USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches war record statistics portraits of early settlers history of the Northwest, history of Illinois, &c. > Part 21
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" According to previous arrangements, on the 10th of July, 1832, the sev- eral brigades took up their lines of march for their several destinations. Col. Ewing's regiment was sent back to Dixon ; Gen. Posey marched to Fort Ham- ilton, on the Pecatonica ; Gen. Henry, with Col. Alexander and Maj. Dodge, was sent to Fort Winnebago, situated at the Portage, between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers ; while Gen. Atkinson, with Col. Taylor and the regulars, fell back to Lake Koshkonong, and there erected a fort, named after the lake, where he was to remain until the volunteers returned with supplies. Gen. Henry marched to Fort Winnebago in three days. Two days were occupied by Gen. Henry, at Fort Winnebago, in obtaining provisions, on the last of which the Winnebago chiefs there reported that Black Hawk and his forces were encamped at Manitou Village, thirty-five miles above Gen. Atkinson, on Rock River. In a council held by Gen. Henry, Col. Alexander, and Maj. Dodge, it was determined to violate orders by marching directly to the enemy,
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with the hope of taking him by surprise, or at least putting Black Hawk be- tween them and Gen. Atkinson, thus cutting off his further retreat to the north. Twelve o'clock, noon, July 15, 1832, was the hour appointed to com- mench the march. Gen. Henry proceeded at once to reorganize his command, with a view to disincumber himself of his sick and dismounted men, that as little as possible might impede the celerity of his march. Gen. Henry was a complete soldier. He was gifted with uncommon talent of commanding with sternness without giving offense; of forcing his men to obey, without degrading them in their own estimation ; he was brave without rashness, and gave his orders with firmness and authority, without any appearance of bluster. In his mere person he looked the commander, in a word, he was one of those very rare men who are gifted by nature with the power to command militia ; to be at the same time feared and loved, and with the capacity of inspiring his soldiers with the ardor, impetuosity, and honorable impulses of their commander. Col. Alex- ander, with his brigade, was sent back to Gen. Atkinson, and at noon, July 15, 1832, Gen. Henry, with his brigade, the battalion of one hundred Wisconsin volunteers, under Maj. Dodge, and a spy battalion under command of Maj. William Lee D. Ewing, set out on his march from Fort Winnebago to attack Black Hawk, accompanied by Poquette, a half-breed, and the 'White Pawnee,' a Winnebago chief, as guides. On the route to the head-waters of Rock River he was thrown from a direct line by intervening swamps extending for miles. Reaching Rock River, three Winnebagoes gave intelligence that Black Hawk was encamped at Cranberry Lake, further up the river. Relying on this in- formation, it was decided by Gen. Henry to make a forced march in that direc- tion. Dr. Merryman, of Springfield, Ill., and W. W. Woodbridge, of Wis- consin, were sent as an express to Gen. Atkinson to advise him of Henry's movements. They were accompanied by a chief called ' Little Thunder,' as a guide, and, having started about dark, and proceeded on their perilous journey about eight miles to the southwest, they came upon the fresh main trail of Black Hawk and his people, endeavoring to escape by way of the Four Lakes across the Wisconsin River. At the sight of the broad, fresh trail, the Indian guide was struck with terror, and, without permission, retreated back to the camp. Merryman and Woodbridge retreated also, but not until the treacher- ous 'Little Thunder ' had announced his discovery in the Indian tongue to the Winnebagoes, his countrymen, who were in the very act of making their escape, when they were stopped by Maj. Murray McConnell, and taken to the tent of Gen. Henry, to whom they confessed that they had come into his camp only to give false information, and favor the retreat of Black Hawk and his dusky warriors, and then, to make amends for their perfidy, and, perhaps, as they were led to believe, to avoid immediate death, they disclosed all they knew of Black Hawk's movements. Gen. Henry prudently kept the treachery of these Indians a secret from his men, for it would have required the influence of himself and all his officers to have saved their lives, had their perfidious conduct been known throughout the camp. The next morning, July 19, 1832, by daylight, everything was ready for a forced march ; but first another express was dispatched to Gen. Atkinson. All cumbrous baggage was thrown away. The tents and most of the camp equipage were left in a pile in the wilderness. Many of the men left their blankets and all their clothing, except the suits they wore. Those who had lost their horses took nothing but their guns and ammunition and slight rations on their backs, and traveled over mountain and plain, swamp and thicket, and kept up with the men on horseback. All the men now marched with a better spirit than usual. The sight of the broad,
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fresh trail of Black Hawk's retreating people inspired every one with a lively hope of bringing the war to a speedy end. There was no murmuring, there was no excuse or complaining, and none on the sick report. The first day, in the afternoon, they were overtaken by one of those storms common on the prairies, black and terific, accompanied by torrents of rain, and the most fear- ful lightning and thunder ; but the men dashed on through thickets almost im- penetrable, and swamps almost impassable, and that day marched upward of fifty miles. During the day's march, Gen. Henry, Maj. Murray McConnell, and the members of the General's staff, often dismounted and marched on foot, giving their horses to the weary, dismounted men. The storm raged until two o'clock the next morning. The men, exhausted with fatigue, threw themselves supperless upon the rain-drenched earth-for the rain was so continuous that they could not kindle fires with which to prepare supper. The next morning, July 20, 1832, the storm had abated, and all were on the march by daylight, and after a march as fatiguing as the day before, the army encamped upon the banks of the Four Lakes forming the source of the Catfish River in Wisconsin, and near where Black Hawk had encamped the night previous. The men kindled their fires for supper with a hearty good will, for they had marched nearly a hundred miles without cooked food or a spark of fire. All were in fine spirits and high expectation of overtaking the Indians next day, and put- ting an end to the war by a general battle.
