The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, also referred to as the Battle of Pecatonica and the Battle of Bloody Lake, was fought on June 16, 1832 in present-day Wisconsin at an oxbow lake known as "Horseshoe Bend", which was formed by a change in course of the Pecatonica River. The battle was a major turning point in the Black Hawk War, despite being of only minor military significance. The small victory won by the U.S. militia at Horseshoe Bend helped restore public confidence in the volunteer force following an embarrassing defeat at Stillman's Run. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend ended with three militia men killed in action and a party of eleven Kickapoo warriors dead.
The militia men involved in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend proved their ability to obey orders, act as a disciplined unit, and show bravery. Unlike at Stillman's Run, the troops waited for Colonel Henry Dodge's commands before acting on the field of battle. When ordered to charge, the men obeyed and eventually won a fight that descended into a bloody hand-to-hand battle. A memorial marker was erected to commemorate the battle in 1922. Today the battleground at Horseshoe Bend is a county park.
Background
As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between GovernorWilliam Henry Harrison of Indiana Territory and a group of Sauk and Fox leaders regarding land settlement, the Sauk and Fox tribes vacated their lands in Illinois and moved west of the Mississippi in 1828. However, Sauk Chief Black Hawk and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands.[2] Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830 and 1831 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River, but was persuaded to return west each time without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliance with other tribes and the British, he again moved his so-called "British Band" of around 1000 warriors and non-combatants into Illinois.[2] Finding no allies, he attempted to return to Iowa, but the undisciplined Illinois Militia force's actions led to the Battle of Stillman's Run.[3] A number of other small skirmishes and massacres followed and the militias of Michigan Territory and Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's Band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War.
The period between Stillman's Run and Horseshoe Bend was filled with war-related activity. A series of attacks at Buffalo Grove, the Plum River settlement, Fort Blue Mounds and the war's most famous incident, the Indian Creek massacre, all took place between mid-May and late June 1832.[4] In the week before the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Colonel Henry Dodge of the western Michigan Territory militia was busy responding to various incidents across the region. On the afternoon of June 8, 1832, Dodge and his men, including James W. Stephenson, proceeded to Kellogg's Grove and buried the victims of the St. Vrain massacre. That night Stephenson returned to Galena, Illinois, while Dodge moved to Hickory Point where he remained overnight.[5] The next morning Dodge set out for Dixon's Ferry, where he camped with General Hugh Brady.[6]
Map of Black Hawk War sites Battle (with name)Fort / settlementNative village Symbols are wikilinked to article
On June 11, Dodge escorted Brady to the mouth of the Fox River to confer with overall commander General Henry Atkinson.[5] Dodge left the conference with clear authority from Atkinson to deal with the violence in the mining region.[6] He first traveled to his home fort, at Gratiot's Grove, which he reached on June 13.[5] The Spafford Farm massacre occurred the following day, and Dodge set out for Fort Hamilton as soon as he heard about it, stopping at Fort Blue Mounds for supplies.[6][7] On the way to Hamilton, the soldiers passed a German immigrant, Henry Apple, exchanged greetings and kept traveling.[6] Shortly afterwards the soldiers heard gunshots in the distance; Apple had met with a Kickapooambush, likely meant for Dodge himself.[7] Dodge was probably saved by his last minute decision to make a detour from the main route.[7] Later Apple's horse galloped wildly back past the men, wounded and carrying a large amount of blood in its saddle. The horse continued all the way to Fort Hamilton, where it raised a furor among the inhabitants.[6]
A Native American band from the Kickapoo tribe, eleven warriors in all, was responsible for the attack on Apple; the same band had killed five men at Spafford Farm on June 14. This band was only loosely affiliated with Black Hawk's British Band.[8]
On hearing the ambush in the distance, Dodge hurried on toward Fort Hamilton (present-day Wiota, Wisconsin) where he gathered together a company of 29 mounted volunteers and sped off to intercept the attackers.[6] He led the chase through tangled underbrush until, breaking into prairie, his force caught sight of the raiding party.[6] The Kickapoo crossed the Pecatonica River within sight of the pursuing militia, and entered into an overgrown swamp. The militia followed across the swollen river and dismounted when they reached the swamp.[6]
