History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 24

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1168

USA > Wisconsin > Green County > History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 24

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

*Concerning this "paper city," Miss Bingham says:

"Upon the plat of Centreville, which was exhibited in Mil- waukee, Detroit, and the eastern cities, were represented steamboats, churches, warehouses, and blocks of stores. Thus portrayed, the place was the eans . of many a yearning tor a western home, and a brisk su.c of high-priced business lots and four ae e out lots began. Careful, prosperous farmers and tradesmen, wealthy speculators, and penny- saving laborers all embraced the opportunity to make a good investment, and purchased real estate in what the agents called the growing, bustling city of Centreville. One by one the purchasers learned that they were the victims of a fraud. that their land was no better than might have been bonght at the government price. And so undesirable did it seem, when the unsettled state of the country was made known, that although their titles were unquestionably good, yet, so far as can be asee. tained, not one of the purchasers of Centreville lots over claimed a foot of the much lauded city, or ever settled within the limits of Decatur township. The place had indeed been surveyed and divided, as the plat showed, but the red stakes marking these divisions were the only marks of their presence which white men had ever left in the so-called city.

*This village was called "White Breast's village.". Its ex- net location (as well as that of "Spotted-arm's village" is given in Chap. VI.

HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

157

CHAPTER V.

THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

To the people of Green county, the brief con- test between a portion of the Sac and Fox Indians and the Americans, in 1832, known from the name of the leader of the savages as "The Black Hawk War," is of interest, for the reason that the present limits of the county were nearly the center of the region of conflict, and the few inhabitants here all left their homes for safety, nearly all having had their houses burned by the savages. Some afterward took an active part in the war. In the outline his- tory of Wisconsin, previously given, a brief sketch of the hostile movements of both parties engaged in the work of death, will be found; but, at this point, it is proposed to enter more into detail.

Black Hawk's return from the west side of the Mississippi, and his moving up Rock river, caused the mustering into the service of the United States, in Illinois, of about 800 volun- teers, who were sent in pursuit. Gen. H. At- kinson, brevet brigadier-general in the United States army, followed the militia with his reg- ulars, but at too great a distance to afford sup- port. On the 12th of May the volunteers reached Dixon's ferry, where they were joined by 275 men from the northern counties of the State. The latter force, however, were imme- diately sent out on scouting duty. But the two battalions still moved along together until Still- man's run was reached ; the creek then being known as Kishwaukee, about thirty miles above the ferry.

BATTLE OF STILLMAN'S RUN.

Black Hawk now made advances for peace, but two of his messengers being killed, the ne- gotiations were broken off. That chief at this time had but forty men under his immediate command, most of his party being some ten miles away; nevertheless, with his handful of warriors, he started back to meet his pursuers. Raising the war-whoop, he rushed in upon the volunteers and scattered them in every direc- tion. The fugitives, in their flight, did not stop until the ferry was reached. This was afterward known as "The Battle of Stillman's Run," of May 14, 1832. The governor of Illi- nois issued a proclamation immediately after, calling for an additional force of 2,000 mounted volunteers. These incidents caused throughout the west the greatest alarm. The loss of the Indians in this, the first battle of the war, was none. Of the volunteers, one major, one captain and nine of the rank and file were killed, and five men wounded.

On the 17th of May, Gen. Atkinson reached Dixon's ferry with his regulars and a supply of provisions; and on the 19th, with 2,400 men, advanced up Rock river. On the 27th and 28th of the month, the volunteers were disbanded by the governor, leaving the defense of the frontiers in the hands of the regular troops and a few citizens who had volunteered temporarily. Meanwhile the savages were waging war in earnest against the exposed settlements. Their war parties were scattered from Chicago to

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

Galena; from the Rock river to the lead mines. It was a warfare in regular Indian style; there was success first on one side, then on the other; until on the 24th of June, Black Hawk made an unsuccessful attack on Apple River Fort, near the present village of Elizabeth, Ill. Mean- while the volunteers called out by the governor of Illinois were assembling and ordered to ren- dezvous at Dixon's ferry, where they were mus- tered into the service of the United States and formed into three brigades. The contest now began to assume somewhat the appearance of regular war. But, before we proceed to narrate the aggressive movements of the Americans up the Rock river valley in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band, it is proper to more particularly describe the incident which occurred in various localities where the savages carried on their depredations previously.

