USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume II > Part 51
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The Winnebago War is classified by some his- torians as a part of the Black Hawk War, is called the "Winnebago Scare" by others, and by some of them is not mentioned at all. The cause was that common cause of Indian upris- ings-resentment on the part of Indians against white men, who had taken or forced them to sell their land-and this was one of the last ac- tive resistance struggles in the Winnebago and Black Hawk warfare against the whites.
During the latter part of Governor Edwards's administration, the Indians on the northwest- ern frontier were evidently growing restless and discontented. This restlessness and discon- tent finally grew to the magnitude of the small war under discussion. The immediate cause, however, was trouble between Galena miners and the Indians. At that time adventurers from all over the country, on their way to the lead mines, would arouse the Winnebagoes with the sole purpose of getting into fights with them and seizing their lands. Naturally, the Win- nebagoes resented the "take-it-for-granted" way in which these miners came into the land which they held, no less than their own ill- treatment at the hands of the intruders. They appealed for help, with no results. Then they tried to drive out the miners but were them- selves driven out. Finally, as a last resort, they sent a delegation to ask for assistance from the Sioux, who were angry at the Amer- icans, and told, with great exaggeration, stories of murders of Winnebagoes by the whites, which should, as they said, be avenged.
The effect was swift and sure. The Winne- bagoes, relying on the help of the Sioux, killed
two white men. According to some accounts, the white men had kidnapped several squaws; but this story is generally discredited. At any rate, excitement and anger rose to a climax; exaggerated rumors flew far and wide, and troops were raised for the fray.
General Atkinson, with 600 regulars, and the Galena militia under General Dodge, put down the Indian uprising before the other troops could reach the scene of action, made the Indi- ans sue for peace, and brought back as prison- ers Red Bird, Chief of the Sioux, and Black Hawk. Red Bird could not endure the confine- ment of captivity and died in prison. By a treaty made in 1830, the Indians agreed to cross the Mississippi and remain there permanently. Keokuk and Black Hawk were the principal chiefs of the nation.
Keokuk kept the terms of the treaty; but Black Hawk, contrary to the advice of all his friends, with his women and children and 300 warriors, crossed the "Rubicon" into the Illi- nois country in the spring of 1831. Of course, trouble followed. The whites destroyed the Indian lodges and crops, took possession of their fields, killed their domestic animals, whipped their women and children and made the Indians drunk. 'The savages, on the other hand, destroyed the whites' property and an- noyed the people whenever they could. In April, 1831, forty whites signed a petition to the Governor, complaining of Black Hawk. Governor Reynolds sent forth a call for volun- teers, who instantly responded. St. Clair and Sangamon were the counties farthest south included in the call. The forces were to as- semble at Beardstown, June 10, i. e., within fourteen or fifteen days.
Governor Reynolds asked help from General Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, and a man of influence among the Sacs and Foxes; also from General Gaines, at Jef- ferson Barracks. Both Generals considered the regular army strong enough to protect the fron- tier settlements. General Gaines, however, sent ten companies to Rock Island, and promised more in case the entire Sac and Fox nations and other tribes should unite with Black Hawk.
July 7, General Gaines held a council with the Indians at Fort Armstrong, at which Black Hawk, Keokuk, Wapello and other chiefs were present. Black Hawk absolutely refused to leave Illinois; though General Gaines tried to
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
induce him to do so by representing the super- ior forces of the Americans. By the advice of General Gaines, Governor Reynolds called for more troops, and 1,600 men eagerly responded. The whole force was one brigade, divided into two regiments, a spy or scouting battalion and an odd battalion. Governor Reynolds ap- pointed Joseph Duncan Brigadier-General in command of the whole brigade, and Samuel Whiteside a Major in command of the spy bat- talion. The other officers were elected by the volunteers. Colonel James D. Henry was chosen to command the First Regiment, Col. Daniel Lieb the Second, and Major Nathaniel Buckmaster the odd battalion.
Near the old Sac village the volunteers met General Gaines, who received them into the United States army. General Gaines, with the regulars and cannon, went up river by boat; the volunteers marched across the country and formed a junction with the regulars at Wood- ruff's Island. The Indians fled across the Mis- sissippi, and the volunteers burned their an- cient village. In response to a peremptory de- mand from General Gaines, Black Hawk, with thirty chief men, came to council with General Gaines and Governor Reynolds, June 30, 1831, and signed an agreement forever to remain west of the Mississippi. (See "Winnebago War," "Historical Encyclopedia" portion of this work, page 596.)
THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
Upon the uprising of the Sac and Fox Indians under Black Hawk, in 1831 and 1832, when Governor Reynolds ordered the citizen soldiers to assemble, patriots from all over the State, including many in St. Clair County, responded nobly. Many of the most prominent men of the county enlisted, and fought with distinc- tion. Among them were Capt. Solomon Miller, Lieutenants Aaron Land and. Isaac Griffen, Samuel C. Christy, Quartermaster on Governor Reynolds's staff; Capt. William Moore; Major John A. Wakefield, Spy; Colonel Thomas, com- mander of the Third Regiment; Capt. Adam W. Snyder; Lieutenants John Winstanley and Joshua Hughes; Captains Gideon Simpson and John Whiteside; Vital Jarrot, Adjutant-General, with rank of Colonel; Richard Roman, Surgeon of the odd battalion.
In subordinate capacities were: John Baker, Myram McMillen, Felix Scott, John Peas, Jon-
athan and Charles Moore, James Reed, Edward Tracewell, Peter Dunn, John and Benjamin Woods, William G. Brown, Ninian Edwards, Jr., Solomon Teter, John and David Phillips, Andrew Christy, John Laramie, John Messin- ger, Nathaniel, B. J. and Samuel Smith, Robert Higgins, John Dunlap, Richard Bradsby, Frank- lin Scott, C. T. Askins, J. B. Needles, Gregory Benjamin Scott, James Anderson, W. G. Brown, Nathaniel Chambers, William Phillips, Jacob Engold, Edward Henry, Jeremiah Black, Addi- son Dingle, James McClintock, Herbert Patter- son and others. Capt. John Trendley and Felix Scott had served in the Winnebago War.
A number of St. Clair County men went in the company of Captain Adam W. Snyder. From a list of the volunteers, as given in the muster-roll of . his company, enrolled at the mouth of Fox River, May 27, 1832, contained in the "Memoirs of Adam W. Snyder," written by Dr. J. F. Snyder, we copy the following names of interest in this connection: Captain, Adam W. Snyder; First Lieutenant, John Win- stanley; Sergeants, Solomon Spann and James Taylor; Corporals, Benjamin McDaniel and Thomas Cook; Privates: Isaac Abbott, J. W. Ashby, Benjamin Brooks, John T. Baker, George P. Dikes, Elijah A. Hendricks, Francis Jarrot, George D. Kinney, William Makensen, William Wright, Richard Roman, Charles Scott, Benjamin Scott, John and W. S. Thomas, Solo- mon and Philip Teter, Joseph and Samuel Whiteside, Joseph Welker, Levi Wilderman, Henry H. West.
During the winter of 1831-32 Black Hawk and his Indians grew restless, stirred up the Sacs and Foxes, and alarmed the settlers from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. Governor Reynolds issued an order for troops to rendez- vous at Beardstown April 22, 1832, and 1,935 men responded. They divided into four regi- ments, an odd and a spy battalion under the command of Brigadier-General Samuel White- side.
At the mouth of Rock River, General Atkin- son received the volunteers into the United States service and assumed command. General Atkinson led the force, with Major John A. Wakefield and Colonel Ewing and their men as scouts, to discover the location of the enemy, and Mr. Kinney, who knew the Sac dialect, to guide them. Governor Reynolds remained with the army as Major-General.
"General Atkinson had ordered the volunteers
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to wait for him to come to Prophetstown with the boats and artillery. The volunteers, how- ever, not knowing the true meaning of army discipline, were eager for something to hap- pen. Hence they burned Prophetstown, and went on forty miles to Dixon's Ferry. Rumor spread that the Indians were in the neighbor- hood near Old Man's Creek. Major Stillman asked permission to reconnoiter, which was readily granted by Governor Reynolds.
"Early on the morning of the 13th, Major Stillman with 275 men started out. Next morn- ing, as Major Stillman was entering his con- fused and unguarded camp, three Indians, un- armed and bearing a white flag, came up. While they were trying to make themselves un- derstood, five armed Indians appeared on the ridge a mile off in the prairie, evidently await- ing the return of the bearers of the white flag.
"Immediately, without orders or leader, a number of the volunteers mounted their horses, not yet unsaddled, and rushed across the prai- rie after the five Indians, who retreated 'after displaying a red flag, the emblem of defiance and war, but were overtaken and three of them slain' (according to Governor Ford's account). The volunteers who had not joined in the pur- suit of the five armed Indians, jealous of the success of those who had, in order to get even with them, concluded to kill the three unarmed prisoners who, trusting to the honor of the whites, had come in with the flag of truce. They managed to kill one of them, but the other two escaped in the darkness.
