While the men were helplessly floundering in the mud to extricate their boat, which had run aground, Black Hawk was pouring a murderous fire into their exposed ranks, and that, too, after promising the day previous to be friendly. To reduce the hapless wretches still more, fire was thrown by arrows into the sails, and the boat, likely to be consumed, was abandoned; then the Indians plunged into the water and drew it ashore. At this stage Black Hawk virtuously knocked in the heads of all the kegs of whisky which he found in the hold, yet when he retired down the river to the Fox village, opposite the mouth of Rock River, he hoisted the British flag and when, immediately after, the British came along with a keg of rum, Black Hawk and his band had a great feast and dance,[[31]] ending the scene in a protracted and hilarious spree. A refinement of the ethics of liquor-drinking quite abstruse–this difference between whisky and rum!
Those British brought the Indians a gun which was used on the defenseless Americans under Zachary Taylor a little later as Black Hawk stated: “We were pleased to see that almost every shot took effect.”
CHAPTER VIII.
Major Taylor’s Battle–Battle of the Sink Hole–Various Murders–British Agents Withdrawn from Rock River Country.
Disturbances by the Sacs now followed so frequently that Major Zachary Taylor, with a detachment of troops, was sent against that one disturbing and bandit element of Indian population located near the mouth of Rock River, Black Hawk’s village.
Black Hawk attacked and repulsed Major Taylor in a manner which made the pulse of every settler throb with fear for the safety of his family. He had, without the least provocation, been constantly and successfully engaged in warfare the most stubborn and unrelenting, and backed by his British friends, the safety of the country, after Taylor’s defeat, hung in the balance. Major Taylor’s report, a temperate and dignified document, is as follows:
“Sir:–In obedience to your orders, I left Fort Independence on the 2d ult. and reached Rock River, our place of destination, on the evening of the 4th inst., without meeting a single Indian or any occurrence worthy of relation.
“On my arrival at the mouth of Rock River, the Indians began to make their appearance in considerable numbers; running up the Mississippi to the upper village and crossing the river below us. After passing Rock River, which is very small at the mouth, from an attentive and careful examination, as I proceeded up the Mississippi, I was confident it was impossible for us to enter its mouth with our large boats. Immediately opposite its mouth a large island commences, which, together with the western shore of the Mississippi, was covered with a considerable number of horses, which were doubtless placed in those situations in order to draw small detachments on shore; but in this they were disappointed, and I determined to alter the plan which you had suggested, which was to pass the different villages as if the object of the expedition was Prairie du Chien, for several reasons. First, that I might have an opportunity of viewing the situation of the ground to enable me to select such a landing as would bring our artillery to bear on the villages with the greatest advantage. I was likewise in hopes a party would approach us with a flag, from which I expected to learn the situation of affairs at the Prairie, and ascertain in some measure their numbers and perhaps bring them to a council, when I should have been able to have retaliated on them for their repeated acts of treachery; or, if they were determined to attack us, I was in hopes to draw them some distance from their towns towards the rapids, run down in the night and destroy them before they could return to their defense. But in this I was disappointed. The wind, which had been in our favor, began to shift about at the time we passed the mouth of Rock River, and by the time we reached the head of the island, which is about a mile and a half long, it blew a perfect hurricane, quarterly down the river, and it was with great difficulty we made land at a small island, containing six or eight acres, covered with willows, near the middle of the river, and about sixty yards from the upper end of the island. In this situation I determined to remain during the night if the storm continued, as I knew the anchors of several of the boats in that event would not hold them, and there was a great probability of their being drifted on sandbars, of which the river is full in this place, which would have exposed the men very much in getting them off, even if they could have prevented their filling with water.
“It was about 4 o’clock in the evening when we were compelled to land, and large parties of Indians were on each side of the river, as well as crossing in different directions in canoes; but not a gun was fired from either side. The wind continued to blow the whole night with violence, accompanied with some rain, which induced me to order the sentinels to be brought in and placed in the bow of each boat. About daylight, Capt. Whiteside’s boat was fired on at the distance of about fifteen paces, and a corporal, who was on the outside of the boat, was mortally wounded. My orders were, if a boat was fired on, to return it; but not a man to leave the boat without positive orders from myself. So soon as it got perfectly light, as the enemy continued about the boat, I determined to drive them from the island, let their numbers be what they might, provided we were able to do so. I then assigned each boat a proper guard, formed the troops for action and pushed through the willows to the opposite shore; but those fellows who had the boldness to fire on the boats cleared themselves as soon as the troops were formed by wading from the island we were encamped on to the one just below us. Capt. Whiteside, who was on the left, was able to give them a warm fire as they reached the island they had retreated to. They returned the fire for a few moments, when they retreated. In this affair we had two men badly wounded. When Capt. Whiteside commenced the fire, I ordered Capt. Rector to drop down with his boat to ground and to rake the island below with artillery, and to fire on every canoe he should discover passing from one shore to the other which should come within reach. In this situation he remained about one hour, and no Indians making their appearance, he determined to drop down the island about sixty yards and destroy several canoes that were laying to shore. This he effected, and just on setting his men on board, the British commenced a fire on our boats with a six, a four and two swivels, from behind a knoll that completely covered them. The boats were entirely exposed to the artillery, which was distant three hundred and fifty paces from us. So soon as the first gun fired, I ordered a six-pounder to be brought out and placed, but, on recollecting a moment, I found the boat would be sunk before any impression could be made on them by our cannon, as they were completely under cover; and had already brought their guns to bear on our boats, for the round shot from their six passed through Lieut. Hempstead’s boat and shattered her considerably. I then ordered the boats to drop down, which was done in order, and conducted with the greatest coolness by every officer, although exposed to a constant fire from their artillery for more than half a mile.