The British Band was a mixed-nation group of Native Americans commanded by the Sauk leader Black Hawk, which fought against Illinois and Michigan Territory militias during the 1832 Black Hawk War. The band was composed of about 1,500 men, women, and children from the Sauk, Meskwaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Ottawa nations; about 500 of that number were warriors. Black Hawk had an alliance with the British Empire dating back to the War of 1812, giving them their colloquial name. The band crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa into Illinois in an attempt to reclaim their homeland and in violation of several treaties. Subsequently, both the Illinois and Michigan Territory militia were called up and the Black Hawk War ensued.
The British Band was victorious at the Battle of Stillman's Run and the military engagements that followed were insignificant until the final two encounters: the Wisconsin Heights and the Bad Axe River. Band members who survived the war were either imprisoned or returned home. All the prisoners taken following the conflict were released by Winfield Scott at the end of August 1832, except Black Hawk who was taken east. In 1833 he dictated his autobiography, the first Native American autobiography published in the United States.
Background Sauk warrior Black Hawk, the leader of a band of Sauks near Rock Island at Saukenuk, was a chief voice of opposition to the ceding of Native American lands to American settlers and the U.S. government. Black Hawk supported the invalidity of the Treaty of St. Louis of both the Sauk and Meskwaki nations negotiated with the then Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison. The treaty ceded territory, including Black Hawk's birthplace Saukenuk, to the United States. The Sauk traditionally had been a society that reached their decision-making via consensus. Their representatives exceeded the authorization of merely taking under consideration what terms the United States government might put forth, bring them back to reach a consensus and then return with their treaty terms. The lack of the tribe discussing the treaty prior to being made official made it invalid by Black Hawk and other members of the tribe. The representatives never had the tribal authorization to unilaterally cede its lands.
During the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States, Robert Dickson, an English fur trader, amassed a sizable force of Native Americans at Green Bay to assist the British in operations around the Great Lakes. Most of the warriors Dickson assembled were from the Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Kickapoo and Odawa tribes. Dickson conferred the rank of brevet brigadier general on Black Hawk.Smith, William Rudolph. The History of Wisconsin: In Three Parts, Historical, Documentary, and Descriptive, (Google Books), B. Brown: 1854, pp. 221–406. Retrieved 20 September 2007. He was given command of all Native Americans gathered at Green Bay, including the 200 Sauk warriors under Black Hawk's control. Black Hawk was then presented with a silk flag, a medal, and a written certificate of good behavior and alliance with the British. The certificate would be found 20 years later, after the Battle of Bad Axe, carefully preserved along with a flag similar to the one Dickson gave to Black Hawk.
During the 1812 war, Black Hawk and his warriors fought in several engagements with Henry Procter on the borders of Lake Erie. He returned home to Saukenuk to find his rival Keokuk had become the tribe's war chief. After the war ended, Black Hawk signed a peace treaty in May 1816 that re-affirmed the treaty of 1804, a provision Black Hawk later protested ignorance of.Lewis, James. "Background ," The Black Hawk War of 1832, Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
Prelude to war Despite opposition by Keokuk and the US authorities, Black Hawk's band returned to Saukenuk in 1830 following their winter hunt. A year later they returned again, and Illinois Governor John Reynolds proclaimed it an "invasion of the state."
Responding to Illinois Governor John Reynolds' call, General Edmund Pendleton Gaines brought his federal troops from St. Louis, Missouri to Saukenuk to insist on Black Hawk's immediate departure. Black Hawk left but soon returned to the west side of the Mississippi, threatened by Gaines' troops and an additional 1,400 militia called up by Reynolds on 25 June 1831. On 30 June, Black Hawk and the chiefs of the British Band were forced to sign a surrender agreement in which they promised to remain west of the Mississippi.
At the end of 1831, stories spread throughout the settlements of the Upper Mississippi River Valley that the British planned to aid Black Hawk in the event of a war with American settlers. According to U.S. Indian Agent Felix St. Vrain, a known ne'er-do-well named Billy Caldwell had delivered a message to the Sauk which reported the alleged British intentions. The New Galenian of Galena reported that Black Hawk's band would receive aid and ammunition from the British, and the tale was widely believed. The militia commander at Fort Armstrong, Major John Bliss, informed General Henry Atkinson of the rumor, and said a follower of Keokuk had reported to him that Black Hawk and Neapope were holding talks with bands of Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and Ho-Chunk. The talks mentioned the promises of the British, as well as word that the French Canadians intended to assist them.Trask, Black Hawk: The Battle for the Hear of America, pp.139–140. These events, combined with Black Hawk's 1812 alliance with the British, and occasional visits to Canada, attributed to his 1832 band becoming known by the moniker British Band."Black Hawk, Primary Source Materials, Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 20 September 2007. The term British Band was used frequently by American, Sauk, and Meskwaki observers alike and served to distinguish Black Hawk's group from the rest of the tribes.
