Black Hawk War

INDIANA IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR

COMPANY ROSTERS

BY GEORGE FRAKES

Black Sparrow Hawk was born in 1767 near present day Rock River, Illinois as a Saukenauck or Sauk Indian. About 1830 The U. S. Government forced his tribe westward into Illinois. In April of 1832 he decided to move his tribe back into northern Illinois. He apparently then learned that a militia force had formed to prevent this and with this knowledge he then decided to surrender but the militia attached his peace party. The name "Black Hawk" struck fear in the minds and souls of the early settlements along the Indiana-Illinois and Indiana-Michigan borders. He led a force of about 1000 warriors, of both the Sauk and the Fox Indians. The stage for the War or Massacre of Black Hawk and his tribe had begun. The War lasted between May of 1832 and August 2, 1833.

The state of Indiana was not actually involved in any of the events leading up to this declaration of War by Illinois against Black Hawk but they were acutely aware of Black Hawk and the events occurring in Illinois. The Governor of Indiana prepared the state for the advent of possible attack from Black Hawk and other Indian tribes. He met each rumor or exaggerated reaction by calling out the militia from various counties. Two Indiana Companies of U. S. Rangers, authorized by Congress, quickly augmented the Militia force. I will state that my intention here is to provide as complete as possible a listing of soldiers that served in this War. This is not so much a history but a compilation of rosters and Indiana involved events. Any miss-statements or inaccuracy is unintentional.

In my attempt to find any soldiers with my surname that may have served in the Black Hawk War I found that there wasn’t any one collection of information that included Bounty Land Warrants. I have relied upon four separate sources to develop this listing of men who volunteered and then confirmed, for the most part, their participation. Through the Bureau of Land Records military land warrants. Indiana's involvement can be summarized in four separate, but often over lapping events leading to the activation of its Militia.

Names were often spelled how they sounded or left to the interpolation of the person recording their names. I used the names from the Indiana Source book III and searched the military bounty land records. Other sources provide name and rank, some name rank and military unit, some name and rank only still others provide only a name.

This information is primarily extracted from the Bureau of Land Records, http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. This source provided the soldier's name, rank, his captain's last name, the warrant number, the issue date, the office of issue and the conflict involved. The Regiment number is from the "Indiana Source Book, Volume Three".

Some Indiana men also enlisted in Illinois and Michigan companies they are not included here. Some records reflect a different Captain than found in the land records. I have placed those men based upon the military warrant land record information. Some men were from adjoining states and joined an Indiana unit. I included them because of their military service in an Indiana Unit.

The Bureau of Records provides a large variety of information related to land records. For a veteran or his heirs they had to first apply for a bounty land warrant, based upon service performed between 1775 and March 3, 1855, if the warrant was granted, it could be used to apply for a land patent. The land patent gave ownership of the free land. Bounty land warrants could also be transferred or sold to other individuals. Even though a soldier applied for and received a military land warrant does not mean that he ever visited or moved to the land. For more information go to: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. (BLM)

This is a roster of soldiers, their rank, their commanding officer’s name, their military unit, the military warrant number, the date of the military warrant, the County and state of the warrant, the total acreage of the warrant.

TO VIEW THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT, PLEASE SEE BELOW.

Thank you to George Frakes for donating this material for the INGenWeb Project!