GEN. A.C. DODGE.
It was during that period of over one month at Dixon’s Ferry that Mr. Dixon became so well acquainted with Lieutenant Davis and his companions that error was impossible. He with others were guests at Mr. Dixon’s house. They traded with him, buying his merchandise and paying for it or “having it charged.” They hunted the wild duck, the grouse, the squirrel, the deer and the wild bee trees, and they fished and trapped and enjoyed life with a zest allowed no man of the present day of dirty pavements, crowded streets and dusty roads.
For weeks they were present, conversing, dining, playing, romping the prairies like so many schoolboys just dismissed from the termination of a long and arduous term of school. And thus were the images of those army officers impressed upon the memory of John Dixon, who, by the by, continued with them clear through the campaign, as army guide and contractor, till the battle of the Bad Axe ended the campaign.
After wearisome efforts around the Koshkonong country to dislodge the enemy, Henry and Dodge found his trail leading to the west, in a final effort to escape destruction, which was so surely coming upon him.
Taylor’s division, including Lieutenant Davis, who was Taylor’s adjutant, marched immediately for the Wisconsin River and the Blue Mounds, and thence on to the Bax Axe. After this engagement, the troops marched to Fort Crawford, their headquarters, and there, freed from the dangers and fatigue of the campaign, Lieutenant Davis formally wrote out a letter notifying the department of his return to duty. From that point the Illinois troops were marched back to Dixon’s Ferry and mustered out by Capt. Zalmon C. Palmer.
During this period of five weeks, while Taylor remained at Dixon’s Ferry, he was constantly on the alert, intercepting marauding bands of Indians, assisting the volunteers who had temporarily offered their services while the new levy was forming at Hennepin and Fort Wilbourn, and generally protecting the frontiers, and in this connection it may be said that the bloodiest and most destructive skirmishes were made between the Ferry and Galena during this period.
It may also be recorded that while the little account book was at all times open to the service of the officers there stationed, Mr. Dixon always laughingly spoke of the fact that, while he often sold them bills of goods, yet Lieutenant Davis and Lieutenant Anderson were always cash customers. In the fullness of time, Mr. Dixon, who had never taken thought for the morrow, particularly when his fellow man was in need or distress, came to an age when he felt constrained to marshal all of his resources and call in his few overlooked accounts. Among them was a large one against the United States Government, which of right should have been paid years before, but being in no immediate need, it had slipped along without attention. He finally applied for a land warrant for a quarter section of land to recompense him in a measure for the many and valuable services he had rendered his country during the Black Hawk War. A bill was introduced in Congress, passed by the Lower House, and in the Senate was referred to the usual committee for consideration. This committee reported adversely on the bill, and when it was reported to the Senate for final action, Senator Trumbull, who well knew the merit of the case and greatly desired the passage of the measure, dispatched a message at once to Dixon to inquire if Mr. Dixon did not know of some friend in the Senate, as he did in the House, who would assist in its passage. On a moment’s thought he replied to a friend, “Why, yes, there is Lieutenant Davis,” whereupon the attention of Senator Jefferson Davis was called to the bill, and here is the record of what transpired:
From the Congressional Globe, First Session. 36th Congress.–June 8th, 1860, page 2751: