USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Records of the olden time; or, Fifty years on the prairies. Embracing sketches of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the country, the organization of the counties of Putnam and Marshall, biographies of citizens, portraits and illustrations > Part 11
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Records of the olden time; or, Fifty years on the prairies. Embracing sketches of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the country, the organization of the counties of Putnam and Marshall, biographies of citizens, portraits and illustrations > Part 11
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1. John Strawn, Colonel.
2. William Cowen, Lieut. Colonel.
3. Elias Thompson, Major.
4. Henry K. Cassell, Adjutant.
5. Jeremiah Strawn, Qr. Master.
6. Peter Barnhart, Paymaster.
7. B. M. Hayse, Surgeon.
NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
8. Roland Mosley, Q. M. Sergeant.
9. Richard Hunt, Surgeon's Mate.
10. William Myers, Sergt. Major.
11. Ward Graves, Drum Major.
12. Michael Reeder, Fife Major.
123
MUSTER ROLLS OF VOLUNTEERS.
Muster Roll of Captain Robert Barnes' Company of Mounted Volunteers, belonging to the Fortieth Regiment, Fourth Brigade, and First Division of Illinois Militia, called out by the Governor and Commander-in- chief; was mustered into the service of the United States by Colonel John Strawn, at Columbia, on the 20th day of May, 1832, and mus- tered out of service at Hennepin, Putnam County, Illinois, by the said Colonel John Strawn, on the 18th day of June, 1832:
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. -
Robert Barnes, Captain. | Wm. McNeal, 1st Lieut. | John Wier, 2d Lieut.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
1. James Dever, Sergeant.
2. James Hall,
3. James N. Reeder, Sergeant.
4. Nathan Owen,
1. Belisha Griffith, Corporal.
2. Wm. Gallaher,
3. James Harris, 66
4. H. Buckingham,
PRIVATES.
1. John Kemp.
2. Joseph Burt.
3. Joseph Phillips.
. 4. Howell Doddy.
5. Milton Davis.
6. William A. Hendricks.
7. John G. Hendricks.
8. Samuel Hawkins.
9. John Darnell.
10. William Burt.
11. William Davis.
12. W. W. Davis.
13. John Bird.
14. Elmore Keys.
15. Robert Bird.
16. William Byrnes.
17. David Hamilton.
18. Hiram Barnhart.
19. William Forbes.
20. Jordan Sawyer.
21. Philip McGuyre. 22. Samuel Russell.
23. George Easter.
24. Benjamin Babb.
25. Peter Barnhart.
26. Jacob Smally.
27. Joshua Bullman.
28. Robert Ileff.
29. Elisha Swan.
30. John Johnson.
31. David Stateler.
32. George H. Shaw.
33. Johnson Edwards.
34. Henry K. Cassell.
124
RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
Muster Roll of Captain William Hawes' Company of Mounted Volun- teers, belonging to the Fortieth Regiment, Fourth Brigade and First Division of Illinois Militia, commanded by Colonel John Strawn, called into service by the Governor of Illinois, and mustered out of the service of the United States at Hennepin, on the Illinois River, in the State of Illinois, on the 18th day of June, 1832 :
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
Wm. Hawes, Captain. | Jas. Garvin, 1st Lieut. | Wm. M. Hart, 2d Lieut.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.
1. Thomas Gunn, Sergeant.
2. George Hiltebrand, Sergeant.
3. Jacob Greenwald, Sergeant.
4. John Hunt, Sergeant.
1. John Hant, Corporal.
2. William Kincaid, Corporal.
3. William Knod, Corporal.
4. William Lathrop, Corporal.
PRIVATES.
1. Hiram Allen.
2. Julius Stacey.
3. Thomas Glenn.
4. Asel Hannum.
5. Obed Graves.
6. Samuel Glenn.
7. Reuben Ash.
8. Abner Boyle.
9. George Dent.
10. Joseph Ash.
11. William Hart.
12. John Loyd.
13. Christopher Winters.
14. Hartwell Healey.
15. Little Neal.
16. Aaron Whitaker.
17. Elias Isaacs.
18. Garrison Wilson.
19. Hosea Stout.
20. George Martin.
LOCAL DEFENCES.
Soon as the call was made for troops the settlers began building block- houses, or forts, which will be referred to more in detail hereafter. * The southernmost of these in the county was situated on the farm of James Dever, at the lower edge of Round Prairie, seven and a half miles from Columbia. It was about eighty feet in length from east to west, and seventy
*Ford's History of Marshall and Putnam Counties.