"At daylight, July 21, 1832, the march was resumed with unabated ardor. The men were hurried forward by the continual order, 'Close up, close up.' The day's march was harder than the two preceding days. The men on foot were forced into a run to keep up with the column, the men on horseback carrying for them their arms and rations. Maj. William Lee D. Ewing com- manded the spy battalion and with him was joined the battalion of one hundred men under the command of Maj. Dodge, of Wisconsin. These two officers with their commands were in the advance, but the main body was always in sight. About noon, the advance guard came close upon the rear guard of the retreating red-skins. It is to be regretted that we have no account of the management and perils of Hawk Black in conducting his retreat. All that we know is that for many miles before they were overtaken their broad trail was strewn with camp kettles baggage of various kinds, which they had thrown away in the hurry of their flight. The sight of those articles encouraged Gen. Henry's men to press forward. About noon the scouts in the advance came suddenly upon two Indians, and as the Indians were attempting to escape, one of them was killed and left dead upon the field. Dr. Addison Philleo, editor of the Galenian, a newspaper published at Galena, and the only paper published in the North- west at that time, scalped the dead Indian, and for a long time afterward exhibited the scalp as an evidence of his valor. He may not have been as eloquent as the Kentucky lawyer who distinguished himself in reporting to Gen. Whiteside the battle of Stillman's Run; but the writer is induced to re- mark that lawyers and editors are not, in his opinion, successful Indian fighters. Early in the afternoon the rear guard of Black Hawk's army began to make feint stands, merely to gain time to enable the main body to take up a more advantageous position. A few shots would be exchanged, and then the Indians would push ahead; but with so wily a foe to fight, caution had to be observed, troops deployed, and the thickets scoured, to be certain of no lurking foes. In this manner the Indians gained time to reach the broken grounds on the bluffs of the Wisconsin river. Near the middle of the afternoon, July 21, 1832, while Gen. Henry's advance guard was passing some uneven ground, covered with
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low timber and high grass, they were suddenly fired upon by a body of secreted Indians. In an instant Maj. Ewing's command was dismounted and formed in front, sending their horses to the rear. The Indians kept up a fire from behind fallen trees, and none of them could be discovered except by the flash and report of their guns. In a few minutes Gen. Henry arrived with the main body, and formed instantly his order of battle. Col. Jones' regiment was placed on the right, Col. Collins' regiment on the left, and Col. Fry's regiment in the rear as a reserve ; Maj. Ewing's battalion was placed in front of the line ; Maj. Dodge's battalion of one hundred men, from Wisconsin, on the extreme right, all dis- mounted, and in this order Gen. Henry's little army moved forward into battle. Gen. Henry gave the order to charge with the whole line, and his order was eagerly and handsomely executed by Ewing's battalion, and by Col. Jones' and Col. Collins' regiments.
