Pages 125 thru 129  

HISTORY OF MACON COUNTY

CHAPTER XXIII

BLACK HAWK AND MEXICAN WAR
 

_In patriotism Macon county ever has stood at the front.  When our country has needed soldiers, our men have been quick to volunteer, ready to give up their lives if necessary.  In every war Macon county has a record of which it may be proud.  It has given to the service of the state and country men of all ranks, from private to general.

When Black Hawk, the Sac chief, returned, in 1832, with his followers to Illinois, thus violating the treaty signed the previous year, wherein he agreed to relinquish all claim to lands on the east side of the Mississippi, Governor John Reynolds called for volunteers to repel the invasion.

Eighteen hundred men were mustered into service.  Among them was a company from Macon county under Captain James Johnson.

The company was in the battalion led by Major Stillman, and participated in the deplorable action known as Stillman's defeat, but the blame for that defeat rested upon Major Stillman, who refused to acknowledge the authority of General Whiteside and to cooperate in the plan of campaign.  One Macon county soldier, James Milton, lost his life in that battle.

Isaac C. Pugh, who entered this war as first lieutenant, came home as the captain of the company.  James Johnson, who went in as captain, became colonel of the Fifth regiment.

Here is a copy of the muster roll of the company from Macon county engaged in the war (names taken from Adjutant-General Samuel Whiteside.  Mustered out of service of United States at mouth of Fox river, the state of Illinois, on the 27th day of May 1832; distance, miles, 150 from place of enrollment.

"(The date of enlistment of all was April 24, 1843; and the term was 35 days).

James Johnson captain, promoted to colonel 16 May, 1832.
William Warnick, first lieutenant, absent with leave.
I. C. Pugh, second lieutenant, promoted to captain 16 May, 1832.
J. D. Wright, first sergeant, absent on extra duty.
James A. Ward, second sergeant, promoted to second lieutenant.
Walter Bowles, third sergeant, absent with leave.
Joseph Hanks, fourth sergeant.
Henry M. Gorin, first corporal.
S. R. Shepard, second corporal.
George Coppenbarger, third corporal, absent with leave.
James Milton, fourth corporal, killed in battle.
Asher Simpson, private.
A. W. Bell, private.
Abraham Black, private.
Daniel McCall, private.
D. H. Stewart, private, absent on extra duty.
Elisha Butler, private, absent with leave.
G. D. Smallwood, private.
John Hanks, private.
Jacob Lane, private, absent on extra duty.
John Henderson, private, absent with leave.
James Querry, private.
James Miller, private.
John Manley, private.
James Ennis, private, absent with leave.
John Clifton, private, absent with leave.
Jesse Dickey, private, wounded in battle.
John Williams, private, absent with leave.
John Murphy, private.
Jacob Black, absent with leave.
James Herrod, private, absent with leave.
Kinian Ingram, private, absent with leave.
Obediah Hooper, private, absent with leave.
Robert Smith, private.
S. B. Dewees, private.
Sam Miller, private.
Lam Troxel, private.
Thomas Davenport, private, absent with leave.
William Hanks, private, absent with leave.
William Adams, private, absent with leave.
William Miller, private.
William Hooper, private, absent with leave.
William Cox, private, absent with leave.
Josiah Clifton, private, absent with leave.

"I certify, on honor, that the muster roll exhibits the true state of the company of mounted volunteers under my command, of the Illinois militia, of the brigade of mounted volunteers under the command of Brigadier General Samuel Whiteside on this day, and that the remarks set opposite the names of the men, are accurate and just.

"Signed Fox River, Ill., this the 27th day of May, 1832.
"I. C. Pugh, captain,
"Commanding the company."

RANGERS

Macon county also sent out a company of Rangers, commanded by Captain William Warnick.  Isaac Pugh was first lieutenant and Elisha Freeman second lieutenant.  They were organized for the purpose of protecting the frontier counties.¹

The fifty men who made up the company of Rangers enlisted for a period of sixty days, and furnished their own ammunition, arms, horses and provisions.  They left Decatur on June 4, 1832, going first to the present site of Monticello, Ill., where they went into camp.  Hearing that the Kickapoo braves had left their village near the head of the Big Vermilion to go to the aid of Black Hawk, leaving their squaws, children and old men behind, the Rangers started for the Village, finding, however, that it had been deserted entirely three days before.

