Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1832) - Prelude

Prelude

On June 11, Dodge escorted Brady to the mouth of the Fox River to confer with overall commander General Henry Atkinson. Dodge left the conference with clear authority from Atkinson to deal with the violence in the mining region. He first traveled to his home fort, at Gratiot's Grove, which he reached on June 13. The Spafford Farm massacre occurred the following day, and Dodge set out for Fort Hamilton as soon as he heard about it, stopping at Fort Blue Mounds for supplies. On the way to Hamilton, the soldiers passed a German immigrant, Henry Apple, exchanged greetings and kept traveling. Shortly afterwards the soldiers heard gunshots in the distance; Apple had met with a Kickapoo ambush, likely meant for Dodge himself. Dodge was probably saved by his last minute decision to make a detour from the main route. Later Apple's horse galloped wildly back past the men, wounded and carrying a large amount of blood in its saddle. The horse continued all the way to Fort Hamilton, where it raised a furor among the inhabitants.

A Native American band from the Kickapoo tribe, eleven warriors in all, was responsible for the attack on Apple; the same band had killed five men at Spafford Farm on June 14. This band was only loosely affiliated with Black Hawk's British Band.

On hearing the ambush in the distance, Dodge hurried on toward Fort Hamilton (present-day Woodford, Wisconsin) where he gathered together a company of 29 mounted volunteers and sped off to intercept the attackers. He led the chase through tangled underbrush until, breaking into prairie, his force caught sight of the raiding party. The Kickapoo crossed the Pecatonica River within sight of the pursuing militia, and entered into an overgrown swamp. The militia followed across the swollen river and dismounted when they reached the swamp.