page_title: British Band
section_title: Incursion
hierarchical_section_title: British Band / Black Hawk War / Incursion
caption_attribution_description: Battlefield at Horseshoe Bend (1832), painting by Samuel Mardsen Brookes (1816-1892): Pecatonica Battleground [1]
context_page_description: The British Band was a mixed-nation group of Native Americans commanded by the Sauk leader Black Hawk, which fought against Illinois and Michigan Territory militias during the 1832 Black Hawk War. The band was composed of about 1,500 men, women, and children from the Sauk, Meskwaki, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Ottawa nations; about 500 of that number were warriors. Black Hawk had an alliance with the British that dated from the War of 1812, giving them their colloquial name. The band crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa into Illinois in an attempt to reclaim their homeland and in violation of several treaties. Subsequently, both the Illinois and Michigan Territory militia were called up and the Black Hawk War ensued.
  The British Band was victorious at the Battle of Stillman's Run and the military engagements that followed were insignificant until the final two encounters: the Wisconsin Heights and the Bad Axe River. Band members who survived the war were either imprisoned or returned home. All the prisoners taken following the conflict were released by Winfield Scott at the end of August 1832, except Black Hawk who was taken east.
context_section_description: When Black Hawk's Band crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa in April 1832 to return to their homeland in the Rock River Valley, it was under a British flag. Potawatomi Chief Shabbona stated it was the same flag that had been given on a visit to the British in Malden, Ontario, Canada. Observers at the time, from George Davenport, to St. Vrain, were certain that Black Hawk's intentions were to wage war against the United States. Historians generally believe that a more decisive action by General Atkinson, charged with prosecuting the war, in stopping Black Hawk's Band from moving up the Rock River may have prevented the war. Zachary Taylor made similar observations shortly after the war ended.
  In response to Black Hawk and his band's movements, Governor Reynolds issued a proclamation on 16 April, mustering five brigades of volunteers to form at Beardstown and to head north to force Black Hawk out of Illinois. Although one-third of all federal troops from the United States Army were eventually involved in the conflict, the 9,000 soldiers from the Illinois Militia provided the majority of U.S. combatants.
  The first named confrontation of the Black Hawk War occurred on 14 May 1832 and resulted in an unexpected victory for Black Hawk's band of Sauk and Fox warriors over the disorganized militia under the command of Isaiah Stillman. Soon after the Battle of Stillman's Run, at present-day Stillman Valley, the exaggerated claim that 2,000 "bloodthirsty warriors ... sweeping all northern Illinois with the bosom of destruction" sent shock waves of terror through the region. After this initial skirmish, Black Hawk led many of the civilians in his band to the Michigan Territory. On 19 May, the militia traveled up the Rock River trailing and searching for Black Hawk and his band. Several small skirmishes and massacres ensued over the next month in northern Illinois and present-day southern Wisconsin before the militia was able to regain public confidence in battles at Horseshoe Bend and Waddams Grove.
caption: The British Band suffered a defeat at Horseshoe Bend, shown here in an 1857 painting.
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