The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 20

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

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The now venerable and honorable John Stringer, of Kickapoo township, Peoria county, was a corporal in Captain Abner Ead's Peoria company, says there was not an officer to be found anywhere, when the stampede commenced ; that the men dashed away regardless of discipline or consequences, that they threw their guns over their shoulders, and for some distance after there was a continuous discharge of rifles to the rear. Mr. Stringer was in the rear when the flight began, and to avoid danger to himself and others from the discharge of the rifles, he turned to one side, rode along the line, and cautioned the men against the danger of killing their comrades. "And," said he, " suppose yon should run into an Indian ambuscade, what would you do with empty guns ?" " We never thought of that," was the reply, and the firing ceased ; but the flight was kept up. At Old Man's creek, since called Stillman's run, some delay was occasioned in crossing, be- cause of its muddy banks. After passing the stream, Major Perkins and Captain Adams succeeded in rallying fifteen or twenty of the fleeing men, and made a short stand, check- ing the approach of the Indians, and no doubt saved the lives of many men who would otherwise have been killed. In this short engagement Captain Adams killed two Indians with his own hands, and in turn was killed himself, his body being recovered the second day. None of the men lived to tell the story of the engagement, but from broken guns, ghastly wounds, inflicted with rifles, tomahawks, scalping-knives, and other instruments of Indian warfare, the engagement must have been a terrific one. A young man named Hackelton had a hand-to-hand conflict with an Indian, in which the Indian threw down his gun and attempted to use his knife. Hackelton closed with him, caught the blade of the knife in his hand, cutting it severely, but succeeded in wrenching it from the In- dian's grasp and plunging it into his heart, the Indian fell lifeless at his feet. Hackelton escaped and found his way to Dixon.

BACK TO DIXON.

"The night of the scare," continues Mr. Stringer, "was one of those when white, fleecy clouds float in the air, and the atmosphere was genial and balmy. It was what one might call a pleasant May evening, and a nice one for a night ride. The fugitives commenced to arrive at Dixon's about twelve o'clock at night, and continued to come in in small squads until the whole force, except what had been killed by the Indians, and a few by our own men in firing backward, were there. And what stories of hair-breadth

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escapes some of them had to tell! According to some of their statements, they had to fight their way from Sycamore creek to Dixon, when only the fewest number of them saw an Indian after they turned tail to Black Hawk and his handful of warriors as they rushed out of the timber with their war whoop, the evening before."

All accounts of this inglorious affair concur in the statement that the officers and a great many of the men were drunk, and that the flag of truce displayed by Black Hawk was disregarded, and one of its bearers cowardly killed while on a flag of truce mission. The whites had commenced the work of murder, and the Indians, losing all hope of ne- gotiation, determined that extermination was a game that both parties could play.

"COUNCIL OF WAR."

The disaster to Stillman's command created wild excitement in the camp at Dixon. Governor Reynolds at once issued a call for two thousand additional volunteers to be in readiness for future operations. Colonel March was ordered to forward provisions for the men, and Major Adams was directed to procure and forward provender for the horses. Atkinson and Dodge were advised of the situation, and the former, who had not yet arrived at Dixon, that the army there were destitute of provision, and that the frontiers of Wisconsin (then Michigan), were exposed and in danger.

" TENTING ON THE OLD CAMP GROUND."

On Sunday, the 13th, a " council of war" was held at the tent of Gen. Whiteside, then in command, at which it was decided to march to the scene of the disaster the next morning to find and punish the Indians. Some oxen were obtained from Mr. Dixon and killed as a temporary supply for the expedition. The beef was distributed among the men, who cooked and ate it without salt or bread, and started back for the field of con- flict. Wherever the mangled remains of their late comrades were found, they were gath- ered together and buried in a common grave, and a rough slab, hewn from the trunk of a tree, erected to mark the place. Monday night, the 14th, the men camped on the ground from which Stillman's detachment fled so precipitately on Saturday evening. During the night the firing of heavy guns was heard, which was believed to be signals for collecting Black Hawk's scattered braves, and an attack was momentarily expected. It came not, however, and the morning dawned withont an enemy being seen. On Tues- day morning Major Henry was ordered to scour the country with his battalion, but no trace of the enemy being discovered, the entire command fell back to Dixon.

