CHAPTER XXXII.

PURSUIT RESUMED–BATTLE OF THE BAD AXE. [224]On the 20th Alexander received an express from Scott giving particulars of the inefficiency of his army. On the 21st Atkinson and Alexander marched from Ft. Koshkonong[225] in the direction of the Blue Mounds in the midst of a heavy rain, which continued all day and all night. The convoy of wagons met was turned back. On the 22d the troops crossed the ford below Lake Koshkonong. On the 23d the forces marched from the encampment of the morning, eight miles south of “the river of the Four Lakes,” towards the Blue Mounds, to two miles west of Davitt’s. On the 24th they marched to the Blue Mounds, after suffering much for water, having marched twenty miles without any. The express sent from Henry, which informed Atkinson of the “Battle of the Wisconsin,” was met, and on inspection the entire force of militia was now found to be reduced to the strength of one original brigade. A certain coolness was found to be in store for the volunteers when they reached the Blue Mounds, by reason of their winning a victory which should have gone to others, according to program, and this, too, in the face of disobedience of orders. Victories then were crimes, pretty much the same as they were before Santiago in 1898, unless won by rule and by those selected for the purpose by those above, and very soon Henry was made to feel the displeasure his victory had brought. From there Dodge’s battalion scattered to the various forts for supplies and equipment, to meet later and take up the line of march at Helena on the 29th. On the 25th the army marched for the “Ouisconsin,” to overtake Black Hawk and finish the war, before he could reach and cross the Mississippi. In this Henry’s men, though subordinated in their position in the line of march, cheerfully submitted. In this march the regulars went first, Posey and Alexander following, while Henry was given the rear in charge of the baggage. Such men as Fry resented this treatment, but Henry commanded obedience to orders and trudged along behind, doing the drudgery of the army. By evening the army reached a point within three miles of the Wisconsin, where it camped for the night. On the 26th the Wisconsin was reached, where preparations had been made the day previous by Col. Enoch C. March for the passage of the army, and here at Helena the army, joined by Dodge, whose forces reassembled here,[226] crossed on the 27th and part of the 28th. Colonel March, whose record as a Quartermaster[227] has never been equaled in Illinois history, was given the heartiest credit from all sides for never failing in the greatest emergencies to be upon the spot when needed and with the supplies desired. In his duties he was ably assisted by John Dixon of Dixon’s Ferry, who accompanied the army to the end of the campaign. The last of the troops having passed the river on the 28th[228] and moved up the Wisconsin River three or four miles, the trail of the enemy was discovered bearing down stream and followed by turning the columns to the left; then pursuing it twelve or fifteen miles over a flat and sandy prairie, which terminated at a deep creek, where the army camped for the night. From this point the trail was pursued with vigor all day over a rough, almost mountainous country, passing several of the enemy’s encampments, which clearly indicated how hard he was pressed for provisions, horseflesh alone being left to him. The bodies of Indians who had died from the lack of proper dressing of their wounds were here seen in greater numbers than before. Reaching the summit of a very high hill, the horses, for lack of grass to eat amongst the timber, were tied up without food. All day the 30th the march was continued over a similar country. On the 31st about fifteen miles were made over an unusually hilly country thickly timbered. At evening the first stream flowing west was reached and crossed, the army camping within six miles of the Kickapoo River.[229] August 1st the Kickapoo was crossed at ten o’clock at a shallow ford where commenced another rough prairie covered with growths of oak timber. It was a long day’s march for the troops because they were forced to go further than usual for water. The trail indicated the immediate presence of the enemy and if darkness had not prevented he could have been reached very soon. The camp was made that night near a small spring. Here Atkinson gave orders to be prepared at two o’clock the following morning to move for the bank of the Mississippi. As Captain Throckmorton, commanding the Warrior, was ascending the river, he noticed a band of Indians near a camp on the bottoms at the mouth of the Bad Axe hoisting a white flag. Suspecting treachery, he ordered them to send a boat on board for a conference, which they declined. Without comment, except to allow fifteen minutes to remove their squaws and children, he shot a six-pounder into their midst, following it for an hour with a heavy fire of musketry which cost the Indians many lives. Needing fuel to continue the contest, the boat fell down the river to Prairie du Chien to wood up preparatory to returning the following day and finishing the action, but by the hour of its return the battle of the Bad Axe had been finished and Black Hawk’s race was run. Promptly at 2 the morning of the 2d the troops rose, hastily ate breakfast and by sunrise resumed their march. Black Hawk was aware of the presence of Atkinson’s forces, and to give time for a retreat across the river deployed a party of about twenty to meet him, commence the attack and by gradual retreats turn him three or four miles above the camp. About one hour after sunrise the rising fogs indicated the presence of the river and Dickson’s spies were sent forward; they soon returned with a report that the enemy was drawn up in position and near at hand. Dodge thereupon ordered Dickson forward to reconnoiter the enemy and occupy his attention while he drew up his line and reported to Atkinson. This Dickson did, killing eight of the enemy. The regulars under Taylor and Alexander and Posey were ordered forward. The regulars immediately in Dodge’s rear moved forward on his right; Dodge’s men, dismounting, moved forward at the left in extended order for some minutes before Posey’s command came up. This officer was posted on the right of the regulars and Alexander on his right, while Henry, trudging along with the baggage, came upon the scene–just in time to be ordered to send Fry’s regiment to Atkinson, which was done.