Peoria War
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| Peoria War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Combatants | |||||||
 United States |
 Kickapoo Nation Potawatomi Nation |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 150 U.S. soldiers 800 Rogers' Rangers |
Around 1,000 warriors | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 43 killed Around 150 injured |
Unknown | ||||||
The Peoria War was an armed conflict between the U. S. Army and the Native American tribes of the Potawatomi and the Kickapoo that took place in the Peoria County, Illinois area, near the current location of the city of Peoria, from September 19 to October 21, 1813.
It must be noted that the Native American tribe of the Peoria was not involved in this conflict. Rather, its name comes from the location of the events, which had originally received its denomination from that of the tribe.
The Peoria War was closely related to the larger scale Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812, while essentially circumscribed to actions within the Peoria area. It also ended after the Battle of the Thames and the death of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh on October 5, 1813, which is generally considered as the ending date of the Native American involvement in the War of 1812.
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[edit] Origins
Most members of the Potawatomi and the Kickapoo had joined the Confederacy of tribes that had been formed around 1808 by Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa, and fought on his side in Tecumseh's War and with the British in the War of 1812. Some local tribal leaders based in the Peoria Lake area like Gomo and Black Partridge (Makadebakii), however, leaned towards the American side, as they had done during the War of Independence.
This changed with an unjustified attack against these tribes ordered by Illinois territorial governor Ninian Edwards in November, 1812, in which many neutral Potawatomi were killed. The allegiance of these remaining groups switched completely to the British and Tecumseh's side, and the entirety of the tribes took part in all the remaining actions of the war until the Battle of the Thames.
[edit] Course of the Peoria War
Native American resistance generally stopped after the death of Tecumseh, but it continued for a short period at a few places, like in the Peoria Lake area by the Potawatomi and the Kickapoo. In August 1813, 150 soldiers from St. Louis came to Peoria and began building Fort Clark. On September 19, an attack by Black Partridge's Potawatomi was repulsed, and soon afterwards, reinforcements arrived in the form of 800 mounted Roger's Rangers.
The troops engaged the combined Potawatomi-Kickapoo force on October 21 and defeated them, and destroyed two nearby villages (including chief Gomo's). Faced with overwhelming military force, the Potawatomi made peace that fall, and Black Partridge met with Governor William Clark at St. Louis in January, 1814. Gomo began supplying Fort Clark's garrison with meat, and all the local chiefs kept the peace afterwards, with only occasional skirmishes for several years. Some Kickapoo would later take part in the Black Hawk War on the side of their allies, the Sauk.
