Battle of Stillman's Run

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Battle of Stillman's Run

Part of the Black Hawk War

Battle of Stillman's Run, Benjamin Drake

Date May 14, 1832

Location Near Stillman Valley, Illinois
Result British Band victory

Belligerents

British Band  United States

Commanders and leaders

Black Hawk  Isaiah Stillman

 David Bailey

 John G. Adams †

Strength

40-50 275

Casualties and losses

3-5 killed 12 killed

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Black Hawk War of 1832

The Battle of Stillman's Run, also known as the Battle of Sycamore Creek or

the Battle of Old Man's Creek, occurred in Illinois on May 14, 1832. The battle was
named for the panicked retreat by Major Isaiah Stillman and his detachment of
275 Illinois militia after being attacked by an unknown number of Sauk warriors of Black
Hawk's British Band. The numbers of warriors has been estimated at as few as fifty but
as many as two hundred participated in the attack. However, reports found in Whitney's
Black Hawk War (Letters and reports compiled by the Illinois State Library) indicated
that large numbers of Indians were on the move throughout the region, and it appeared
that widespread frontier warfare was underway. The engagement was the first battle of
the Black Hawk War (1832), which developed after Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi
River from Iowa into Illinois with his band of Sauk and Fox warriors along with women,
children, and elders to try to resettle in Illinois. The militia had pursued a small group of
Sauk scouts to the main British Band camp following a failed attempt by Black Hawk's
emissaries to negotiate a truce.
During the engagement, 12 militiamen were killed by Band warriors while making a
stand on a small hill. The remainder of the militia fled back to Dixon's Ferry. Citizens
erected a monument in 1901 in Stillman Valley, Illinois commemorating the battle. A
2006 article corroborates that militia volunteer Abraham Lincoln was present at the
battleground's burials; sources agree about little else. Investigation continues in the
early 21st century about facts of the skirmish.

Background[edit]
Black Hawk, a Sauk chief, believed that the Treaty of St. Louis (1804) was invalid. It
ceded Sauk territory to the US that included his birthplace. He led a number of
incursions across the Mississippi River from Iowa to Illinois beginning in 1830. Each
time, he was persuaded to return west without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by
promises of alliances with other tribes and the British authorities in British North
America, he again moved his "British Band" into Illinois.[1] Finding no allies, he attempted
to return to Iowa, but ensuing events led to the Battle of Stillman's Run. [2] A number of
other engagements followed, and the state militias of Wisconsin and Illinois were
mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's band. The conflict became known as the Black
Hawk War.
  

Stillman's Run
  

Buffalo Grove
  

Plum River
  

Indian Creek
  

St. Vrain
  

Fort Blue Mounds

  

Spafford Farm
   

Horseshoe Bend
  

Waddams Grove
  

Kellogg's Grove
  

Ament's Cabin
  

Apple River Fort

  

Sinsinawa Mound
  

Wisconsin Heights
  

Bad Axe
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Michigan Territory (Wisconsin)

Illinois
Unorganized
Territory (Iowa)
 Map of Black Hawk War sites
 Battle (with name)   Fort / settlement   Native village
Symbols are wikilinked to article

On April 5, 1832, Black Hawk and around 1,000 warriors and civilians recrossed
the Mississippi River into Illinois. About half of Black Hawk's band were combatants and
the rest were a combination of women, children, and elderly. The band consisted
of Sauk, Fox, some Potawatomi, and some Kickapoo; in addition some members of
the Ho-Chunk nation were sympathetic to Black Hawk.[3][4][5] Black Hawk's reason for
crossing into Illinois is disputed. It has long been believed that he wanted to reclaim lost
territory and, perhaps, create a confederacy of Native Americans to stand against white
settlement.[5][6] However, modern historians have questioned this and indicated that Black
Hawk may have been trying to resettle among the Ho-Chunk and point to the large
number of non-combatants that accompanied Black Hawk's supposed war party. Other
Illinois tribes promised aid to the British Band and Black Hawk believed that he had
been promised assistance by the British in Canada. [5]
Black Hawk led the march of the group along the Rock River into Illinois. Illinois
Governor John Reynolds perceived the return of Black Hawk as an invasion, and he
immediately called up the militia.[7] General Henry Atkinson, whom Black Hawk
addressed as "White Beaver," commanded the military expedition. [8][9]