[230] When the forces moved against the Indian decoys, they of course gave way and were hotly followed by the whites. Henry clearly saw the stratagem when Major Ewing discovered and reported to him the main trail leading to the river lower down. This trail he rapidly followed to the foot of the high bluff bordering on the bottoms, covered with timber, driftwood and underbrush, through which the trail ran. Halting here and leaving the horses, he formed his men on foot and advanced, after first sending forward a forlorn hope of eight men to draw the enemy’s fire. These eight men boldly advanced until they were in sight of the river, when they were suddenly fired upon by a party of Indians and five of the eight men fell. Retreating to the cover of trees, the other three stood their ground until Henry came up. Deploying his men to the right and left from the center, a charge was made and the battle began along the whole line. At this time Henry despatched Major McConnel to Atkinson to report the presence of the entire force, which massed after the first charge and, with the loss of Fry’s regiment, was now larger than Henry’s force. The Indians fought desperately from tree to tree, falling back step by step until the river was reached, when by a bayonet charge they were driven into the river. Some tried to swim; others took shelter in a small willow island near by. This charge practically ended the battle, when Atkinson, Dodge, Posey and Alexander, hearing the continued heavy firing, and receiving Major McConnel’s message, came up, and while Henry’s men were finishing the fight, poured a galling fire into the vanishing remnant, which killed many women and children, to the sincere regret of all, but as many of the squaws were dressed as men and mingled freely with them, it was a misfortune none could have foreseen or avoided. To put the finishing strokes to Black Hawk’s power, Dodge, Fry and Ewing, with the regulars under Taylor, Bliss, Harney and Smith, plunged breast deep into the water to the willow island, where most of the remaining Indians had taken a last stand and where in the face of a heavy fire the whites either killed, captured or drove them into the river. It was there in that little side contest that the greatest loss was supposed to have occurred to the whites, whose casualties in the engagement were twenty-four killed and wounded, while that of the enemy were upward of one hundred and fifty, forty captured, mostly women and children, and about forty or fifty horses taken. The loss to the regulars was five killed and four wounded; to Dodge six wounded;[231] Posey one wounded; Alexander one wounded;[232] and Henry seven killed and wounded.[233] Black Hawk, with his sons and the Prophet, escaped to the Dalles of the Wisconsin. On the 3d one hundred and fifty men under Colonels Blackburn and Archer crossed the river, searching the islands and bottoms for fugitives, but found none. Their trail indicated that they had gone along the Iowa River. A party of Sioux called upon General Atkinson to receive permission to follow the fugitives, which was given, and in that pursuit Ne-a-pope was captured and many more Sacs perished. At that battle again, contrary to plans, Henry won the deciding and final fight of the war, but there he received from every officer of the regular service a hearty congratulation,[234] and in his journal no stronger praise could be accorded a brother than that given by Albert Sidney Johnston. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: MAJ. W.L.D. EWING.] [Illustration: FREDERICK REMANN.] [Illustration: BAD AXE BATTLEFIELD.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: COL. JAMES M. BLACKBURN.] [Illustration: COL. W.B. ARCHER, FOR WHOM ARCHER AVENUE, CHICAGO, WAS NAMED. ] [Illustration: LIEUT. ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, U.S.A] [Illustration: CAPT. R.B. MASON, U.S.A] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Covered with glory and the hearty good wishes of every officer and man in the army, Henry returned home, only to be cut off in the zenith of his career, as before stated. At the close of the fight Atkinson, Dodge, Posey, R.B. Mason and other officers and U.S. Infantry boarded the Warrior and dropped down the river to Prairie du Chien, arriving in the evening of the 4th. On August 17th the regular troops which left Jefferson Barracks in April had returned to the same point.[235] ----- Footnote 224: Johnston’s Journal. Footnote 225: Wakefield, p. 72 and 75. Lt. Col. Sharp was left at Ft. Koshkonong in charge of the men who had lost their horses. Footnote 226: Smith’s Wis., Vol. 3, p. 223. Footnote 227: Lt. Robert Anderson, X Wis. Hist. Colls., 170. Footnote 228: Col. W.B. Archer went to the battleground but found nothing new. Wakefield, 76. Footnote 229: Johnston’s Journal. Footnote 230: Reynolds, “My Own Times,” 415. Footnote 231: Privates Smith, Hood and Lowry died of their wounds. Capt. Joseph Dickson wounded. Sergeant George Willard and Private Skinner were wounded. Footnote 232: The brother of Adam Payne. Footnote 233: Lt. Samuel Bowman, killed. 1st Sergt. Wm. C. Murphy, wounded. Private Hutching, wounded and died the 3d. Privates John White, Joseph L. Young, Andrew McCormick and Robert R. Smith, wounded. Footnote 234: Capt. Henry Smith’s narrative, X Wis. Hist. Colls., 165. Footnote 235: Capt. Henry Smith’s narrative. ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------