LINCOLN AN INDEPENDENT RANGER.—MAJOR ILES’S REMINISCENCES OF THE
CAMPAIGN.—END OF THE-BLACK HAWK WAR.
The march in pursuit of the Indians led the army to Ottawa, where the
volunteers became so dissatisfied that on May 27th and 28th Governor
Reynolds mustered them out. But a force in the field was essential until
a new levy was raised, and a few of the men were patriotic enough to
offer their services, among them Lincoln, who, on May 29th, was mustered
in, at the mouth of the Fox River, by a man in whom, thirty years later,
he was to have a keen interest—General Robert Anderson, commander at
Fort Sumter in 1861. Lincoln became a private in Captain Elijah Iles’s
company of Independent Rangers, not brigaded—a company made up, says
Captain Iles in his “Footsteps and Wanderings,” of “generals, colonels,
captains, and distinguished men from the disbanded army.” General
Anderson says that at this muster Lincoln’s arms were valued at forty
dollars, his horse and equipment at one hundred and twenty dollars. The
Independent Rangers were a favored body, used to carry messages and to
spy on the enemy. They had no camp duties, and “drew rations as often as
they pleased;” so that as a private Lincoln was really better off than
as a captain.[15]
Footnote 15:
William Cullen Bryant, who was in Illinois in 1832, at the time of the
Black Hawk War, used to tell of meeting in his travels in the State a
company of Illinois volunteers, commanded by a “raw youth” of “quaint
and pleasant” speech, who, he learned afterwards, was Abraham Lincoln.
As Lincoln’s captaincy ended on May 27th, and Mr. Bryant did not reach
Illinois until June 12th, and as he never came nearer than fifty miles
to the Rapids of the Illinois, where the body of rangers to which
Lincoln belonged was encamped, it is evident that the “raw youth”
could not have been Lincoln, much as one would like to believe that it
was.
[Illustration:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.—HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED.
From a photograph in the collection of T. H. Bartlett, the sculptor,
of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Bartlett regards this as his earliest
portrait of Mr. Lincoln, but does not know when or where it was
taken. This portrait is also in the Oldroyd collection at
Washington, D. C., where it is dated 1856. The collection of Lincoln
portraits owned by Mr. Bartlett is the most complete and the most
intelligently arranged which we have examined. Mr. Bartlett began
collecting fully twenty years ago, his aim being to secure data for
a study of Mr. Lincoln from a physiognomical point of view. He has
probably the earliest portrait which exists, the one here given,
excepting the early daguerreotype owned by Mr. Robert Lincoln. He
has a large number of the Illinois pictures made from 1858 to 1860,
such as the Gilmer picture (page 209); a large collection of Brady
photographs, the masks, Volk’s bust, and other interesting
portraits. These he has studied from a sculptor’s point of view,
comparing them carefully with the portraiture of other men, as
Webster and Emerson. Mr. Bartlett has embodied his study of Mr.
Lincoln in an illustrated lecture, which is a model of what such a
lecture should be, suggestive, human, delightful. All his fine
collection of Lincoln portraits Mr. Bartlett has put freely at our
disposal, an act of courtesy and generosity for which the readers of
this work, as well as the authors, cannot fail to be deeply
grateful.
]
The achievements and tribulations of the body of rangers to which he
belonged are told with interesting detail by Major Iles.
“While the other companies were ordered to scout the country,” says
Major Iles, “mine was held by General Atkinson in camp as a reserve. One
company was ordered to go to Rock River (now Dixon) and report to
Colonel Taylor (afterwards President), who had been left there with a
few United States soldiers to guard the army supplies. The place was
also made a point of rendezvous. Just as the company got to Dixon, a man
came in, and reported that he and six others were on the road to Galena,
and, in passing through a point of timber about twenty miles north of
Dixon, they were fired on and six killed, he being the only one to make
his escape.... Colonel Taylor ordered the company to proceed to the
place, bury the dead, go on to Galena, and get all the information they
could about the Indians. But the company took fright, and came back to
the Illinois River, helter-skelter.
