The War of 1812 in Illinois Territory-- Part 3: Enter Thomas E. Craig

Meanwhile, Governor Edwards had reached the head of Peoria Lake (where Peoria is today) and now didn't meet up with Samuel Hopkins' Army, so returned to Fort Russell.

About that same time, Captain Thomas E. Craig led a party of two boats up the Illinois River to Peoria.  His boats, as he alleged, were fired upon  in the night by Indians who had been harbored and protected by the French citizens of Peoria.

He then burned the greater part of the French village and captured a number of its people.  He carried them downriver  and put them ashore in the early part of winter just below Alton.

--Brock-Perry

The War of 1812 in Illinois-- Part 2: A Two-Pincer Movement Against the Indians

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

The Hargrave Family and War of 1812-- Part 2: Ninian Edwards Attacks

Following the massacre at Fort Dearborn (present-day Chicago), Illinois Territory Governor Ninian Edwards Became convinced that  the Potawatami and Kickapoo Indians were going to launch a major attack on settlements in southern Illinois.  In his capacity as commander-in-chief in the Territory, he took it upon himself to launch a campaign against them.

The force of 400 that he assembled included mounted militia volunteers commanded by  Charles Rector and Benjamin Stephenson.  On October 18, 1812,  Edwards and his force marched out of Fort Russell (near present-day Edwardsville).  Near present-day Springfield, he burned  two Kickapoo villages on  the Saline Fork of the Sangamon River.

From there, they turned west and marched to present-day Peoria where they attacked villages associated with the Kickapoo, the Miami and the Potawatomi.  According to Edwards' account to the U.S. Secretary of War, they burned the villages and large amounts of provisions.  They also captured 80 horses, killed more than  two dozen Indians and captured 4 prisoners.

That accomplished, they returned to Fort Russell in November 1, 1812.  There Edwards proclaimed that the Indian problems had been solved and he released the militia.

Two of the men with Benjamin Stephenson were Robert Hargrave (son of John Robert) and Joseph Palmer (son-on-law of John Robert.)

--Brock-Perry

Francois Leclaire on the Actions of Thomas Craig and His Men

Francois Leclaire was of one of the French families in the former village at Peoria that Thomas Craig's men destroyed.  This is his account of what happened:

After the Indians were defeated by the forces of Governor Edwards at the head of Peoria Lake, they (the Indians) threatened to kill the French people and proceeded to  rob the houses and kill the oxen.

Then a party of men under Captain Thomas E. Craig arrived in two boats and took everything they could get their hands on.  Then they made the people prisoners.  While a prisoner he saw several structures burned by Craig's men.  he also saw articles belonging to the villagers on the boats.

In 1813, he went up to Sandy Creek on the Illinois River with Thomas Forsyth and others and heard from the Indians that they had burned the Kinzie and Forsyth house and bakehouse at Peoria.

These were the damages done by Craig and his men.

--Brock-Perry

Some More on the Illinois Rangers

From Clinton Illinois genealogy "Muster Rolls of Volunteers -- 1812"

Although Illinois Territory Governor Ninian Edwards had several times during the years 1811-1812 recommended to the U..S. Secretary of War the enlistment of  one or more companies of "Rangers" to protect the frontier, and Congress in 1811 passed an act  authorizing the organization of ten companies of rangers, which was afterwards  organized as the 17th United States Regiment, under Colonel William Russell of Kentucky, an Indian fighter of bravery and experience, it does not appear that more than one company was recruited in the Illinois Territory.

However, four companies were now allotted for the defense of Illinois, whose respective captains were  Samuel and William B. Whitesides, James R. Moore and Jacob Short.

Independent Cavalry Companies were also organized for the protection of  the remote settlements  in the lower Wabash country, of which Willis Hargrave, William McHenry, Nathaniel Journey.

William McHenry was the namesake of McHenry County (where I live) and the city of McHenry which is also in the county.  I was always under the opinion that the county and city were named after Fort McHenry in Baltimore, the subject of our "Star-Spangled Banner."

Captain Craig, at Shawneetown, and William Boon at Big Muddy, were respectively commanders ready to make the Indians pay for any attacks.

--Brock-Perry

Thomas E. Craig

From the "Alton" book by Cheryl Eichar Jett.

Several Native American attacks were recorded during the early settlement of Illinois years.

During the War of 1812. Captain Thomas E. Craig burned a Native American village in Northern Illinois (Peoria) capturing 77 French, French-Native American, Native American and American  individuals.

Historian James E. Davis said that Craig "shunted this assortment of humanity down  the Illinois River, abandoning them on a dreary November day south of modern Alton."

Illinois Territory Governor Ninian Edwards. embarrassed by the debacle, compensated those stranded in the Alton area.