Black Hawk War Forces The British Band had three key leaders, Black Hawk, the Ho-Chunk prophet Wabokieshiek (White Cloud), and Neapope. There were seven civil chiefs besides Neapope and Wabokieshiek, and five war captains including Black Hawk. The other civil chiefs in the band were Pamisseau, Weesheet, Chakeepashipabo, Checokalako, Ioway, Pamaho, and Towaunonne; the four other war captains were: Menacou, Makatauaupuat, Pashetowat, and Kinnekonnesaut.Matile, Roger. "U.S. troops begin pursuit of Black Hawk's band," Ledger-Sentinel (Oswego, Illinois), 10 May 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2007. The band was composed of about 500 warriors and 1,000 old men, women and children when they crossed the Mississippi on 5 April.Harmet, "Apple River Fort," p. 13-13.Lewis, James. "Introduction ," The Black Hawk War of 1832, Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved 20 September 2007. The group included members of the Sauk, Meskwaki and Kickapoo Nations. They crossed the river near the mouth of the Iowa River and then followed the Rock River northeast. Along the way they passed the ruins of Saukenuk and headed for the village of Ho-Chunk prophet White Cloud.
As the war progressed factions of other tribes would join, or attempt to join Black Hawk, and others would carry out acts of violence for their own personal reasons amidst the chaos of the war."May 21, Indian Creek, Ill.: Abduction of the Hall Sisters," Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, Wisconsin State Historical Society. Retrieved 20 September 2007.Matile, Roger. "The Black Hawk War: Massacre at Indian Creek ," Ledger-Sentinel (Oswego, Illinois), 31 May 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007. In one example a band of hostile Ho-Chunk intent on joining Black Hawk's Band attacked and killed the party of Felix St. Vrain after the outbreak of war in an event that became known as the St. Vrain massacre. This act, was, however, an exception as most Ho-Chunk sided with the United States during the Black Hawk War. The warriors that attacked St. Vrain's party acted with no authority or oversight from the Ho-Chunk nation."The Killing of Felix St. Vrain ," Historic Diaries: Black Hawk War, Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 20 September 2007. Sympathetic Potawatomi warriors also joined with Black Hawk's Band in the months between April and August.
Incursion
When Black Hawk's Band crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa in April 1832 to return to their homeland in the Rock River Valley, it was under a British flag. Potawatomi Chief Shabbona stated it was the same flag that had been given on a visit to the British in Malden, Ontario, Canada. Observers at the time, from George Davenport, to St. Vrain, were certain that Black Hawk's intentions were to wage war against the United States.Trask, Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America, pp. 152–156. Historians generally believe that a more decisive action by General Atkinson, charged with prosecuting the war, in stopping Black Hawk's Band from moving up the Rock River may have prevented the war. Zachary Taylor made similar observations shortly after the war ended.
In response to Black Hawk and his band's movements, Governor Reynolds issued a proclamation on 16 April, mustering five brigades of volunteers to form at Beardstown and to head north to force Black Hawk out of Illinois. Although one-third of all federal troops from the United States Army were eventually involved in the conflict, the 9,000 soldiers from the Illinois Militia provided the majority of U.S. combatants.Lewis, James. "The Black Hawk War of 1832 ," Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University, p. 2A. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
The first named confrontation of the Black Hawk War occurred on 14 May 1832 and resulted in an unexpected victory for Black Hawk's band of Sauk and Meskwaki warriors over the disorganized militia under the command of Isaiah Stillman.Wisconsin State Historical Society. "May 14: Black Hawk's Victory at the Battle of Stillman's Run," Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War. Retrieved 20 September 2007. Soon after the Battle of Stillman's Run, at present-day Stillman Valley, the exaggerated claim that 2,000 "bloodthirsty warriors ... sweeping all northern Illinois with the bosom of destruction" sent shock waves of terror through the region. After this initial skirmish, Black Hawk led many of the civilians in his band to the Michigan Territory.Illinois State Military Museum, "Black Hawk War ," Historical Events. Retrieved 20 September 2007. On 19 May, the militia traveled up the Rock River trailing and searching for Black Hawk and his band. Several small skirmishes and massacres ensued over the next month in northern Illinois and present-day southern Wisconsin before the militia was able to regain public confidence in battles at Horseshoe Bend and Waddams Grove."James Stephenson Describes the Battle at Yellow Creek , Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
Battles Black Hawk himself led warriors in several battles, including Stillman's Run, the Battle of Apple River Fort on 24 June, the Second Battle of Kellogg's Grove on 25 June, and the final two battles at Wisconsin Heights and Bad Axe. Besides the major victory at Stillman's Run Black Hawk's Band was involved in several other battles and skirmishes during the Black Hawk War. Several of the small skirmishes and massacres that occurred following Stillman's Run were attributed to bands of Native Americans unaffiliated with Black Hawk's Band, though many were likely sympathetic or intent on joining him. The events at Spafford Farm were attributed to a band of Kickapoo loosely affiliated with the British Band.