GENERAL SCOTT- A NEW ENEMY.

Intelligence of Stillinan's defeat scattered terror and consternation throughout the State and nation. The number of warriors was greatly over-estimated, and Black Hawk was credited with great military skill and sagacity. General Scott, with nine companies of artillery, stationed at Old Point Comfort, Virginia, was ordered to the Rock river country to superintend future operations against the Indians. The Asiatic cholera. which had just reached the country, overtook his command at Detroit. Henry Howe's "Great West," published in 1852, says that the "two hundred and eight men, under command of Colonel Twiggs, landed at Fort Gratiot, and that the disease made such ravage among them, that but very few escaped. Some of them died in hospital, some in the woods, and some deserted to avoid the pestilence, and being scattered about the country, shunned by the terrified inhabitants, and repelled from their doors, lay down in the fields and died, without a friend to close their eyes or console the last moments of their existence. The rest of the nine companies continued their course and arrived at Mackinaw, comparatively untouched by the disease. There it broke out afresh, and on the passage from Mackinaw to Chicago, thirty were thrown overboard. On the 18th of July General Scott renched Chicago, and old Fort Dearborn was converted into a hos-

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pital for his cholera-stricken men. In the first thirty days after his arrival there, ninety of his men answered the last earthly roll call and were ' whelmed in pits' without coffins, 'without notice and without remembrance.' "

General Scott reported his arrival at Chicago to Governor Reynolds in a letter under date of July 15, in which he gave an account of the cholera affliction among his troops. The letter was published in the Louisville (Kentucky) Advertiser, July 27, 1832, and is here appended :

HEADQUARTERS N. W. ARMY, CHICAGO, July 15, 1832. SIR :- To prevent or correct the exaggerations of rumor in respect to the existence of cholera at this place, I ad- dress myself to your Excellency. Four steamers were engaged at Buffalo to transport United States troops and sup- plies to Chicago. In the headmost of these boats, the Sheldon Thomas, I, with my staff and four companies, a part of Col. Eustis' command, arrived here on the night of the roth inst. On the 8th all on board were in high health and spirits, but the next morning six cases of undoubted cholera presented themselves. The disease rapidly spread for the next three days. About one hundred and twenty persons have been affected. Under a late Act of Congress, six companies of rangers are to be raised, and marched to this place. Gen. (Henry) Dodge, of Michigan,* is ap- pointed major of the battalion, and I have seen the names of the captains, but I do not know where to address them. I am afraid the report from this place in respect to cholera may seriously retard the raising of this force. 1 wish, therefore, that your Excellency would give publicity to the measures I have adopted to prevent the spread of this disease, and of my determination not to allow any junction or communication between uninfected and infected troops. The war is not at an end, and may not be brought to a close for some time. The rangers may reach the theater of operations in time for the final blow. As they approach this place I shall take care of their health and general wants.

I write in great haste, and may not have time to cause my letter to be copied. It will be put in some post-office to be forthwith forwarded.

I have the honor to be, your Excellency's most obedient servant,

HIS EXCELLENCY, GOV. JOHN REYNOLDS.

WINFIELD SCOTT.

The account given by Mr. Howe was probably based upon unofficial reports, and consequently exaggerated to some extent. At that time the cholera was a new disease in America, and extravagant accounts of its ravages were likely to prevail. In either re- port, Howe's or Scott's, the account is sorrowful enough in all conscience.

When General Scott left Chicago, he marched across the country in the direction of Fort Armstrong, but, in consequence of the delay occasioncd by the disease which preyed so heavily among his troops, he did not reach the theater of Indian conflict in time to direct the movement of the campaign. Besides, the cholera still lingered among the men of his command, and his course from Chicago was marked by uncoffined graves. After the country began to settle up and the land to be cultivated, the bones of many a poor fellow were uncovered by the plow. Some of them were reburied and some of them were cremated.

