British Band The British Band was a group of Native Americans which fought against Illinois and Michigan Territory militia units 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 . The alliance of Black Hawk with the British dated back to the War of 1812 , giving them their colloquial name . The band crossed the Mississippi River 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 . Following a surprising British Band victory at the Battle of Stillman ' s Run , several small massacres and skirmishes followed . Most of the engagements were militarily insignificant until the final two encounters at Wisconsin Heights and the Bad Axe River . Members of the Band who were not killed in the war were either captured or returned home . Those taken prisoner during the decisive battle and the weeks afterward were released at the end of August 1832 by Winfield Scott . Black Hawk was himself taken east , where in 1833 he dictated his autobiography , the first Native American autobiography published in the United States . Background . Sauk warrior Black Hawk , the leader of a band of Sauks near Rock Island at Saukenuk , had always been opposed to ceding Native American lands to white settlers and their governments . Black Hawk , in particular , denied the validity of an important 1804 treaty between the Sauk and Fox nations and then Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison . The treaty ceded territory , including Saukenuk , to the United States . This treaty was subsequently disputed by Black Hawk and other members of the tribes , since the full tribal councils had not been consulted , nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands . When the War of 1812 began between the United Kingdom and the United States , Colonel Robert Dickson , an English fur trader , amassed a sizable force of Native Americans at Green Bay to assist the British in operations around the Great Lakes . Most of the warriors Dickson assembled were from the Potawatomi , Ho - Chunk , Kickapoo and Ottawa tribes . Dickson then summoned Black Hawk ' s Band of about 200 Sauk warriors . Black Hawk was given command of all Native Americans gathered at Green Bay . He was presented with a silk flag , a medal , and a written certificate of good behavior and alliance with the British . In addition , Dickson bestowed the rank of brevet Brigadier General on Black Hawk . The certificate would be found 20 years later , after the Battle of Bad Axe , carefully preserved along with a flag similar to the one Dickson gave to Black Hawk . During the 1812 war , Black Hawk and his warriors fought in several engagements with Henry Procter on the borders of Lake Erie . He returned home to Saukenuk to find his rival Keokuk had become the tribe ' s war chief . After the war ended , Black Hawk signed a peace treaty in May 1816 that re - affirmed the treaty of 1804 , a provision Black Hawk later protested ignorance of . Prelude to war . Despite opposition by Keokuk and the US authorities , Black Hawk ' s band returned to Saukenuk in 1830 following their winter hunt . A year later they returned again , and Illinois Governor John Reynolds proclaimed it an " invasion of the state . " Responding to Illinois Governor John Reynolds ' call , General Edmund Pendleton Gaines brought his federal troops from St . Louis , Missouri to Saukenuk to insist on Black Hawk ' s immediate departure . Black Hawk left but soon returned to the west side of the Mississippi , threatened by Gaines ' troops and an additional 1 , 400 militia called up by Reynolds on 25 June 1831 . On 30 June , Black Hawk and the chiefs of the British Band were forced to sign a surrender agreement in which they promised to remain west of the Mississippi . At the end of 1831 , stories spread throughout the settlements of the Upper Mississippi River Valley that the British planned to aid Black Hawk in the event of a war with the white settlers . According to U . S . Indian Agent Felix St . Vrain , a known ne ' er - do - well named Billy Caldwell had delivered a message to the Sauk which reported the alleged British intentions . The " New Galenian " of Galena reported that Black Hawk ' s band would receive aid and ammunition from the British , and the tale was widely believed . The militia commander at Fort Armstrong , Major John Bliss , informed General Henry Atkinson of the rumor , and said a follower of Keokuk had reported to him that Black Hawk and Neapope were holding talks with bands of Potawatomi , Kickapoo , and Ho - Chunk . The talks mentioned the promises of the British , as well as word that the French Canadians intended to assist them . These events , combined with Black Hawk ' s 1812 alliance with the British , and occasional visits to Canada , attributed to his 1832 band becoming known by the moniker British Band . The term British Band was used frequently by American , Sauk , and Fox observers alike and served to distinguish Black Hawk ' s group from the rest of the tribes . Black Hawk War . Forces . The British Band had three key leaders , Black Hawk , the Ho - Chunk prophet Wabokieshiek ( White Cloud ) , and Neapope . There were seven civil chiefs besides Neapope and Wabokieshiek , and five war captains including Black Hawk . The other civil chiefs in the band were : Pamisseau , Weesheet , Chakeepashipabo , Checokalako , Ioway , Pamaho , and Towaunonne ; the four other war captains were : Menacou , Makatauaupuat , Pashetowat , and Kinnekonnesaut . The band was composed of about 500 warriors and 1 , 000 old men , women and children when they crossed the Mississippi on 5 April . The group included members of the Sauk , Fox and Kickapoo Nations . They crossed the river near the mouth of the Iowa River and then followed the Rock River northeast . Along the way they passed the ruins of Saukenuk and headed for the village of Ho - Chunk prophet White Cloud . As the war progressed factions of other tribes would join , or attempt to join Black Hawk , and others would carry out acts of violence for their own personal reasons amidst the chaos of the war . In one example a band of hostile Ho - Chunk intent on joining Black Hawk ' s Band attacked and killed the party of Felix St . Vrain after the outbreak of war in an event that became known as the St . Vrain massacre . This act , was , however , an exception as most Ho - Chunk sided with the United States during the Black Hawk War . The warriors that attacked St . Vrain ' s party acted with no authority or oversight from the Ho - Chunk nation . Sympathetic Potawatomi warriors also joined with Black Hawk ' s Band in the months between April and August . Incursion . 