Battle of Waddams Grove

Battle took place over hill in background, the marker locates site of William Waddams' cabin, the first permanent white settler in Stephenson County, 1832.

Date	June 18, 1832
Location	Near Waddams Grove, Illinois
Result	minor American victory

Belligerents

United States

Sauk

Commanders and leaders

James W. Stephenson

Strength

12+

unknown

Casualties and losses

3 KIA

2-6 KIA

The Battle of Waddams Grove, also known as the Battle of Yellow Creek was part of the Black Hawk War. It took place in present-day Stephenson County, Illinois on June 18, 1832. After several incidents of Sauk Indian raids on settlers along the Apple River, Captain James W. Stephenson left Galena with a group of volunteer militia in pursuit of the Native party. The group clashed on June 18, 1832 near Yellow Creek and the ensuing battle descended into a bayonet and knife fight in which several Sauk and three militia men were killed. Stephenson was severely wounded by a musketball to the chest during the fighting. The dead were eventually interred in a memorial cemetery in Kellogg's Grove, Illinois where a stone monument was erected in memory of those killed during the war.

Angered by the loss of his birthplace, in prior disputed treaties, Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River beginning in 1830. Each time, he was persuaded to return west without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliances with other tribes and the British, he again moved his "British Band," of around 1,000 warriors and civilians, into Illinois. Finding no allies, he attempted to return to Iowa, but ensuing events led to the Battle of Stillman's Run. A number of other engagements followed, and the state militias of Wisconsin and Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War.

Following the first confrontation of the war Stillman's Run, the exaggerated claim that 2,000 "bloodthirsty warriors were sweeping all northern Illinois with the bosom of destruction" sent shock waves of terror through the region. Several small massacres and skirmishes ensued and until the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, fought two days before the clash at Waddams Grove, public confidence in the militia was low.

...
Wikipedia