Prelude[edit]
Atkinson was not told about Governor Reynolds' decision to order Major Isaiah
Stillman's militia to march on Old Man's Creek, despite being in overall command.
Reynolds' orders, issued on his behalf by General Samuel Whiteside to Stillman, were
for Stillman to find Black Hawk and coerce him into submission. Following these orders,
Stillman moved on Old Mans Creek.[10][11] Whiteside had refused to accept Stillman's
battalion under his command, thus leaving it "orphaned" and under the direct command
of Governor Reynolds.[12] The militia commanded by Whiteside grew restless as they
awaited the arrival of Atkinson and his Army regulars; many of the volunteer militia
wanted to quit the war and head back home. [12] When diplomacy failed to persuade
Black Hawk to take his band back west to Iowa, Stillman and Bailey's battalions of
Illinois Militia were marched up the Rock River. [13]
Prior to the battle at Stillman's Run, Black Hawk's grand vision of British support and
a Native American confederacy had collapsed.[4] No significant parties aided him and his
followers. The British Band started to weaken with hunger, and Black Hawk soon
realized that the only option was to return across the Mississippi River. When he
detected the U.S. militia camp eight miles (13 km) away, Black Hawk sent out peace
envoys in order to negotiate a truce. They were told to wave a white flag at the militia. [14]

Battle[edit]

275 militia under the command of Isaiah Stillman fled Black Hawk warriors at what became known as Stillman's
Run.

On May 14, 1832, a detachment of 275 militia under the command of Majors Isaiah
Stillman and David Bailey, under orders from Illinois Governor Reynolds, were
encamped near Old Man's Creek, not far from its confluence with the Rock River. [11]
[15]
 The militia camp was located about three miles (5 km) east of the Rock River near
present-day Stillman Valley, Illinois, and seven miles (11 km) south of the Sauk
encampment.[11] It is believed that the militia and its commanders were unaware of their
proximity to Black Hawk's British Band.[11]
In conference with the local Potawatomi, Black Hawk learned of Stillman's presence
and sent three emissaries to the militia camp under a flag of parley in order to negotiate
a peace with the soldiers.[7] The already suspicious soldiers took the three emissaries to
their camp, and during the proceedings the militia became aware of several of Black
Hawk's scouts in the surrounding hills, watching the proceedings. [7] Once the scouts
were spotted, soldiers shot at the three emissaries, killing one. The other two fled back
toward their camp, located near the confluence of the Rock and Kishwaukee rivers.[14]
The scouts were pursued by the disorganized militia and several were killed. The
surviving scouts arrived at Black Hawk's camp ahead of the militia and reported the
events. At the camp, the warriors set up a skirmish line in order to fend off the pending
militia attack.[7] The militia soldiers, intent on pursuing the scouts, chased them back
toward the main force of Black Hawk's warriors and their skirmish line. [7] Black Hawk and
his force concealed themselves and ambushed the pursuers. [2] Believing that thousands
of Sauk and Fox were attacking them, the militia panicked and fled back to the main
force camped at Dixon's Ferry.[16] Stillman's exact whereabouts are unknown during this
point in the battle. His later account published in a newspaper did not mention his
location and noted his only order was to retreat. Stillman's account, published in
the Missouri Republican, has been called fanciful.[11]
Twelve of Stillman's militia were killed in the melee. [17] A band of volunteers under the
leadership of Captain John Giles Adams made a stand on a hill south of the main militia
camp. The men fought by moonlight as the main body of the militia fled back to Dixon.
The entire 12-man detachment, including Adams, was killed in the fight. [15] Dyer has said
that Adams may have been killed by his own men as he attempted to muster them to
battle.[11] The number of Sauk and Fox killed in the engagement is largely unknown; the
militia party that was sent to locate the "missing" 53 militia men found no dead Sauk.
[11]
 Black Hawk is quoted as saying at least three and maybe as many as five of his
warriors were killed.[18]

Lincoln's role[edit]

This image has been claimed as the earliest of Abraham Lincoln and dates to around 1847, 15 years after the
war.

