USA > Wisconsin > An illustrated history of Wisconsin from prehistoric to present periods : the story of the state interspersed with realistic and romantic events > Part 29
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Gen. Posey and Gen. Alexander each commanded 1,000 men. Gen. Henry commanded 1,200, and Gen. Dodge's battalion numbered about 150, besides Major Zachary Taylor's regular forces on the Mississippi, which were four hundred and fifty. * At this time the Illinois militia had been reduced nearly one-half by sickness and other causes.t
Black Hawk and his band arrived at the Wisconsin river at a point nearly opposite Prairie du Sac (the old camping-ground of Black Hawk's an- cestors) late in the afternoon on July 21, 1832, and were hastening the de- parture of the women, children and old men to an island in the Wisconsin
*Smith's History of Wisconsin, Vol. III., 182.
tThe Illinois militia concluded that hunting Indians as a pastime 'was dangerous busi- ness, and for this reason, many returned to their homes.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
river, when Black Hawk's scouts brought him word that the advance squadrons of the enemy were close at hand. Black Hawk, with the ability of a Napo- leon or a Moreau, took fifty of his warriors and bravely charged and drove back the mounted scouts of Col. Dodge's command, then took up his posi- tion on an elevated piece of ground. Black Hawk was mounted upon a superb white horse, upon which he sat, and with a voice like a clarion, rang out his orders to his brave but diminutive band.
Black Hawk's position could not be held long against such great odds. After a desperate and determined struggle for an hour or more, he was driven by the combined command of Col. Dodge and Gen. Henry into the bottom lands of the Wisconsin river, but not until after his brave warriors had charged first the right and then the left flank of the enemy.
Never in the annals of Indian warfare was such determined and success- ful resistance made by so few against such great odds. The battle com- menced about five o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until dusk. Black Hawk was defeated, but he had accomplished his object, by holding the army in check until the women, children and old men had crossed the river to an island in the Wisconsin. Black Hawk in this battle lost six warriors, and the loss of the enemy was one killed and eight wounded .*
There appeared to have been a wonderful fatality in the fact that the Indians arrived at the point opposite the old camp-grounds of Black Hawk's ancestors, after striking across an unknown country and without any definite point in view. Had the great Sac chiefs, the ancestors of Black Hawk, who once lived at this noted spot, been permitted by the Great Spirit to look upon the great tragedy there enacted, no blush would have mantled their cheeks, no frown would have passed over their somber features-the honor of the great medicine bags of the Sac nation was preserved.
After the battle, Black Hawk disbanded his warriors, with instructions to meet at a given point on the Wisconsin. Then crossed the Wisconsin to an island where the balance of his nation were camped.
Some writers, not caring to give Black Hawk credit for any great military achievements, claimed that Neapopet commanded at the battle of Wisconsin Heights; but such is not the fact, however, as Neapope at the time of the bat- tle was with his twenty scouts many miles in the rear of Gen. Henry and Col.
*The principal reason why the losses sustained in this battle were so small, was be- cause Black Hawk, on account of the scanty number of his warriors, was obliged to keep them between the enemy and the balance of the Indians, who were crossing the river; besides, during the whole of the engagement, rain was falling and the grass was both high and deplorably wet, which caused the priming in the old flint-lock rifles to become damp and unserviceable.
tIt will be 'remembered that Neapope was a self-proclaimed prophet, and the chief of the Winnebago village on Rock river. Neapope prophesied the ultimate success of Black Hawk and repeatedly urged him never to recross to the west side of the Mississippi; yet he was almost the first to desert him in the time of need.
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Dodge's command. Neapope, after learning of the battle of Wisconsin Heights, disbanded his warriors, and with another Indian, went to a Winnebago village, and there remained until the close of the war; while the rest of the disbanded Indians, being Sac warriors and not shambling Winnebagoes, again joined Black Hawk and his misfortunes.
Upon Black Hawk's arrival at the island, he found his people, not only worn out by hard marching, but in a starving condition. Owing to this state of affairs, many warriors left him to return across the Mississippi by way of the Wisconsin river.
Unfortunately, upon their arrival at the mouth of the Wisconsin, they were met by a party of soldiers, who had been stationed there by order of the commander at Fort Crawford, and some were shot down, others drowned, while the balance escaped into the woods, only to die of starvation.