“General Atkinson then called on me, and wanted to know how I felt about
taking the trip; that he was exceedingly anxious to open communication
with Galena, and to find out, if possible, the whereabouts of the
Indians before the new troops arrived. I answered the general that
myself and men were getting rusty, and were anxious to have something to
do, and that nothing would please us better than to be ordered out on an
expedition; that I would find out how many of my men had good horses and
were otherwise well equipped, and what time we wanted to prepare for the
trip. I called on him again at sunset, and reported that I had about
fifty men well equipped and eager, and that we wanted one day to make
preparations. He said go ahead, and he would prepare our orders.
“The next day was a busy one, running bullets and getting our
flint-locks in order—we had no percussion locks then. General Henry, one
of my privates, who had been promoted to the position of major of one of
the companies, volunteered to go with us. I considered him a host, as he
had served as lieutenant in the war of 1812, under General Scott, and
was in the battle of Lundy’s Lane, and several other battles. He was a
good drill officer, and could aid me much.... After General Atkinson
handed me my orders, and my men were mounted and ready for the trip, I
felt proud of them, and was confident of our success, although numbering
only forty-eight. Several good men failed to go, as they had gone down
to the foot of the Illinois Rapids, to aid in bringing up the boats of
army supplies. We wanted to be as little encumbered as possible, and
took nothing that could be dispensed with, other than blankets, tin
cups, coffee-pots, canteens, a wallet of bread, and some fat side meat,
which we ate raw or broiled.
“When we arrived at Rock River, we found Colonel Taylor on the opposite
side, in a little fort built of prairie sod. He sent an officer in a
canoe to bring me over. I said to the officer that I would come over as
soon as I got my men in camp. I knew of a good spring half a mile above,
and I determined to camp at it. After the men were in camp I called on
General Henry, and he accompanied me. On meeting Colonel Taylor (he
looked like a man born to command) he seemed a little piqued that I did
not come over and camp with him. I told him we felt just as safe as if
quartered in his one-horse fort; besides, I knew what his orders would
be, and wanted to try the mettle of my men before starting on the
perilous trip I knew he would order. He said the trip was perilous, and
that since the murder of the six men all communication with Galena had
been cut off, and it might be besieged; that he wanted me to proceed to
Galena, and that he would have my orders for me in the morning, and
asked what outfit I wanted. I answered, ‘Nothing but coffee, side meat,
and bread.’
“In the morning my orders were to collect and bury the remains of the
six men murdered, proceed to Galena, make a careful search for the signs
of Indians, and find out whether they were aiming to escape by crossing
the river below Galena, and get all information at Galena of their
possible whereabouts before the new troops were ready to follow them.
[Illustration:
THE BLACK HAWK.
From a photograph made for this work. After a portrait by George
Catlin, in the National Museum at Washington, D. C., and here
reproduced by the courtesy of the director, Mr. G. Brown Goode.
Makataimeshekiakiak, the Black Hawk Sparrow, was born in 1767, on
the Rock River. He was not a chief by birth, but through the valor
of his deeds became the leader of his village. He was imaginative
and discontented, and bred endless trouble in the Northwest by his
complaints and his visionary schemes. He was completely under the
influence of the British agents, and in 1812 joined Tecumseh in the
war against the United States. After the close of that war the Hawk
was peaceable until driven to resistance by the encroachments of the
squatters. After the battle of Bad Axe he escaped, and was not
captured until betrayed by two Winnebagoes. He was taken to Fort
Armstrong, where he signed a treaty of peace, and then was
transferred as a prisoner of war to Jefferson Barracks, now St.
Louis, where Catlin painted him. Catlin, in his “Eight Years,” says:
“When I painted this chief he was dressed in a plain suit of
buckskin, with a string of wampum in his ears and on his neck, and
held in his hand his medicine-bag, which was the skin of a black
hawk, from which he had taken his name, and the tail of which made
him a fan, which he was almost constantly using.” In April, 1833,
Black Hawk and the other prisoners of war were transferred to
Fortress Monroe. They were released in June, and made a trip through
the Atlantic cities before returning West. Black Hawk settled in
Iowa, where he and his followers were given a small reservation in
Davis County. He died in 1838.
