Wisconsin Heights Battlefield--About a Mile From Sauk City--Another
Napoleon Soldier Grave
The memorable battle of Wisconsin Heights, between U. S. troops and the
famous Indian chief, Black Hawk, and his Sac and Fox warriors, was
fought about a mile southwest of Sauk City. This encounter, so
disastrous to the forces of Black Hawk, took place June 21, 1832, when
Wisconsin still was a part of Michigan territory and settlements were
chiefly in the lead region, now the southwestern section of the state.
The major portion of the journey to this historic battlefield is over
Trunk Line No. 12, which climbs the terminal moraine two miles
southwest of Baraboo, traverses an outwash plain, crosses Skillet
Creek, rounding the point recorded by geologists as the mouth of an
ancient stream as shown by successive layers of fluvial deposit, and
skirting a bold outcrop of quartzite, ascends the range to the summit
of the bluff. From the elevated highway one obtains a charming view of
beautiful Sauk Prairie where, year after year, the horn of Amalthaea is
most prodigal with gifts. This outwash plain was a veritable paradise
of bloom in the days before the advent of the plow.
A Paper Town
At the bottom of the bluff, between the first and second roads which
course to the right, lies the village plat of New Haven. The surveyor's
map of this "paper" town is preserved in the courthouse in Baraboo.
The last mile of the road leading into Prairie du Sac follows one of
the oldest highways in the county. It was part of a stage line to
Baraboo in an early day and the progenitor of the present scenic system
of roads among the Baraboo hills.
Just above the villages of Prairie du Sac and Sauk City, the Wisconsin
River has been harnessed and many thousand horse-power from the great
dam provides light and force for an extensive area.
From Prairie du Sac the road leads along the river a mile into Sauk
City. The villages have been rivals since they came into existence in
the early 40's, when they were the first centers of population north
and west of the river in this section of the state. Many of the
dwellings in Sauk City follow a fashion in architecture common in
central Europe but rarely seen in this country.
Approaching the Heights
Crossing the Wisconsin River at Sauk City, turning to the right and
following the Mazomanie highway about one mile, a crossroad is reached
beyond which is a small stream spanned by a bridge. Ahead of this
bridge and to the left looms Wisconsin Heights, a rugged elevation from
which the battle between the forces of General Dodge and Black Hawk and
his warriors takes its name.
Causes of the Battle
The causes leading up to the battle of Wisconsin Heights were numerous.
On the Rock River, near its confluence with the Mississippi was the Sac
village, the inhabitants of which were more in sympathy with the
British than the Americans at that time. Treaties had been signed by
the Indians transferring to the whites their common lands but when the
time came for them to give up their holdings, the red men declared
their chiefs had not authority to sign away the territory and refused
to leave. As early as 1823 white squatters enraged Chief Black Hawk and
his people by burning their lodges, destroying their crops, and
insulting their squaws, while the chief and his braves were absent on
the hunt. Black Hawk was advised to seek a village site beyond the
Mississippi to avoid the advancing tide of settlement but the warrior
was obstinate and prepared to fight for his lands. A crisis was reached
in 1830 when pioneers plowed over an Indian cemetery, preempted a
village site, and took possession of the planting grounds of the red
men. Black Hawk, after consulting with the British agent, threatened
the squatters with force, but a military demonstration so frightened
the Indians that they gave up the idea of fighting and fled across the
Mississippi.
War Begins
On April 6, 1832, the Hawk, with about five hundred warriors, mostly
Sac Indians, crossed into Illinois, creating wild excitement in the
settlements there and in Wisconsin. Soon eighteen hundred volunteers,
some mounted and some on foot, were on the march. Black Hawk sent a
note of defiance, retreated up the Rock River, and made a stand at
Stillman's Creek. Disappointed in not receiving assistance from other
tribes, he sent messengers with a white flag to his pursuers, asking
that he might return peaceably beyond the Mississippi. Those bearing
the white flag were brutally slain by the militia, Black Hawk was
enraged, and from an ambush routed a larger party, killing a number and
wounding others.
