McLean County, Illinois - Chapter 9: Black Hawk and Mexican Wars, 1924

CHIEF BLACK HAWK - McLEAN COUNTY FURNISHED TWO COMPANIES - BATTLE OF STILLMAN'S RUN - CLOSE OF WAR - BLOCK HOUSES - HOME GUARDSMEXICAN WAR: McLEAN COUNTY COMPANY - "BAKER'S BOYS" - ACTIVE SERVICE IN MEXICO - BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO - CASUALTIES.

Men of McLean County have taken part in five different wars of the nation since the county was organized. The first was the Black Hawk war with Indians. Then came the Mexican war, the Civil war, the Spanish-American, and finally the great World war.

Military participation of men in this county in the war of the whites against Black Hawk, the Indian chief, was on a small scale as compared with later wars. But nevertheless in relation to the number of settlers in the county at that time, the number of men sent out was remarkably large. Indians who inhabited the territory of Illinois had by the years 1830-31 passed to the- west side of the Mississippi river, and by treaty with the United States agreed to stay there. The Sacs and Foxes of Northern Illinois were the principal tribes. Black Hawk had fought with the British against the Americans in 1812 and felt hostility toward the settlers, hence he never gave his full-hearted consent to the agreement to go beyond the Mississippi. By the spring of 1832 he had stirred up a band of warriors of his tribe, who to the number of 700 or 800 came back into the Illinois lands with warlike intentions. Fragments of other tribes joined them. The governor of Illinois called for volunteers among the white settlers to repel the invasion of hostile red men.

There was also a third company enrolled later. They joined the Fifth regiment of mounted volunteers, under command of Col. James Johnson. Both of the McLean County companies rendezvoused at Dixon, but Capt. McClure's company did not reach there in time to join in Maj. Stillman's expedition.

The companies from this count}' and the others composing the volunteer force refused to attach themselves to the force of United States troops, for they said they had enlisted to hunt Indians, and to hunt Indians they were going. Finally Maj. Stillman got an order from Gov. Reynolds to proceed northward and find the hostile Indians.

On the 13th of May the Illinois volunteer force set out to find the red men, and the result was a battle between the forces, in which the Indians outnumbered the whites and sadly defeated them. The battle became known as Stillman's Run. The force under Maj. Stillman was wholly untrained and poorly armed, and their defeat was the result of their raw condition, from a military sense, and not from lack of bravery. In spite of this initial defeat, the Illinois volunteers later succeeded in driving Black Hawk and his hostile tribes back to the region west of the Mississippi.

The Black Hawk war meant much to McLean County. This county was then the northern frontier of white settlements in Illinois. Black Hawk had tried to get the Pottawatomies and the Kickapoos to join his warlike band. There was a settlement of Kickapoos at Oliver's Grove in Livingston County, and a delegation of white men from McLean County, under Gen. Bartholomew, was sent to learn their intentions. The Indians responded that they were friendly.

In spite of this fact, four block houses were built in McLean County as protection against possible hostilities. One was at the Bartholomew settlement in Money Creek Township, one in the Henline settlement, a third the John Paton house in Lexington township, and the fourth in

Little Vermilion settlement of Livingston County. The Kickapoos remained friendly and refused to take the warpath for the benefit of Black Hawk.

One of the most disagreeable duties of the men from McLean County who took part in the war was the burial of the dead at Indian Creek, a white settlement in LaSalle County which was attacked and its people massacred by the Indians after the defeat and retreat of Stillman's army. They found the bodies of the whites horribly mutilated by the brutality of the redskins. The two companies then returned to McLean County and were mustered out.

In June of the same year another company was mustered in for home guard duty. Its officers were Capt. Covell, First Lieut. William Dimmitt and Second Lieut. Richard Edwards. It patrolled the southern border of Livingston County to prevent any possible incursions of hostile Indians from that quarter. However, it never encountered any, and after a month of service was disbanded. After the Black Hawk war, the fear of Indians passed away forever from the people of McLean County.

McLean County furnished one company to be part of the Fourth regiment of Illinois volunteers to take part with the forces of the United States in the war against Mexico in 1846-47. The formation of the company was the outgrowth of a public meeting held in Bloomington June 13, 1846, called by Gen. Gridley, who had been an officer in the Black Hawk war. He addressed the meeting and urged the young men to enlist and "go" to the war. Immediately afterward, John Moore, a prominent politician, made a speech in which he said, "Come with me." He himself was going to enlist. The result was the enrollment of a full company of 103 men, with Dr. Garret B. Elkin for captain, Lieut. Gov. John Moore as first lieutenant, James Withers and William L. Duncan as second lieutenants.

