1-9 The Battle of Wisconsin Heights

Lake Sinnissippi - near Rock River Rapids
Hustisford, WI

In early July, General Atkinson learned of the impending change of command, and he took action to see that the matter was cleared up before Scott’s arrival.  Enlisting the help of the Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi Indians, who themselves were eager to remain neutral, or at minimum avoid retaliation from the Americans at the end of the conflict, Atkinson once again pursued Black Hawk and his allies. Following information offered by Ho-Chunks who were sympathetic to Black Hawk and White Cloud, Atkinson’s men trudged through the Marshes near Lake Koshkonong in futile pursuit while the band had actually move 25 miles further up the river to the Rock River Rapids area, on the south end of Lake Sinnissippi.

Henry Dodge

On July 15th, after learning from a French trader that the band had moved further north, Colonel Henry Dodge and James Henry departed Fort Winnebago with a force of militia, finally in hot pursuit of Black Hawk’s band.  By this time, the band had been reduced to about 600 Indians, having lost many to exposure, starvation and desertion.  The Indians were forced to eat whatever they could find, including the edible inner bark of the pines, yellow birches, slippery elms, spruces, firs and tamaracks.  It was this trail of denuded trees that enabled Dodge and Henry’s troops to finally track the fleeing Sauk.  

At The Four Lakes, on the isthmus between Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, in what is now the heart of Madison, WI, the first sick and elderly stragglers were killed and scalped.  The conflict, never a war, had now degraded to malice, mayhem and murder.

Dodge pursued the Indians, now running for their lives, with no time to sleep or eat.  On July 21st, 1832, Black Hawk, Neopope and a group of approximately 100 Sauk and Kickapoo warriors once again set up a skirmish line, planning on fighting to the death if necessary, to enable to rest of the non-combatant band to escape across the Wisconsin River.  In a small group of hills, Black Hawk formed his strategy against an overwhelming force of 750 or more militiamen.  Black Hawk was desperately outnumbered, and the battle was a heavily lopsided victory for the Americans, losing only one soldier compared to as many as 68 of the Indian warriors.  One soldier’s description of the events included the words, “Here we were fired on by Indians, and one man was killed and several wounded.  We returned their fire with effect, and then charged them, killing a good many, all of whom were scalped by the wild Sucker Volunteers.”  Despite the high casualties, Black Hawk held off a vastly superior force, enabling most of his people to escape, a feat which served to impress the military leaders who pursued him.

During the battle, which became known as the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, Ne-o-po-pe tried once again to surrender, but was unable to communicate in English.  He shouted that the hungry band was going back across the Mississippi, and would fight no more.  With no Ho-Chunk interpreters available to the Americans, the attempt at communication failed.

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(Key Terms: Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, Black Sparrow Hawk, Black Hawk, 1767, Saukenuk, Pyesa, Rock Island, Black Hawk’s Watch Tower, Black Hawk State Historic Site, Hauberg Museum, Sauk, Sac, Meskwaki, Fox, Rock River, Sinnissippi River, Mississippi River, War of 1812, British Band, Great Britain, Treaty of 1804, Treaties, Ceded Land, William Henry Harrison, Quashquame, Keokuk, Fort Armstrong, Samuel Whiteside, Black Hawk War of 1832, Black Hawk Conflict, Scalp, Great Sauk Trail, Black Hawk Trail, Prophetstown, Wabokieshiek, White Cloud, The Winnebago Prophet, Ne-o-po-pe, Dixon’s Ferry, Isaiah Stillman, The Battle of Stillman’s Run, Old Man’s Creek, Sycamore Creek, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Shabbona, Felix St. Vrain, Lake Koshkonong, Fort Koshkonong, Fort Atkinson, Henry Atkinson, Andrew Jackson, Lewis Cass, Winfield Scott, Chief Black Wolf, Henry Dodge, James Henry, White Crow, Rock River Rapids, The Four Lakes, Battle of Wisconsin Heights, Benjamin Franklin Smith, Wisconsin River, Kickapoo River, Soldier’s Grove, Steamboat Warrior, Steamship Warrior, Fort Crawford, Battle of Bad Axe, Bad Axe Massacre, Joseph M. Street, Antoine LeClaire, Native American, Indian, Michigan Territory, Indiana Territory, Louisiana Territory, Osage, Souix, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Ho-Chunk)