Black Hawk, through an emissary, on the night of the battle of Wisconsin Heights, again tried to surrender, but that strange fatality-premeditated ex- termination-again closed the doors of reason, and the voice of the emissary was unheard .*
Black Hawk and the balance of his band, having no means to descend the Wisconsin, and their horses being in a starving condition, after a few days, started with their Winnebago guides, across a wild, rugged country, interposed by turbulent and rapid streams, towards the Bad Ax river, with the intention of crossing the Mississippi river and returning to their late camping-grounds, near the site of Fort Madison.
*White Crow and his Winnebagoes, and Pierre Parquet, an interpreter, who had fol- lowed Black Hawk's trail with General Henry and Colonel Dodge's command to Wisconsin Heights, and participated in the battle, left the American camp for Fort Winnebago, during the night of the battle, which may be the reason that Black Hawk's emissary, who addressed the American camp in Winnebago, was allowed to depart without a hearing.
BATTLEFIELD OF WISCONSIN HEIGHTS. From Oil Painting in Wis. Hist. Society's Rooms.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Black Hawk's Band Retreats to Mouth of Bad Ax River .- Trail Strewn with Dead Bodies and Newly-Made Graves .- Concentration of United States Forces and Illinois Militia at Bad Ax .- Black Hawk Tries to Surrender to the Commander of "Warrior," but is Answered with Grape and Canister .- Slaughter of the Starving Indians .- IIe Surrenders as Prisoner of War .- His Celebrated Speech to General Street .- United States Recognizes His Rights .- The Old Warrior in Washington .- Sent Home by Way of the East .- His Sec- ond Visit to Washington and Eastern Cities .- His Death .- Conclusion.
FROM the crossing on the north side of the Wisconsin to the mouth of the Bad Ax, the Indian trail was strewn with the bones of the almost fleshless horses which had been killed to appease the starving refugees ; while the trail was lit- erally covered with dead bodies and newly-made graves of the Indians who had died of hunger, and perhaps from wounds received at the battle of Wiscon- sin Heights.
The next morning after the battle of Wisconsin Heights, an express was sent to Gen. Atkinson at Koskonong, and to the commander at Fort Craw- ford, at Prairie du Chien, in order to intercept the Indians, if they attempted to escape by way of the Wisconsin. The army then, instead of crossing the Wisconsin and exterminating the Indians, or at once compelling them to sur- render, marched the whole army to the Blue Mounds, where Col. Dodge's command was temporarily dismissed.
Gen. Atkinson, after being apprised of the battle of Wisconsin Heights, broke up his camp on Bark river near Koskonong, and hastened by way of the Blue Mounds, to Helena, on the Wisconsin. Here again the volunteers under Col. Dodge were assembled, and the whole army crossed the river, and found Black Hawk's trail on the north bank under the bluffs, leading towards the mouth of the Bad Ax. This trail was pursued until the Mississippi was reached, near the junction of the Bad Ax, on the morning of August 2.
Col. Lomis, the commandant at Fort Crawford, after receiving Col. Dodge's express, sent the steamboat " Enterprise " up the Mississippi, for the purpose of intercepting any Indians that might try to escape by that route. At Black river they found forty Winnebagoes, with eight canoes collected, for the purpose undoubtedly of helping the retreating Sacs across the Mississippi. These Winnebagoes and canoes were seized, and brought down to Fort Craw- ford on July 30. The " Enterprise " being a slow boat, Col. Lomis hired the steamboat "Warrior" to make a trip up the river. On August 1, the "Warrior" ascended the river to the mouth of the Bad Ax, where they found Black Hawk and his people.
Three days behind the band of starving and dying refugees, like sleuth- hounds, came the well-fed, well-mounted, and well-equipped white army.
219
MAP OF THE
BAD AXE RIVER Scale- 4Miles=1 in.
Esofia Enterprise,
Con Pranie
Newton
Genoa
Springville
Romance
Battle of Bad axe. Victory
Purdy
Mass. R ...
DRAWN BY NAPOLIAN BOARDMAN U. S. SURVEYOR
MAP SHOWING BATTLE OF BAD AXE AND ADJACENT COUNTRY.
22I
BLACK HAWK-WARS IN WHICH HE PARTICIPATED.