Members of Captain Warnick's company of Rangers were as follows:
 

When the period of their enlistment was up, the company returned home, but was asked to be in readiness for call to frontier service.  No further trouble arising, the men received their discharge, 113 days after their enlistment, and each man was given $52 and a land warrant for 160 acres of land.

WAR WITH MEXICO

Again came the call to Macon county for volunteers, when war was declared with Mexico in May, 1846.  Company C. consisting of seventy-eight men was organized.²

When the company reached Springfield, it was found that the three regiments, to which Illinois was entitled, were already full.  Through the influence of Congressman, O. B. Ficklin of Illinois, E. D. Baker was given permission by President Polk to raise a Fourth regiment from Illinois.  The Macon county men became a part of this regiment.  Mr. Baker was made colonel, John Moore lieutenant colonel, and Thomas L. Harris major of the regiment.

Isaac C. Pugh was made captain of Company C, Richard J. Oglesby was first lieutenant, and A. Froman and John P. Post second lieutenants.  Other officers and the privates enlisted in the company were as follows (names take from Adjutant General report):
 

SERVICE

Company C left Decatur for Springfield about the middle of June, 1846.  The regiment was formed there and then went into training at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.  After being mustered into service the regiment left the latter part of July for New Orleans, and thence to Brazos, Santiago Bay, four miles north of the mouth of the Rio Grande.  Eight miles up the river occurred the first death in the company, that of Sergeant George Galbreath.

The members of the burial squad on their return to camp after burying the body of Sergeant Galbreath, went on board a steamer nearby to quiet a disturbance, but they were overpowered, and one man, Charles Dillow, was killed and several were injured in the encounter.  Colonel Baker suffered a rapier thrust through the mouth and neck.  Lieutenant Post sustained a breast wound, and R. H. Stewart was bayoneted in the thigh.

The last words of Private Dillow were:
"If I have got to go, the road to heaven is just as near from here as from Macon county."

The company later assisted in bombarding Vera Cruz, which surrendered on March 29, 1847, and took part in the battle with Santa Anna at the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo on April 18.  Two of the men of Company C, J. C. Malson and George Nelson, were killed in this battle.

Company C was at the head of the brigade and captured the $25,000 in silver and the cork leg, which Santa Anna had left in his carriage, when he attempted to escape.  This leg, by the way, is one of the valued war relics now kept in the Centennial memorial building in Springfield.

The company returned home, after the time of enlistment had expired, coming via New Orleans and St. Louis, and reaching Decatur about June 1, 1847.  With the returning soldiers was the banner they had received from the citizens on their departure a year before.

It was a day of rejoicing in Decatur when the boys came home.  Enthusiasm ran high, and a grand barbecue was held to honor the heroes.³
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1 At the time of the Black Hawk war all sorts of rumors floated about to the effect that the Indians were coming.
   Sheriff Warnick, two of his sons and his hired man were away serving in the war.  Mrs. Warnick was frightened at the stories of possible Indiana massacres, and, taking her eight year old boy Robert, she hurried across the fields to the home of Joseph Austin.
   Joseph Austin at that time was old and feeble, but when Mrs. Warnick confided her fears of him, he cracked his big blacksnake whip and emphatically and loudly declared:
   "I'll whip every Indian that comes down the Sangamon river."
   With such protection assured, the frightened woman and her son felt entirely safe.
2  An interesting relic is the silk flag which was carried by Company C in the Mexican war.  It is the property of Frank Curtis, whose mother, Mrs. I. B. Curtis, helped to make it.  The flag is 8 by 12 feet in size.  The flag was made by a group of women, and was presented on June 7, 1846, to Company C, in front of the old brick court house on Lincoln square.  Mrs. Curtis, then Jane Butler, made the presentation, and the flag was received on behalf of the company by Lt. R. J. Oglesby.  The flag was unfurled first at Vera Cruz.  After the war it was given to Anderson Froman, who kept it as long as he lived.   Afterwards his widow preserved it.  It finally was given to Mrs. Curtis because she had helped to make it.  Colonel Anderson Froman lost his life while leading the 116th regiment in the Civil war.
3  Old Black Ben, the first negro in Macon county, is believed to have been the one who superintended the roasting of the ox for the barbecue.  A pit was dug in the ground, and fire kindled therein, over which the ox was roasted.

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