page_title: Battle of Waddams Grove
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Waddams Grove / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: Captain James W. Stephenson, commander of the detachment that engaged a band of Sauk warriors at the Battle of Waddams Grove during the 1832 Black Hawk War, fought in Illinois, and Wisconsin, United States.
context_page_description: The Battle of Waddams Grove, also known as the Battle of Yellow Creek was part of the Black Hawk War. It took place in present-day Stephenson County, Illinois on June 18, 1832. After several incidents of Sauk Indian raids on settlers along the Apple River, Captain James W. Stephenson left Galena with a group of volunteer militia in pursuit of the Native party. The group clashed on June 18, 1832 near Yellow Creek and the ensuing battle descended into a bayonet and knife fight in which several Sauk and three militia men were killed. Stephenson was severely wounded by a musketball to the chest during the fighting. The dead were eventually interred in a memorial cemetery in Kellogg's Grove, Illinois where a stone monument was erected in memory of those killed during the war.
context_section_description: Although it allowed the militia men to draw Native American blood in revenge, the result of the battle was inconclusive with respect to its original purpose of stopping the Native American raids in the area. The men of the militia returned triumphantly to Galena, Illinois bearing the scalps of two Sauk warriors they had slain. The battle helped raise public opinion towards the militia. After the disastrous defeat at Stillman's Run in May, the battle at Yellow Creek coupled with the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, helped to demonstrate that the militia could stand up to and defeat Black Hawk's warriors.
  The militiamen killed in the Battle of Waddams Grove were eventually interred in a memorial cemetery in Kellogg's Grove. The graves are located beneath a large stone monument dedicated to those militia men killed during the Black Hawk War. The battlefield itself is believed to be located along the Yellow Creek northwest of William Waddams' original land claims north of the present day unincorporated town of Waddams Grove, Illinois.
caption: Captain James W. Stephenson's detachment caught up with the Sauk raiders on June 18, 1832. Stephenson was severely wounded in the encounter.
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