"Black Hawk, with a part of his command and a few of the non-combatant Pottawatomies visiting him, was near by at the mouth of Syc- amore Creek. As he could not get the other tribes to join him, and saw his disadvantage with the whites, he decided to cross to west of the Mississippi. Surprised at the arrival at Old Man's Creek of Major Stillman's battalion, which he believed to be the advance guard of General Atkinson's entire army, he sent a white flag by three unarmed warriors to make terms with the General, and obtain permission to re- tire from the State peaceably. The two sur- viving Indians, hastily retreating from the prai- rie, closely followed by the yelling, shouting pursuers, alarmed Black Hawk's warriors in camp. Believing that their overtures for peace had been rejected and that the whole army of the whites was moving upon them, they
snatched up their arms, hastily mounted their ponies, and boldly dashed out into the prairie to meet their assailants. Surprised at the num- bers and impetuosity of the red enemy emerging from the brush, the pursuing, exultant party of volunteers wheeled their horses and fled for their lives. Like a tempest they swept through the disordered camp of their comrades, shout- ing to them to follow and save themselves if possible. Panic-stricken, the militiamen, mount- ing their tired horses, left for Dixon's Grove with the Indians in hot pursuit.
"Capt. John G. Adams and a few other brave, cool-headed men, tried to rally their comrades to repel the Indiana attack. As a result, how- ever, they were butchered by the savages, and Stillman lost eleven men and all his camp equipage.
"The effect of the skirmish was very bad. The Indians, wrathful at their overtures of peace rejected, now went out in bands mur- dering settlers, burning cabins and killing stock. The volunteers wanted to go home; hence General Atkinson mustered them out of service at Dixon's Ferry and Ottawa, on May 27 and 28, 1832."
The account above quoted is taken from the article on the "Black Hawk War" as given in "Memoirs of Adam W. Snyder."1 The form of expression has been changed in some places to secure brevity.
Immediately, Governor Reynolds issued or- ders for 2,000 more troops. Volunteers again promptly responded. Soldiers from St. Clair County, however, did practically no further fighting.
After several more fights and skirmishes, the war came to a close. The final treaty of peace was signed September 15, 1832.
THE LINCOLN-THOMPSON WRESTLING MATCH .- The following account of an incident that oc- curred in April, 1832, when the volunteers, re- sponding to the call of Governor Reynolds to repel Black Hawk's invasion of the State, were rendezvoused at Beardstown, is from the pen of Colonel Risdon M. Moore, who in the days be- fore the Civil War, was for twelve years Pro- fessor of mathematics in McKendree College,
(1) For a full account of the Black Hawk War, Dr. Snyder recommends Mr. Frank E. Stevens's "History of the Black Hawk War." See also arti- cle on "Black Hawk War" in "Historical Encyclo- pedia" part (Vol. I.).
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
who commanded the One Hundred and Seven- teenth Infantry, 1862-65, and who went to Texas as United States Internal Revenue Col- lector.1
"As requested by you, I will state the facts of the Lincoln-Thompson wrestling match, as I had them from my father and from Mr. Lin- coln himself.
"The place where the contest came off was near Beardstown, on the Illinois River, perhaps just across the river on the west side. It was when the volunteers were meeting there pre- paratory to taking the field against Black Hawk, in the spring of 1832. The occasion of the 'wrassel' was this: A company of mounted volunteers from near Belleville, in St. Clair County, commanded by my uncle, Capt. William Moore, and one from Sangamon County, under Capt. Abraham Lincoln, arrived at the same place at the general rendezvous at about the same time, and both wanted the same camp- ing ground, which was just large enough, with conveniences of wood and water, for one com- pany, but not large enough for two.
"The proposition to wrestle for choice of camp grounds came from the Sangamon com- pany, that the two Captains, my uncle and Mr. Lincoln, wrestle for it. My uncle declined this banter, and then my father, Jonathan Moore, who was then Orderly Sergeant, or acting as such, proposed to have any man in the St. Clair company wrestle with any man in the Sangamon company for the camp ground in question. This proposition was accepted. Mr. Lincoln stepped out to represent his company, and my father designated Dow Thompson to represent the St. Clair company, his name be- ing Lorenzo Dow Thompson. When a boy, I saw Thompson often. He lived, I think, down south of Belleville, and was not a very large man. He was a compactly built man, however, and muscular, very strong, and as such was the champion wrestler of his company.
"My father and Captain Lincoln tossed up a coin for choice of holds and my father won. Thompson's hold was a side-hold, while Lin- coln's was an Indian hug. The match was 'two best in three.'
