Fort Madison, Iowa

Yesterday, in the War of 1812 Timeline, I wrote about the first siege of Fort Madison beginning September 5th.  I'd never heard of a Fort Madison, so, Wikipedia here I come.

Fort Madison is a town of  11,000 in the southeast corner of Iowa.  It got its name from the firstUS military fort in the Upper Mississippi region, built in 1808.  It was the site of Black Hawk's first battle with the United States.  A replica of the fort sits near the original site.  It is also the site of the only real War of 1812 battle fought west of the Mississippi River.

Fort Madison was one of three posts built to establish control over land gotten from the Louisiana Purchase.  The other two were Fort Belle Fontaine near St. Louis and Fort Osage near Kansas City.

Fort Madison was poorly sited, with bluffs located near it.  It was attacked by Indians in March 1812 and in September of that year had an intense siege.  The fort was nearly captured with significant damage done to it.  It only escaped capture when a fortified Indian position was destroyed by cannon fire.

Black Hawk was there and said he personally shot down the fort's flag.

That Black Hawk!!