Black Hawk and his people had only arrived at the junction of the Bad Ax with the Mississippi, when they saw the steamboat " Warrior " coming. Black Hawk, being acquainted with Throckmartin, the captain of the "Warrior," immediately determined to deliver himself up to him. He then directed his warriors not to shoot at the boat, then sent for his white flag. While the messenger was gone, he took a piece of white cotton, put it on a pole, and called to the captain of the boat, and told him to send his little boat ashore, and let him come aboard.
Some one from the boat asked whether they were Sacs or Winnebagoes. Some Winnebagoes being on board, Black Hawk told them in the Winnebago tongue that they were Sacs and wanted to give themselves up.
One of Black Hawk's braves then jumped into the river bearing a white flag, and began swimming towards the boat. He had gotten but a short dis- tance, before a Winnebago on deck of the "Warrior" shouted for them to run and hide, that the whites were going to shoot.
Black Hawk's white flag and its appeal, in the name of the starving women and children, was answered by the discharge of a six-pounder, loaded with grape and canister, which brought death and destruction in its path. Then the Indians, after hiding behind logs and trees, returned the fire of the " Warrior."
This affair, which will ever disgrace the name of Lieutenant Kingsbury, and remain a blot upon the escutcheon of the government, cost Black Hawk twenty- three warriors, while on board the "Warrior" only one was wounded.
The "Warrior" was under command of Lieut. Kingsbury, who occupied the forward deck with a detachment of regular troops. Lieut. Kingsbury should have been court-martialed and shot, or convicted of murder and hanged, as he and Capt. Throckmartin both admitted that they saw the flag of truce.
After the boat left, Black Hawk told his people to cross the Mississippi if they wished, as he intended to go into the Chippewa country. At this time, the Indians were not aware that they were so closely pursued by the enemy. Black Hawk and three lodges of Indians then started for the Chippewa country, while some of the Indians commenced crossing to the west side of the Mississippi.
Had the writers who have so frequently depicted the scenes of August 2, 1832, at the mouth of the Bad Ax river, the adjacent islands, and the opposite shores of the Mississippi, named it the slaughter of the Bad Ax, instead of the "battle of the Bad Ax," it would have been no misnomer.
In the Mississippi river, near the mouth of the Bad Ax, are two islands, one large and one small. The distance from the mainland to these islands is about 150 yards.
On the evening of August 1, a few straggling, starving Indians were sighted and killed. On the morning of August 2, at two o'clock, Col. Dodge's com-
BAD AX BATTLE FIELD. From an Oil Painting in Historical Rooms, Madison.
BLACK HAWK-WARS IN WHICH HE PARTICIPATED. 223
mand, supported by the regular troops under Col. Zachary Taylor, took up their line of march, and at sunrise the spy company reported that they were up with the Indians. The Indians again tried to surrender to Col. Dodge's spy company, but with utter disregard of age or sex, they commenced shooting the helpless women and children, as well as the warriors. A few of the Indians, finding that they were to be exterminated, got behind trees and sold their lives as dearly as possible, while the rest attempted to escape by swimming across the Mississippi and to the islands.
In the meanwhile, the united commands of Taylor and Dodge had been advanced about a mile to the bluffs of the Mississippi, thus driving the Indians onto a point of land at the junction of the Bad Ax with the Mississippi. The Indians were now completely surrounded and became easy victims to the ene- my's insatiate desire to exterminate them.
The "Warrior" had taken up her position so as to rake both islands with grape and canister, while the sharpshooters playfully shot many of those that attempted to cross the Mississippi, including the women with their helpless chil- dren upon their backs. The "Warrior" finally transferred Col. Taylor and about one hundred and fifty men to the larger of these islands, who soon killed all the Indians upon it.
Gen. Atkinson, with the main army, arrived near the close of the massa- cre, but in time to shoot down a few of the defenseless women and children, who were endeavoring to escape.
The closing scenes of this wonderful battle, which has cast such a halo of glory upon the government and the brave party participants, were enacted across the Mississippi. About one hundred and fifty Indians, principally women and children, who had escaped the shower of leaden hail, while bat- tling with the turbulent Mississippi, were overtaken by the Sioux hirelings of the government, and tomahawked.
