The small company of militia at the fort, about 28-30 men and boys led by Captain Clack Stone, fought off Black Hawk's 150-man war party in an action that lasted about an hour.
The withering pace of the gunfire eventually convinced Black Hawk that the fort was too heavily defended to lead a direct attack.
However, the Sac's principle warrior Black Hawk and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands.
[1] Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830–31 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River, but was persuaded to return west each time without bloodshed.
[1] Finding no allies among the local Ho Chunk, he attempted to return to Iowa, but was temporarily stopped by the presence of several companies of militia.
As night fell, the undisciplined Illinois militia fled before Black Hawk's warriors in a skirmish known today as Battle of Stillman's Run.
A series of attacks at Buffalo Grove, the Plum River settlement, Fort Blue Mounds and one of the conflict's most infamous incidents: the Indian Creek massacre, all took place between mid-May and late June 1832.
One was known as "Stephenson's Fight'" today incorrectly called Waddams Grove and the other at Horseshoe Bendin present-day Wisconsin, played a key role in changing public perception about the militia after its defeat at Stillman's Run.
By late May, Davidson was at the Plum River settlement (present-day Savanna, Illinois) and Captain Clack Stone had been elected to command the militia company.
[12] On June 24, 1832, a supply wagon loaded with meat and lead bars from Galena arrived at Apple River Fort around noon.
[13][15] The four riders from Galena; George Harkleroad, Fred Dixon, Edmund Welch, and J. Kirkpatrick were under orders as a military messengers known as an "express".
[13][15] The group was about 600 yards (550 m) east of the fort when the only man with a loaded gun, Welch, was ambushed by Black Hawk's advance-guard of about 30 warriors.
[15] Three of the expressmen gained the safety of the fort, while Dixon fled on horseback towards the Apple River and ended up at the farm of John McDonald, only to find it overrun by Native Americans as well.
In the gathering darkness, Black Hawk quietly withdrew his war party and retreated back to the gap in Terrapin Ridge and gained the Galena Road.
[9] Courier George Harkleroad was shot in the neck early in the battle and died; it has been documented that he was killed while peering over the stockade wall's pickets.
[13] That same day, Black Hawk's war-party encountered Major John Dement and his three-company Spy Battalion at the Second Battle of Kellogg's Grove.
[18] Elizabeth Armstrong was praised by some as a heroine for her actions during the battle, displaying the kind of courage under fire the militia had so badly lacked during the first months of the Black Hawk War.
[15] Initially, some writers confused the name of the woman who played such an important role at Apple River Fort; a 1900 collection from the Wisconsin Historical Society misidentified her as "Mrs.
Jewel told a story of Armstrong "cursing & swearing like a pirate" throughout the battle; so angry that even Black Hawk's warriors purported to hear her.