" The Indians retreated before this charge obliquely to the right, and con- centrated their main force in front of Dodge's battalion, evidencing a design to turn his right flank. Gen. Henry sent an order by Major Murray McConnell to Major Dodge to charge with his battalion ; but Major Dodge being of the opinion that the enemy was too strong for him, requested a reinforcement. Gen. Henry ordered Col. Fry's regiment, his only reserve, to the aid of Major Dodge, and formed it on his right, and Major Dodge and Col. Fry charged upon the In- dians. In front of Col. Fry's regiment were bushes and high grass where the In- dians lay concealed, and Fry's regiment received the fire of nearly the whole body of Black Hawk's warriors. But their fire was briskly returned by the regiment of Col. Fry and by Dodge's batalion, and the whole line steadily advanced until within almost bayonet reach of the red-skins, when Black Hawk fell back to the west along the high, broken bluffs of the Wisconsin, and took up a new position in the thickest timber and tall grass at the head of a hollow leading to the Wisconsin river, where Black Hawk appeared determined to make a firm stand; but he was gallantly charged upon in his new position by the battalion of Major Ewing and the regiments of Col. Collins and Col. Jones, and the Indians put to rout, some of them being pursued down the hollow, and others again to the west along the high bluffs of the river, until they descended the bluffs to the Wisconsin bottom, nearly a mile wide and very swampy, covered with thick, tall grass above the heads of men on horseback. Night came on ; further pursuit was stopped, and Gen. Henry and his victorious little army lay upon the field of battle.
" That night Gen. Henry's camp was disturbed by the voice of an Indian, loudly sounding from a distant hill, as if giving orders or desiring conference. It afterward appeared that it was a voice of an Indian chief, speaking in the Winnebago language, stating that the Indians had their squaws and families with them, that they were starving for provisions, and were not able to fight the white people; that if they were permitted to pass peacefully over the Mis- sissippi, they would do no more mischief. He spoke in the Winnebago tongue in the hope that some of the Winnebago Indians were with Gen. Henry and would act as his interpreters. No Winnebagoes were present, they having ran at the commencement of the action, and so his language was never explained until after the close of the war.
"Next morning early, Gen. Henry advanced his forces to the Wisconsin River, and ascertained that the Indians had all crossed it, and made their escape to the hills between the Wisconsin and the Mississippi, It was ascer- tained after the battle that Black Hawk's loss amounted to sixty-eight left dead upon the field, and a large number of wounded, of whom twenty-five were after-
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ward found along the Indian trail leading to the Mississippi. Gen. Henry lost one man killed and eight wounded. It appeared that the Indians, knowing that they were to fight a mounted force had been trained to fire at an elevation to hit men on horseback; but as Gen. Henry had dismounted his forces, and sent his horses into the rear, the Indians had overshot their foes, which accounted for the small loss in Gen. Henry's command.
" This gallant action, July 21, 1832, an Illinoisan, and a volunteer, fought against orders, but with a true soldier's ardor to serve his country, and with a sol- dier's care to notify his commanding general by frequent expresses of his actions and intentions ; and this battle of the Wisconsin really and virtually ended the famous Black Hawk War, and opened up Stephenson County to permanent settlement by the whites. But Gen. Henry received no credit for it then. The valorous Doctor Philleo, editor of The Galenian, wrote up an account of it, in the interest of Maj. Dodge, calling Dodge a general. and not mentioning Gen. Henry at all, and his account of the battle was printed in all the news- papers ofthe United States, and has gone into many of its histories, filching Gen. Henry's fame for the benefit of Maj. Dodge. Besides, the gallant conduct and splendid generalship of Gen. Henry, gave mortal offence to all the regular army officers-for then, as in our late war, West Pointers were determined that mere volunteers should win no laurels. Gen. Henry was as modest as he was brave and skillful, and went to his death without the just praise that prosterity will award him.
" The next day after the battle of the Wisconsin, on July 22, 1832, for want of provisions, Gen. Henry determined to fall back to the Blue Mounds. The Winnebagoes who accompanied Gen. Henry during his forced march, at the very commencement of the action, had deserted, and made a bee-line for ' tall timber.' No one with Gen. Henry knew enough of the country to act as a guide. Gen. Henry had marched 130 miles through an unknown and unex- plored country, without roads or landmarks, simply pushing hard upon Black Hawk's trail, and now found himself in a position in which no one with him could direct his way to the settlements. He was without rations or forage, men and animals fatigued, and he might be a week blundering through the wilderness finding his way out. A council was called to consider these diffi- culties ; and whilst he was debating the course to be pursued, some Indians approached with a white flag, who were ascertained to be friendly Winneba- goes. They acted as guides for Gen. Henry, and in two days he had arrived at Blue Mounds, where he met Gen. Atkinson with the regulars and Alexander's brigade, from Fort Koskonong, where they had been 'bottled up' while Gen. Henry achieved his splendid victory over Black Hawk ; also Posey's brigade from Fort Hamilton, on the Pecatonica. It was soon apparent to Gen. Henry, and to all his officers, that Gen. Atkinson, and all the regular officers, were deeply mortified at the success of Gen. Henry and the Illinois militia. They did not intend that non-professionals and mere volunteers should have any of the credit in the war. Volunteers were good enough for fighting, good enough to enrich the soil with their blood, but the harvest of fame that sprang from their sprinkled blood must be garnered by West Pointers.