"On the 8th of August, 1860, I called on Mr. Lincoln at his own house in Springfield, Ill., with a delegation of students from McKendree
College, in Lebanon, to congratulate him on his nomination and to assure him of his elec- tion to the presidency. We found quite a num- ber of notable men there at the time. Among them were Lieutenant-Governor Koerner, Nor- man B. Judd, R. J. Oglesby and many others of national prominence at that time. I was introduced as the spokesman, by Governor Koer- ner, to Mr. Lincoln.
"As soon as the introductions were over, Mr. Lincoln said to me: 'I want to know which of the Moore families you belong to, before we go any further, as I have a grudge against one of them.' I, knowing to what he referred, replied: 'I suppose I belong to the family against which you hold the grudge, Mr. Lin- coln, but we are going to elect you President and call it even.'
"There were three Moore families in St. Clair and Monroe Counties-my own (the Turkey Hill or Moore's Prairie Moores), the Union Grove Moores and the Waterloo Moores, and there had been some men of some note in each of these families. Of the Waterloo Moores, Generals James and James B. Moore were prom- inent in the early history of Illinois, and 'Lit- tle Enoch' was, for years, in charge of the State Treasurer's cash. General Jesse H. Moore, who commanded the One Hundred and Fifteenth Illi- nois Regiment during our late Civil War, was of the Union Grove Moores, and my grandfa- ther, Risdon Moore, was a member of the Ter- ritorial Legislature in 1814-16, and Speaker of the House, and was also a member of the State Legislature in 1822-23, when the question was up to call a convention to make Illinois a slave State, and he was the first to sign the cele- brated protest against the call of that conven- tion. It is a strange fact that a majority of those who signed the protest were from slave States.
"Hence, Mr. Lincoln might well ask which of the Moore families I belonged to. Mr. Lin- coln gave the details of the preliminaries for the wrestle between him and Thompson about the same as given by my father above. So, he continued, after the introductions and explana- tions, as narrated, and said: ‘Gentlemen, I felt of Mr. Thompson, the St. Clair champion, and told my boys I could throw him, and they could bet what they pleased. You see, I had never been thrown, or dusted, as the phrase then was, and I believe Thompson said the same to the
(1) This article is included in Publication No. 9 of the Illinois State Historical Library.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY
St. Clair boys, that they might bet their bot- tom dollar that he would down me. You may think a wrestle, or "wrassel," as we called such contests of skill and strength, was a small mat- ter, but I tell you the whole army was out to see it. We took our holds, his choice first, a side-hold. I then realized from his grip, for the first time, that he was a powerful man and that I would have no easy job. The struggle was a severe one, but after many passes and efforts he threw me. My boys yelled out, "A dog fall!" which meant then a drawn battle, but I told my boys it was fair, and then said to Thompson: "Now it is your turn to go down," as it was my hold then, Indian hug. We took our holds again and, after the fiercest struggle of the kind that I ever had, he threw me again, almost as easily at my hold as at his own. My men raised another protest, but I again told them it was a fair down. Why, gentlemen, that man could throw a grizzly bear!'"
At the time of that historic "wrassel," Lin- coln was twenty-three years and about two months old.
THE MEXICAN WAR.
In the war with Mexico, 1846-48, Illinois fur- nished six regiments, which was more than her quota of troops: The First Regiment, com- manded by Col. John J. Hardin; the Second Regiment, Col. William H. Bissell; the Third Regiment, Col. Ferris Forman; the Fourth Reg- iment, Col. Edward D. Baker; the Fifth Regi- ment, Col. James Collins; and the Sixth Regi- ment, Col. Edward W. B. Newby. Following is a roster of St. Clair County men who were offi- cers in these regiments:
Second Regiment-Organized by Col. William H. Bissell, at Alton, in June, 1846; discharged June 18, 1847. Colonel, William H. Bissell, ele- vated from the captaincy of Company G, June 30, 1846; Lieutenant-Colonel, James L. D. Morri- son, elected from Company H, July 11, 1846; Major, Xerxes F. Trail, elected from Company I, July 1, 1846; Adjutant, Augustus G. Whiteside, appointed from Company I, July 1, 1846 (had been First Lieutenant, was wounded at Buena Vista) ; Surgeon, Edward B. Price, appointed by the President, July 7, 1846; Sergeant-Major, Christian H. Ketler, previously First Sergeant of Company H (was wounded at Buena Vista) ; Quartermaster-Sergeant, Nelson S. Moore, pre- viously Sergeant in Company I, discharged in
consequence of a wound received at Buena Vista.
