Apple River Fort.

[Robert Braun]

The action at Apple River Fort on Sunday June 24, 1832, is remarkable in that this was the only stockade that Black Hawk and his "British Band" ever attacked.

The fort was defended by a portion of Captain Clack Stone's company. The action itself lasted approximately 45 minutes, and ended when Black Hawk broke off the engagement while his warriors looted local farms and cabins of food, clothing, and livestock.

Native casualties are unclear. The fort's defenders suffered one man wounded and one killed-- George Hercleroad, shot through the neck when he foolishly poked his head above the pickets.

Interestingly, George Hercleroad wasn't part of the fort's contingent. He and three other volunteers were express riders, carrying communications from Col. Strode in Galena to General Atkinson, then at Dixon's Ferry. Hercleroad carried and used-- for a time, anyway--a percussion lock rifle. This was the only known weapon of its kind used during the action. (Most weapons issued and used during the Black Hawk War utilized a flint ignition system.)

[Greg Carter]

Bob,

Do you have an opinion possibly on why the Sauk never attempted to burn the fort down? Certainly the cabins in the surrounding area had fireplaces, so it seems likely that some settler may have left his fire burning in the panic of the attack.

GMC

[Larry Koschkee]

GMC

   Perhaps the autobiography of Black Hawk can best answer your question.

   "Finding that these people could not all be killed, without setting fire to their houses and fort, I thought it more prudent to be content with what flour, provisions, cattle and horses we could find, than to set fire to their buildings, as the light would be seen at a distance, and the army might suppose that we were in the neighborhood, and come upon us with a force too strong.   Accordingly, we opened a house and filled our bags with flour and provisions - took several horses, and drove off some of their cattle."

Larry
   

[Greg Carter]

Thanks for the tipoff Larry. Ironically, I own a re-printed copy of his autobiography and I always forget that it is sitting on my shelf, a perfect reference.

GMC

[Robert Braun]

There are two editions of BH's autobiography. Each is colored with phrasiology inserted by either the interpreter, the editor, or both. The 1834 (right date?) edition is one most investigators view as probably the most reliable. The later 1880's edition is the one most often reprinted, and the one regarded as the least reliable, due to additional editorial "futzing" with the text.

An additional caution... BH's account should be subjected to the same level of scruitiny that each account from the war should  be subjected. This is NOT to say I am critical of Larry's quotation, above. I am not. What I am saying is that, a few writers in the "popular literature" take BH's autobiography as literal gospel, despite the inconsistencies, understatements, and outright fabrications that occasionally appear in the text.

Once such understatement was the real damage done to private property by BH's war party in the Apple River settlement. Claims made by locals against the Federal Government for the depredations done by the war-party underscore that the party's activities were far more destructive than the mere filling of flour bags and running off cattle and horses.

[Greg Carter]

Bob,

You do bring up a good point. I have seen the differences in the two texts because you had them pointed out in an earlier article I believe. I also have seen other documents from dealings with the natives from several other wars that dramatically overplay the hostile activities and depredations as well, including accounts of the Zulu War, the Plains Indians Wars, and a couple of other instances.

GMC

[Gene]

Some suggested reading on this matter, pertains to the late revolutionary war period and the expedition of George Rogers Clark The Conquest of the Illinois, Clarks memior sheds some light on Indian activity in the Illinois territory, which was obviously carried over to the Black Hawk War by the Sac & Fox nations.
Gene

[Greg Carter]

Gene,

that is a good reference book. I have read excerpts from it but not the whole thing.

GMC

[Cliff Krainik]

[Black Hawk] Life of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak or Black Hawk. . . With an Account of the Cause and General History of the Late War, His Surrender and Confinement at Jefferson Barracks, and Travels Through the United States. Dictated by himself. J.B. Patterson, editor. Cincinnati, 1833. First edition.

A remarkable autobiography told from a Native American point of view.


Cliff

[Peter Shrake]

Building on Gene's comments,

Milo Quife's editing of both Clark and British Governor Hamilton accounts, entitled "The Capture of Old Vincennes" is another helpful insight into Indian Affairs in the Illinois region during the Revolutionary period.

Perhaps one of the best overall studies of the Indian situation on the frontier from just prior to the Revolution thru 1834 is Francis Paul Prucha's "American Indian Policy in the Formative Years." It has moments where it is a bit dry, but it completely outlines and gives, I think at least, the best overview of Indian/White relations in this period and definatley provides a real background to the world in which the Black Hawk War came from.

