Illinois Territory in the War of 1812
During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between Native Americans and United States soldiers and settlers. The Illinois Territory at that time included the areas of modern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Michigan.
Background
Tensions in the Illinois Territory between U.S. settlers and Native Americans were on the rise in the years before the War of 1812.[1] At Peoria, Potawatomi chief Main Poc was a supporter of the resistance movement of Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa and his brother Tecumseh.[1] Raids against American settlers in Illinois increased after the Shawnee brothers' loss at the Battle of Tippecanoe in the Indiana Territory in 1811.[1]
War of 1812
There were few
In October 1812, the Americans launched an expedition against the Native villages in the Peoria area. Led by Governor Edwards and Colonel
In September 1813, the Americans built
5 million acres of land in the Illinois Territory, between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers below Rock Island, was set aside as the Military Tract of 1812 to pay soldiers in land grants for their service. This is over 1/8 of the area of the modern state and included Indian-occupied areas, some of whose displaced inhabitants would later join Blackhawk.
The state of Illinois has a list of 1,500 names of militiamen and officers from original muster rolls although the muster lists are known to be incomplete.[2]
Battles
See also
- Black Partridge
- Chief Comas
- Chief Gomo
- Senachwine
- Samuel Hopkins
- William McKay
Further reading
- Edmunds, R. David. The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. ISBN 0-8061-1478-9.
- Ferguson, Gillum. Illinois in the War of 1812. University of Illinois Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-252-03674-3.
- Gilpin, Alec R. The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest. East Lansing, Michigan: The Michigan State University Press, 1958. ISBN 0870136763.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87436-968-7), 251–52.
- ^ Illinois War of 1812 Veterans, Illinois State Archives