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 brigade s 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 . Battles . Black Hawk himself led warriors in several battles , including Stillman ' s Run , the Battle of Apple River Fort on 24 June , the Second Battle of Kellogg ' s Grove on 25 June , and the final two battles at Wisconsin Heights and Bad Axe . Besides the major victory at Stillman ' s Run Black Hawk ' s Band was involved in several other battles and skirmishes during the Black Hawk War . Several of the small skirmishes and massacres that occurred following Stillman ' s Run were attributed to bands of Native Americans unaffiliated with Black Hawk ' s Band , though many were likely sympathetic or intent on joining him . The events at Spafford Farm were attributed to a band of Kickapoo loosely affiliated with the British Band . After the massacre , General Henry Atkinson was informed that Henry Dodge was to take over General Alexander Posey ' s brigade at Fort Hamilton . While Dodge was on his way to visit the brigade , he heard a rifle shot from a group of Native Americans . Dodge quickly returned to his command post and gathered as many men as he could to pursue the enemy . With Dodge in quick pursuit , a group of approximately 11 Native warriors criss - crossed the Pecatonica River until , finding flight hopeless , they prepared to make a stand at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend . The battle at Horseshoe Bend and a small , largely insignificant militarily , battle at Waddams Grove , helped restore public confidence in the Illinois Militia after the victory by the British Band at Stillman ' s Run . The British Band attacked the Apple River Fort , where a pitched battle was fought resulting in Black Hawk withdrawing his forces . Subsequent fighting at Kellogg ' s Grove has been called victory for both sides and the skirmishes resulted in 8 dead militia men and at least 15 dead British Band warriors . Defeat . On 21 July 1832 , Illinois and Wisconsin militia men under the command of Generals Henry Dodge and James D . Henry caught up with Black Hawk ' s British Band near present - day Sauk City , Wisconsin . The clash became known as the Battle of Wisconsin Heights . Militarily , the battle was devastating for Black Hawk ' s band of warriors ; including those who drowned during the melee , casualty estimates climbed as high as 70 . Despite the relatively high casualties the battle did allow much of the Band , including many women and children , to escape across the Wisconsin River . The militia regrouped at Fort Blue Mounds and picked up Black Hawk ' s trail again on 28 July near Spring Green , Wisconsin . When they finally caught up with the British Band , it would lead to the decisive clash of the war at Bad Axe . At the mouth of the Bad Axe River , hundreds of men , women and children would be killed by pursuing soldiers , their Indian allies , and a U . S . gunboat . Aftermath . The members of the British Band , and the Fox , Kickapoo , Sauk and Ho - Chunk and Potawatomi that later joined them , suffered unknown numbers of dead during the war . While some died fighting , others were tracked down and killed by Sioux , Menominee , Ho - Chunk , and other native tribes . Still others died of starvation or drowned during the Band ' s long trek up the Rock River toward the mouth of the Bad Axe . The entire British Band was not wiped out at Bad Axe ; some survivors drifted back home to their villages . This was relatively simple for the Potawatomi and Ho - Chunk of the band . Many Sauk and Fox found return to their homes more difficult , and while some returned safely others were held in custody by the army . Prisoners , some taken at the Battle of Bad Axe , and others taken by U . S . - aligned Native American tribes in the following weeks , were taken to Fort Armstrong . About 120 prisoners — men , women , and children , waited until the end of August to be released by General Winfield Scott . With most of the British Band dead and the rest captured or disbanded , the defeated Black Hawk was held in captivity at Jefferson Barracks with Neapope , White Cloud , and eight other leaders of the British Band . After 8 months , in April 1833 they were taken east , as ordered by then U . S . President Andrew Jackson . The men traveled by steamboat , carriage , and railroad , and met with large crowds wherever they went . Once in Washington , D . C . , they met with Jackson and Secretary of War Lewis Cass , though their final destination was prison at Fortress Monroe in Virginia . They stayed only a few weeks at the prison , during which they mostly posed for multiple portraits by different artists . On 5 June 1833 , the men were sent west by steamboat on a circuitous route that took them through many large cities . Again , the men were a spectacle everywhere they went , and met with huge crowds of people in cities such as New York , Baltimore and Philadelphia . Reaction in the west , however , was much different . For instance , in Detroit , a crowd burned and hanged effigies of the prisoners . Near the end of his captivity in 1833 , Black Hawk told his life story to a government interpreter , which was edited by a local reporter and became the first Native American autobiography published in the United States . The " Autobiography of Ma - Ka - Tai - Me - She - Kia - Kiak , or Black Hawk , Embracing the Traditions of his Nation , Various Wars in Which He Has Been Engaged , and His Account of the Cause and General History of the Black Hawk War of 1832 , His Surrender , and Travels Through the United States . Also Life , Death and Burial of the Old Chief , Together with a History of the Black Hawk War " was published in 1882 in Oquawka , Illinois , as interpreted by Antoine LeClair and edited by J . B . Patterson .