Page "Black Hawk War" Paragraph 1

American officials, convinced that the British Band was hostile, mobilized a frontier army.

With few U. S. Army soldiers in the region, most American troops were part-time, poorly trained militiamen.

Hostilities began on May 14, 1832, when the militia opened fire on a delegation from the Native Americans.

Black Hawk responded by attacking the militia force, soundly thrashing them at the Battle of Stillman's Run.

He led his band to a secure location in what is now southern Wisconsin.

As U. S. forces pursued Black Hawk's band, Native Americans conducted raids against forts and settlements.

Some Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi warriors with grievances against Americans took part in these raids, although most members of those tribes tried to avoid the conflict.

The Menominee and Dakota tribes, already at odds with the Sauks and Meskwakis, supported the Americans.