Main article: Abraham Lincoln in the Black Hawk War

The facts about Abraham Lincoln's service during the Black Hawk War have been
disputed. Lincoln was associated with two major battle sites, including Stillman's Run, in
the aftermath of combat. A number of sources assert that on June 26, 1832, the
morning after the Second Battle of Kellogg's Grove, members of the company of
Captain Jacob M. Early arrived at the grove to help bury the dead. One of these soldiers
was Lincoln, who assisted with the burial. His later statement about the events has been
linked to both the battle at Kellogg's Grove and the fight at Stillman's Run.[19][20][21]
I remember just how those men looked 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 head
towards us on the ground. And every man had a round red spot on 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. I remember
one man had on buckskin breeches.
The Lincoln quote was featured in both William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Wiek's Life of
Lincoln and Carl Sandburg's Lincoln biography, Abraham Lincoln The Prairie Years.
[19]
 Lincoln's presence at Stillman's Run has been under investigation in the early 21st
century, but his presence at Kellogg's Grove has been corroborated by several sources.
[19][21][22]
 In a 2006 article, author Scott Dyer asserted that Whiteside's men, including
Captain Lincoln, "paraded" the area the morning after, and buried the dead from
Stillman's Run. Their movements were an unsuccessful effort to draw out the Sauk,
after which they returned to Dixon's Ferry.[11]
Inscription on the monument in Stillman Valley concerning Lincoln's role in the aftermath of the battle.

During an 1848 speech before the U.S. Congress in which he referred to his Black
Hawk War service, Lincoln noted Stillman's Run by name:
By the way Mr. Speaker, did you know that I am a military hero? Yes sir, in the days of
the Black Hawk War I fought, bled and came away . . . I was not at Stillman's defeat, but
I was about as near it as Cass was Hull's surrender, and, like him, I saw the place very
soon afterwards.[23]
The marble facade on the Stillman Valley monument, erected in 1901 to commemorate
the battle, refers to Lincoln's presence at Stillman's Run, "The presence of soldier,
statesman, martyr, Abraham Lincoln assisting in the burial of these honored dead has
made this spot more sacred."[20] Other sources assert that General Whiteside originally
buried the dead in a common grave on a ridge south of the battlefield, marked with a
rudimentary wooden memorial. These sources make no mention of Lincoln. [24][25]

Aftermath[edit]

Monument and graves located in Stillman Valley

Following the first confrontation with Black Hawk at Stillman Valley, the press reported
that 2,000 "bloodthirsty warriors were sweeping all Northern Illinois with the bosom of
destruction," sending shock waves of terror through the region. [13] Past midnight on May
15, soldiers from Stillman's ill-fated detachment began streaming back into Dixon's
Ferry, wide-eyed and panic-stricken, telling tales of a horrible slaughter that had ensued
during the battle. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, 53 militia men were missing.
Later officials determined that the majority of these men had simply bypassed Dixon's
Ferry on their way home.[11]
The memorial cemetery at the Stillman's Run Battle Site.

After this initial skirmish, Black Hawk led many of the civilians in his band to
the Michigan Territory.[13] On May 19, the militia traveled up the Rock River trailing and
searching for Black Hawk and his band.[13] Several small skirmishes and massacres
ensued over the next month in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin before the
militia regained public confidence in battles at Bloody Lake and Waddams Grove.[26]
Critics of the Illinois Militia, mostly members of the Regular Army, attacked their
behavior at the debacle at Stillman' Run. They began to refer to the battle at Old Man's
Creek as the Battle of Stillman's Run, because Stillman had apparently fled with the
panicked militia.[11]
Armed hostilities during the Black Hawk War began at Stillman's Run, and the victory
was unexpected for Black Hawk and his British Band. [2] Black Hawk feared that the white
militia and its allies would seek revenge through his total defeat. [27] Leading his starving
band, Black Hawk fled from Atkinson's pursuing army. The chase would take them as
far as present day Madison, Wisconsin. It ended at the Battle of Bad Axe, where the
militia and its allies massacred a weakened foe, by then made up of mostly women and
children.[28]
The remains of the soldiers at Stillman's Run were originally buried in a common grave,
but who buried them remains an open question. [20][22][24] A memorial, erected in 1901,
stands near their marked graves.[20] The monument and battle site are listed on the
U.S. National Register of Historic Places. They are near Illinois Route 72 a block west of
present-day Stillman Creek.[29][30][31]