Under Governor Reynolds' call for a new levy of two thousand men, Beardstown and Hennepin were designated as points of rendezvous. Volunteers from the southern part of the State were to report at Beardstown on the 3d, and from the central part at Hen- nepin on the 10th of June. The time was short, but messengers were sent into all the settled portions of the State to convey intelligence of the requisition and hasten the fill- ing of the call. Under the first call the term of enlistment was not defined, and the men maintained they had a right to return home at any time, and they began to clamor for a discharge. They urged that they had enlisted on short notice, that they had not had time to provide food or clothes for their families, and that they must suffer if the cam- paign was protracted. The governor appealed to their patriotism, and they consented to remain twelve or fifteen days longer. Pending these conditions General Atkinson ar- rived at Dixon with provisions, encamped on the right hand bank of the river, and threw up breastworks for the protection of the stores. The companies of Bailey and Stillman

*Michigan then included Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. Wisconsin Territory was organized under an Act of Congress approved April 20, 1836, and President Jackson appointed Ilenry Dodge, then living in Missouri, Gover- nor of the new dependency. After Wisconsin became a State, he was chosen one of the United States Senators. He was born at Vincennes, Indiana, and emigrated to Missouri when quite young. He was the father of Hon. A. C.

Dodge, of Burlington, Iowa.

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were organized as a brigade and placed under command of Col. Johnson, and received into the service of the United States. A part of this brigade was sent to the defense of Ottawa, and the other part remained at Dixon to guard the stores.

INDIAN CREEK MASSACRE.

The fatal act of Stillman's men precipitated all the horrors of Indian border warfare upon the white settlements in Jo Daviess county, as it then existed (including Ogle, Stephenson, Carroll, Whiteside. Winnebago, Lee and other northern counties as now or- ganized), and in the adjoining portions of Michigan Territory. Nor is it certain that all the outrages were perpetrated by the " British Band." Young Pottawatomies and Win- neba zoes joined Black Hawk, and after the war suddenly closed at Bad Axe, it was as- certained that many of the murders had been committed by these Indians. Among the first results of " Stillman's defeat " was the descent of about seventy Indians upon an unprotected settlement at Indian creek (LaSalle county) where they massacreed fifteen men, women and children of the families of Hall, Davis and Pettigrew, and captured two young women, Sylvia and Rachel Hall. These girls, seventeen and fifteen years old, re- speetively, were afterwards brought in by Winnebagoes to Gratiot Grove, and were ran- somed by Major Henry Gratiot, for two thousand dollars in horses, wampum and trinkets, and taken to Galena.

May 15, 1832, Capt. James W. Stephenson arrived at Galena with the startling in- telligenee of Stillman's disastrous defeat and the commencement of bloody hostilities by the Indians, creating intense excitement among the people. The ringing notes of the bugle called the settlers and miners together on the old race course on the bottom near the river, near the foot of Washington street, Galena, and a company of mounted rangers was organized, with James W. Stephenson for captain. At 3 o'clock on the morning of Saturday, May 19, Sergeant Fred Stahl (now a respected citizen of Galena) and privates William Durley. Vincent Smith, Redding Bennett, and James Smith, started to bear dispatches to Gen. Atkinson at Dixon's Ferry, with John D. Winters, the mail contractor, for guide, but on Sunday, 20th, Sergeant Stahl returned and added to the alarm of the people by reporting that his party had been ambuscaded by the Indians just on the edge of Buffalo Grove, now in Ogle county, fifty miles from Galena, about 5 o'clock P. M. Saturday afternoon, and that Durley was instantly killed and left on the spot. Stahl received a bullet through his coat collar, and James Smith afterwards found a bullet hole in his hat and became intensely frightened. After the war, the leader of the Indians told Dixon that he could have killed the young fellow (Stahl) as well as not, but he had a fine horse, and in trying to shoot him without injuring the animal, he shot too high, as Stahl suddenly stooped at the same time.

HUNTING THE INDIANS.

May 19, the entire army, including volunteers and regulars, under command of General Atkinson, started up the river in pursuit of the enemy. In the afternoon news was brought of the Indian Creek massacre in LaSalle county. when General At- kinson ordered General Whiteside and Colonel Zachary Taylor to continue the pursuit with the volunteers, while he fell baek to Dixon. After several days' march the trail of Black Hawk was struck, which led the army to a village of the Pottawatomies on Syca- more ereek, where several relies of the Stillman disaster and of the Indian Creek mas- saere were found, but the Indians had fled. Trails led out from the village in different directions, intended, no doubt, to confuse the pursuing forces and throw them off the right trail. The army remained here a short time, during which the volunteers became so dis- satisfied with the commanding general and from other causes, that it was determined to abandon the chase. The principal trail of the Indians, when found, led north and the route of the volunteers homeward led south. Colonel Taylor and Major Harney, of the

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regular army, urged the volunteers to remain until the Indians could be overtaken and chastised, but they were averse to remaining longer away from their homes and their business. General Whiteside was opposed to continuing the pursuit, but agreed to be governed by a majority of the officers, and the question being submitted to a vote, one- half voted to continue the pursuit, and the other half in favor of returning home. Governor Reynolds, seeing the demoralized condition of the volunteers, caused a part of them to be marched to Ottawa, where they were discharged on the 27th and 28th of May. Captain Eads' Peoria company was mustered out at Peoria.

