Henry Apple
On June 11, Henry Dodge escorted General Hugh 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 war-related violence in the mining region. After the meeting, 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 and his command 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.
About 150 yards (140 m) from the spot they met an Kickapoo ambush was set up in wait, probably for Dodge, who had ventured off the main road. Apple approached the ambush site and Dodge later reported hearing three guns, one of the shots killed Apple. Dodge was probably saved by his last minute decision to make a detour from the main route. Apple's horse galloped wildly 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.
After hearing the attack on Apple in the distance, Dodge continued on toward Fort Hamilton (present-day Wiota, Wisconsin), gathered a company of 29 mounted volunteers on arrival and sped off to intercept that band. He led the chase through tangled underbrush until, breaking into prairie, they caught sight of the raiding party. The Kickapoo crossed the Pecatonica River within sight of the pursuing militia, and entered into a swamp. The militia crossed the swollen river and dismounted when they reached the swamp and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend ensued.
Read more about this topic: Minor Attacks Of The Black Hawk War
Famous quotes containing the word apple:
“When the apple is ripe it will fall.”
—Irish proverb.
An English equivalent to this might be, “To everything there is a season.”