125
MEASURES TAKEN FOR LOCAL DEFENCE.
in width; and was built by strongly fastening pickets of some twelve feet height in the ground, with square bastions at the corners, pierced with port-holes and so placed as to rake the sides of the fort, in case of attack. The cabin of Mr. Dever was inside, and tents were pitched within to accommodate the numbers who fled there during the season of alarm.
About twelve miles north-east of the Dever Fort, and four miles south of Magnolia, was a similar protection around the dwelling of Jesse Rob- erts, Esq., where seven or eight families gathered for safety; and five miles east, on the farm of Mr. Darnell, near the "head of Sandy," was another, the outpost in that direction. Several forts were constructed on the Ox Bow Prairie-one on the land of Ashael Hannum, where Cale- donia now stands; another in the woods within a few miles, at Mr. Boyle's; and a third around a large barn belonging to James W. Willis, near the site of Florid, where twenty-two families (including a hundred small chil- dren, one having been born there) and a number of rangers were "forted" at one time. This station was called Fort Cribs, from the number of corn-cribs in and about the building, and was generally in command of Captain Stewart. A portion is still standing.
A good-sized block-house, well adapted to resist a siege, was erected on Front street, in Hennepin, chiefly of the timbers of Hartzell's old trading-house; and a smaller one at a little distance from Granville, on the farm of Joseph Warnock. Still farther north was the outermost fort toward the scene of warfare-a mere picket around the dwelling of Mr. John Leeper. There were no defenses of the kind west of the river in Putnam County, that region being quite or nearly deserted.
In that part of the county which was thus defended, hostile Indians were very rarely seen; and it is believed that attacks were prevented solely by the completeness of the arrangements for protection and the vig- ilance of the rangers. Black Hawk's spies were occasionally skulking about. Two were noticed in the edge of the woods near Fort Warnock, and their trail followed to the river. Others-in one instance a consider- able company-were seen near Hennepin; but the savages made no hos- tile demonstrations on the east side of the river.
THE MURDER OF PHILLIPS.
On the 17th of June, Elijah Phillips was murdered at the Ament cabin, sixteen miles north-west of Hennepin. Along with J. Hodges,
126
RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
Sylvester Brigham, John S. Ament, Aaron Gunn, James G. Foristal and Zeba Dimmick, a lad of sixteen, he left Hennepin in the morning to look after their cattle, now running at large on the prairie. Arriving at Ament's cabin, in the edge of the timber, a mile and a half north of the present town of Dover, they prepared and ate their dinners, designing to return to Hennepin. Soon after it began to rain, and as no Indian signs had been seen, it was deemed perfectly safe, and the conclusion was reached to remain all night.
The windows and doors were barricaded with puncheons, and the men with loaded rifles by their sides, extinguished the lights and lay down to sleep. Adjoining Ament's cabin was an extensive sugar camp, which for nearly fifty years a band of Indians had run, and every spring made sugar on the premises. The place was sacred to them, and when the white man came and opened a farm, it created bitter feelings of resentment. When Phillips and his company arrived at the cabin, a party of Indians from Black Hawk's camp were hiding in the woods. Cautiously they ap- proached to reconnoitre, with the intention of attacking the party as they came out of doors, but the rain continued to fall, and the party deciding to remain all night, no disturbance came, and at daylight Phillips rose first, and was going to the spring, when the Indians fired, and he fell pierced with two bullets. The savages, with deafening yells, rushed from their hiding places, tomahawked the victim, and surrounded the cabin. The inmates closed the door and made ready to fire, when the Indians re- treated, and as subsequently learned, went northward.
After remaining on the watch for several hours, with Phillips' bloody corpse at the door, the settlers took courage and canvassed how best to extricate themselves. Young Dimmick volunteered to carry the news to Hennepin. It was a desperate undertaking, for the Indians were sup- posed to be still in the vicinity, but calling a horse to the window he bri- dled and mounted it, and was off with the speed of the whirlwind. Eager eyes watched his departure, and they listened with beating hearts for the expected crack of the rifle that should tell of his death. But when he disappeared in the distance, still safe, they took hope again.