ANECDOTE OF OLD ROUGH AND READY.

It has been related that pending these troubles with the militia, many of them be- lieved Rock river was the northwestern boundary of Illinois, and declared they would not go beyond that river under any circumstances. They were militia, they said, had been called out for the defense of the State, and it was unconstitutional to order them to march beyond its frontier and into the Indian Territory. Taylor, as soon as he was informed of the condition of affairs, halted the command and went into camp within the acknowledged boundaries of Illinois. He could not, he declared, budge another inch without further orders. Black Hawk and his forces had been driven out of the State, but the question of crossing Rock river seemed to trouble him, as to obedience to the constitution on the one side and military expediency on the other. During the night, however, orders were received from General Atkinson to follow Black Hawk to the last. The quiet demeanor of Colonel Taylor meanwhile had rather encouraged the mutinous spirits to carry out their purposes. A meeting was called, and Colonel Taylor was invited to attend. He listened some time with quiet attention to the proceedings, but at last concluded that it was about time for him to be heard, and he addressed the meeting something after this manner: He had, he said, listened with much interest and pleasure to the views expressed by some of the speakers as to the independence and dignity of each individual American citizen. He felt that all the gentlemen present were his equals, and was persuaded that it would not be many years until they would be his superiors ; that perhaps some of them would be members of Congress and arbiters of the fortunes and reputations of humble servants to the Republic, like himself. He expected then to obey them as interpreters of the will of the people, and that the best proof he could give that he would obey them, was now to observe the orders of those whom the people had already put in places of authority, to which many gentlemen around him justly aspired. In plain English, gentlemen and fellow citizens, the word has been passed to me from Washington to follow Black Hawk, and to take you with me as soldiers. I intend to do both. There are the flat boats drawn up on the shore, and here are Uncle Sam's men drawn up behind you on the prairie. It is needless to add that the militia crossed Rock river, and followed Black Hawk until they were honorably discharged.

THIRD CAMPAIGN.

SKIRMISHING.

When the first levy of State troops was mustered out at Ottawa and Peoria, General Atkinson called on Governor Reynolds for one thousand additional men to co-operate with the previous requisition of two thousand, and one thousand more to guard the frontier. In consequence of danger to the exposed settlements an appeal was made to the disbanded volunteers, and a regiment was raised among them to serve until the

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new levies could be made available. Jacob Fry was chosen Colonel and James D. Henry Lieutenant-Colonel, after which the different companies composing the regiment were dispatched to the most exposed localities. After doing duty until the new levy of troops arrived, this regiment was mustered out at Dixon on the 19th of June by Colonel Taylor. During their term of service, one of the companies under command of Captain Snyder had some severe skirmishing with a party of seventy Indians in the vicinity of Kellogg's Grove, in which four of the Indians and two or three of the whites were killed. Before the new levies could be organized and made available, a number of murders were com- mitted in different parts of the country.

The Galenian of May 23, 1832. said : " The tomahawk and scalping-knife have again been drawn on our frontier. Blood of our best citizens has been spilt in great profusion within the borders of Illinois. The Indians must be exterminated or sent off."

The miners and settlers flocked to central points, organized themselves into compa- nies, and built stockades and block-houses, so that within a week after they received the news of the Stillman's run affair. they were able to resist any ordinary attacking foree.

Depredations by straggling Indians were of almost daily occurrence. On the 21st a Mr. Goss was fired on near the mouth of Plum river, and sundry other affairs of the same kind were reported from other parts of the country. The most of these assaults occurred in Jo Daviess county and east of the Rock river, although some of them were confined to the country along the Mississippi.

