"Explore Wisconsin" website errors.

[Robert Braun]

Unfortunately, some visitors to Lafayette County may get the wrong impression if they consult the following website page...

www.explorewisconsin.com/countypages/Lafayette.html

Under the heading "Blackhawk Memorial Park" we find---

Blackhawk Memorial Park
County Highway 78, Woodford
Parks Dept. 608-776-4970
Visit the site of the battlefield where frontier militia and regular army troops fought the Sauk and Fox Indians commanded by Chief Black Hawk. Before being subdued here, Black Hawk was pursued by Colonel Zachary Taylor, private Abraham Lincoln, General Winfield Scott and Jefferson Davis.

Interesting stuff... unfortunately, there's some problems with this description. So, test your knowledge...

[glow=green,2,300]How many errors did you find?
[/glow]

[[e-mail]]

Bob,

I count 5 mistakes... am I close?

[Robert Braun]

Very good... now, what are they?

Bob.

[Pete Shrake]

I count seven,

Black Hawk being there, the regular army being there,
Zachary Talor, Winfield Scott (didnt he come ihn after the war was basically over??) Abe Lincoln, Jeff Davis (Boy he seemed to be everywhere in this war!!), Abe Lincoln listed as a private (thought he was a captain),

But Hey whose counting, and really its just history, do the details really matter?

Pete

[Robert Braun]

Great job, Pete!

On Lincoln...actually he served THREE enlistments. His first was a captian as you have stated. The second was with Captain Elisha Iles' company in a twenty-day interim regiment. The third was with a spy company. The latter two enlistments found Lincoln enrolled as a private.

As for Scott... you are correct. He and what was left of his cholera-ridden Regulars arrived in Galena the day the "war" ended...on/around August 2, 1832.

Jeff Davis? His fictional account of his service in the war continues to mis-inform researchers who dig no deeper into the issue than Davis' own words.

Bob.

[Greg Carter]

I guess it just figures that rebel was boasting a bit too much.
G.

[Robert Braun]

Just in case you think that arguing the facts doesn't make a difference... check out the amended "Explore Wisconsin" website

www.explorewisconsin.com/countypages/Lafayette.html

...and specifically the corrected description of the "Battle of Pecatonica"--

Blackhawk Memorial Park
County Highway 78, Woodford
Parks Dept. 608-776-4970
Visit the site of the June 16, 1832 battle where frontier militia led by Colonel Henry Dodge fought and subdued a Kickapoo war-party from Black Hawk's "British Band." This action came about in response to the murder of several frontiersmen at Spafford's farm and near Fort Hamilton (Wiota, WI). After this battle, Black Hawk continued his retreat north and west across Wisconsin, being pursued by General Henry Atkinson, Colonel Zachary Taylor, Dodge, and for a time, private Abraham Lincoln.

I think most readers would agree that this version is significantly better than the previous verbiage!

[Mike Thorson]

Impressive - was this correction due to you directly contacting them?? Very cool Good job - I guess things CAN be changed and updated. I don't think it would be quite as easy to do it on the SHSW website but that's understandable. By the way I keep calling it the State Historical Society of Wisconsin becasue its always been called that and they were quick to correct you if yo mis-stated it. Apparently form the literature I am receiving form them now they are called the Wisconsin Historical Society.

[Cliff Krainik]

"Explore Wisconsin" website stated - "the Sauk and Fox Indians commanded by Chief Black Hawk..."

Not only was BH not present at Pecatonica (Bloody Pond) he was not a "Chief."

Bob, you wrote "... Jeff Davis? His fictional account of his service in the war continues to mis-inform researchers who dig no deeper into the issue than Davis' own words." Please cite Chapter and Verse. What exactly did President Davis have to say 'bout his BHW career?

Cliff

[Robert Braun]

Hello Cliff...

Chapter and verse, eh?

A reading from the Book of Wonder....

"A boy is born in Hard Times, Mississippi
Surrounded by a world that ain't so pretty..."

SORRY! An ooold joke and quote from a Flip Wilson sketch... but one I couldn't resist! ;D

Crawford Thayer and others have exposed the Jeff Davis charade regarding his supposed service in the BHW. Davis himself was home on furlough, returning to the Michigan Terriotry in time to escourt Black Hawk and fellow native leaders to Jefferson Barracks. The lieutenant did not serve one day of service in the BHW.

Despite this reality, Davis’ own words fostered and perpetuated the misguided notion of BHW service to the present day. An issue of The Midland Monthly featured an article entitled “Jefferson Davis and the Black Hawk War.” In this article, writer Charles Aldrich quoted Davis’ comments regarding the fight at Wisconsin Heights:

This was the most brilliant exhibition of military tactics I ever witnessed, a feat of the most consummate management and bravery, in the face of an enemy of greatly superior numbers. … Had it been performed by white men, it would have been immortalized as one of the most splendid achievements in military history.

In fact, Davis never “witnessed” the tactics he described because he was never there. Despite this, historians, teachers, lecturers and writers frequently use Davis’ pro-Black Hawk remarks to bolster arguments supportive of Black Hawk’s cause and his prowess in battle. Wiser heads have recognized Davis’ statements for what they were. Consequently, the State of Wisconsin wisely replaced the Wisconsin Heights interpretive marker with a new plaque— minus the Davis quote that once graced the plaque.