The Black Hawk War Including a Review of Black Hawk's Life
the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien, arrived to-day on board the
steamboat Winnebago with about one hundred Sac prisoners, guarded by
an escort of troops under command of Lieut. Jefferson Davis. Among
the prisoners are the celebrated Black Hawk, the Prophet and
La-ce-o-souck (The Thunder), son of Black Hawk; the latter was
delivered on the night of the 3d. The prisoners were brought in by
the Winnebagoes and the Sioux.
“The Winnebagoes came in, as we learn, so late on the night of the
3d with the prisoners, and the steamboat being there in waiting for
them, General Street, instead of delivering them to Colonel Taylor,
as heretofore, delivered them over to the charge of Colonel
Anderson, who went on that commission, and who is now on his way to
Rock Island with them.”[299]
From the Galenian, a paper published in Galena, we find “locals”
noting the presence of the noted prisoners and their guard,
Jefferson Davis, at every point containing a newspaper, at which
they stopped.
No reasonable person can believe that so honorable and responsible a
post would have been given Lieutenant Davis had he not participated
in the campaign with distinction.
With the most frightful epidemic of cholera at Fort Armstrong which
they passed; with cholera about him in the boat, he reached
Jefferson Barracks thoroughly exhausted, and feeling that he was
entitled to the leave of absence which he had given up to enter this
campaign, he applied for another and, receiving it, as he did in due
time, he returned to Mississippi to enjoy it.
The experience gained in that campaign suggested his name for the
command of a regiment of Mississippi troops in the war with Mexico,
where he gained such fame as to bring forth the hearty thanks of
Gen. Zachary Taylor on the field.
In conclusion, I wish to add a conversation which Mr. Aldrich,
Curator of the Historical Department of Iowa, had with Mr. Davis
about two years before the death of the latter.
Mr. Davis, in the course of this conversation, said much about Black
Hawk and that campaign and his participation in it, and here is his
narrative verbatim, of the Battle of the Wisconsin, in which he was
engaged, taken down by Mr. Aldrich at the time: “We were one day
pursuing the Indians, when we came close to the Wisconsin River.
Reaching the river bank, the Indians made so determined a stand, and
fought with such desperation, that they held us in check. During
this time the squaws tore bark from the trees, with which they made
little shallops, in which they floated their papooses and other
impedimenta across to an island, also swimming over the ponies. As
soon as this was accomplished, half of the warriors plunged in and
swam across, each holding his gun in one hand over his head, and
swimming with the other. As soon as they reached the opposite bank,
they also opened fire upon us, under cover of which the other half
slipped down the bank and swam over in like manner. This,” said Mr.
Davis, “was the most brilliant exhibition of military tactics that I
ever witnessed–a feat of most consummate management and bravery, in
the face of an enemy of greatly superior numbers. I never read of
anything that could be compared with it. Had it been performed by
white men, it would have been immortalized as one of the most
splendid achievements in military history.”
Black Hawk in his book, page 107, states the facts of that retreat
pretty much as Mr. Davis did to Mr. Aldrich, excepting only to take
no especial credit to himself or his braves for strategy.
As Black Hawk was taken down the Mississippi by Lieutenant Davis,
the two were in frequent conversation, and naturally each studied
the other more or less, and while Mr. Davis, in after years, always
spoke of his prisoner in the very highest terms, it may be
interesting to know what Black Hawk had to say about his captor when
he came to write his autobiography the following year: “We remained
here a short time, and then started for Jefferson Barracks in a
steamboat, under charge of a young war chief (Jefferson Davis), who
treated us with much kindness. He is a good and brave young chief,
with whose conduct I was much pleased. On our way down we called at
Galena and remained a short time. The people crowded to the boat to
see us, but the war chief would not permit them to enter the
apartment where we were, knowing from what his feelings would have
been if he had been placed in a similar position, that we did not
wish to have a gaping crowd around us.”
Little can be said for the negative of this question and less can be
proven, and with such a unanimity of testimony in favor of his
presence, from those who saw him and there formed his acquaintance
and friendship, it cannot be perceived how an assumption, an
“interpretation” can be allowed to rob him of that honor.