--Brock-Perry

Captain Thomas E. Craig

He commanded the company that reportedly was fired on by the French inhabitants of the French Peoria village and who retaliated by taking many prisoner and burning the place.

From Clintonilgenweb   Muster Rolls of 1812 

CAPTAIN THOMAS E. CRAIG'S COMPANY

A muster roll of Volunteer  riflemen raised in Illinois Territory, under the command of  Capt. Thomas E. Craig in the service of the United States, by the order of His Excellency, NINIAN EDWARDS, Governor of  said Territory.  From  the 5th  September to 2nd December 1812.

Craig, Thomas E.   Captain

Forrester, John    Lieutenant

Wilson, Harrison    Ensign

*****************************

SERGEANTS

Buckner, Phil

Hill , Charles

Skantlin,  Walker

Wilson, John G.

*****************************

CORPORALS

Gordan, Joseph

Lepan, Joseph

Preston, Robert

Wheeler, Willis

******************************

MUSICIANS

Ormsby, John   Drummer

Reeves, Nat    Fifer

******************************

53 Privates

--Brock-Perry

Early History of Peoria-- Part 2: The Coming of the War of 1812

During 1810, a series of raids were launched by Illinois Indians which resulted in a great deal of anxiety among the settlers.  Throughout the next year, British representatives from Canada; still upset  over their defeat in the American Revolution, continued to encourage the Indians to attack the white settlers throughout the Illinois Territory.

The War of 1812 began in June of that year and that caused the French settlers in Peoria to be at war with the British and their Indian allies, including the Potawatomi.  Because the French settlers at Peoria had a close relationship with the Potawatomi, their position was extremely difficult.

In August of 1812,  the American post at Chicago, Fort Dearborn, was taken by the Potawatomi, and many of the soldiers and residents  were killed or taken prisoner. Thomas Forsyth of Peoria, half brother and  partner of Chicago trader John Kinzie, went north to negotiate with the Indians for the return of the prisoners.

In the meantime, Governor Ninian Edwards had been receiving reports that Peoria was a hotbed of Indian troubles.  In October, 1812, just a few months after Fort Dearborn, the governor led an attack  of mounted troops across the prairies from Fort Russell near Edwardsville (no one is sure where this fort's actual location was), and destroyed the Potawatomi village of Chief Black Partridge at the upper end of Lake Peoria, on the east side of the river.

Although the soldiers found the village deserted, they plundered and burned it.  In clashes with nearby Indians, 25 to 30 were killed.

--Brock-Perry

Early History of Peoria-- Part 1: Becoming the Illinois Territory

From the January 2011 Peoria Magazine "Fort Clark constructed in 1813" by Mark L. Johnson.

Just over 200 years ago, the small village of Lake  Pimiteoui, which would grow into today's City of Peoria, was gradually adjusting to life  as part of the new nation of the United States. 

On February 3, 1809, the U.S. Congress had established the territory of Illinois,  which included all of modern day Illinois, Wisconsin and the upper western peninsula of Michigan and northeastern Minnesota.  Ninian Edwards, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, was appointed  by President James Madison as the governor of the new territory, and he served in that position until Illinois was granted statehood eight years later.

In the 1810 federal census, just 12,181 white settlers lived in the Illinois Territory.  At that time, the village of Peoria was attached to St. Clair County, and the census put its population at 93.  Most of these early Peorians were of French descent, having arrived from Canada and were primarily trappers and traders.

--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

Captain William Boon's Company, Mounted Volunteers

From Publications of Illinois Historical Society, Vol. 9

Capt. William Boon's Company  (This man might also be William Boone.)

William Garner Sr. was in this company.

Muster roll of a company of mounted volunteers from Randolph county, Illinois  territory, commanded by Capt. William Boon, and called into service by His Excellency, Ninian Edwards, Governor of said territory, from  the 6th day of March, 1813, to the 5th day of June, 1813.

Captain William Boon

First Lieutenant John Lacey

Second Lieutenant William Bilderback

Ensign John Bilderback

Four sergeants, Four corporals, Sixty-nine privates.

There were two Bilderbacks listed as privates:

Charles Bilderback

Daniel Bilderback

And, there were three Garners in it listed as privates:

Charles Garner

Francis Garner

William Garner

--Brock-Perry

Illinois' 200th!!!!-- Part 2: Fort Dearborn Massacre and Peoria

The first major engagement in the war in the Illinois Territory took place at Fort Dearborn in present-day Chicago.  In August 1812, a force of Indians, primarily Potawatomis, attacked soldiers and civilians as they evacuated the fort in what is generally called the Fort Dearborn Massacre.

In October 1812, Americans launched and expedition against the Indian center in the Peoria area.  It wa sled by Governor Ninian Edwards and Colonel William Russell.  They attacked  and destroyed Potawatomi and Kickapoo villages, prompting the Indians to leave the area.

