Work Continues On Quad-Cities Monument-- Part 2: Black Hawk Vs. Americans

A cleanup will be held October 11 and they are asking for help from the public.

They are also seeking monetary contributions to repair the low perimeter wall around the monument.

The Battle of Campbell's Island pitted Chief Black Hawk and his Sauk Indians, around 500 of them, against a group of American soldiers in small boats.  Sixteen Americans were killed and it is not known how many Indians.

Lt. John Campbell was in charge of the Americans.

The monument was erected in 1906 by the State of Illinois and  the DAR chapter and is a white granite obelisk with four plaques around the base.  One is a bronze relief sculpture of the battle.

--Brock-Perry

Work Continues on Monument in the Quad Cities-- Part 1

From the September 29, 2017, Quad-Cities Times  "Work continues on War of 1812 monument" by Alma Gaul.

The work on the bas-relief bronze sculpture depicting the Battle of Campbell's Island, created by sculptor Albert Louis Vander Berghen is nearing completion.

Volunteers from the Moline Chapter Mary Little Deere Daughters of the American Revolution have been making headway on the monument, located on Campbell Island in the Mississippi River.  They have also gotten the State of Illinois to blacktop and stripe the parking lot.

The Davey Tree Service has removed a dead tree and there is a new sidewalk around it.

--Brock-Perry

Campbell's Island in the Early 1900s to 1980-- Part 1

Campbell's Island was bought at the turn of the 20th century by a street car company which intended to build an amusement park on the island.  In 1904, a street car bridge was built on top of a closing dam built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1899.

The island became a popular resort from then to the mid-1950s with cottages available for rent.

The House-In-the-Woods Inn operated from 1904-1911 when it burned down, but was rebuilt and renamed the Campbell Island Inn.  In the 1950s it became the Ship's Wheel Boat Club and operated until it burned down in 1979.

--Brock-Perry

Campbell's Island-- Part 1: One of the Westernmost Battles

From Wikipedia.

Campbell's island is adjacent to the city of East Moline, Illinois and is connected to it by a bridge.  It is the site of the Campbell Island State Memorial, overseen by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

During the War of 1812, it was the site of one of the western-most battles and is called the Battle of Rock Island Rapids.  A band of Sauk warriors, allied with Britain clashed here with an American force led by Lt. John Campbell of the 1st Regiment United States Infantry.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Rock Island Rapids-- Part 2: Sixteen Americans Killed, Including One Woman and One Child

The 143 Americans encountered friendly Indians at first, but as they moved into the Rock Island Rapids, they were attacked.  Sixteen Americans were killed (one woman and one child among  them) and twenty-four, including Lt. Campbell were wounded.

Black Hawk claimed that he had two killed.

Afterwards, the Sauk Indians controlled the Quad-Cities area for almost twenty years.

The island was named in honor of Lt. Campbell and the monument to the action was dedicated July 20, 1908 with a huge crowd, speeches, music and a reenactment.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of Rock Island Rapids-- Part 1: Ambushed by Black Hawk

From the March 5, 2017, Quad-City Dispatch-Argus "Campbell's Island 1814 battle recalled by 'survivor' by Jonathan Turner.

Susan McPeters, portraying the wife of one of the soldiers at the battle, put on a one-woman show in period dress.

On July 19, 1814, 500 Sauk Indians, led by the famous warrior Black Hawk attacked U.S. soldiers in boats in an expedition led by Lieutenant John Campbell in one of the westernmost battles of the war.

Lt. Campbell had command of three gunboats and was carrying military supplies north from St. Louis along the Mississippi River to Fort Shelby, at the present-day site of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

--Brock-Perry