" Gen. Henry had virtually ended the war, but Gen. Atkinson soon put his army in motion after Black Hawk and his dispirited braves. On the 2d of August, 1832, the battle of Bad Axe was fought by Gen. Atkinson. He put the gallant Gen. Henry and his command virtually into disgrace by detail- ing him and his brigade as train guard in the rear. But circumstances occurred that gave Gen. Henry and his gallant Illinois volunteers the front again,
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without the orders and against the wish of Gen. Atkinson. The Indians were encamped on the banks of the Mississippi, some distance below the mouth of the Bad Axe River. They were aware that Gen. Atkinson was in close pur- suit ; and to mislead Gen. Atkinson and gain time for crossing into the Indian country, west of the Mississippi, Black Hawk in person went back with about twenty Indians, to meet Gen. Atkinson's advance, attack. and retreat to the river several miles above his regular camp. Accordingly, Gen. Atkinson's advance was suddenly fired upon by Black Hawk and his little band from behind trees and fallen timber. Gen. Atkinson rode immediately to the front and, in person, directed a charge. The wily Indians gave way, and were pursued by Gen. Atkinson and his ,regulars, and all the army except the brigade of the gallant Gen. Henry, that was in the rear acting as train guard, and in the hurry of the pursuit of the Indians, Gen. Henry was left without orders. When Gen. Henry came up to the place where the attack had first been made by the Indians, he saw clearly that the wily stratagem of the untutored savage had triumphed over the science of a veteran General. The main trail of the Indians was plain to be seen leading to the river lower down, and Gen. Henry marched his brigade right forward upon the main trail. At the foot of the high bluff bordering the river valley, on the edge of a swamp covered with timber, drift-wood and underbrush, through which the Indian trail led fresh and broad, Gen. Henry dismounted his troops and left his horses. He formed his men on foot and advanced to the attack, preceded by an advance guard of eight men, who advanced until they came in sight of the river. where they were fired upon by about fifty Indians, and five out of eight in the advance guard instantly fell wounded or dead. The other three, behind trees, stood their ground until Gen. Henry came up with the main body, which deployed to the right and left from the center, rushed forward, and the battle became general along the whole line. The fifty Indians first met retreated upon the main body, amounting to about 300 warriors ; but the Indians were taken by surprise. They fought bravely and desperately, but their leader, Black Hawk, was not with them-he had led the small party in the first attack upon Gen. Atkinson, and was now misleading the veteran regular General away from his own camp-and the Indians in front of Henry fought without plan or concert. , Gen. Henry, with his gallant Illinois volunteers, charged steadily forward, driving the foe from tree to tree, and from hiding place to hiding place, and crowded them steadily to the river's bank, where a desperate struggle ensued ; but the deadly bayonet in the hands of Gen. Henry's charging brigade drove them into the river, some to swim it, some to drown, and some to take temporary shelter on a small willow-covered island near the shore.
" Gen. Atkinson heard the music of Henry's rifles, and returned with his army, but the work was mainly accomplished. It had been determined that Gen. Henry and his Illinois volunteers should have no share in that day's glory, but the fates-taking advantage of a blunder by Gen. Atkinson-had otherwise directed. After the Indians had retreated into the Mississippi River and on to the willow-covered island, Gen. Henry sent Maj. Murray McConnel to give intelligence of his movements to Gen. Atkinson, who, while being mis- led by Black Hawk and his little band of twenty chosen warriors, had heard the firing where Gen. Henry was engaged. Gen. Atkinson left the pursuit of the twenty Indians and hastened to share in the general engagement. He was met by Gen. Henry's messenger, Maj. Murray McConnell, near the scene of action, in passing through which, the dead and dying Indians lying around, bore frightful evidence of the stern work done before his arrival. Gen. Atkinson,
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however, lost no time in forming his regulars, and Major Dodge's battalion, Maj. Ewing's battalion, and Col. Fry's regiment, for a descent upon the wil- low-covered island, where lay concealed the last remnant of Black Hawk's army .. They gallantly charged through the water up to their arm-pits on to the island and swept it clean of the lurking foe. The twenty Indians who first made the attack on Gen. Atkinson, and misled him, who were led by Black Hawk in, person, escaped up the river to the Dalles, on the Wisconsin, where some friendly Sioux and Winnebagoes pursued the broken and defeated chief, captured him and turned him over to Col. Zachary Taylor, of the regular army. He was taken to Jefferson Barracks, where Gen. Winfield Scott and Gov. Reynolds made another ' treaty,' and again the Sacs and Foxes relinquished to the whites all claim upon the territory now known as Stephenson County, Ill., including, of course, vast tracts besides. Black Hawk was taken to Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, etc., and dined and wined, and eventually returned to his people west of the Mississippi, on June 4, 1833. Black Hawk never went upon the war path again, and died at the age of eighty, October 3, 1840.
