The War Department at Washington shows that Lieut. Jefferson Davis applied for a leave of absence and left Fort Crawford to go upon the same on the 26th day of March, 1832, and that he formally rejoined his command from leave August 18th, 1832, sixteen days after the battle of the Bad Axe, the last engagement of the campaign, which would inferentially indicate that he was absent from duty all the time between those dates and inferentially not in the campaign.
In a letter written by Mr. Davis on the 8th day of August, 1882, from Beauvoir, Mississippi, to Gen. George W. Jones of Dubuque, Iowa, he stated: “In the spring of 1832 I was relieved by Lieut. I.R.B. Gardenier, as private matters required me to go to Mississippi, my home. * * *”
So far there is no conflict. But while his official letter acknowledging his return to his regiment is not dated till August 18th, he was present in flesh and blood from start to finish, delaying that perfunctory duty until he was once more back to quarters and relieved of the fatigues and manifold annoyances of a campaign through swamps and bogs and innumerable privations. And while touching upon the general subject of war records, I beg to state that I attended the funeral of an officer killed at the battle of Shiloh–literally shot to pieces–yet there stands to this day against his name in the Adjutant-General’s reports this “record:” “Absent on furlough.” The officer had no opportunity to take the furlough, and it took the affidavits of half the town to make the department believe he was not actually alive. The facts in the case are exactly stated by Col. William Preston Johnston, late President of Tulane University, in his very interesting “Life of General A.S. Johnston,” at page 36: “Jefferson Davis, who was with General Gaines in his operations in 1831, was absent on furlough in Mississippi when the Black Hawk war broke out, but gave up his furlough, and, joining his company, served in the campaign.” This was told him by Mr. Davis himself when Colonel Johnston was writing the book, as well as many other little incidents, including one of Stillman’s defeat, and should be regarded as conclusive for all time. But as various writers, with more regard for revenue than right, have sought to discredit the truth because a negative inference from the record gave them the opportunity of avoiding a little labor, I have collected from various sources a complete detail of Mr. Davis’ movements during the campaign.
On the 17th day of May, when General Atkinson arrived at Dixon’s Ferry, the militia were discontented, disconcerted and on the verge of insubordination. Governor Reynolds had on the morning of the 15th issued a call for two thousand more troops to rendezvous at Hennepin, and only by the most frantic appeals had he been able to hold the others together until Atkinson arrived.
It is true the provisions had been exhausted and the volunteers were living on less than half rations, but it is equally true that this was due entirely to their own improvidence and wastefulness.
The troops under Stillman, after their defeat on the 14th, had consented to remain in the service to protect the frontier until a new levy could be raised. Accordingly, so soon as they returned from the burial of their dead, on the 16th, the Fifth Regiment was organized, and on the following day, when the troops under the commanding general arrived, the regiment was sworn into the United States service.
On the 15th Strode, who was colonel and commander of the militia of Jo Daviess County, had been instructed to hasten back to the mines and organize his forces to protect that very important frontier, which all recognized as the one to suffer from the attacks of the Indians at almost any hour. He quickly returned, but, being utterly unable to manage the intractable spirits of that locality, he had declared martial law. This act inflamed the people to a high degree of passion and rumors of its effects had reached the ears of Governor Reynolds.
General Atkinson was consulted at once on his arrival, and Lieut. Jefferson Davis and two or three other officers were detailed to go post haste to Galena and, if possible, bring order out of the chaos which Strode had precipitated.
The departure of Lieutenant Davis on the 17th and his mission to Galena have been related to me by Mr. Dixon on more than one occasion. Fortunately, others remembered the circumstance and reduced it to writing, making a mistake impossible on that point. Among the many documents which have come to my attention in connection with this search is an old yellow letter in the possession of Gen. John C. Smith of Chicago, written to him years ago by H. Hezekiah Gear, who was a captain and served throughout the Black Hawk campaign. Captain Gear was a man of character and influence in the community and his memory or veracity has never yet been called into question. This letter details this very visit in a concise yet luminous fashion:
“I had a partial acquaintance with Lieut. Jefferson Davis. I had a partial acquaintance with him when this whole domain was under savage rule, except ten miles square about Galena and western garrisons. He was, I think, at the Winnebago disturbance in 1827. He was at Fort Winnebago on the Wisconsin River, and in 1832 stationed at Prairie du Chien, in the then Colonel Taylor’s regiment.