At Hennepin was a company of Rangers being mustered out of ser- vice. None dreamed of danger, and when the messenger, hatless and coatless,
" Bloody with spurring, Fiery red with speed,"
A PREACHER MURDERED AND MUTILATED. 127
rode into town with the fateful news, it created an excitement those present never forgot. As usual, a variety of counsel prevailed, and some were so base as to propose leaving them to their fate. But volunteers be- ing called for, thirty brave men responded, and were quickly ferried across the river to their rescue. A gallop of fifteen miles brought them into the vicinity, when a slower pace was struck to give the now well blown horses a breathing spell, preparatory to the expected sharp work ahead. Belts were tightened, primings looked to, and every preparation for deadly con- flict made, when they saw a white flag rise above the cabin, and knew the inmates were safe. The body of Phillips lay where it fell. One bul- let had pierced his heart, and another his stomach. Several strokes of the tomahawk were visible, but the villains had not taken his scalp, and the remains were taken to Hennepin and buried. His body was prepared for sepulture at the house of Hooper Warren, and he was the second per- son interred in the Hennepin cemetery.
The Rangers followed the trail of the enemy a short distance and then returned. It afterward transpired that they remained in the vicinity until the next day, and then went north.
DEATH OF ADAM PAYNE.
Adam Payne, a Dunkard preacher, who had for many years been a missionary among the Indians, became a victim to savage barbarity during the fall of 1832. He had long been a preacher among the Indians, was a man of fervent piety, and guileless as a child. When told of the risks he ran and warned to beware, he gave no heed, believing they would never harm one who had so often proven himself their friend. His long black beard reaching nearly to his waist gave him a venerable appearance, and every settler was his warm friend. He was murdered near Holderman's Grove, and when found his head had been cut off and stuck on a pole, where the red fiends had held a dance of jubilee around it.
.
128
RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
CHAPTER XIX.
CONTINUATION OF THE CAMPAIGN.
E now take up the general history of the campaign. While the new levies were being raised, a volunteer force was made up for temporary service, and placed under the command of Colonel Fry.
The different companies of this regiment were so dis- posed as to guard all the frontiers. Captain Adam W. Snider was sent to range through the country between Rock River and Galena; and while he was encamped not far distant from Burr Oak Grove, on the night of the 17th of June, his company was fired upon by the Indians; the next morning he pursued them, four in number, and drove them into a sink-hole in the - ground, where his company charged on them and killed the whole of the Indians, with the loss of one man mortally wounded. As he returned to his camp, bearing the wounded soldier, the men suffered much from thirst, and scattered in search of water, when they were sharply attacked by about seventy Indians, who had been secretly watching their motions and awaiting a good opportunity. His men, as usual in such cases, were taken by surprise, and some of them commenced a hasty retreat. Captain Sny- der called upon General Whiteside, then a private in his company, to as- sist him in forming his men. The General proclaimed in a loud voice that he would shoot the first man who attempted to run. The men were soon formed into rank. Both parties took positions behind trees. Here General Whiteside, an old Indian fighter and a capital marksman with a rifle, shot the commander of the Indians, and they from that moment be- gan to retreat. As they were not pursued, the Indian loss was never as- certained; but the other side lost two men killed and one wounded. Cap- tain Snyder, General Whiteside and Colonel ( now General ) Semple are particularly mentioned as having behaved in the most honorable and courageous manner in both these little actions.
On the 15th of June, the new levies had arrived at the places of ren- dezvous, and were formed into three brigades; General Alexander Posey
129
THE MURDER OF ST. VRAIN.
commanded the First, General Milton K. Alexander the Second, and Gen- eral James D. Henry commanded the Third. On the march, each brigade was preceded by a battalion of spies, commanded by a major.
The whole volunteer force at this time amounted to three thousand two hundred men, besides three companies of rangers, under command of Major Bogart, left behind to guard the frontier settlements. The object in calling out so large a force was to overawe the Pottawatomie and Win- nebago Indians, who were hostile in their feelings to the whites, and much disposed to join Black Hawk's party.
But before the new army could be brought into the field, the Indians had committed several murders. One man was killed on Bureau Creek, some seven or eight miles above Princeton; another in Buffalo Grove; another between Fox River and the Illinois; and two more on the east side of Fox River, on the Chicago road, about six miles north-east of Ottawa.
On the 22d of May, General Atkinson had dispatched Mr. St. Vrain, the Indian agent for the Sacs and Foxes at Rock Island, with a few men, as an express to Fort Armstrong. On their way thither, they fell in with a party of Indians led by a chief well known to the agent. This chief was called "The Little Bear." He had been a particular friend of the agent, and had adopted him as a brother. Mr. St. Vrain felt no fear of one who was his friend, one who had been an inmate of his house, and had adopted him as a brother, and approached the Indians with the great- est confidence of security. But the treacherous Indian, untrue in war to the claims of friendship and brotherhood, no sooner got him in his power than he murdered and scalped him and all his party, with as little compassion as if he had never known him or professed to be his friend.