]
“John Dixon, who kept a house of entertainment here, and had sent his
family to Galena for safety, joined us, and hauled our wallets of corn
and grub in his wagon, which was a great help. Lieutenant Harris,
U.S.A., also joined us. I now had fifty men to go with me on the march.
I detailed two to march on the right, two on the left, and two in
advance, to act as lookouts to prevent a surprise. They were to keep in
full view of us, and to remain out until we camped for the night. Just
at sundown of the first day, while we were at lunch, our advance scouts
came in under whip and reported Indians. We bounced to our feet, and,
having a full view of the road for a long distance, could see a large
body coming toward us. All eyes were turned to John Dixon, who, as the
last one dropped out of sight coming over a ridge, pronounced them
Indians. I stationed my men in a ravine crossing the road, where any one
approaching could not see us until within thirty yards; the horses I had
driven back out of sight in a valley. I asked General Henry to take
command. He said, ‘No; stand at your post,’ and walked along the line,
talking to the men in a low, calm voice. Lieutenant Harris, U.S.A.,
seemed much agitated; he ran up and down the line, and exclaimed,
‘Captain, we will catch hell!’ He had horse-pistols, belt-pistols, and a
double-barrelled gun. He would pick the flints, reprime, and lay the
horse-pistols at his feet. When he got all ready he passed along the
line slowly, and seeing the nerves of the men all quiet—after General
Henry’s talk to them—said, ‘Captain, we are safe; we can whip five
hundred Indians.’ Instead of Indians, they proved to be the command of
General Dodge, from Galena, of one hundred and fifty men, _en route_ to
find out what had become of General Atkinson’s army, as, since the
murder of the six men, communication had been stopped for more than ten
days. My look-out at the top of the hill did not notify us, and we were
not undeceived until they got within thirty steps of us. My men then
raised a yell and ran to finish their lunch....
[Illustration:
WHITE CLOUD, THE PROPHET.
From a photograph made for this work. After a painting in the
collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and here
reproduced through the courtesy of the secretary, Mr. Reuben G.
Thwaites. The chief of an Indian village on the Rock River, White
Cloud was half Winnebago, half Sac. He was false and crafty, and it
was largely his counsels which induced Black Hawk to recross the
Mississippi in 1832. He was captured with Black Hawk, was a prisoner
at both Jefferson Barracks and Fortress Monroe, and made the tour of
the Atlantic cities with his friends. The above portrait was made at
Fortress Monroe by R. M. Sully. Catlin also painted White Cloud at
Jefferson Barracks in 1832. He describes him as about forty years
old at that time, “nearly six feet high, stout and athletic.” He
said he let his hair grow out to please the whites. Catlin’s picture
shows him with a very heavy head of hair. The prophet, after his
return from the East, remained among his people until his death in
1840 or 1841.
]
“When we got within fifteen miles of Galena, on Apple Creek, we found a
stockade filled with women and children and a few men, all terribly
frightened. The Indians had shot at and chased two men that afternoon,
who made their escape to the stockade. They insisted on our quartering
in the fort, but instead we camped one hundred yards outside, and
slept—what little sleep we did get—with our guns on our arms. General
Henry did not sleep, but drilled my men all night; so the moment they
were called they would bounce to their feet and stand in two lines, the
front ready to fire, and fall back to reload, while the others stepped
forward to take their places. They were called up a number of times, and
we got but little sleep. We arrived at Galena the next day, and found
the citizens prepared to defend the place. They were glad to see us, as
it had been so long since they had heard from General Atkinson and his
army. The few Indians prowling about Galena and murdering were simply
there as a ruse.
[Illustration:
BLACK HAWK.
