During the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, the Illinois Territory

Illinois Territory

The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. The area was earlier known as "Illinois Country" while under...

 was the scene of fighting between Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 and United States soldiers and settlers.

Tensions in the Illinois Territory between U.S. settlers and Native Americans were on the rise in the years before the War of 1812. At Peoria

Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

, Potawatomi

Potawatomi

The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...

 chief Main Poc

Main Poc

Main Poc was a leader of the Yellow River villages of the Potawatomi native Americans in the United States...

 was a supporter of the resistance movement

Tecumseh's War

Tecumseh's War or Tecumseh's Rebellion are terms sometimes used to describe a conflict in the Old Northwest between the United States and an American Indian confederacy led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh...

 of Shawnee

Shawnee

The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...

 prophet Tenskwatawa

Tenskwatawa

Tenskwatawa, was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe, known as The Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was the brother of Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee...

 and his brother Tecumseh

Tecumseh

Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...

. Raids against American settlers in Illinois increased after the Shawnee brothers' loss at the Battle of Tippecanoe

Battle of Tippecanoe

The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American warriors associated with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa were leaders of a confederacy of...

 in the Indiana Territory

Indiana Territory

The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....

 in 1811.

There were few U.S. Army soldiers this far west on the frontier. Ninian Edwards

Ninian Edwards

Ninian Edwards was a founding political figure of the state of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, as one of the first two United States Senators from Illinois from 1818 to 1824, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830...

, the territorial governor, directed militia operations. The low point for the Americans came in August 1812, when a large Indian force, primarily Potawatomis, attacked soldiers and civilians as they evacuated Fort Dearborn

Fort Dearborn

Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of...

 in Chicago.

In October 1812, the Americans launched an expedition against the Native villages in the Peoria area. Led by Governor Edwards and Colonel William Russell

William Russell (Kentucky)

Colonel William Russell III was a soldier, pioneer, and politician from Virginia and Kentucky.He was born in Culpepper County, Virginia to William Russell and Tabitha Russell. William Russell, Sr., was a prominent citizen of southwestern Virginia and a colonel in the Continental Army during the...

, they attacked and destroyed Potawatomi and Kickapoo villages, prompting the Natives to abandon the area. Raids continued, however.

In September 1813, the Americans built Fort Clark in Peoria. In June 1814, William Clark built Fort Shelby

Fort Shelby (Wisconsin)

Fort Shelby was a United States military installation in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, built in 1814. It was named for Isaac Shelby, Revolutionary War soldier and first governor of Kentucky. The fort was captured by the British during the Siege of Prairie du Chien in July 1814...

 at Prairie du Chien. The British captured the fort in July and renamed it Fort McKay. Two American attempts to send more troops to Prairie du Chien were turned back by Indian attacks, the final actions of the War of 1812 in the region. Hostilities between the U.S. and area Native Americans would resume in the Winnebago War

Winnebago War

The Winnebago War was a brief conflict that took place in 1827 in the Upper Mississippi River region of the United States, primarily in what is now the state of Wisconsin. Not quite a war, the hostilities were limited to a few attacks on American civilians by a portion of the Winnebago Native...

 of 1827 and the Black Hawk War

Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....

 of 1832.

See also

• Black Partridge
  Black Partridge (chief)
  Black Partridge or Black Pheasant was a 19th century Peoria Lake Potawatomi chieftain...
  
  
• Chief Comas
  Chief Comas
  Chief Comas was a 19th century Potawatomi chieftain who, as one of several leaders of the Illinois River Potawatomi, was a war chieftain during the Peoria War...
  
  
• Chief Gomo
  Chief Gomo
  Chief Gomo was a 19th century Potawatomi chieftain. He and his brother Senachwine were among the more prominent war chiefs to fight alongside Black Partridge during the Peoria War.-Biography:...
  
  
• Senachwine
  Senachwine
  Senachwine or Petchaho was a 19th century Illinois River Potawatomi chieftain...
  
  
• Samuel Hopkins
  Samuel Hopkins (congressman)
  Samuel Hopkins was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, Hopkins was educated by private tutors...
  
  
• William McKay
  William McKay
  William McKay was a noted trader and traveler in Upper Canada, who subsequently served as a military officer during the War of 1812....
  
  

Further reading

• Edumnds, R. David. The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire. University of Oklahoma Press, 1978. ISBN 0806114789.
• Gilpin, Alec R. The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest. East Lansing, Michigan: The Michigan State University Press, 1958. ISBN 8-87013-676-3.