May 23, Felix St. Vrain, agent for the Saes and Foxes. bearer of dispatches. left General Atkinson's headquarters, on Rock river, accompanied by John Fowler, Thomas Kenney, William Hale, Aquilla Floyd, Aaron Hawley, and Alexander Higginbotham. At Buffalo Grove they found the body of the lamented Durley, and buried it a rod from the spot where they found it. The next day (24th) they were attacked by a large party of thirty Indians near Kellogg's old place. St. Vrain, Fowler, Hale and Hawley were killed. The other three escaped, and arrived at Galena on the morning of the 26th.

The Indians were watchful of every movement of the white troops, and took every possible advantage offered. Between the time the first volunteers were mustered out. on the 27th and 28th of May, and the mustering in and organization of the new levies on the 15th of June, they grew bolder and more daring. Numerous murders were com- mitted, and the only protection the people had was their own brave hearts and strong arms. The atrocities perpetrated by the Indians upon the bodies of their victims, aroused the vengence of the settlers and miners, many of whom had previously felt that the Indians were not so much in fault, and had been needlessly provoked to bloodshed. June 8, Captain Stephenson's company of mounted rangers found the bodies of St. Vrain, Hale, Fowler and Hawley, four miles south of Kellogg's Grove, and buried them.

Colonel William S. Hamilton arrived in Galena with two hundred and thirty Indians, mostly Sioux, with some Menominees and Winnebagoes, on the Sth. These Indians left Galena on the 10th, to join General Atkinson at Dixon's Ferry, all anxious to obtain Sac scalps. Black Hawk's band was reported moving slowly northward.

On the night of June 8th, the Indians stole fourteen horses just outside the stockade on Apple river (Elizabeth), and on the night of the 17th, ten more were stolen. The next morning Capt. J. W. Stephenson, with twelve of his men and nine from Apple River Fort, started on the trail of the red thieves, and overtook them about twelve miles cast of Kellogg's Grove, southeast of Waddam's Grove, and pursued them several miles. until a little northeast of Waddam's (in Stephenson county ), the Indians (seven in num- ber, says Captain Green), took refuge in a dense thicket, and awaited the attack. Steph- enson dismounted his men, and, detailing a guard for the horses, led his men in a gallant charge upon the concealed foe, received their fire and returned it, returning to the open prairie to load. Three times the brave boy's charged upon this fatal thicket, losing a man eneh time. Only one Indian was known to be killed. He was bayonetted by Private

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Hood, and stabbed in the neck by Thomas Sublett. This Indian was scalped several times, and a piece of his scalp lock in 1878 was in the possession of Wm. H. Snyder, Esq., of Galena. The three men killed were Stephen P. Howard, George Eames and Michael Lovell. Stephenson himself was wounded. After the third charge, Stephenson retreated, leaving his dead where they fell, and returned to Galena, arriving on the 19th. Of this desperate battle, Gov. Ford says: " This attack of Capt. Stephenson was unsuccessful, and may have been imprudent ; but it equalled any thing in modern warfare in daring and desperate courage."

On the evening of June 14, five men, at work in a corn-field at Spafford's farm, five miles below Fort Hamilton, on Spafford's creek, and on the morning of the 16th, Henry Apple, a German, were killed within a half a mile of the fort. Gen. Dodge, with twenty- nine men, at once pursued the Indians about three miles, when they were discovered, eleven in number, in open ground, but were not overtaken until they crossed the East Pick - e - ton - e- ka, and entered an almost impenetrable swamp, at Horse Shoe Bend. At the edge of the swamp, Dodge ordered his men to dismount, and link horses. Four men were left in charge of the horses, four were posted around the swamp to prevent the escape of the savages, and the remainder, twenty-one in number, advanced into the swamp about half a mile, where they received the fire of the Indians, and three men fell severely wounded. Gen. Dodge instantly ordered a charge. The Indians were found lying under the bank of a slough, and were not seen until the soldiers were within six or eight feet of them, when they fired. The whole hostile party were killed and scalped in one or two minutes, except one who swam the slough in an attempt to escape, and was shot down on the opposite bank. In this battle F. M. Morris and Samuel Wells were mortally, and Samuel Black and Thomas Jenkins severely, wounded. This was the first victory achieved over the murderous Sacs, and occasioned great rejoicing in the settle- ments.

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The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 20

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932