“Camp on Whitewater River, 9 July, 1832.
“Order No. 52.
“Brig.-Gen. Posey will march his brigade of Illinois volunteers to Fort Hamilton in the mineral district, and remain there till further orders. Brig.-Gen. Posey will furnish from his command such escorts as may be required for the safety of supplies destined for the Army of the Frontier.
“A.S. Johnston, A.D.C., A.A.A. General.”
The miserable condition and character of the country, which did not permit of carrying more than twelve days’ provisions at a time; the usual wastefulness of the volunteers; the ever-vanishing enemy, and the general feeling of melancholy at having so far accomplished nothing, made this disposition of the troops necessary. In addition, the regiment of Col. John Ewing was detached to escort to Dixon’s Captain Dunn, whose recovery was now considered a possibility. Captain Early’s entire company was mustered out at this point, and all others who were horseless, or physically incapacitated from making the weary marches required to reach Black Hawk’s camp, were also ordered to report at Dixon’s Ferry. These troops, a comfortable brigade of themselves, left on the 10th to return to Dixon’s by the same route pursued in ascending Rock River, and consumed practically the same time in making the march. The loss of those men reduced the volunteer force nearly one-half,[[206]] and the departure of the other brigades, under orders, left the regulars, about 400, alone.
As the movements thereafter of the regulars were few and simple, it is considered best to briefly state them before continuing with Henry, Alexander and Dodge and the more important features of the campaign which followed.
On the 11th, while at the mouth of the Whitewater, Captain Harney was dispatched up Rock River, in command of a small reconnoitering party, to ascertain and examine the position of the enemy, Scouts returning that evening brought information of the Indians’ further retirement up Rock River.
On the 12th Harney’s party, which had ascended the river thirty miles, returned, reporting the flight of Black Hawk into the recesses of the swamps of Rock River, fifty or sixty miles above, if not further. On the same day three soldiers and two Indians went down to Lake Koshkonong in a canoe to explore. They found a small Indian camp, which they robbed, but on returning were attacked by a party of Indians, and in turn robbed of their spoils of war and also their canoe.
On the 13th Capt. Samuel McRee, with a detachment of fifty men, started in pursuit of the Indians, but returned late in the evening, after a long march, reporting no discoveries.
During the day Colonel March arrived from the Blue Mounds, reporting thirty-six wagons loaded with provisions on the way for this point.