Lincoln's+Militia+in+Mercer+County,+1832

Original Author: Chris Brown, ENG206 SP10 Revision Author:  In 1832, Abraham Lincoln led a militia to a small town in Mercer County called New Boston. The militia was made up of trained military men as well as a group of untrained, vigilante-type men.  Lincoln's presence in Mercer County in 1832 was occasioned by the onset of the so-called Black Hawk War, the last significant military confrontation in Illinois and southern Wisconsin between Indians and the United States Army. This was a "war" in little more than name only. It consisted of a few relatively small, but bloody, skirmishes, lasted barely fifteen weeks, and cost the lives of many Indians along with some seventy soldiers and militia. A few white settlers also were killed during this short and, most now agree, unnecessary conflict. After crossing the Mississippi and before departing New Boston, Black Hawk was reported to have visited at the cabin of John W. Denison. He and his father, William, were the first white settlers in Mercer County, arriving there in 1827. Abraham Lincoln along with hundreds of others throughout central and southern Illinois promptly answered Governor John Reynolds's call for the formation of a militia. Lincoln joined other local recruits on April 21, 1832 at New Salem. The New Salem volunteers formed a company and elected Lincoln its captain. They then proceeded at once to Beardstown on the Illinois River where they joined other similar units on April 22 and became part of the Fourth Illinois Regiment in General Samuel Whiteside's Brigade of Militia. Divided into four regiments, a spy battalion, and two other battalions, Whiteside's Brigade ultimately totaled more than 1600 men. They were enrolled into State Service on April 28.  The Illinois Militia was at best a rather loosely organized and poorly disciplined body of men who reflected the independent and self-reliant attitudes of the frontier while having little respect for military or political authority. This was clearly demonstrated by a less than stellar record of achievement during its few weeks of government service. In fact as one reads accounts of the Black Hawk War, the impression quickly forms that in the last analysis, the Militia may have been as much of a hindrance as it was a benefit to the Army both in prosecuting the war and in peacefully resolving the concerns raised by the Indian reappearance in Illinois. This is not to say, however, that the Militia was of no military significance. There is some evidence that, rightly or wrongly, the Indians feared the undisciplined behavior of the militiamen far more than that of the more restrained, professional soldiers of the regular army.  On April 29 and accompanied by Governor Reynolds, the Militia including Captain Lincoln left Beardstown and began its march north to Oquawka and then on to the Rock River. An additional 150 men without horses were ordered to travel to Oquawka by boat. At Oquawka, the Militia was to rendezvous with steamboats coming down river from Fort Armstrong and upriver from St. Louis, which would supply them with food and other essentials. Had it been known that Black Hawk was already moving up Rock River northeast toward Dixon; the Militia very likely would have proceeded directly to the Dixon area via Peoria, thus bypassing Henderson, Mercer and Rock Island Counties altogether. In fact, that is what General Atkinson had directed Governor Reynolds and the Militia to do. However, his order did not reach Reynolds before he had committed his force to the Oquawka route. The militiamen traveled lightly. Most had a horse, a gun, a few personal items, meager rations and the civilian clothes on their backs, but little else. Much of their ammunition, bayonets, food, cooking and camping gear, soap and candles were to be provided by the State of Illinois or the United States Army either on route or upon reaching the Rock Island area. A number of wagons accompanied the men but were used primarily to carry some equipment and the personal items of their officers. The seventy mile trek from Beardstown to Oquawka took nearly five days, from April 29 to the evening of May 3, and required the Militia to make camps in the Rushville area two times, a few miles northwest of Macomb on the open prairie eighteen miles south of Oquawka and finally at Oquawka itself. Reaching Oquawka required a challenging but highly successful fording of the Henderson River, which, after a wet spring, was rain swollen to a width of fifty yards, and flowing rapidly. As Governor Reynolds later wrote in his autobiography, // My Own Times //, "It is astonishing that two thousand men, horses, baggage, and all, could be crossed over a stream of this size, in less than three hours, without the loss of anything, except a horse or two."  The Militia was destined to spend three days at Oquawka awaiting the arrival of the supply boats containing badly needed food and other provisions. Upon its arrival, the militia was advised by the few remaining local residents that Blackhawk and his party had entered Illinois several weeks earlier. The following day, the Sauk Chief, Keokuk, accompanied by a small party, who advised that he did not intend to wage war against the United States, visited the volunteers' encampment. It is uncertain exactly where the Militia camped during their three days at Oquawka. At the time, it consisted of several log cabins and out buildings and was not laid out as a village until July 1836. The few settlers included Stephen S. Phelps and from time to time his brother William, and their families, who had reached the area four years before. Alexis Phelps, an older brother and later a man of some local prominence, arrived a year later.  A place named Pence's Fort was nearby and thus a possible campsite. It was situated three miles northeast of Oquawka on the Henderson River at the farm of Judge John Pence. Before finally settling in the Oquawka area in 1829, Judge Pence had resided briefly in Saukenuk (Rock Island) and, while living there, had ensconced himself and his family in Black Hawk's own lodge! The fort was a recently and rather hastily constructed, but solid, stockade of twelve foot high split logs and contained a block house or two within its seven-hundred square foot enclosure. It served as a refuge for several families from Mercer and Henderson Counties who had fled from the Indian unrest sparked by Black Hawk's return to Illinois a month earlier. While its site for many years was well known to local residents, no remains of the fort have been discovered and today few have even heard of it.  The Militia was certainly aware of Pence's Fort and at least some of their number no doubt visited there. Yet, it seems unlikely that the Fort served as the Militia's primary bivouac. A location close to the Mississippi River to expedite resupply from the riverboats is far more probable. No discovered contemporary account of the Militia's days in Oquawka makes mention of the Fort. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Work Cited ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Return to Wild Liberty <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Return to Home
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