From a photograph made for this work. After an improved replica of the
original portrait painted by R. M. Sully at Fortress Monroe in 1833,
and now in the Museum of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin,
at Madison. It is reproduced through the courtesy of the secretary
of the society, Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites.
]
[Illustration:
WHIRLING THUNDER.
From a photograph made for this work. After a painting by R. M. Sully
in the collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and
here reproduced through the courtesy of the secretary, Mr. Reuben G.
Thwaites. Black Hawk had two sons: the elder was the Whirling
Thunder, the younger the Roaring Thunder; both were in the war, and
both were taken prisoners with their father, and were with him at
Jefferson Barracks and at Fortress Monroe and on the trip through
the Atlantic cities. At Jefferson Barracks Catlin painted them, and
the pictures are in the National Museum. While at Fortress Monroe
the above picture of Whirling Thunder was painted. A pretty anecdote
is told of the Whirling Thunder. While on their tour through the
East the Indians were invited to various gatherings, and much was
done for their entertainment. On one of these occasions a young lady
sang a ballad. Whirling Thunder listened intently, and when she
ended he plucked an eagle’s feather from his head-dress and, giving
it to a white friend, said: “Take that to your mocking-bird squaw.”
Black Hawk’s sons remained with him until his death in 1838, and
then removed with the Sacs and Foxes to Kansas.
]
“On our return from Galena, near the forks of the Apple River and
Gratiot roads, we could see General Dodge on the Gratiot road, on his
return from Rock River. His six scouts had discovered my two men that I
had allowed to drop in the rear—two men who had been in Stillman’s
defeat, and, having weak horses, were allowed to fall behind. Having
weak horses they had fallen in the rear about two miles, and each took
the other to be Indians, and such an exciting race I never saw, until
they got sight of my company; then they came to a sudden halt, and after
looking at us a few moments, wheeled their horses and gave up the chase.
My two men did not know but that they were Indians until they came up
with us and shouted ‘Indians!’ They had thrown away their wallets and
guns, and used their ramrods as whips.
[Illustration:
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
At the breaking out of the Black Hawk War, Zachary Taylor, afterwards
general in the Mexican War, and finally President of the United
States, was colonel of the First Infantry. He joined Atkinson at the
beginning of the war, and was in active service until the end of the
campaign.
]
“The few houses on the road that usually accommodated the travel were
all standing, but vacant, as we went. On our return we found them burned
by the Indians. On my return to the Illinois River I reported to General
Atkinson, saying that, from all we could learn, the Indians were aiming
to escape by going north, with the intention of crossing the Mississippi
River above Galena. The new troops had just arrived and were being
mustered into service. My company had only been organized for twenty
days, and as the time had now expired, the men were mustered out. All
but myself again volunteered for the third time.”
LINCOLN AND HIS COMPANY ENTER MICHIGAN TERRITORY.
On June 20th Lincoln was mustered in again, by Major Anderson, as a
member of an independent company under Captain Jacob M. Early. His arms
were valued this time at only fifteen dollars, his horse and equipment
at eighty-five dollars.[16]
Footnote 16:
See “Wisconsin Historical Collections,” Volume X., for Major
Anderson’s reminiscences of the Black Hawk War.
[Illustration:
BLACK HAWK WAR RELICS.
From a photograph made for this work. This group of relics of the
Black Hawk War was selected for us from the collection in the museum
of the Wisconsin Historical Society by the secretary, Mr. Reuben G.
