspapers chronicled Black Hawk’s journey under the heading “Blackhawkiana.” Detroit, closer to the location of the Black Hawk War, gave Black Hawk a very different welcome, burning him in effigy. After arriving back at Prairie du Chien, Black Hawk informed Street that he had left his medicine bag with the Winnebago chief and urged him to retrieve the sacred bag and return it to him. Street assured Black Hawk that the medicine bag was safe and that he would forward it. In his autobiography, Black Hawk expresses his hope that Street will follow through on his promise. At the time he created the autobiography, Street obviously had not sent the medicine bag along, and there is no follow-up documentation as to whether he ultimately did so.
The Final Years
As the summer wound down, Black Hawk returned to Fort Armstrong, where he dictated his autobiography to Antoine LeClaire. John B. Patterson, acting editor of the Galenian newspaper, helped put the account in an orderly form.
Also at Fort Armstrong, Black Hawk received the humiliating news that he was to be under the direction of Keokuk. Nonetheless, publication of the autobiography ensured Black Hawk’s lasting fame and position as the greatest of the Sauk leaders.
Black Hawk lived out his remaining years in Iowa, dying on October 3, 1838, at the age of 72. He was buried sitting, wearing a military cloak given to him by President Jackson. Also interred with him were some of his prized possessions, including a cane he had received from Senator Henry Clay and two swords. Within a year, a man named Doctor Turner had dug up the grave and cut off and stolen his head. Within a few more months, Turner came back for the rest of the body. Turner then put the skeleton on display in his office until Governor Robert Lucas of Iowa Territory had the body removed. It later went on display at the Burlington Geographical and Historical Society in Burlington, Iowa. This building burned down in 1855, with the fire consuming the final physical remains of the legendary warrior.
Over the decades following Black Hawk’s surrender, the combined Sauk and Fox population declined dramatically, dropping from about 6,000 in 1833 to fewer than half that number by 1845.14 Eventually, Black Hawk’s people were moved to Kansas, and then to Oklahoma. Not until 1912 did many Americans again think about the Sauk, when a grandnephew of Black Hawk named Jim Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.
World History
