Fighting in the Black Hawk War
Here, on May 14, 1832, the first engagement of the Black Hawk War took place. When 275 Illinois militiamen under Maj. Isaiah Stillman were put to flight by Black Hawk and his warriers. So thoroughly demoralized were the volunteers that a new army had to be called into the field. – Historical marker at the site of Stillman’s Defeat in Stillman Valley, Illinois My great, great, great grandfather, Peter Coppenbarger, was 14 years old in the spring of 1832. He was too young to fight, but he must have watched his older brother, George, and brothers-in-law, Elisha Butler and Obadiah...