In the night of the 17th of June a volunteer company encamped near Burr Oak Grove, thirty-five miles east of Galena, was fired on by the enemy. The next morning they started in pursuit of the savages, and succeeded in killing all of them-four in number-with the loss on their part of only one man. However, later in the day they were attacked by the Indians in considerable force, losing two killed and one wounded; but they beat off the assailants and killed their leader.

BATTLE OF PECATONICA.

On the 14th of June a party of men were attacked in a cornfield near the mouth of Spof- ford's creek, and five killed. Two days after, Col. Henry Dodge, with twenty-eight men, struck the trail of the savages, overtaking them on the bank of the Pecatonica in what is now Lafayette Co., Wis. The savages numbered seventeen, and all were killed. Dodge's loss was three killed. This was, all things consid- ered, the most spirited and effective fighting done during "the war." Capt. James W. Ste- phenson, at the head of the Galena volunteers, being on the lookout for Indians near the head of Yellow creek, lost three of his men and was

obliged to retreat. This ended what may be called the irregular fighting of the campaign. We now return to Rock river, up the valley of which Black Hawk and his force had moved and the Americans just commencing pursuit.

THE PURSUIT OF BLACK HAWK.

A battalion of spies was the first body or- dered forward. They reached Kellogg's grove, and were informed on the morning of the 25th of June that a heavy trail was to be seen of the enemy not far away. Twenty-five men went out to reconnoitre, and were defeated, leaving five killed and three wounded, though the enemy's loss is said to have been nine killed. The enemy now retired up the river in the di- rection of Lake Koshkonong, in Wisconsin; and the fighti g in Illinois was ended. The first halt made by Black Hawk was at what was afterwards known as "Black Hawk Grove,"just outside of the present city of Janesville, Rock Co., Wis., where his forces remained some time in camp. It must not be understood that they were now at their former homes. This was not the case. It was not then the country claimed by the Sacs, but by the Rock River Winne- bagoes.

Gen. Atkinson having arrived at the mouth of the Pecatonica, in pursuit of the savages, and hearing that the Sac chief was further up Rock river, determined to follow him with the intention of deciding the campaign by a gen- eral battle if possible. Black Hawk, judging of his intentions from the report of his spies, broke up his camp and retreated still further up the river, to the foot of Lake Koshkonong, where, on the west side of the river, in what is now the town of Milton, he again formed a camp. Here he remained some time, when he again moved, this time to an island in the lake, still known as Black Hawk's island. It is in the southeast corner of the town of Sumner, in Jefferson Co., Wis. Black Hawk afterwards made his way still further up the valley of Rock river.

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

But now let us return to the army under Gen. Atkinson, in its march from the mouth of the Pecatonica to Lake Koshkonong, where he found the Sac chief had eluded him. The re- cital is best given in the words of one who was in the army at the time and marched under At- kinson:

"The 30th of June, 1832, we passed through the Turtle village [now the city of Beloit, Rock Co., Wis.,] which is a considerable Winnebago town, but it was deserted. We marched on about a mile and encamped on the open prairie near enough to Rock river to get water from it. We here saw very fresh signs of the Sac In- dians, where they had apparently been fishing on that day. Gen. Atkinson believed we were close to them and apprehended an attack that night. The sentinels fired several times, and we were as often paraded and prepared to re- ceive the enemy, but they never came, though from the accounts given by the sentinels to the officers of the day, there was no doubt that In- dians had been prowling about the camp.

