Battle of Bad Axe

Battle of Bad Axe Part of the Black Hawk War Date August 1-2, 1832 Location Near present Victory, Wisconsin Result Decisive United States victory Combatants Sauk Fox United States Commanders Black Hawk. Not present on second day. Gen. Henry Atkinson Col. Henry Dodge Strength 500 (including non-combatants) 750 Casualties more than 150 killed (including non-combatants) 75 captured 5 killed and 19 wounded

Black Hawk War of 1832 Minor battles – Stillman's Run – Buffalo Grove – Plum River – Indian Creek – St. Vrain – Fort Blue Mounds – Spafford Farm – Horseshoe Bend – Waddams Grove – Kellogg's Grove – Ament's Cabin – Apple River Fort – Sinsinawa Mound – Wisconsin Heights – Bad Axe

The Battle of Bad Axe, sometimes called the Bad Axe Massacre^[1] occurred August 1-2, 1832, between Sauk (Sac) and Fox Indians and United States Army regulars and militia, marked the end of the Black Hawk War, the last Indian campaign fought east of the Mississippi River.

Following the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, approximately 500 Sauk and Fox Indians, following an elderly Sauk warrior named Black Hawk, fled westward across what is now southwestern Wisconsin. The starving Indians included women and children. Reaching the Mississippi River, near the mouth of the Bad Axe River, near present day Victory, Wisconsin, the Indians stopped to build rafts, on which to cross the Mississippi River.

But on the afternoon of August 1, 1832, the steamboat Warrior appeared on the scene with U.S. troops. Waving a white flag, Black Hawk tried to surrender. The commanding officer, Capt. Joseph Throckmorton, seeking revenge for the killings at Indian Creek, ordered troops to open fire on the Indians with musketry and a six-pound cannon. The Indians returned fire. After two hours, the Warrior withdrew from battle, due to lack of fuel, and returned to Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Twenty-three Indians had been killed, including one "squaw" estimated to be 19 years old who was shot by a bullet that passed through her child's upper arm as she stood watching the battle. Her child was retrieved by a Lt. Anderson after the battle, and taken to the surgical tent where its arm was amputated. The child was then taken to Prairie du Chien where he is believed to have recovered.^[2]

Black Hawk advised his followers against building rafts to cross the river, because the U.S. forces were closing in. He urged them to flee northward, to seek refuge among the Winnebago. However, most of the band chose to try to cross the river. Black Hawk then left with a small number of followers.

Early the next morning, the Indians on the river bank were attacked by U.S. forces under Gen. Henry Atkinson, along with the steamboat Warrior, which had returned from Fort Crawford. While some of the Indians fought a delaying action, others tried to hide or to swim across the river. Women and children were killed in the battle. Some of the combatants later termed the battle a massacre. More than one hundred fifty Sauk and Fox were killed, most of the non-combatants, and seventy-five were taken prisoner. Five U.S. troops were killed, and nineteen were injured.

The Battle of Bad Axe marked the end of the Black Hawk War, the last Indian campaign fought east of the Mississippi River.

References

• Keenan, Jerry. Encyclopedia of American Indian Wars, ABC-CLIO, Inc.: California, 1997.

External links

• St. Paul District History - Battle of Bad Axe
• The Battle of Bad Axe by Peter Shrake
• The Black Hawk War of 1832 by James Lewis, Ph.D

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