Company G of the Second Regiment was or- ganized at Belleville, May, 1846, and mustered into the United States service at Alton, June, 1846. It was discharged June 16, 1847, and mustered out two days later. Its Captain was Joseph K. Lemen; First Lieutenant, Jacob C. Hinckley; Second Lieutenants, Gilbert E. Mc- Farland, Andrew J. Miller; First Sergeant, Wil- liam Westfield; Sergeants-John Trincher, James L. Roman, Joseph Penn; Corporals- William S. Peck, James L. Garretson, James G. Abbott, James Gaston; Musician, James H. Beach.
Company H of the Second Regiment was or- ganized at Belleville, May, 1846, and was mus- tered in at Alton, June 16, 1846, and mustered out June 18, 1847. Its officers were: Captain, Julius Raith; First Lieutenant, Nathaniel Niles (discharged at Buena Vista, May 31, 1847, by order of General Wool); Second Lieuten- ants-Adolphus Engelmann (wounded and did not serve after May 23, 1847); Louis Stock; First Sergeant, Charles A. Fritz; Sergeant, Rob- ert Morrison (on furlough from May 31, 1847, till expiration of term of enlistment) ; Corpor- als-Adolphus Schlotterback, Charles Good- ing, Adam Ermig, H. W. Waldermann; Musi- cians-Gabriel W. Cox, John Kuebli.
Company E of the Sixth Regiment was or- ganized at Belleville, May, 1847, and was hon- orably discharged at Alton, October, 1848. The officers were: Captain, G. W. Hook; First Lieu- tenant, William H. Snyder, who became Adju- tant of the Sixth; Second Lieutenants-Enoch Luckey, Robert Peer (promoted from Sergeant, December 28, 1847); First Sergeant, William H. Bennett; Sergeants-Thomas J. Aliff, Wil- liam S. Fleming, James A. Etter; Corporals- John R. Parker, John A. J. Bragg; Musicians- Benjamin T. Jones, Stephen Cooper.
The Sixth Regiment was organized by Ed- ward W. B. Newby, at Alton, June, 1847, and discharged October 16, 1848. Officers: Adju- tant, William H. Snyder, who had been First Lieutenant in Captain Hook's company, of the Fifth; Surgeon, Daniel Turney, appointed by the President; Assistant Surgeons-Thomas B. Lester and James D. Robinson. In Company A of this regiment the following served as pri- vates: Elihu Greenlee, Joel Hunt, Albert My- att, Joseph Phillips, Francis Phillips, W. H.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
Sharp, Sylvester Waddle. This was known as Captain Bond's Company, of Clinton, where it was organized August 16, 1847.
The Third and Fourth Regiments distin- guished themselves at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and the City of Mexico. At Buena Vista, Illi- nois was represented by Colonel Hardin's regi- ment (the First) and by Colonel Bissell's regi- ment (the Second). Colonel Hardin was killed there. The following account of Colonel Bis- sell's coolness and efficiency on that field was given by George Murray McConnell, in a paper read before the Chicago Historical Society, in 1902, and is well worth repeating here:
"By some misunderstanding of orders, an Indiana regiment was posted out of supporting distance, and when assailed by a force of five or more times larger, it was literally forced out of its position, though its men never left the field nor ceased fighting in the ranks of other organizations.
"This left the force of the exulting column of the enemy to fall on Colonel Bissell, posted some half a mile to the rear, but, even there, nearly out of supporting distance. The story of the strenuous racing of other troops, the First Illinois among them, to their support, thrilling as the blast of the trumpet, I do not tell. I tell only what happened to Bissell and his men. General Taylor saw that, before those racing friends could reach them, they must be struck and probably crushed, and an aide rode at speed to where Bissell calmly sat on his horse in the rear of his regiment, directing its fire. He checked his foaming horse beside Bissell and with eager face and sinking heart, said:
" 'General Taylor's compliments and asks if you can take the ground to the rear without danger of another panic?'
"Bissell straightened himself in his saddle, saluted and replied :
" 'As surely, sir, as upon regimental drill.'
"'Then do so,' said the aide, 'but do it at your peril.'
"Without a word Bissell rode close to his line, passed along it the order to 'cease firing,' then as the fire ceased, lifted his sword, com- manded, 'about face,' scanned the line as his men swung on their heels, shouted, 'forward- steady, men, steady-march!' and as they moved he slowly turned his horse and rode at a walk in their (then reversed) front, the aide
riding beside him, hat in hand, and measuring the distance with his eye between the advan- cing friends from one way and advancing foes from the other. When he thought enough space covered to meet support in time, he said trem- ulously-it was the crucial moment-'That will do, Colonel!'
"Bissell rode a few steps farther, glanced back at the advancing foe, then turned, and in a voice that rang along the whole line, shout- ed: 'Battalion-halt! About face! On the col- ors-dress!'
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