Hargrave Family & War of 1812-- Part 3: Then Came Craig and a Little Girl Named Ninian

A second attack on Peoria occurred beginning on November 5 and ended on November 9 and was carried out by men under the command of Captain Thomas  Craig of the Illinois militia.  A large number of French citizens and Potawatomie were killed.

These attacks not only angered the people of Peoria, but angered the U.S.  Government as well because they had been carried out against Indians loyal to Black Partridge and Gomo, two leaders who had not gotten involved in Tecumseh's  War and were considered friendly to U.S. interests.

Ninian Edwards, having lost the confidence of the Madison  administration, then left the Illinois Territory and moved to Kentucky, but continued as governor of the Illinois Territory until 1818.

She mentions that one of the Hargrave families named a little girl Ninian.

--Brock-Perry

About That Captain Thomas E. Craig-- Part 2

Gillum Ferguson explained the Indian situation in Central Illinois back then, saying that Gomo, an Indian chief who had years earlier traveled to Philadelphia to meet George Washington, sought peace for his village near present-day  Chillicothe, Illinois.  Meanwhile, across Peoria Lake to the south was the village of Shequenebec whose chief was a mystic -- and increasingly hostile to the settlers.

About fifteen miles south of Peoria, on the  Mackinaw River was a  mixed village of Kickapoo, Potawatomi,  Ottawa and Chippewa, with about sixty warriors, "all desperate fellows and  great plunderers."

At this point in his research on Illinois in the War of 1812, he found that the last thing written about the future state was a long article in  1904.

For the record, Ferguson said that the United States declared war on Britain in June 1812.  A peace treaty was signed in December 1814, but the Battle of New Orleans (made famous by singer Johnny Horton) took place in January 1815.

While doing research for his book, Ferguson visited Peoria and other sites across the Midwest (Illinois Territory stretched into parts of Wisconsin and Michigan).    The staff at the Peoria Historical Society collection at Bradley University were very helpful to him.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 in Peoria, Illinois-- Part 4: Building a Fort and Attacking Indian Villages

A year later, in September 1813, Brigadier General Benjamin Howard led another expedition of about 1,400 men against the Indian villages around Lake Pimiteoui.  The first portion of the expedition, a detachment of about 150 troops of the first United States Infantry under the command of Lt. Colonel Robert Carter Nicholas arrived at Lake Pimiteoui on August 29.

 The troops came from St. Louis in reinforced keel boats and immediately began to build a stockade adjacent to the river at the site of the former French village.  Trees were cut on the eastern  shore of the lake and rafted across to the western shore.

While the first blockhouse was under construction, 150 Indians under the command of Black Partridge made an attack on the troops, but were driven off.

Eight hundred mounted rangers from the Illinois and Missouri militia reached the settlement three days after the arrival of the regulars.  The rangers marched to the two Indian villages at the head of Lake Pimiteoui; on the eastern shore was the village of  Black Partridge, and on the western shore was the Potawatomi village of Chief Gomo.

The rangers burned what was left of the villages and returned to the French village.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Clark in Peoria-- Part 2

In October 1812, Ninian Edwards, Illinois Territory governor, launched a three-pronged attack on Indian villages at Peoria Lake (where Peoria is now located and a wide place in the Illinois River).  He believed the villages harbored warriors who had attacked American settlements.  Edwards led a horse-mounted force and destroyed Black  Partidge's village on the east side of the lake.

On November 5, 1812,  Captain Thomas Craig arrived by  boat at Peoria.  Unknown to Craig, William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs (yes, that William Clark as in Lewis & Clark Expedition) and Ninian Edwards had retained the services of Thomas Forsyth to monitor Indian movements at Peoria Lake.  

Despite Forsyth's protest that the community was not involved, Craig arrested a few dozen of the village's inhabitants, burned part f the community, and transported those he detained downriver to Alton.

To assert American authority over the Peoria Lake area, in 1813, a force of about 1,400 men under  the command of Brigadier General  Benjamin Howard returned to The area to erect Fort Clark.  In addition they destroyed  what remained of Gomo's and Black Partridge's  abandoned villages.  William Garner Sr. was a member of this force.

In retaliation, Indians under Black Partridge attacked Fort Clark, but were repulsed and later signed a treaty of peace.

--Brock-Perry

Benjamin Stephenson of Illinois-- Part 10: Dispersing the Indians

They found a deserted Sac village near modern-day Quincy, Illinois,.  They then  marched  east to the Illinois River and followed it to Peoria.

From there they went north to Gomo's village which they found to also be deserted.

There were no battles in the campaign, but it did disperse the Indians and forestalled further attacks.

The force returned to Fort Russell near Edwardsville by late October 1813.

--Brock-Perry

Benjamin Stephenson-- Part 7: Edwards Organizes Punitive Expedition Against Indians

Ninian Edwards negotiated with the Potawatomie Chief Gomo, but these negotiations broke down.  Raids and confrontations between small groups of settlers and Indians continued through 1811.  In 1812, the fall of Fort Dearborn (Chicago) and subsequent massacre galvanized public opinion and outrage.

Governor Edwards decided there should be an expedition against the Indians at Peoria Lakes.  Troops from Kentucky were expected to join the expedition but didn't show up.  Edwards had mounted rangers under Col. William Russell of Kentucky, hero of the Battle of King's Mountain during the American Revolution.

Fort Russell by Edwardsville was named for him.

Also in Edwards' force were militia commanded by Charles (Nelson?)  Rector and the newly promoted to colonel Benjamin Stephenson.

--Brock-Perry