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INDEX
Abercrombie, J.J., 120
Account of Manner of Enlistment, 119
Adair, William (Capt.), 194
Adair, William (L’t.-Col.), 190
Adams County, 117, 125
Adams, John G. (Capt.), 125, 130, 133, 134, 135, 138, 141, 145,
148
Adams, John G., Mrs., 135
Adams, Parker, 140
Adams, Samuel (Col.), 191
Adopted Son Story, 43
Aird, James, 54
Albany, N.Y., 263
Aldenrath, Benj. J., 142
Aldrich, Charles, Introduction and 2d Appendix
Alexander County, 195
Alexander, David C., 126
Alexander, Milton K. (Gen.), 93, 98, 191, 195, 202, 205, 208, 209,
210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 220, 221, 222, 223, 228, 287
Alexander, of Russia, 48
Alexander, T.L., 111, 120
Allen, William, 200
Al-lo-tah, 98
Ament, John L., 192
American Phrenological Journal, 19
American Temperance House, 245
Ames, Orestes, 118
Amhurstburgh, 68
An-a-wash-queth, 64
Anderson, Fannie (Mrs.), 270
Anderson, George (L’t.), 120
Anderson, Robert (L’t.), 126, 172, 173, 175, 189, 226, 227, 286,
293, 294, 299, 304
Anderson, Stinson B., 190
Anderson, T.G. (Capt.), 67
Annoyances, 81
Annuities of Sacs and Foxes, 84
An-o-wart, 64
Appel, Henry, 182
Apple River, 131, 174, 183, 186
Apple River Fort, 172, 183, 184, 185,
(battle) and 186, 187, 286
A-qua-o-sa, 64
Arabian Nights, 96
Archambeau, Mr., 56
Archer, Col. William B., 191, 224
Arenz, Francis, 93
Argyle, 209
Armstrong, Aaron (Capt.), 193
Armstrong, Elizabeth (Mrs.), 186
Armstrong, Gen. John, 66
Armstrong, John, 278, 281, 282
Armstrong, Perry A., 59
Arnett, J.T. (Capt.), 194, 202
Arnold, John (Capt.), 191
A-sam-e-saw, 98
Ashton, Capt. Eliakem, 169
Asiatic Cholera, 242
As-shaw-e-qua, 268, 272, 273, 274
Atkins, A., 93
Atkinson, Henry (Gen.), 106, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 120,
121, 127, 141, 142, 145, etc., 157, 161, 163, 169, 171, 172,
173, 175, 177, 180, 181, 185, 188, 189, 197, 202, 205, 206,
209, 210, 212, 214, 215, 216, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 225,
228, 230, 234, 238, 240, 247, 259, 261, 283, 284, 293, 294
Atkinson’s Report Bad Axe, 228
Atlas, Ill., 119
Attack on the “Oliver H. Perry” and Consort, in 1827, 73, 74, 75
Aubrey, William, 180
Ausbery, Griffith, 82
Autobiography of Black Hawk, 19, 31
Aztalan, 217
Bache, Hartman (Capt.), 247
Backus, Electus (L’t.), 189
Bad Axe River, 20, 73, 223, 226, 227, 295
Bad Axe Battle, 167, 168, 223, 295
Bailey, Maj. David, 113, 125, 126, 130, 141, 145, 193, 204
Bailey, Capt. Alexander, 169
Bailly, Joseph, 55
Bain, John L., 82
Baird, Scipio, 124
Baker, Daniel (L’t. Col.), 120, 193
Baker, Edward D. (L’t.), 2d Appendix
Baker, Mrs. E.B., 176
Baker, James, 123
Baldridge, David, 194
Ball, Azel F. (Capt.), 125, 145, 193
Ball, Japhet A. (Capt.), 125
Baltimore, 261, 264
Band, James B., 200
Bankson, Andrew (Capt.), 194
Bannon, Aaron (Capt.), 194
Banquet at Ft. Madison, 270
Barker, Thomas (Capt.), 120
Bark River, 209
Barlow, L’t. Col. J.W., 191
Barnes, David W. (Capt.), 125, 135, 145
Barnes, John (Capt.), 191
Barnes, Robert (Capt.), 159
Barney, Benj. (Capt.), 120, 125
Barnhart, Peter, 159
Barnsback, Julius L. (Capt.), 124