Raids between the two sides, however, continued.

--Brock-Perry

Illinois' 200th!!!!!-- Part 1: The Illinois Territory During War of 1812

I'll be taking a few days' break to write about the bicentennial of Illinois becoming a state in 1818.

From Wikipedia.

During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between American settlers and soldiers and Indians.  At the time, the Illinois Territory consisted of modern Illinois and parts of Minnesota and Michigan.

Tensions between Americans and Indians had been increasing in the years before the war.  Present-day Peoria was the site of a major Indian concentration and the chief there was a big supporter of Shawnee Prophet Tenskwatawa and his brother Tecumseh.

There were few U.S. soldiers in the area which was the far frontier at the time.  Ninian Edwards, Illinois Territorial governor directed militia operations.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Edwards Monument, Warsaw, Illinois

Built 1914 to honor 100th anniversary.  Barre granite monument.  Cost $7,390.  A three-day celebration was held, attracting crowd estimated to be at 10,000..

The monument has four bronze panels at the bottom of it.  The first three feature pictures of Fort Edwards, Ninian Edwards (Illinois Territorial Governor and namesake) and Zachary Taylor.

The fourth panel reads:  "Erected September, 1914 to commemorate the establishment of Fort Edwards built by Major Zachary Taylor 3rd U.S. Infantry September 1814.  Abandoned July 1824."

Evidently, for the fourth panel, they got a lot of this confused with Fort Johnson.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Edwards-- Part 3: Built to Replace Fort Johnson

From the Warsaw, Illinois, Park District.

Even after the Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, problems with the Indians continued.

The 5th U.S. Infantry was sent to establish a fort in Illinois at the mouth of the Des Moines River.  They likely discovered the charred remains of Fort Johnson but found a more commanding view of the Mississippi River and Des Moines River.  They spent the winter and construction of the new fort in Cantonment Davis located on the ruins of Fort Johnson.

They cleared the bluff north of the old fort and built Fort Edwards, named after the territorial governor of Illinois, Ninian Edwards.  This fort was abandoned by the military in 1824 and was then used by the American Fur Company owned by John Jacob Astor.

--Brock-Perry

Benjamin Stephenson of Illinois-- Part 8: The American Attack on the Peoria Villages

On October 18, 1812, Gov. Edwards and 400 mounted troops marched out of Fort Russell and burned two Kickapoo villages on the Saline Fork of the Sangamon River, present-day Springfield, Illinois.

They then turned west and marched to Peoria where they attacked Kickapoo, Miami and Potawatomi villages.  They burned the villages down and destroyed all the provisions, making prospects for winter survival much less.  They also captured 80 horses, took four prisoners and killed between 24 and 30 Indians.

They returned to Fort Russell on November 1 and the militia was released.

--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

Benjamin Stephenson=-- Part 6: A Line of Blockhouses Across the Illinois Territory

From the Benjamin Stephenson House Site "The War of 1812 and Indian Threat."

In the early days of the Illinois Territory, Indians posed a definite threat to white settlement.  The fact that the British constantly meddled in Indian affairs trying to stir them up, made matters worse.

When Ninian Edwards, for whom Edwardsville is named, became territorial governor in 1809, he organized and strengthened the territory's militia.  Benjamin Stephenson was appointed brigade commander of the militia and later became adjutant.

One of the first things Stephenson did was to build a line of blockhouses across the state from east to west.  This line was anchored by Fort Russell, just north of Edwardsville.

--Brock-Perry

Benjamin Stephenson-- Part 3: Very Important in Early Illinois History

From Find-A-Grave.

July 8, 1769 to October 10, 1822

Buried at Lusk Cemetery in Edwardsville, Illinois.

U.S. Congressman.  Lived in Virginia and Kentucky before moving to Randolph County in Illinois Territory in 1809.  Later appointed Randolph County's first sheriff by Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards.  The two men became good friends for the rest of their lives.

Moved to Edwardsville in Madison County and operated a general store and other businesses.

--Brock-Perry

John McLean, Illinois Politician

From Wikipedia.

February 4, 1791 to October 14, 1830.

McLean County, Illinois, is named for him.

U.S. Representative and Senator from Illinois.  Born near Guilford Court House, North Carolina, (now Greensboro).  Moved with parents to Logan County, Kentucky and then to Illinois Territory in 1815.

Although definitely old enough to have fought in the War of 1812, I have been unable to find anything about service during that war.

He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Shawneetown.

When Illinois became a state, he was was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy stemming from the resignation on Ninian Edwards.  He failed for reelection and then was reelected and served as a senator from 1829 until his death the following year.

He is interred at Westwood Cemetery near Shawneetown, Illinois.

--Brock-Perry