Not long after the new forces were organized on the Illinois River, Black Hawk, with a hundred and fifty warriors, made an attack on Ap- ple River Fort, situate about three-quarters of a mile north of the present village of Elizabeth, within twelve miles of Galena, and defended by twenty-five men, under the command of Captain Stone. This fort was a stockade of logs stuck in the ground, with block houses at the corners of the square, by way of towers and bastions. It was made for the protec- tion of a scattering village of miners, who lived in their houses in the vicinity during the day, and retired into the fort for protection at night. The women and children, as usual in the daytime, were abroad in the vil- lage, when three men on an express from Galena to Dixon, were fired on
130
RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
by the Indians lurking in ambush within a half mile of the village, and retreated into the fort. One of them was wounded; his companions stood by him nobly, retreating behind him, and keeping the Indians at bay by pointing their guns first at one and then at another of those who were readiest to advance. The alarm was heard at the fort in time to rally the scattered inhabitants; the Indians soon came up within firing distance; and now commenced a fearful struggle between the small party of twen- ty-five men in the fort, against six times their number of the enemy. The Indians took: possession of the log houses, knocked holes in the walls, through which to fire at the fort with greater security to themselves, and while some were firing at the fort, others broke the furniture, destroyed the provisions, and cut open the beds and scattered the feathers found in the houses. The men in the fort were excited to the highest pitch of des- peration ; they believed that they were contending with an enemy who never made prisoners, and that the result of the contest must be victory or death, and a horrid death, too, to them and their families ; the women and children molded the bullets and loaded the guns for their husbands, fathers, and brothers, and the men fired and fought with a fury inspired by desperation itself. In this manner the battle was kept up about fif- teen hours, when the Indians retreated. The number of their killed and wounded, supposed to be considerable, was never ascertained, as they were carried away in the retreat. The loss in the fort was one man killed and one wounded. One of the men who first retreated to the fort immediately passed on to Galena, and there gave the alarm. Colonel Strode, of the militia, who commanded in Galena, lost no time in march- ing to the assistance of the fort, but before his arrival the Indians had - raised the siege and departed. Galena itself had been in imminent danger of attack; at that time it was a village of four hundred inhabitants, sur- rounded on all sides by the enemy. Colonel Strode, like a brave and pru- dent commander, took every possible measure for its defence.
Even here, in this extremity of danger, a number of the inhabitants yielded their assistance unwillingly and grudgingly. , There were a num- ber of aspirants for office and command, and quite a number refused obedi- ence to the militia commander of the regiment; but Colonel Strode took the most effectual mode of putting down these discontents. He immedi- ately declared martial law; the town was converted into a camp; men were forced into the ranks at the point of the bayonet; and a press war- rant from the Colonel, in the hands of armed men, procured all necessary
John c. Dent
133
THIE BATTLE OF PECATONICA.
supplies ; preparations for defence were kept up night and day; and the Indian spies seeing no favorable opportunity for attack, no considerable body of Indians ever came nearer the town than Apple River Fort.
About this time a band of Indians visited Fort Hamilton, near what is now Wiota, where they killed three men. Fortunately General Dodge arrived at this place a few hours later, and hastily gathering what forces he could-twenty-one men in all, -pursued the savages, who hastily retreated. What follows is best told by Chias. Bracken, one of the actors, and if he still lives, a resident of Mineral Point, Wis.
"The Indians re-crossed the branch at a point where it turned abruptly to the north, and ascended the hill; the General and those with him crossed after them, and bore to the right, toward some timber, as if to cut them off from it. Seeing this movement, I halted, and was at the same time joined by Fitch, Higgenbotham, and Deva. I said to them, "That movement of the General will turn the Indians to the left; if you will follow me, we will get the first scalps.' They agreed to do so; turning up a hollow to the left, we ascended it to the ridge overlooking the East Pecatonica; turning then to the right, and looking down a hollow parallel to that which we had ascended, my surmise proved to be correct. There were the Indians approaching us; they were moving at what might be called common time. Their chief, a gray-headed warrior, was walking backward, and appeared to be earnestly addressing his young men. After observing them for a few moments, we fired, but I think without effect. My comrades, after discharging their guns, retreated down the hollow which we had ascended, and I turned westwardly up the ridge overlook- ing the East Pecatonica, keeping out of gun-shot, but watching the enemy closely. They descended the hill to the creek, turned up it a short dis- tance, and commenced crossing at some willows, a short distance below where the bridge now stands.