Barrel, John, 82
Barrett’s Ferry, 226, 236
Barron, Joseph, 30
Barrott, 55
Bartlett, Michael, 82
Batman, M.W. (L’t.), 120
Battle of 1800, 23
Battle of the Wisconsin Heights, 218, 221
Baylor, Dr., 189
Bays, Capt. John, 190
Beach, Maj. John, 40
Beall, Alexander (Maj.), 123, 194
Beall, Thomas J., 126, 145
Beardstown, 85, 93, 117, 154, 157, 160, 188, 278, 279, 282, 283
Beauchamp, 73, 74, 75
Beauty of Rock Island, 95
Beckwith, L’t. Col. Daniel W., 169
Beggs, Rev. S.R., 167
Belleville, 159
Bells, Mr., 154, 156
Beloit, 205
Beltrami, J.C., 17, 67
Benett, Louis, 55
Bennett, Hiram C., 118, 123
Bennett, Redding, 142
Bequette, Paschal, 131, 183
Beresford, James, 203
Berry, E.C., 94, 116
Berry, Thomas G. (Col.), 160
Best, ––, 55
Biggerstaff, Ardin (Capt.), 190
Big Indian Creek, 147
Big Sioux River, 100
Birch, Benjamin, 124
Birth of Black Hawk, 17
Bivens, John, 143
Black Hawk, Bones, 274
Black Hawk, Burial, 273
Black Hawk, Capacities, 20
Black Hawk, Death, 272
Black Hawk, Grave Robbed, 273
Black Hawk, Not a Chief, 21, 80
Black Hawk, Village, See V. |
Black, James, 200
Black, Samuel, 183
Blackburn, James M. (Col.), 191, 224
Blackmaars, Mich., 256
Blackwell, J.A., 123
Blackwell, John H., 94
Blackwell, Robert, 124, 139
Black Snake Hills, 103
Black Thunder, 87
Blair, F.P., 230
Bliss, John (Maj.), 94, 98, 106, 107, 120, 121, 145, 161, 224
Blondeaux, Maurice, 61
Blodgett, H.W., 303
Bloomington, Ill., 159
Blue Earth River, 101
and affair there, 102, 103
Blue Mounds, 143, 153, 154, 180, 183, 212, 219, 220, 221, 236
Bogart, Maj. Samuel, 193
Bolen, Hypolite, 30
Bond, Benjamin, 194
Bond County, 117, 125, 164, 194
Bones of Black Hawk, 18
Boone, Levi D. (Capt.), 125
Boone, Nathan (Col.), 2d Appendix
Boston, 263
Bouchard, Edward D., 183
Bounty Land Warrants, 77
Boutillier, Francois., 54
Bowers, Maj. George, 191
Bowman, Capt. ––, 130
Bowman, James (Capt.), 190
Bowman, Samuel (L’t.), 204, 224
Bowyer, George P. (Capt.), 190, 191
Boxley, James, 187
Boyce, W.M. (L’t.), 120
Boyd, Col. George, 234, 235
Boyd, James M. (L’t.), 235
Boyd’s Grove, 130
Bracken, Charles, 131, 181, 183
Bradley, H., 245
Brady, Gen. Hugh, 120, 181, 189, 193, 195, 202, 203, 209
Bradford, Abner, 200
Branson, Dr. Milton K., 194
Brazhere, William, 82
Breese, Sidney (L’t. Col.), 194, 211
Briggs, Josiah S. (Capt.), 194, 205, 206, 218
Briggs, Benjamin (L’t.), 145
Brigham, Ebenezer, 143, 181
Brigham, Sylvester, 192
Brimberry, Samuel (Capt.), 191
Brishois, ––, 54
Bristol, John E., 136
Bristol, R.C. (Capt.), 244
Bristow, George, 93
Bristow, George F. (Capt.), 194
British, 40, 42, 51, 53, 55, 57, 58, 66, 67
British Agents, 25, 26, 32, 38, 41, 44, 46
British Band, 39, 48, 55, 63
(including Rock River Sacs), 64, 88, 97, 103, 114
British Flags, 31, 58
British Indians, 26, 41
Broken Shoulder, 114
Brooke, L’t. F.J., 120
Brooks, Col. Edward, 256, 257, 258
Brown, A.C., 136
Brown, Brig. Gen., 254, 256, 257, 258
Brown, Gust. (L’t.), 243
Brown, Jacob (Capt.), 120
Brown, Reuben (Capt.), 195
Brown, William, 191
Brown, William G., 93, 123
Browne, Thomas C., 189
Browning, O.H., 117, 118
Browning, O.H., Diary of, 117