The manner in which some of the army officials undertook to reflect credit upon themselves is manifested in order No. 65,* as well as in Abraham Lincoln's addresst in a congressional speech, delivered during a campaign of
* General Orders after the Battle of the Bad Ax. Headquarters First Army Corps of the Northwestern Army. Banks of the Mississippi river, near Bad Ax river, Aug. 3, 1832. Order No. 65. The victory achieved by the volunteers and regular troops over the enemy yesterday on this ground affords the commanding general an opportunity of expressing his approbation of their brave conduct: the whole of the troops participated in the honor of the combat; some of the corps were, however, more fortunate than others in being thrown from their positions in order of battle more immediately in conflict with the enemy. These were Henry's brigade, Dodge's battalion, the regular troops, Leach's regiment of Posey's brigade, and the spy battalion of Alexander's brigade. In order that individual merit and the con- duct of the corps may be properly represented to the department of war, and the general commanding the Northwestern army, the commanding general of this division directs that commanding officers of brigade and independent corps make to him written reports of the conduct and operations of their respective commands in the action.
By order of BRIG .- GEN. ATKINSON.
ALB. S. JOHNSON, A. D. C. and A. Adj .- Gen.
t "By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I am a military hero? Yes, sir; in the days of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled and came away. Speaking of Gen.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
1848. Three men, who in after life became world-renowned, took an active part in what was then called the Black Hawk War, to-wit .: Col. Zachary Taylor, who commanded the United States forces, and became president of the United States in 1849; Abraham Lincoln, who was captain of an Illinois regiment of militia, became president in 1861, and Lieut. Jefferson Davis, who was stationed at Prairie du Chien, became president of the southern confed- eracy in 1861.
Upon the morning of the battle of the Bad Ax, Black Hawk, who had started with a small party with the intention of going into the Chippewa coun- try, was overtaken by a runner, who informed them that the white army were within a few miles of his people, who had not yet crossed the Mississippi. Black Hawk then concluded to return and die with his people, unless the Great Spirit would give them another victory. He only succeeded, however, in get- ting to a thicket some distance from the scene of the slaughter, before it was over. After Black Hawk was informed of the result of the engagement by one of his escaping braves,* he retired with his little party to the Winnebago village at Prairie La Crosse.
At Black Hawk's request, he and White Cloud, the prophet, started with two Winnebago Indians, Decorrie and Chaeter, escorted by Lieut. Jefferson Davis, who delivered them up, as prisoners of war, to Gen. Street, at Prairie du Chien, on August 27th, 1832. The striking difference between a shambling, two-faced Winnebago and a Sac warrior is well illustrated by comparing the speeches made- to Gen. Street upon that occasion by Decorrie and Black Hawk. Decorrie spoke as follows: "We have done as you told us. We always do as you tell us, because we know it is for our good. You told us to bring them to you alive ; we have done so. If you had told us to bring their heads alone, we should have done so. We want you to keep them safe. If they are to be hurt, we do not want to see it. Wait until we are gone before you do it. We know you are our friends, because you take our part. That is the reason we do as you tell us to do. You say you love your red children ; we think we love you as much, if not more than you love us. We have confidence in
Cass's career, reminds me of my own. I was not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass was to Hull's surrender, and, like him, I saw the place very soon afterward. It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break, but I bent a musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke his sword, the idea is he broke it in desperation; Î bent the musket by accident. If Gen. Cass went in advance of me in picking whortle- berries, I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes; and, although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry. Mr. Speaker, if I should ever conclude to doff whatever our Democratic friends may suppose there is of Black-Cockade Federalism about me, and thereupon they should take me up as their candidate for the presidency, I protest they shall not make fun of me as they have of Gen. Cass, by attempting to write me into a military hero."
*This brave, at the commencement of the massacre, piled up some saddles before him, which shielded him from the enemy's fire, and, after killing three white men, crawled to the bank of the river and hid himself till the enemy retired. He then went to Black Hawk and reported the sorrowful news.
Photo Gravata
LIEUTENANT JEFFERSON DAVIS, IN 1829. Afterwards President of the Southern Confederacy.
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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
you, and you may rely upon us. We have been promised a great deal if we would take these men, that it would do much good to our people. We now hope to see what will be done for us. We now put these men into your hands. We have done all that you told us to do."