"July 1 .- We had not marched but two or three miles before an Indian was seen across Rock river at some distance off, on a very high prairie, which, no doubt, was a spy, and likely was one that had been prowling about our en- campment the night before. We proceeded a few miles further, and came to the place where the Indians, who had taken the two Misses IIall prisoners, had staid for several days [near the site of the present city of Janesville.] It was a strong position, where they could have with- stood a very powerful force. We afterwards discovered they always encamped in such places. We had not marched but a few miles from this place before one of our front scouts came back meeting the army in great haste, and stated that they had discovered a fresh trail of Indians, where they had just gone along in front of us. Major Ewing who was in front of the main army some distance, immediately formed his men in line of battle, and marched in that order in advance of the main army, about three-

quarters of a mile. We had a very thick wood to march through, where the under-growth stood very high and thick; the signs looked very fresh, and we expected every step to be fired upon from the thickets. We marched in this order about two miles, not stopping for the un- evenness of the ground or anything else, but keeping in line of battle all the time, until we found the Indians had scattered; then we re- sumed our common line of march, which was in three divisions. Soon after we had formed into three divisions, the friendly Indians that were with us raised an alarm, by seven or eight of them shooting at a deer, some little in advance of the army. The whole army here formed for action; but it was soon ascertained that these children of the forest had been at what their whole race seems born for, shooting at the beasts of the woods.

"We here encamped by a small lake [Storr's] this night, and had to drink the water, which was very bad, but it was all that could be found. Ilere a very bad accident happened. One of the sentinels, mistaking another that was on post, with a blanket wrapped around him, for an Indian, shot him just below the groin, in the thick of the thigh. At first the wound was thought mortal. I understood before I left the army that the man was nearly well. Here Gen. Atkinson had, on this night, breastworks thrown up, which was easily done, as we were encamped in thick, heavy timber. This was a precaution which went to show that he set a great deal by the lives of his men, and by no means was any mark of cowardice; for general- ship consists more in good management than anything else.

"July 2 .- We started this morning at the usual time, but went only a few miles before Major Ewing, who was still in front with his battalion (of scouts), espied a very fresh trail, making off at about a left angle. Hle dispatched ten men from the battalion, in company with Capt. George Walker and a few Indians, to pursue it and see, if possible, where it went to.

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

He moved on in front of his battalion a short distance further, when he came to the main Sac trail of Black Hawk's whole army, which ap- peared to be about two days old.

"Capt. Early, who commanded a volunteer independent company, and had got in advance this morning, called a halt; so did Major Ewing with his battalion. Then Major Ewing sent back one of his staff officers for the main army to call a halt for a few minutes. He, with Major Ander- son, of the infantry, Capt. Early and Jonathan H. Pugh, went a little in advance, when Major Anderson, with a telescope, took a view across the lake, as we had now got to Lake Koshko- nong. [The army entered what is now Jeffer- son county, very nearly where, in going north, its south line is crossed by the Chicago & North- western Railway. The trail, after leaving the southeast quarter of section 35, in township 5 north, of range 13 east, ran nearly due north to the southeast corner of section 26, in the same township and range, where the army reached the lake in what is now the town of Koshko- nong]. They then discovered three Indians ap- parently in their canoes.

"Major Ewing went himself and informed Gen. Atkinson what discovery was made, and re- quested Gen. Atkinson to let him take his bat- talion around through a narrow defile that was between two of those lakes, where we supposed the Indians were. By this time our scouts, who had taken the trail that led off on our left, re- turned, bringing with them five white men's scalps. They followed the Indian trail until it took them to a large Indian encampment that they had left a few days before. They reached it; the scalps were sticking against some of the wigwams; some of them were identified; but I do not recollect the names of any, except one, which was said to be an old gentleman by the name of Hall.

"Major Ewing then marched his battalion about a mile, where the pass on the side of the lake appeared so narrow that he dismounted his men and had the horses all tied, and a few men

left to guard them. The rest of us marched on foot about one mile through a narrow defile on the [east] bank of the Koshkonong lake. This was considered a dangerous procedure, but Major Ewing, who was in front with Major Anderson, would have been first in danger. He now found that we were getting too far in advance of our horses; so Major Ewing sent a part of the men back for them. When we mounted our horses, we were joined by Capt. Early and his inde- pendent corps. We then marched some distance around the [Koshkonong] lake and went in be- tween two of them, in a narrow defile until we found another deserted encampment. We now saw clearly that the Indians were gone from the Koshkonong lake; so, the next thing to be done was to find in which direction they had steered their course.