COUNTY ROSTER.
Stephenson County was created by an act of the Legislature, promulgated March 4, 1837, its organization provided for, and the seat of justice established at Freeport, by a Board of Commissioners, composed of Minor York, of Ogle, and Vance L. Davidson and Isaac Chambers, of Jo Daviess Counties. A meeting of the Commissioners was held at the house of William Baker, on the first Monday of May following, whereat the organization was perfected, and an election held for the following county officers: Sheriff, Coroner, Surveyor, three County Commissioners and one Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, who were to hold their offices until the next succeeding general elections, and until their successors are elected and qualified.
The subjoined is a list of the first county officers, together with those who succeeded the subsequent vacancies :
Sheriffs .- William Kirkpatrick, 1837; Hubbard Graves, 1838; Oliver W. Brewster, 1840; Joseph McCool, 1842; O. W. Brewster, 1844-46; F A. Strockey, 1848.
Coroner .- Lorenzo Lee, 1837; B. R. Wilmot, 1838; Lorain Snow, 1840; Henry W. Hollenbeck, 1841; Isaac S. Forbes, 1842; W. Patterson, 1844 ; Henry W. Foster, 1846; Abel Smith, 1848.
Surveyor .- Frederick D. Bulkley, from 1837 to 1842; A. Chamberlain; 1843; no record in 1844, 1845, 1846; M. Montelius, 1847.
Commissioners .- L. W. Streator, Isaac S. Forbes and Julius Smith, 1837 ; L. W. Streator, Robert McConnell and John Moore, 1838; Thomas Van Valzah, 1839; J. Cory and B. R. Wilmot, 1840; Hubbard Graves and Alfred Cad- well, 1841; James T. Smith and George Reitzell, 1842; Joseph Musser, 1843; Ezekiel Brown, 1844; Samuel F. Dodds, 1845; Abner B. Clingman, 1846; John Bradford, 1847; Gustavus A. Farwell, 1848.
County Clerk .- O. H. Wright, 1837 ; no returns for 1838; O. H. Wright, from 1839 to 1846.
Assessor and Treasurer .- L. O. Crocker, 1837-40.
Assessors .- O. W. Brewster, 1841-42; Chancellor Martin, 1843 ; A. W. Rice, 1844-47.
Probate Judges .- O. H. Wright, 1838-41 ; Thomas J. Turner, 1842-45 ; Seth B. Farwell, 1846 ; C. W. Williams, 1847.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
Clerks County Commissioners' Court .- W. H. Hollenbeck, 1837 ; W. P. Hunt, 1838; W. H. Hollenbeck, 1839-42; William Preston, from 1843 to 1847.
Collectors .- John R. Howe, 1838; John Gordon, 1840 ; O. W. Brewster, 1841-47 ; F. A. Strockey, 1848.
State Senators .- George W. Harrison, 1838; J. A. Mitchell, 1842; L. P. Sanger, 1846-48.
House of Representatives .- Germanicus Kent, 1838; Thomas Drummond, 1840; William Preston, 1842; G. Purinton, 1844; L. H. Bowen, 1846 ; L. H. Bowen, 1847; A. Eads, 1848.
School Commissioners .-- John Rice, 1841 ; Jared Sheetz, 1843 ; L. W. Guit- eau, 1845-47.
Treasurer .- L. O. Crocker, 1841-42 ; Chancellor Martin, 1843 ; A. W. Rice, 1844-7.
Recorder .- J. W. Bulkley, 1843; John A. Clark, 1845-47.
It should be stated that prior to the election, of November, 1849, the county was under what is known as "the county organization." Thereafter it came under township organization, and the following is the list of officers who have served :
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