Talk Tonight About Battle of Rock Island Rapids-- Part 2

Campbell's Island (near East Moline) was the site of the Battle of Rock Island Rapids, one of the western-most battles of the War of 1812.  (The Battle is also called the Battle of Campbell's Island.)

A band of approximately 500  Sauk warriors, allied with the British Army, clashed on July  19, 1814, with an American force let by Lieutenant John Campbell of the 1st United States Regiment of Infantry.

Campbell was leading three small gunboats along the Mississippi River to carry military supplies to Fort Shelby, located at the present-day site of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, when they were ambushed by Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo Indians led by  Chief Black Hawk.

There were some 400 Indians versus 33 U.S. Regulars and  65 Illinois Rangers.  This was an American loss.

Losses for the Indians put at more than two killed.  For the Americans 14 killed and 37 total casualties.

--Brock-Perry

Battle of the Sink Hole

From Wikipedia.

Fought May 24, 1815, after the end of the War of 1812 between Missouri Rangers and Indians led by Black Hawk.  The Sauk Indians were either unaware or didn't care that the British had signed the Treaty of Ghent.  Most likely didn't care.  Just because the British were out of the war didn't mean that their land was any safer from American encroachment.

It was fought near a low spot near the mouth of the Cuivre River near the present day Old Monroe near Fort Howard and Fort Cap au Gris.

It was an ambush on the Rangers and resulted in a siege in which seven Rangers, including their commander Captain Peter Craig, were killed.  One Sauk was killed.  There are conflicting accounts of the battle from both sides, however.

In 1816, Black Hawk reaffirmed the Treaty of St.Louis.

--Brock-Perry

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

Campbell's Island-- Part 2: An American Defeat

Three American gunboats were heading up the Mississippi River with military supplies for Fort Shelby at present day Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.  One of the boats had 42 people in it, including soldiers of the 1st U.S. Infantry regiment and their families.  The other two had 66 United States Rangers.

The Indians attacked and forced the Americans to turn back.  The Americans lost eight killed in the 1st U.S. Infantry and sixteen wounded.  Four Rangers were killed and eight wounded.

This defeat helped the Sauk Indians to maintain control over the Quad City area (Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island, Illinois) for almost twenty more years.

The Campbell's Island State Memorial was dedicated in 1908.

--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

Illinois War of 1812 Engagement at Campbell's Island-- Part 2

The battle of Campbell's Island took place between American forces and Indians led by Sauk warrior Black Hawk.  The American soldiers were in three boats which were headed upstream on the Mississippi River.

One boat was attacked by Black Hawk and his warriors.  Women and children of some of the American officers were also in the boat.

There is a current exhibit at the museum containing documents of the war.

The D.A.R. wants to restore a monument to the engagement on Campbell's Island.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Madison, Iowa-- Part 2: War of 1812

The Army set out to build a fort near the mouth of the Des Moines River and the first one built was originally called Fort Belleview, but was poorly located and attacked by Indians often.  Several times, they laid siege to it before the War of 1812.  After the war began, the Indians again laid siege to it in September 1812 when Black Hawk claimed that he had shot down the fort's flag.

As the war expanded, the British-allied Sauk Indians and other tribes determined to push the Americans out and reclaim the Upper Mississippi River for themselves.

Beginning in July 1813, they attacked the fort and again laid siege to it..  It went on for weeks before the Americans defending the fort decided they had to abandon it.  They succeeded in the dark by way of a trench to the river where they boarded boats and made good their escape.

--Brock-Perry