Battle
According to personal accounts of the battle, after dismounting Dodge offered his men a chance to back out of the operation. No one opted out, and 21 men advanced with Dodge in an extended firing line, unsure of the enemy's location.[6] The remaining eight soldiers were posted as guards on high grounds and near the horses.[6] Unlike the disorganized and undisciplined troops at Stillman's Run, the volunteers at Horseshoe Bend adhered to military discipline; they waited for Dodge to give the order before they entered the thicket and swampland in search of their enemy, and once searching they awaited their commander's order to attack.[7]
After the militia advanced about 200yards (200m), the Kickapoo suddenly let loose a loud yell from their hidden position on the bank of an oxbow lake along the river.[6][9] The warriors fired a volley toward the advancing militia and three men, Samuel Black, Samuel Wells and Montaville Morris, were hit and went down.[6] Dodge did not hesitate and ordered his men to charge; they obeyed and waited until they were within six feet of the Kickapoo before discharging their weapons.[6] The fight, after the initial charge and volley, descended into a hand-to-hand struggle with tomahawks, bayonets, muskets and spears the weapons of choice.[9] The fighting only lasted a few minutes: nine Kickapoo were killed on the spot and the other two were felled while fleeing across the lake.[6][10] During the hand-to-hand combat a fourth member of the militia, Thomas Jenkins, was wounded.[11][12] Though short, the Battle of Horseshoe Bend had a lasting impact and influence on the rest of the war.[9]
Aftermath
A historic marker was erected in 1922, in part, by residents of nearby Woodford, Wisconsin.
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, though of little military significance, was a major turning point in the war for the volunteer militia forces and many white settlers.[7][9] This minor militia victory was the first step in the process of redeeming the militia's own morale and its standing in the eyes of the settlers on the frontier.[9] Individual accounts claim that the battle at Horseshoe Bend "turn(ed) the tide of the war."[9] It was also notable for the proportion of killed in action to the number of combatants.[10] All eleven Kickapoo that Dodge had pursued into the swamp were killed and scalped by his troops, while the final militia casualties were confined to three dead and one wounded.[8][10] About an hour after the battle, Colonel William S. Hamilton arrived with friendly Menominee, Sioux and Ho-Chunk warriors.[7] According to Dodge, the friendly warriors were given some of the scalps his men had taken, with which they were "delighted". Dodge also reported that the Native Americans then proceeded on to the battlefield and mutilated the corpses of the fallen Kickapoo.[7]
Of Dodge's casualties, Thomas Jenkins was only slightly wounded. However, the three Militia men who had been shot as they advanced towards the Kickapoo position all later died. Samuel Wells, Montaville Morris and Samuel Black were transported to Fort Hamilton; Morris died at the fort,[13] as did Wells, with his head in a comrade's lap. When informed by the surgeon of his imminent death, Wells requested to speak with Dodge. Wells asked Dodge "if he had behaved like a soldier." Dodge responded, "Yes, Wells, like a brave one." Wells then said to the commander, "Send that word to my old father," and died a short time later.[13] Samuel Black was moved to Fort Defiance, where he lingered for nine days before dying.[13]
This was the first battle in which a volunteer force defeated the Native Americans.[7][9] Dodge became the first of the militia leaders to prove his ability to stand up to the enemy.[7] He quickly became the "rising star" of the conflict, having helped negotiate the release of the Hall sisters after the Indian Creek massacre and proved himself at Horseshoe Bend.[7][9]
The battlefield at Horseshoe Bend is now a campground located within a county park in Lafayette County, Wisconsin. The Black Hawk Memorial Park is maintained by the Lafayette County Sportsmen Alliance, Yellowstone Flint and Cap club, and the Friends of Woodford Park.[11] In 1922, a marker was erected by the Shullsburg chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the residents of Wiota to commemorate the Battle of Horseshoe Bend; it is still visible today.[11] The battlefield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on July 28, 2011.[1]
1 2 3 Stevens, Frank. The Black Hawk WarArchived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Originally published: 1903, Section 181-182, Chapter XXV, Battle of Pecatonica. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crossed the Mississippi River, into the U.S. state of Illinois, from Iowa Indian Territory in April 1832. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but he was apparently hoping to reclaim land sold to the United States in the disputed 1804 Treaty of St. Louis.
