Illinois Territory in the War of 1812

Involvement of the Illinois Territory in the War of 1812

Operations on the Upper Mississippi River during the War of 1812. 1: Fort Bellefontaine U.S. headquarters; 2: Fort Osage, abandoned 1813; 3: Fort Madison, defeated 1813; 4: Fort Shelby, defeated 1814; 5: Battle of Rock Island Rapids, July 1814 and the Battle of Credit Island, Sept. 1814; 6: Fort Johnson, abandoned 1814; 7: Fort Cap au Gris and the Battle of the Sink Hole, May 1815.

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

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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

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There were few U.S. Army soldiers this far west on the frontier. Ninian Edwards, the territorial governor, directed state militia operations. The low point for the Americans came in August 1812, when a large Indian force, primarily Potawatomis, attacked soldiers and civilians as they evacuated Fort Dearborn in Chicago.[1]

In October 1812, the Americans launched an expedition against the Native villages in the Peoria area. Led by Governor Edwards and Colonel William Russell, they attacked and destroyed Potawatomi and Kickapoo villages, prompting the Natives to abandon the area.[1] Raids continued, however.

In September 1813, the Americans built Fort Clark in Peoria.[1] In June 1814, William Clark built Fort Shelby at Prairie du Chien.[1] The British captured the fort in July and renamed it Fort McKay. Two American attempts to send more troops to Prairie du Chien were turned back by Indian attacks at Rock Island Rapids and Credit Island, the final actions of the War of 1812 in the region.[1] Hostilities between the U.S. and area Native Americans would resume in the Winnebago War of 1827 and the Black Hawk War of 1832.[1]

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

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* Battle of Fort Dearborn
* Battle of Africa Point
* Battle of Rock Island Rapids

## See also

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* Black Partridge
* Chief Comas
* Chief Gomo
* Senachwine
* Samuel Hopkins
* William McKay

## Further reading

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* 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

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Robert J Holden, "Illinois Territory", in David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds, Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 1997; ISBN 978-0-87436-968-7), 251–52.
2. ^ Illinois War of 1812 Veterans, Illinois State Archives

## External links

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* Illinois Territory in the War of 1812 at FamilySearch

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Wars involving the Illinois Country, Illinois Territory, and State of Illinois

* Beaver Wars
* Fox Wars
* Pontiac's War
* Illinois Campaign
* War of 1812
* Winnebago War
* Black Hawk War
* Illinois Mormon War
* Illinois in the American Civil War
* Illinois Coal Wars

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War of 1812

Timeline

Origins|

* Chesapeake–Leopard affair
* Orders in Council (1807)
* Embargo Act of 1807
* Non-Intercourse Act (1809)
* Macon's Bill Number 2
* Tecumseh's War
* Henry letters
* War hawks
* Rule of 1756
* Monroe–Pinkney Treaty
* Little Belt affair
* Assassination of Spencer Perceval
* Declaration of war

Theaters and
campaigns|

* Northwestern
* Chesapeake
* Gulf

Major battles|

* Queenston Heights
* Spur's Defeat
* Frenchtown
* Beaver Dams
* Thames
* Chateauguay
* Crysler's Farm
* Chippawa
* Lundy's Lane
* Bladensburg
* McHenry
* New Orleans

Involvement|

* Illinois Territory
* Indiana Territory
* Kentucky
* North Carolina
* Ohio

Leaders|

* Isaac Brock
* William Henry Harrison
* Andrew Jackson
* James Madison
* Edward Pakenham
* Robert Ross
* Lord Liverpool
* Winfield Scott
* Tecumseh

Completion|

* Treaty of Ghent

Aftermath|

* The Eighth
* General Society of the War of 1812
* Military Society of the War of 1812
* United States Daughters of 1812
* War of 1812 Bicentennial

Legacy|

* "The Star-Spangled Banner"
* Brock's Monument (1836)
* Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson (1852)
* Fountain of Time (1920 sculpture)
* Laura Secord Legacy Trail
* Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
* Peace Bridge
* Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
* "The Battle of New Orleans" (song)

Related|

* Bibliography
* Creek War
* Napoleonic Wars
* "The Bold Canadian"
* "The Hunters of Kentucky"
* Opposition in Britain
* Opposition in the United States

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