Battle of Wisconsin Heights - Prelude

Prelude

The U.S. force of 600-750 militia men had picked up Black Hawk's trail following the Battle of Pecatonica. Colonel Henry Dodge and James D. Henry pursued the band up the Rock River, engaging in minor skirmishes along the way. The militia marched 25 miles (40 km) from Four Lakes the day of the battle, discovering the body of a dead Native American along the way, in whose pouch they found the watch of George Force, a lieutenant who was killed in an attack at Fort Blue Mounds on June 20. Ahead of the main party of militia, a small band of U.S. allied Ho-Chunk warriors had been sent ahead to scout the area with Pierre Pauquette, a trader from Portage, Wisconsin. Rumors that Black Hawk's band was at Lake Koshkonong persisted and Dodge and his men attempted to intercept Black Hawk there. Although Black Hawk's band had already moved on by the time the militia arrived at the lake, they found evidence of his presence and picked up his trail again, continuing their pursuit toward the Wisconsin River.

Unable to remain in one place long enough to receive provisions, Black Hawk's group were in poor health and some of them starved to death on the road. Black Hawk stated in his account of the battle that at this point in the war he had every intention of escaping with his people back across the Mississippi River, but on encountering the large U.S. force at Wisconsin Heights he was left with no choice but to fight. His intention was to allow the non-combatants in his band to escape across the Wisconsin River.