Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume II (1856)

              1832 parkinson's narrative 359 by gen atkinson's report to the war department we pursued them to the bottom of the wisconsin where we reached the tall grass which was wet it having rained nearly the entire afternoon of that day and it being now nearly dark the pursuit was con tinued no farther we returned to camp and just after supper we were cheered by the arrival of adjutant woodbridge and adjutant merriman who it will be recollected had been sent from the rapids of rock river as an express to gen atkinson on bark river with them came c'apt james b estes who claims to have been in the battle but was according to my recollection about two hours too late our interpreter mr poquette and our indian spies who had accompanied us from fort winnebago left us im mediately after the battle this turned out to have been an un fortunate event ; for that same night the silence of our camp was broken by the loud shrill voice of an indian from the summit of one of the highest peaks in that vicinity haranguing as we sup posed his warriors preparatory to an attack upon us although we were well posted and surrounded with a double guard yet it naturally produced some excitement and was well calculated to test the coolness and material of our officers and men we then thought that black hawk's entire force was being brought to bear upon us in a night attack — the most to be dreaded of all attacks especially when made by an indian enemy our material proved good ; no man showed the white feather and our commanders in concert with the indian orator harangued their men in the most stirring manner gen henry in particular addressed his men in a most patriotic strain reminding them of in gen atkinson's report of the battle of bad ax he says it is ascertained from our prisoners that the enemy lost in the battle of the wisconsin sixty-eight killed and a very large number wounded capt estes in his narrative in gen smith's work states the indian loss at sixty-eigjit beouchard states that he learned after the war from some of the sauks that black hawk lost sixty-nine in the battle and that thir teen died on their way to the mouth of the bad ax gen bracken speaks not of his own knowledge but of those who had better opportunities of knowing that the indian loss was between forty and fifty killed on the field and the number wounded unknown as they were carried away yet strange to say black hawk in his narrative admits the loss of only six killed in the battle l c d