Thwaites. The coat and chapeau belonged to General Dodge, an
important leader in the war. The Indian relics are a tomahawk, a
Winnebago pipe, a Winnebago flute, and a knife. The powder-horn and
the flint-lock rifle are the only volunteer articles. One of the
survivors of the war, Mr. Elijah Herring of Stockton, Illinois, says
of the flint-lock rifles used by the Illinois volunteers: “They were
constructed like the old-fashioned rifle, only in place of a nipple
for a cap they had a pan in which was fixed an oil flint which the
hammer struck when it came down, instead of the modern cap. The pan
was filled with powder grains, enough to catch the spark and
communicate it to the load in the gun. These guns were all right,
and rarely missed fire on a dry, clear day; but unless they were
covered well, the dews of evening would dampen the powder, and very
often we were compelled to withdraw the charge and load them over
again. We had a gunsmith with us, whose business it was to look
after the guns for the whole regiment; and when a gun was found to
be damp, it was his duty to get his tools and ‘draw’ the load. At
that time the Cramer lock and triggers had just been put on the
market, and my rifle was equipped with these improvements, a fact of
which I was very proud. Instead of one trigger my rifle had two, one
set behind the other—the hind one to cock the gun, and the front one
to shoot it. The man Cramer sold his lock and triggers in St. Louis,
and I was one of the first to use them.”
]
The army moved up Rock River soon after the middle of June. Black Hawk
was overrunning the country, and scattering death wherever he went. The
settlers were wild with fear, and most of the settlements were
abandoned. At a sudden sound, at the merest rumor, men, women, and
children fled. “I well remember those troublesome times,” says one old
Illinois woman. “We often left our bread-dough unbaked, to rush to the
Indian fort near by.” When Mr. John Bryant, a brother of William Cullen
Bryant, visited the colony in Princeton, in 1832, he found it nearly
broken up on account of the war. Everywhere the crops were neglected,
for the able-bodied men were volunteering. William Cullen Bryant, who,
in June, 1834, travelled on horseback from Petersburg to near Pekin, and
back, wrote home: “Every few miles on our way we fell in with bodies of
Illinois militia proceeding to the American camp, or saw where they had
encamped for the night. They generally stationed themselves near a
stream or a spring in the edge of a wood, and turned their horses to
graze on the prairie. Their way was barked or girdled, and the roads
through the uninhabited country were as much beaten and as dusty as the
highways on New York Island. Some of the settlers complained that they
made war upon the pigs and chickens. They were a hard-looking set of
men, unkempt and unshaved, wearing shirts of dark calico, and sometimes
calico capotes.”
Soon after the army moved up the Rock River, the independent spy
company, of which Lincoln was a member, was sent with a brigade to the
northwest, near Galena, in pursuit of the Hawk. The nearest Lincoln came
to an actual engagement in the war was here. The skirmish of Kellogg’s
Grove took place on June 25th; Lincoln’s company came up soon after it
was over, and helped bury the five men killed. It was probably to this
experience that he referred when he told a friend once of coming on a
camp of white scouts one morning just as the sun was rising. The Indians
had surprised the camp, and had killed and scalped every man.
“I remember just how those men looked,” said Lincoln, “as we rode up the
little hill where their camp was. The red light of the morning sun was
streaming upon them as they lay heads towards us on the ground. And
every man had a round red spot on the top of his head, about as big as a
dollar, where the redskins had taken his scalp. It was frightful, but it
was grotesque; and the red sunlight seemed to paint everything all
over.” Lincoln paused, as if recalling the vivid picture, and added,
somewhat irrelevantly, “I remember that one man had buckskin breeches
on.”
By the end of the month the troops crossed into Michigan Territory—as
Wisconsin was then called—and July was passed floundering in swamps and
stumbling through forests, in pursuit of the now nearly exhausted Black
Hawk. On July 10th, three weeks before the last battle of the war, that
of Bad Axe, in which the whites finally massacred most of the Indian
band, Lincoln’s company was disbanded at Whitewater, Wisconsin, and he
and his friends started for home. The volunteers in returning suffered
much from hunger. Mr. Durley of Hennepin, Illinois, who walked home from
Rock Island, Illinois, says all he had to eat on the journey was meal
and water baked in rolls of bark laid by the fire. Lincoln was little
better off. The night before his company started from Whitewater he and
one of his messmates had their horses stolen; and, excepting when their
more fortunate companions gave them a lift, they walked as far as
Peoria, Illinois, where they bought a canoe, and paddled down the
Illinois River to Havana. Here they sold the canoe, and walked across
the country to New Salem.