The Bad Axe Massacre was a massacre of Sauk (Sac) and Fox Indians by United States Army regulars and militia that occurred on August 1–2, 1832. This final scene of the Black Hawk War took place near present-day Victory, Wisconsin in the United States. It marked the end of the war between white settlers and militia in Illinois and Michigan Territory, and the Sauk and Fox tribes under warrior Black Hawk.
The Battle of Stillman's Run, also known as the Battle of Sycamore Creek or the Battle of Old Man's Creek, occurred in Illinois on May 14, 1832. The battle was named for the panicked retreat by Major Isaiah Stillman and his detachment of 275 Illinois militia after being attacked by an unknown number of Sauk warriors of Black Hawk's British Band. The numbers of warriors has been estimated at as few as fifty but as many as two hundred participated in the attack. However, reports found in Whitney's Black Hawk War indicated that large numbers of Indians were on the move throughout the region, and it appeared that widespread frontier warfare was underway. The engagement was the first battle of the Black Hawk War (1832), which developed after Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa into Illinois with his band of Sauk and Fox warriors along with women, children, and elders to try to resettle in Illinois. The militia had pursued a small group of Sauk scouts to the main British Band camp following a failed attempt by Black Hawk's emissaries to negotiate a truce.
The Battle of Kellogg's Grove is either of two minor battles, or skirmishes, fought during the Black Hawk War in the U.S. state of Illinois, in present-day Stephenson County at and near Kellogg's Grove. In the first skirmish, also known as the Battle of Burr Oak Grove, on June 16, 1832, Illinois militia forces fought against a band of at least 80 Native Americans. During the battle, three militia men under the command of Adam W. Snyder were killed in action. The second battle occurred nine days later when a larger Sauk and Fox band, under the command of Black Hawk, attacked Major John Dement's detachment and killed five militia men.
The Buffalo Grove ambush was an ambush that occurred on May 19, 1832 as part of the Black Hawk War. A six-man detail carrying dispatches from United States Colonel James M. Strode at Galena, Illinois to General Henry Atkinson at Dixon's Ferry was ambushed by Native Americans during the attack. William Durley was killed and buried near the site of the ambush. Durley's remains were initially interred by the party that would become victims of the St. Vrain massacre. Two other men had bullet holes in their clothing, but were uninjured. In 1910 the Polo Historical Society moved Durley's remains to a plot beneath a memorial they erected west of Polo, Illinois.
The Spafford Farm massacre, also referred to as the Wayne massacre, was an attack upon U.S. militia and civilians that occurred as part of the Black Hawk War near present-day South Wayne, Wisconsin. Spafford Farm was settled in 1830 by Omri Spafford and his partner Francis Spencer.
The Battle of Apple River Fort, occurred on the late afternoon of June 24, 1832 at the Apple River Fort, near present-day Elizabeth, Illinois, when Black Hawk and 200 of his "British Band" of Sauk and Fox were surprised by a group of four messengers en route from Galena, Illinois. One of the couriers was wounded in the thigh as the riders quickly made for the protection of the nearby stockade. Courier Fred Dixon lagged behind and provided cover for his comrades. The other couriers rode ahead to warn some 70 settlers of the approaching Sauk and Fox, thus saving their lives. The small company of militia at the fort, about 28-30 men and boys led by Captain Clack Stone, fought off Black Hawk's 150-man war party in an action that lasted about an hour. The withering pace of the gunfire eventually convinced Black Hawk that the fort was too heavily defended to lead a direct attack. He considered burning the fort, then switched to raiding cabins of foodstuffs, clothing and cooking utensils. In the gathering darkness, Black Hawk and his war party retreated.