Pete

[Chris Gordy]

Thought I would offer some oral history of the fort from the History of Jo Daviess County (1878) for a little more interpretive knowledge.
"One corner of the fort was formed by the log house in which one of the settlers had lived. In the opposite corner, was built a "block house," of two stories, with the upper story projecting over the other about two feet, so that the Indians could not come up near to the building for the purpose of setting it on fire, without being exposed to the guns of the settlers, from above. . . . . On the first day there were but twenty-two men and twenty-three women and children in the fort. . . . These people continued to live here for some time without being molested. Here the first marriage of white persons occurred; Jane, a daughter of John Murdock was wedded to Jefferson Clark, the ceremony being performed by Mr. McDonald.
The people made use of lead, at the furnace of which Mr. Tracy had charge to make a cannon; but this, says Mr. Tart, 'proved useless until the capture of Black Hawk at the battle of Bad Axe, in Wisconsin, when it was loaded to the muzzle and fired, in celebration of the event; it then burst, killing a soldier - probably the only person it killed during the war.'
After moulding bullets and making all due preparations for an attack, the settlers began to have thought for the crops, which required attention. One man, Stephen H. Howard, returned to his farm, in Hanover Township, and was afterwards killed while endeavoring to regain horses which the Indians had stolen from his barn, a more complete account of which appears in the history of Hanover Township.
On a Sabbath of June, the 24th, for messengers - F. Dixon, G.W. Herclerode - Kirkpatrick, and Edmund Welch - who were en route from Galena to Dixon, were attacked by Indians while passing through the gap near the fort, and one of them, Mr. Welch, was wounded in the thigh. Mr. Dixon rode on, and reached Dixon in safety, but the others, including the wounded man, hurried to the fort. . . . . The Indians soon made an assault, but were repulsed. The women and children loaded guns for the men, by which they were enabled to keep up a rapid firing. This deceived the Indians as to the number of men within the fort, and they soon withdrew from the range of muskets. The attack lasted three quarters of an hour. The only life lost among those in the fort was that of George W. Herclerode, who was shot in the neck and instantly killed, as he was standing on one of the benches, looking over the pickets, to try his, the only percussin-lock gun in the fort. It is not known how many, if any, Indians were killed, as they conceal their dead, although some blood was afterwards seen in a deserted cabin.
After the assault upon the fort, the Indians rifled the houses of the settlers, and destroyed much valuable property." (pp. 583-584)

[Chris Gordy]

The following quote comes The Galenian, July 18, 1832.
"July 16. - An express reached town late this evening from Apple river fort, from which we learn that a party of men belonging to that fort, discovered fresh Indian trails early this morning about 2 miles south of the fort, coming in the direction from Rush creek, and leading towards the fort. There were three ponies' tracks and one man on foot in mocasins. A party of six men from the fort, have gone out to-night to lie in ambush, each with two guns.
July 17. - Capt. James Craig, with 90 Mounted men, left town this morning for Apple river Fort, to scout the country round."

[Robert Braun]

In re-reading Masberger and Stratton's 1995 archaeological report on Apple River Fort, I was sruck by the variation of interpretation for the two buildings (not the blockhouse) of the fort. While we may never know for sure, it appears that based on two key pieces of information, the "storehouse" may not have been "built" as a storehouse, as is currently being interpreted at ARF.

Instead, the structured may have been two log cabins with a so-called "dog trot" or covered "breezeway" between them. The Miller-Kelso House at Lincoln's New Salem is one example of this style of predominantly Southern construction (For more information on this stye of cabins, see www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/History1/DOG.cfm

Here's why:

1.) "Feature 5" is listed as an earthen celler in the reoprt. This cellar lies directly between the two buildings. Why would a cellar be constructed so close to two exisiting structures, yet left open (or covered by boards, etc.) to the elements? (Answer: it may have been covered by the roof of the dog trot feature.

2.) that strange double wall feature turns back on itself to coinside with the north wall of the presently-interpreted "storehouse." This means the structure PRE-dated the construction of the palisade... and therefore must have been in existance before the stockade was erected.

These pieces of evidence build an interesting case for two front-to front log cabins, joined by a roofed "dog trot" as indicated by the authors.

Regards, Bob