Black Hawk then made the following address, which will ever remain in history:
"My warriors fell around me ; it began to look dismal. I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose clear on us in the morning, and at night it sunk in a dark cloud, and looked like a ball of fire. This was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. He is now a prisoner to the white people, but he can stand the torture. He is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an In- dian ; he has done nothing of which' an Indian need be ashamed. He has fought the battles of his country against the white men, who came year after year to cheat them and take away their lands. You know the cause of our making war-it is known to all white men-they ought to be ashamed of it. The white men despise the Indians, and drive them from their homes, but the Indians are not deceitful. The white men speak bad of the Indian and look at him spitefully, but the Indian does not tell lies. Indians do not steal. Black Hawk is satisfied. He will go to the world of spirits contented. He has done his duty. His father will meet and reward him. The white men do not scalp the head, but they do worse-they poison the heart-it is not pure with them. His countrymen will not be scalped, but they will in a few years become like the white men, so that you cannot hurt them, and there must be, as in the white settlements, as many officers as men, to take care of them and keep them in order-farewell to Black Hawk."
· , Gen. Street, in the absence of Gen. Atkinson, delivered the noted prison- ers to the commanding officer at Fort Crawford .* After remaining here a short time, Black Hawk was sent down the river to Jefferson Barracks,t under the charge of Lieut. Jefferson Davis .¿ Upon passing Rock Island, Gen. Scott§ came out in a small boat to see the captives, but was not allowed to go on board the steamer, on account of the cholera which was then raging among the troops at Fort Armstrong. Black Hawk says: " On our way down, I „surveyed the country that had caused us so much trouble, anxiety and blood,
*Hist. Wis., Vol. III., 156.
tSept. 9, 1832.
#Black Hawk, in his "Life," in speaking of his escort, says: "We started for Jefferson Barracks, under the charge of a young war-chief (Lieut. Jefferson Davis), who treated us with much kindness. He is a good and brave young chief, with whose conduct I was much pleased."
§During the latter part of June, 1832, Gen. Scott, with nine companies of United States artillery, hastened from the seaboard by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago. This journey of 1,800 miles was made in eighteen days. Scott's forces only arrived in time to combat the great cholera foe then raging. Gen. Scott's losses at Detroit, Fort Gratiot, on Lake Michi- gan, at Fort Dearborn, and at Rock Island, exceeded 400 men, victims of the terrible scourge.
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BLACK HAWK-WARS IN WHICH HE PARTICIPATED.
and that now has caused me to be a prisoner of war. I reflected upon the ingratitude of the whites, when I saw their fine houses, rich harvests, and everything desirable around them, and recalled that all this land had been ours, for which I and my people had never received a dollar, and that the whites were not satisfied until they took our villages and graveyards from us, and removed us across the Mississippi."
Black Hawk was kindly received by Gen. Atkinson upon his arrival at Jefferson Barracks, but was greatly humiliated on being forced to wear a ball and chain. Here Black Hawk staid until the spring of 1833, during which time he was visited by the agent, trader, and interpreter, from Rock Island.
Keokuk, and several Sac chiefs and warriors, also Black Hawk's wife and daughter, visited him during his captivity.
Gen. Atkinson, in pursuance of an order from the government, sent Black Hawk and the prophet to Washington, where they arrived on April 2, 1833. President Jackson, upon the presentation of Black Hawk, was greeted with these words, " I am a man, and you are another." At the close of his speech to the president, the old warrior said: "We did not expect to conquer the whites, they have too many houses, too many men. I took up the hatchet for my part to revenge injuries which my people could no longer endure. Had I borne them longer without striking, my people would have said: Black Hawk is a woman, he is too old to be a chief, he is no Sac; these reflections caused me to raise the war-whoop. I say no more of it, it is known to you. Keokuk once was here, you took him by the hand, and when he wished to return to his home you were willing. Black Hawk expects that, like Keokuk, we shall be permitted to return, too."
President Jackson told him he was well acquainted with his trouble and disaster. That it was unnecessary to look upon the past. They should not suffer from the Sioux or Menominees. That when he was satisfied that all would be quiet and harmony, they should be permitted to return, then taking the old warrior by the hand he kindly dismissed him.
The captives were, on April 26, conducted to Fortress Monroe, which is situated upon a small island on the west side of the Chesapeake bay, in Vir- ginia, where they staid until released, on June 4, 1833. By order of the presi- dent, Black Hawk was conducted home by way of the seaboard, through all the cities in the union.
The return trip was made by way of Detroit. The old warrior seemed to be much impressed with the magnitude of the eastern cities, as well as with the white people.
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