The Battle of Wisconsin Heights was the penultimate engagement of the 1832 Black Hawk War, fought between the United States state militia and allies, and the Sauk and Fox tribes, led by Black Hawk. The battle took place in what is now Dane County, near present-day Sauk City, Wisconsin. Despite being vastly outnumbered and sustaining heavy casualties, Black Hawk's warriors managed to delay the combined government forces long enough to allow the majority of the Sauk and Fox civilians in the group to escape across the Wisconsin River. This reprieve was temporary; when the militia finally caught up with the fleeing band it resulted in the Bad Axe massacre at the mouth of the Bad Axe River.
The Battle of Waddams Grove, also known as the Battle of Yellow Creek was part of the Black Hawk War. It took place in present-day Stephenson County, Illinois on June 18, 1832. After several incidents of Sauk Indian raids on settlers along the Apple River, Captain James W. Stephenson left Galena with a group of volunteer militia in pursuit of the Native party. The group clashed on June 18, 1832 near Yellow Creek and the ensuing battle descended into a bayonet and knife fight in which several Sauk and three militia men were killed. Stephenson was severely wounded by a musketball to the chest during the fighting. The dead were eventually interred in a memorial cemetery in Kellogg's Grove, Illinois where a stone monument was erected in memory of those killed during the war.
The attacks at Fort Blue Mounds were two separate incidents which occurred on June 6 and 20, 1832, as part of the Black Hawk War. In the first incident, area residents attributed the killing of a miner to a band of Ho-Chunk warriors, and concluded that more Ho-Chunk planned to join Black Hawk in his war against white settlers. The second incident occurred east of the fort as a Sauk raiding party, estimated by eyewitnesses to be as large as 100 warriors, attacked two militiamen who were investigating noises heard the night before. Two members of the militia stationed at Blue Mounds were killed in the attack, and both their bodies were badly mutilated.
The Sinsinawa Mound raid occurred on June 29, 1832, near the Sinsinawa mining settlement in Michigan Territory. This incident, part of the Black Hawk War, resulted in the deaths of two men; a third man survived by seeking cover in a nearby blockhouse. In the aftermath of the raid, Captain James W. Stephenson set out to pursue the attackers—a straggling band of Sauk Native Americans—but lost their trail at the Mississippi River. The attack occurred in the same week as other skirmishes and raids, and as a result helped contribute to the growing fear in the region. The raid caused the residents of nearby Platteville to consider fleeing their settlement.
The Plum River raid was a bloodless skirmish that occurred at present-day Savanna, Illinois, on May 21, 1832, as part of the Black Hawk War. Most of the settlement's inhabitants, except for a few defenders, had fled for Galena, Illinois, before the raid happened. A small band of Native Americans, either Sauk or Fox, attacked the settlement while only three of the six defenders were present. The men who were present fell back to the blockhouse and a firefight ensued for about one hour, after which the attackers withdrew. No one was killed or injured during the attack, but in its aftermath Colonel James M. Strode dispatched a detachment of militia to Savanna. They returned to Galena without incident and the settlement at Savanna was temporarily abandoned.
James W. Stephenson was an American militia officer and politician from the state of Illinois. He was born in Virginia but spent most of his youth in Edwardsville, Illinois. In 1825 he was indicted for the murder of a family acquaintance, but never went to trial. Upon the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832, Stephenson raised a company and saw combat, suffering severe wounds at the Battle of Waddams Grove. After the war ended Stephenson entered public life, and served as a member of the Illinois State Senate in 1834. In December 1837 Stephenson was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois. Within six months of his nomination, accusations of embezzlement were leveled against him, and he was forced to withdraw from the election. In August 1838, Stephenson died at home of tuberculosis.