About this time settlers were killed at a number of places and the name
of Black Hawk was connected with every stump, tree, and projecting rock
in the region. The entire section was terrified. Forts sprang up at a
dozen place and additional troops were summoned.
In the meantime Black Hawk moved up Rock River to near Lake Koshkonong
and, being hotly pursued, retreated with his warriors and the women and
children to the present site of the city of Madison.
A Day of Excitement
The Indians and the militia were on the move early on the morning of
July 21, 1832. Their camps had been near each other but neither cared
to make an attack at night. While passing along the shore of one of the
lakes at Madison, an Indian was seen to come up from the water and
pause near a newly made grave. In a moment he was pierced with bullets.
The grave was probably that of his squaw who had died from exhaustion
and the disconsolate red man had decided to await the approaching foe
and there, also, meet his fate.
It was not long until the rear of the band was sighted. The day was
warm. The Indians threw away kettles, blankets and other weighty
articles in order to accelerate their speed. Some forty horses
belonging to the soldiers became exhausted, and the riders leaped from
the animals and hurried along as fast as possible on foot. Two or three
times the Indians showed fight but melted away as soon as any number of
their enemies appeared. These feints but served to spur the militia
forward. The pursuit was ruthless, exciting, and determined, a chase
from dawn to late afternoon.
Black Hawk did not have over 500 warriors, while General Henry had
about 600 soldiers and Colonel Dodge 150 more. In the ardour of their
pursuit, over a country possessing many difficulties, the immediate
commands of Colonel Dodge and Colonel Ewing had outstripped the rest of
General Henry's brigade. About five o'clock in the afternoon, when they
arrived at Wisconsin Heights, they were met by a spy company which had
preceded them and which had been driven back, the enemy having shown
fight. The command of Dodge, with Ewing in the center, dismounted,
formed in line, and advanced to the edge of the bluff. The Indians were
secreted in the high grass growing on the level ground on both sides of
the stream. Dodge maintained his position for about an hour; General
Henry's brigade then arriving. His soldiers were deployed to the right
and left, the line thus being formed with Dodge's command in the
center.
From five o'clock until sundown the conflict continued. The Indians in
the meantime had been driven from their initial position, some of them
escaping up the bank south of the stream and others falling back in the
rank verdure toward the Wisconsin. Rain fell and the high grass
becoming wet, it was found impossible for the men to keep their arms
dry in passing through it, so the firing ceased.
Allies of the Whites
Chief White Crow, father of Yellow Thunder's squaw, buried a few miles
north of Baraboo, a number of Winnebago, and Pierre Pauquette, their
interpreter, were in the battle as aids to the whites. They had joined
a detachment which had left Fort Winnebago (Portage) to go to Rock
River, and were in the wild chase across the unbroken country to the
place of the battle. They left the scene during the night and returned
to Fort Winnebago.
[Illustration: WISCONSIN HEIGHTS BATTLEFIELD]
On the mountain overlooking the battlefield, an Indian chief gave
orders during the fight and a little before dawn the morning after, a
voice was heard from the same eminence. This greatly disturbed the
troops and General Henry had all of his men parade in order of battle.
The individual speaking in the darkness was Neapope, endeavoring to
make a conciliation, thinking the Winnebago were still in the camp and
would understand him. Just before daylight the harangue ceased and
Neapope disappeared. When morning came troops found a few horse tracks
which appeared to have been made during the night.
An Unmarked Grave
But one soldier was killed, John Short, who is buried on the bank among
the trees, a few rods south of the stream and east of the highway. All
trace of his grave is lost. A young woman, Mary Hackett, who died in
pioneer times, was buried at the eastern extremity of the level ground,
not far from where the soldier was interred. No one has since been
buried here.
During the battle Colonel Jones had a horse shot from under him and
several soldiers were wounded. The day after the fight was spent in
preparing to transfer the injured to the fort at Blue Mounds.
The number of Indians killed will never be known, but was in the
neighborhood of fifty or sixty. Many of the survivors, with hearts of
lead, crossed the Wisconsin River during the night, and moved through
the wilderness in a northwesternly direction toward the Mississippi.