The company went to Springfield next day in wagons, and on finding that they had to enlist for a year, many of the young men returned home. The company was filled with men from other counties, and Andrew J. Wallace succeeded John Moore as first lieutenant. On the 26th of June, the company having been filled, marched overland to Alton, thence to Jefferson barracks at St. Louis, where Edward Baker was elected colonel of the regiment, John Moore of McLean County lieutenant-colonel, and Thomas L. Harris major. For six weeks the regiment drilled at St. Louis, and became the best volunteer regiment in the middle west, being known as "Baker's boys." July 22 they boarded steamer for New Orleans, thence by sailing vessels on the gulf to the mouth of the Rio Grande river. Up the Rio Grande they went to their first expedition on Mexican soil. They camped successively at Camp Belknap, Camp Patterson and on the 26th of September they set out for Matamoros. On the 9th of October the regiment was ordered to reinforce Gen. Taylor at the seige of Monterey. They reached Camargo, but not in time to reinforce Taylor. They spent three months of miserable existence in this camp, subject to inaction and all the diseases and other evils of camp life, on the chapparal plains of Mexico. The heat and unsanitary conditions caused much sickness and many deaths. Nearly 100 men of the Fourth regiment died, and hundreds of others were discharged as incurable invalids.

On Dec. 11 the regiment left Matamoros and marched to Victoria, being under command of Gen. Pillow of the division commanded by Gen. Patterson. Leaving Victoria they marched to Tampico, reaching the latter place Jan. 27, 1847. While the regiment was at Victoria, it was reviewed by Gen. Taylor, commander-in-chief of the American forces in Mexico. He received a great ovation. His forces numbered 6,000 men. Gen. Pillow, in direct command of the Illinois regiment, was exceedingly unpopular among the men, because of his cold-blooded selfish disregard for the comfort of the men. The march to Tampico was a repetition of that on Victoria, with something of the same suffering for lack of water, from the heat and rough nature of the country. They reached Tampico Jan. 24. The regiment carried a wagon train of 150 wagons.

On the 7th of March the Fourth regiment embarked on sailing vessels for Vera Cruz, the seaport of the capital. The regiment landed at Vera Cruz on the 20th, and prepared for a siege of the place, which was defended by a wall and forts. The attacking force consisted of Gen. Pillow's, Gen. Patterson's and Gen. Quitman's brigades. The Fourth regiment assisted in mounting a heavy naval battery close to the city, which was kept masked until the proper time should come to open up. The other parts of the besieging force bombarded the city from Jan. 22 to 24. On the morning of the latter day, the big naval battery was unmasked and opened on the city with deadly effect. The walls and forts crumbled under the heavy fire, and on the 25th a white flag of truce was sent out by the beleaguered garrison to negotiate terms of surrender. On the 27th the city and all public stores were surrendered to Gen. Scott, the commander. The loss of the Americans was fourteen killed, while the Mexicans lost between 500 and 1,000. The Mexican force surrendered amounted to 4,500 men.

From Vera Cruz, the division of which the Fourth regiment was part, marched toward the capital, along the national highway. They had gone on until the 12th of April, when they heard sound of cannon ahead and immediately prepared for battle. They found themselves supporting the retreat of Gen. Twiggs' force, which had met the enemy in large numbers at Cerro Gordo. On the afternoon of the 12th, supplies and ammunition having been issued, orders were given to proceed next morning to attack the enemy. But Gen. Patterson arose from a sick bed to countermand the orders of Gens. Pillow, Twiggs and Shields, thereby averting what would probably have been an ignoble defeat. But Gen. Scott arrived on the 14th, and then the army was confident that they could advance under the wise leadership of their commanding general. Some of the daring spirits of the Fourth Illinois succeeded in dragging 6 and 12 pound cannon to the top of some of the hills overlooking Cerro Gordo, and when the action opened the Mexicans were surprised as well as dumbfounded by this feat.

In the battle of Cerro Gordo, General Twiggs' division had the lead, with the Fourth Regiment, under General Shields assigned to the task of advancing over a difficult piece of ground. General Shields was seriously wounded in the charge, and Colonel Baker succeeded to the command. The enemy were so surprised and overwhelmed with the bravery of the advance, that they fled, leaving some of their cannon loaded, which the Americans turned and fired at the retreating masses.

It was in this battle that the famous incident occurred when General Santa Ana of the Mexican army fled, leaving his wooden leg behind in a vehicle. Lieut. William L. Duncan of Company B, who was in command of B and G companies, told the authentic version of this incident, saying that men of the two companies observed a large carriage abandoned at an angle of the road, and he gave the order to B and H com- panies to charge the Mexicans seen near the carriage. They saw Gen. Santa Ana mounted on a mule and fleeing from the scene. Private Edward Elliott of B company was the man who actually found the wooden leg in the carriage. After being examined by many men of the company, the relic was carried off by a G company man. The companies also found much gold coin in the carriage, which they guarded until it was taken in charge by an aide from General Twiggs' staff for the government.

The Fourth Regiment lost six men killed and eleven wounded in this action. On the 19th of April, the regiment received orders at Jalapa to return home. They started for Vera Cruz on May 6, and reached New Orleans on the 14th. They remained there until May 22, when they were discharged and returned home.

The Mexican War proved a school of instruction for many of the men who 20 years later became prominent military leaders in the Civil War. The Illinois General Assembly in 1849 directed the governor to buy swords suitably inscribed, to be presented to General Shields and each of the field officers from this state who were engagd in the Mexican War. One of these swords was presented to Lieutenant Colonel Moore of McLean County, and this sword is now in possession of the McLean County Historical Society.