Involvement of the Illinois Territory in the War of 1812
During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between Native Americans and United States soldiers and settlers. The Illinois Territory at that time included the areas of modern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Michigan.
There were few U.S. Army soldiers this far west on the frontier. Ninian Edwards, the territorial governor, directed state militia operations. The low point for the Americans came in August 1812, when a large Indian force, primarily Potawatomis, attacked soldiers and civilians as they evacuated Fort Dearborn in Chicago.[1]
In October 1812, the Americans launched an expedition against the Native villages in the Peoria area. Led by Governor Edwards and Colonel William Russell, they attacked and destroyed Potawatomi and Kickapoo villages, prompting the Natives to abandon the area.[1] Raids continued, however.
5 million acres of land in the Illinois Territory, between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers below Rock Island, was set aside as the Military Tract of 1812 to pay soldiers in land grants for their service. This is over 1/8 of the area of the modern state and included Indian-occupied areas, some of whose displaced inhabitants would later join Blackhawk.
The state of Illinois has a list of 1,500 names of militiamen and officers from original muster rolls although the muster lists are known to be incomplete.[2]
Edmunds, R. David. The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. ISBN0-8061-1478-9.
Ferguson, Gillum. Illinois in the War of 1812. University of Illinois Press, 2012. ISBN978-0-252-03674-3.
Gilpin, Alec R. The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest. East Lansing, Michigan: The Michigan State University Press, 1958. ISBN0870136763.
References
^ abcdefghiRobert J Holden, "Illinois Territory", in David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds, Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 1997; ISBN978-0-87436-968-7), 251–52.