I couldn't help but believe that the Captain Thomas, who commanded a company of Illinois Territory Rangers might have been a bit too rough on the French settlers at what would one day be Peoria, Illinois.
Taking them prisoner and burning down their town as well as saying they were "damn lucky" not to have been scalped would not indicate a peace-maker in the situation.
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From the February 26, 2012, Peoria(Illinois) Journal Star "Central Illinois home to several encounters during the War of 1812" by Steve Tarter.
From a talk given by Gillum Ferguson, author of "Illinois in the War of 1812" gave a free program at Bradley University's Cullom Davis Library.
The War of 1812 pitted Illinois Territory militiamen against various Indian tribes in the frontier territory of the United States. One of the key areas of struggle in the territory revolved around the French village at what is now the site of downtown Peoria.
It was called La Ville de Maillet, New Village. The French here lived on friendly terms with the local Indians, even intermarrying with them. Indian villages surrounded them.
But, unfortunately for the French, American frontiersmen viewed the town as "the seditious village, a nursery of hostile Indians and traitorous British Indian traders."
It wasn't that the Indians were staunch allies of the British back then, but more focused on fending off the constant incursions from the Americans onto their land.
--Brock-Perry
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