Battle of Rock Island Rapids

At Rock Island Rapids, sometimes known instead as Campbell Island, American forces suffered a setback during the War of 1812, overcome by Sauk, Meskwaki, and Kickapoo warriors fighting alongside the British. The clash traced back to July 1814, when a military expedition set out to resupply the U.S. garrison stationed at Prairie du Chien after pleas for assistance had gone out. That relief effort walked into an ambush on July 19. Following this setback, a second expedition was dispatched with orders to retake Prairie du Chien, which had by then fallen into British hands. This second attempt met the same fate, ambushed in turn at what became known as the Battle of Credit Island, and its soldiers were compelled to withdraw toward the south.

Events

In the summer of 1814, soldiers stationed at Fort Shelby near Prairie du Chien, in what is today Wisconsin, faced the looming prospect of a combined British and Indian assault. Word of the danger traveled to St. Louis, prompting requests for additional troops and supplies, and Missouri's Governor William Clark responded by putting together a relief expedition under Lieutenant John Campbell.

The force departed Cape au Gris on the fourth of July aboard three armored keel boats, each fitted with a cabin and sails for the journey. Its ranks included thirty-three regular army soldiers alongside sixty-five rangers, a number of whom were Frenchmen hailing from Cahokia. Soldiers from the 1st and 7th Infantry regiments made up the regular contingent, joined by the Illinois ranger companies. Rounding out the party were settlers, boat crews, and the wives and children of servicemen, bringing the total headcount to one hundred thirty-three souls. Command of the lead vessel, carrying the 1st Infantry troops, contractors, and families, fell to Lieutenant Campbell, who also served as acting brigade major. Lieutenant Stephen Rector took charge of the second boat, while Lieutenant Jonathan Riggs commanded the third. Though accounts have often cited forty-two regulars as part of this venture, Campbell's own accounting placed the figure at thirty-three.

Roughly eighty miles downstream from where the Rock River empties into the Mississippi, on July 13th, the travelers crossed paths with Indians carrying correspondence bound for Governor Clark. These messengers confirmed that the besieged garrison at Prairie du Chien continued to hold its ground.

Five days later, some twenty miles below the same river mouth, a separate band of nine Indians paddled up in canoes displaying a white flag. Word of the Americans' advance had reached them, they explained to Campbell, and they had come simply to extend a peaceful greeting. Near where the Rock River joined the Mississippi, five more Indians in canoes approached with news that their people, camped in a village roughly a mile upstream, desired a council with the lieutenant. Responding to this invitation, the boats made their way up the river and put ashore on the Illinois side, across from the southern tip of Rock Island.

Before long, close to one hundred fifty Sauk and Fox warriors gathered along with their women and children, Black Hawk leading them. In the conversation that followed, Campbell and Black Hawk touched on the possibility of war against the Winnebagos, contingent on having sufficient resources to wage it. Black Hawk for his part assured the lieutenant that passage along the Mississippi would remain unobstructed, addressing concerns that British forces and their native allies might close the waterway to American travel. Goodwill prevailed through that night, with many of the Cahokia Frenchmen renewing acquaintances among old friends in the gathering.

Setting off again on the morning of the nineteenth, Campbell's men caught a favorable northward wind and resumed their journey upriver. Unbeknownst to them, the previous night had brought a different set of visitors to the Sauk village, Indians arriving from Prairie du Chien by way of the Rock River. These newcomers delivered six kegs of powder to the Sauks along with word that British forces had taken the fort at Prairie du Chien. The British, they relayed, wanted the Sauks to resume hostilities against the Americans, an appeal Black Hawk chose to answer.

Gathering his warriors, Black Hawk set out in pursuit of the American boats making their way upriver, his men tracking the vessels along the shoreline in hopes of catching Campbell exposed on land. Trouble struck when Campbell's boat, having just cleared the top of Rock Island, ran aground on submerged rocks. Weighted down heavily, the vessel now found itself battling winds building toward hurricane force. Roughly six miles into this ordeal, the gusts intensified into a full storm, straining the overburdened craft further. Campbell later recounted the moment: he feared the boat would break apart against the rocks, so he gave orders to bring her ashore, but the ferocity of the gale and the churning water drove her so violently onto the bank that freeing her became impossible until the tempest passed.

The keel boat washed up on the northern edge of what would come to be called Campbell's Island, situated about six miles from Moline. Tall grass, along with hazel and willow th

Aftermath

Following his loss at Rock Island Rapids, Campbell faced harsh judgment from various writers in the years that followed. Critics offered several explanations for the debacle: some insisted he had posted too few sentries around his encampment, others pointed to his general inexperience in command, and still others argued that he had ignored clear signs that Indian warriors were about to strike.

A fresh attempt to undo the damage came together on August 23, 1814, when Major Zachary Taylor of the 7th Regular Infantry organized a new force at Cap au Gris. Its goal was to retake Fort Shelby and Prairie du Chien, both of which the British had seized on July 20. Taylor commanded 334 regular soldiers traveling in 8 keelboats. Beyond recapturing these posts, the mission aimed to restore unimpeded travel along the Upper Mississippi River, which meant subduing Sauk settlements situated along the waterway and possibly opening talks with them. Central to this strategy was a plan to wipe out the principal Sauk village located on the Rock River, just above where it joined the Mississippi.

By September 4, Taylor's force had arrived at the river in question. Once there, Taylor concluded that firing his artillery from the boats would do little to destroy the Sauk settlement, and putting troops ashore was too risky given the sheer number of Indians present. Instead, he chose to feign an advance further upstream toward Prairie. During this maneuver, a fierce storm swept in, compelling the American troops to seek shelter for the night on Pelican Island. Because two of the keelboats lacked reliable anchors, the men secured them to the shoreline instead.