"At this movement I advanced within gun-shot; with the report of my gun, I sent forth a shout that told the General and my comrades yet in the rear that I had secured the first scalp; at the same time I received the fire of the Indians without injury. .
"The General and the principal part of our men having come up by the time the Indians had fairly crossed the creek, a ruming fight took place, the enemy being on one side of the creek and we on the other, until they reached the thicket in the bend of the creek. Having effected a crossing at the old Indian ford, which is near Williams' Mill, and marching thence
134
RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
up the stream, we formed on the open ground to the north-east of the thicket, so as to have the enemy in the bend of the creek. Parties were then, by order of the General, thrown out on the hills to give the alarm if the Indians should attempt to escape from the thicket when we en- tered it.
.
We were then ordered to renew our flints, re-prime our guns, unbutton our shirt-collars, and tighten our belts. All being ready, the General ad- dressed us: he said, "Within that thicket are the foe, whose hands are yet reeking with the blood of our murdered friends! That it was his inten- tion to enter it, and in doing so, some of us must fall; that it might be his fate, but that his mind was made up to whip the enemy or die in the attempt ! If any feared to follow him, he wanted then to fall back then, and not when they encountered the Indians." The word was then given to advance; and in that little band no one was found who did not fear dis- honor more than death ! No one faltered or wavered, as with a coolness becoming veterans they followed the footsteps of their gallant leader, resolved with him to conquer or die.
After advancing some distance into the thicket, the trail of the enemy was found; here the detachment was joined by Daniel M. Parkinson, who was on horseback. The center was ordered to keep the trail; we then continued our advance slowly but firmly toward our hidden foe. The Indians had selected a most advantageous position for defense, had we fought them at long shot. It was the bank of a pond, once the bed of a creek; on the edge of the bank was a natural breastwork nearly three feet high, formed by one of those tumuli so numerous in our prairies ; under this they awaited our approach.
When they fired on us, our positions represented two sides of a triangle, they forming the base, and we the hypothenuse; although we were close upon them, so dense was the thicket that we could not see the smoke of their guns. The General, who was on the right of the centre, and in front of their line, exclaimed, "Where are the. Indians?" He was an- swered from the left, "This way." The order was then promptly given, " Charge 'em boys, damn them, charge 'em!" My position was on the ex- treme right; in the charge we obliqued considerably to the left; when I got to the pond I found no enemy before me, and at the same moment I heard the General, who was a little to my left, say, "There's an Indian, kill him!" I turned toward him and heard a shot; as I came up, the Gen-
.
135
INSTANCES OF INDIVIDUAL HEROISM.
eral said, "There, by God, I've killed him myself!" This was the Indian commander.
" Passing on to the left, I mounted the natural embankment, and found myself in the midst of the Indians ; after discharging my gun, I turned the breech and struck at a warrior I saw lying under the bank before me, but seeing another very industriously snapping his piece at me, I fell back to reload. As soon as my gun was charged I advanced, with the brave but unfortunate Wells on my left, and William Carns, of Dodgeville, 'on my right. On coming hand to hand with the Indians, Wells fell mortally wounded; Carns first shot and then bayoneted the warrior that killed Wells, and I put another in a condition to take his scalp. At the same time the only surviving Indian attempted to save himself by flight; he plunged into the pond, and was shot as he got out of the water on the opposite side.
"Thus ended the battle. The enemy were completely exterminated; not one was left to tell Black Hawk, his chief, and warriors, how "Old Hairy- face" (the Indian name for General Dodge) and his warriors fought. Our trophies were seventeen scalps; our loss three men, Black, Wells and Morris mortally, and Thomas Jenkins severely wounded.
"The annals of border warfare furnish no parallel to this battle; never before was an entire war party exterminated with so small a loss on the part of the whites, when the numbers engaged were so nearly equal. Al- though on our advance into the thicket we outnumbered the Indians some five men, yet the advantage of their position, and our having to receive their fire, equalized our numbers.
"None of us, from the General down, had ever heard a hostile gun, or burned powder at a foe; the men had been promiscuously assembled, and were untrained soldiers; they proved, however, by their gallant conduct, that American volunteers, when individually brave, will collectively fol- low to their death a brave and determined leader in whom they have con- fidence.
"There were individual acts of devotion and desperate bravery per- formed, which ought to have immortalized the actors. Our surgeon, Dr. Allen Hill, fell into the line, and did duty as a private soldier. When the sections were told off, his lot fell number four, a horse-holder; num- ber five in the same section was a sickly-looking youth named Townsend, about seventeen years of age. The doctor exchanged places with him, re-
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