[Illustration: NATURAL BRIDGE NEAR LELAND]
In his autobiography, Black Hawk says that "Whatever may be the
sentiments of the white people in relation to this battle, my nation,
though fallen, will award to me the reputation of a great brave in
conducting it." Evidently he was proud of his conduct in this
particular fight.
Jefferson Davis in the Battle
Jefferson Davis, later president of the Southern Confederacy, likewise
participated in the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. After he had fought
with distinction in the Mexican war, and had served as secretary of war
in President Pierce's cabinet, and after holding the position of
commander-in-chief of the southern armies for four years during the
Civil War, he supported Black Hawk's claim to the military skill he had
displayed in this battle. Davis speaks of the tactics employed by the
chief as the most brilliant he had ever witnessed, saying: "Had it been
performed by white men, it would have been immortalized as one of the
most splendid achievements in military history."
Indians Pursued
A few days after the battle, troops crossed the Wisconsin at Arena,
marched up the bank of the river until the trail was found, and pursued
the retreating Indians. The savages killed horses along the way in
order to sustain themselves with food; some perished from their wounds,
and still others died from fatigue. At the mouth of the Bad Axe River,
the troops from the rear, the fire from the Warrior on the
Mississippi, and the Indians in Minnesota, almost annihilated the band
of the deluded, deceived, and defeated Black Hawk. A few of his braves
and families who descended the Wisconsin river in boats, met a similar
fate near the mouth of the stream, bringing to an end the cons'n.
A. L. Taylor resides on a farm a short distance east of the
battlefield. When a youth he accompanied a soldier who fought in the
battle, also his father, over the ground. Mr. Taylor has a clear
recollection of the description of the fight given by the participant
in the battle. Years ago Mr. Taylor's father found on the field a gun
and saddle, afterwards destroyed in a farmhouse fire.
A short distance south of where John Short is buried there is a fine
group of Indian mounds.
Grave of a Napoleon Soldier
From the Mazomanie road near the battlefield, one may drive east about
a mile to the Roxbury Cemetery, on Trunk Line 12. Near the center of
this Catholic burying ground lies a soldier who served one year against
Napoleon and three years under him, a not uncommon circumstance when
the whole of Europe was torn by the great Corsican. The inscription
above the grave reads:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Peter Pauli *
* Geb. 10, June, 1792 *
* Gest. 7, Sept., 1884 *
* R. I. P. *
* Schlafe Wohl, O Vater Schlafe *
* Deiner Walfahrt Leiden aus *
* Sanft Sei Dir Der Letzte Schlummer*
* Dein Erwachen Ohne Kummer *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
About 1848 Pauli came with his family to America and after a stay in
Milwaukee settled in Roxbury, where he died. It is said there are two
other Napoleon soldiers buried in this cemetery but their graves have
not been identified.
Within site of the cemetery is the Roxbury church, one of the richest
rural churches in this section of the state and one which dates to
territorial times.
On the return after passing over the bridge at Sauk City, the street
due west crosses the railroad track and but a short distance beyond in
an oak grove to the left, may be seen about an acre of Indian corn
hills. Much of the ground at Prairie du Sac and Sauk City was devoted
by the Indians to the growing of vegetables. These corn hills among the
oaks are the only ones remaining, now sward covered and much reduced in
elevation.
On the knoll or ridge, north of the highway and near the railroad, may
be seen some old buildings among a few trees. Here in the spring of
1854, Professor H. J. Turner opened a French and English boarding
school, which supplied educational facilities to the community for
several years.
Natural Bridge
From Prairie du Sac there is a paved road all the way to Leland, a
distance of some fifteen miles. About a mile east of the last named
village may be seen the Natural Bridge. Passing the third house east of
the church the car should be stopped where the road bends a little to
the left, beyond sight of a farm house and almost in view of the church
steeple in the village. In the edge of the wood, several rods north of
the road, the natural bridge may be seen. This massive and unusual
curiosity, eroded from the sandstone, is on land owned by Richard
Radatz.
The return to Baraboo may be made by continuing to the east through
Denzer, joining Trunk Line 12 near Kings Corners.