An independent company of about twenty-one spies, of which John Reynolds(afterwards governor) was a member was also formed and led by Capt. Samuel Judy. The governor organized his little army into two regiments under Colonels Rector and Stephenson, Colonel Russell serving as second to the commander in chief, other members of his staff being Secretary Nathaniel Pope and Robert K. McLaughlin.
In October 18, 1812, Governor Edwards and his men set out for Peoria, where he expected his force to meet up with General Samuel Hopkins and his army, who had been sent from Kentucky with 2,000 men. En route, two Kickapoo villages were burned and a number of Indians unnecessarily slain by Edwards' group. Hopkins had orders to disperse Indians in the Illinois and Wabash rivers and destroy their villages.
Hopkins determined, however, on reaching then headwaters of the Vermilion River that he could proceed no further.
--Brock-Perry
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