“Sixteen hundred you said, didn’t you, Walt?” inquired Robert turning to their friend as he spoke.
“Not mounted, I think,” replied the trapper. “I guess the rest are coming up the river in boats and won’t be here for some time.”
“Well, with this crowd we ought to be able to subdue Black Hawk all right,” exclaimed Joseph eagerly. “Do you suppose we’ll have to wait for the rest of the troops?”
“I hope not,” said Walt. “Here it is the twelfth of May already and we should have had the whole thing over with by this time, in my opinion.”
As the three volunteers stood talking the horsemen rode into camp. General Whiteside was in command and it was soon learned that, as Walt had said, the remainder of the force was coming up the river under the lead of General Atkinson. General Whiteside had previously been in command of frontier rangers and had earned the reputation of being a splendid Indian fighter.
“Any regulars with you?” inquired Walt of one of the men who had just arrived.
“No,” replied the men, “we’re all volunteers. General Atkinson is following with them. He has about four hundred regular infantry and some three hundred volunteer footmen. He is coming up the river by boat with cannon, provision and most of the baggage.”
“When did they start?” asked Robert.
“Three days ago; the same time we did.”
“From Fort Armstrong?” Robert inquired.