"Gen. Atkinson having been re-enforced by Gen. Alexander, took up his line of march, ar- riving at the burnt village on the 6th of July. That evening, Gen. Posey's brigade, in company with Col. Dodge's squadron, joined Atkinson. Col. John Ewing and his regiment came within a mile and a half of the main army and en- camped. On the 10th, Gen. Atkinson sent Col. Ewing with his regiment down Rock river to Dixon's; Gen. Posey, with the rest of his brig- ade, was dispatched to Fort Hamilton; while Col. Henry and his brigade, Gen. Alexander's brigade and Col. Dodge's squadron were sent to Fort Winnebago, now Portage, Columbia Co., Wis., for provisions. Atkinson dropped down a short distance from the burnt village and built a stockade fort, which he called Fort Koshkonong. . It was located on the south side of Rock river in the eastern outskirts of the present village of Fort Atkinson, Jefferson Co., Wis. Alexander returned from Fort Winne- bago by the direct route, while Dodge and Henry took a more easterly one, striking Rock river at a point where there was a small Win- nebago village, now Hustisford, Dodge county, which point was reached July 18. Informa- tion was here obtained that Black Hawk was

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

at Cranberry lake, farther up the river. This was believed to be reliable, and an express was started down the stream at once, to inform Gen. Atkinson of the Sac chief's whereabouts. The express came very unexpectedly, at a distance not more than eight miles from the starting point, upon the trail of Black Hawk, making his way down the river. The express returned to the army with the news, and the next morn- ing, July 19, the pursuit began."

BLACK HAWK PURSUED TO TIIE WISCONSIN.

In the march in pursuit of the enemy, the Americans crossed the Crawfish near what is now Aztalan, in Jefferson Co., Wis., and were of course soon in what is now Dane county. But the account of the march is best told by one who participated in the pursuit:

"July 19, 1832 .- This day we had for about twelve miles, the worst kind of a road. To look at, it appeared impossible to march an army through it. Thickets and swamps of the worst kind we had to go through, but the men had something now to stimulate them. They saw the Sac trail fresh before them, and the pros- pect of bringing our campaign to an end. There was no murmuring, no exenses were made,none getting on the sick report. If we came to a swamp that our horses were not able to carry us through, we dismounted, turned our horses before us and stepped in ourselves, sometimes up to our arm-pits in mud and water. In this way we marched with great celerity. In the evening of this day, it commenced thundering, lightning and raining tremendously. We stopped not, but pushed on. The trail appeared to be still getting fresher and the ground bet- ter, which still encouraged us to overcome every difficulty found in the way. It continued rain- ing until dark, and, indeed, until after dark. We now saw the want of our tents, a great number of us having left this necessary article behind in the morning, in order to favor our horses.

"The rain ceased before day, and it turned cold and chilly. In the morning we rose early,

at the well-known sound of the bugle, and pre- pared in a very short time our rude breakfast, dried our clothes a little, and by 7 o'clock, [July 20th], were on the march at a quick pace. On this day some of our scouts took an Indian as a prisoner. On examination he was found to be a Winnebago. He stated that Black Hawk was but a little distance ahead of us; and that he had seen some of his party not more than two miles ahead. But it was a bad piece of conduct on our part that this Indian was not kept as a prisoner of war, but was set at liberty and let go, no doubt, that he might inform the Sacs of our pursuit.

"We halted and the order of battle was formed as we expected we would overtake them this evening. The order was as follows: Gen. Dodge and Major Ewing were to bring on the battle. Major Ewing was placed in the cen- ter with his spy battalion, Capt. Gentry and Capt. Clark's companies on our right, and Capt. Camp and Capt. Parkinson on our left. Our own battalion [Major Ewing's] was reduced to two companies [as Capt. Wells and his com- pany had been left at Fort Dixon]; Capt. Lind- say, of our own battalion, was placed on the right and Capt. Huston's company on the left ; Col. Fry and Lis regiment on the right, and Col. Jones, with his regiment, on the left, and Col. Collins in the center. In this order we marched in quick time, with all possible speed, in hope that we would overtake the enemy on that evening. We were close to the Four lakes (in what is now Dane Co., Wis.,) and we wished to come up with them before they could reach that place, as it was known to be a stronghold for the Indians; but the day was not long enough to accomplish this desirable object.

"We reached the first of the Four lakes [now known as Lake Monona, or Third lake] about sun-down. Gen. Henry here called a halt and consulted with Pouquet [Peter Pauquette], our pilot, as to the country we were approaching. Pauquette, who was well acquainted with this country, told him he could not get through af-

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

ter night; that we had to march close to the margin of the lake for some distance, as the underwood stood so thiek one man could not see another ten steps. Gen. Heury concluded to encamp here until the break of day. Gen. Dodge sent Capt. Dixon on ahead with a few men to see if they could make any discovery of the enemy, who returned in a very short time and stated that they had seen the enemy's rear guard about one mile and a half distant. Gen. Henry gave strict orders for every man to tie up his horse, so as to be ready to start as soon as it was daylight. The order was strictly obeyed; and after we took our frugal supper all re- tired to rest except those who had to mount guard, for we had marched a great way that day, and many were still wet by the rain that fell the preceding night; but being very much fatigued, we were all soon lost in sleep, except those on guard.

"July 21, at the break of day, the bugle sounded, and all were soon up and in a few minutes had breakfast ready, and, after taking a little food, we mounted onr horses and again commenced the pursuit. We soon found that the pilot had told us no lie, for we found the country that the enemy was leading us into to be worse, if possible, than what he told us. We could turn neither to the right nor left, but were compelled to follow the trail the Indians had made, and that, too, for a great distance at the edge of the water of the lake. We had not marched more than five miles before Dr. Phil- leo came back, meeting us, with the scalp of an Indian. He had been on ahead with the front scouts, and came on this Indian, who had been left as a rear guard to watch our movements. There were several shots fired at him about the same time, and I suppose all hit him from the number of bullet holes that were in him; but Dr. Philleo had scalped him, so he was called Philleo's Indian, which reminds me of the hunters: 'He who draws the first blood is en- titled to the skin, and the remainder to the car-

cass, if there are several in the chase,' which was the case at this time."

Leaving our journalist for a moment, we will describe the particulars of the march from the time the Catfish creek, or rather the Yahara, as it is legally called, was reached until the army left the Fourth lake, the most northernly of the Four lakes, properly called lake Mendota. In the timber skirting the Yahara, the Americans overtook the rear guard of the flying foe, where an Indian was wounded, who crept away and hid himself in the thick willows, where he died. A scouting party of fourteen men was sent for- ward and preceded the main body about two miles. When they arrived at the point now the site of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, an Indian was seen coming up from the water's edge, who seated himself upon the bank, appar- ently indifferent to his fate. In a moment after his body was pierced with bullets, one of which passed in at the temple and out of the back part of his head. On examination it was found that he was sitting upon a newly made grave, probably that of his wife, who had perhaps died of fatigue, hunger and exhaustion, and her dis- consolate companion had resolved to await the advancing foe and die there also. The trail was followed around the sonthern end of Lake Mendota (or Fourth lake), passing a little north of what is now the Capital Park, and along the lake across the University grounds. A few miles brought them to what appeared an ad- mirable position for a battle field with natural defenses and places of ambush. It had been chosen by the enemy and here they had lain apparently the previous night. This spot was afterward laid out as the city of Four Lakes. It is about three-fourths of a mile north of the present village of Pheasant Branch, in Dane county. We now return to the journal, from which we broke off to relate these particulars. .

"But I am not done with Dr. Philleo yet. I will show you that he is a good soldier, and something of an Indian fighter. The signs now began to get very fresh, and we mended our

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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.

pace very much. We had not proceeded more than ten or fifteen miles further before our fighting doctor ran afoul of two more Indians; he showed his bravery by assisting to kill them. I suppose he killed one and Sample Journey the other, so there was a scalp for each. But one of those miserable wretches sold his life as dear as possible. He, in the act of falling, after he was shot, fired and shot three balls into a gentleman who himself was in the act of shoot- ing at him. The balls were all small; one went through his thigh, one through his leg, and the other through his foot. I am sorry I have for- gotten the gentleman's name; he belonged to Gen. Dodge's squadron.

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History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 24

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1168