James D. Henry was a militia officer from the U.S. state of Illinois who rose to the rank of general during the Black Hawk War. Henry was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, and moved to Edwardsville, Illinois in 1822. In 1825, while living in Edwardsville, he was indicted with two other men for the murder of an acquaintance, though he never went to trial. One defendant was tried but found not guilty, and following the trial Henry moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he was elected sheriff. When the Winnebago War broke out in 1827 Henry acted as adjutant for four companies of volunteers.
The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is an area in Dane County, Wisconsin where the penultimate battle of the 1832 Black Hawk War occurred. The conflict was fought between the Illinois and Michigan Territory militias and Sauk chief Black Hawk and his band of warriors, who were fleeing their homeland following the Fox Wars. The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is the only intact battle site from the Indian Wars in the U.S. Midwest. Today, the battlefield is managed and preserved by the state of Wisconsin as part of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. In 2002, it was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The British Band was a mixed-nation group of Native Americans commanded by the Sauk leader Black Hawk, which fought against Illinois and Michigan Territory militias during the 1832 Black Hawk War. The band was composed of about 1,500 men, women, and children from the Sauk, Meskwaki, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Ottawa nations; about 500 of that number were warriors. Black Hawk had an alliance with the British that dated from the War of 1812, giving them their colloquial name. The band crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa into Illinois in an attempt to reclaim their homeland and in violation of several treaties. Subsequently, both the Illinois and Michigan Territory militia were called up and the Black Hawk War ensued.
William Stephen Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, was an American politician and miner who lived much of his life in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory. Hamilton was born in New York, where he attended the United States Military Academy before he resigned and moved to Illinois in 1817. In Illinois he lived in Springfield and Peoria and eventually migrated to the lead-mining region of southern Wisconsin and established Hamilton's Diggings at present-day Wiota, Wisconsin. Hamilton served in various political offices and as a commander in two Midwest Indian Wars. In 1849 he moved to California during the California Gold Rush. He died in Sacramento, most likely of cholera, in October 1850.
After the outbreak of the Black Hawk War, at the Battle of Stillman's Run in May 1832, there were minor attacks and skirmishes throughout the duration of the conflict. The war was fought between white settlers in Illinois and present-day Wisconsin and Sauk Chief Black Hawk. The relatively minor attacks of the war were widely dispersed and often carried out by bands of Native Americans that were unaffiliated with Black Hawk's British Band.
Warrior was a privately owned and constructed steamboat that was pressed into service by the U.S. government during the Black Hawk War to assist with military operations. Warrior was constructed and launched in 1832 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Joseph Throckmorton who also served as the vessel's captain. Once constructed the vessel traveled to St. Louis and into the war zone. Warrior played a key role in the decisive Battle of Bad Axe. Following the war the steamboat continued its service under Throckmorton along the Upper Mississippi River.
Clack Stone was the elected captain of the “Apple River“ Company, 27th Regiment Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832. He was in charge of a company mustered into service in May 1832 from Jo Daviess County, Illinois. Stone's company manned Apple River Fort, a log stockade and blockhouse— a reconstruction of which is located on knoll just east of present-day Elizabeth Stone provided leadership during two war-related incidents. In the first event, some horses were stolen from the fort during the night of June 17, in the prelude to the June 18 action known then as “Stephenson’s Fight.” Today, the fight is erroneously known as the Battle of Waddams Grove. The second event was on the afternoon of June 24: an intense battle known as the Battle of Apple River Fort. After the war, Stone built and operated a general store and helped Redding Bennett, John D. Winters, and others survey and lay out lot lines for the proposed village of Elizabeth. He also owned and apparently operated for a time the “Eagle Saloon” in Galena. Stone laid claim to numerous land parcels located west of the present village. He remained in today's Jo Daviess County with his common law wife Delilah Hickman for several years, then moved south to Union Grove in what is now Carroll County, Illinois.
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