| Battle of Waddams Grove | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Black Hawk War | |||||||
 Battle took place over hill in background, the marker locates site of William Waddams' cabin, the first permanent white settler in Stephenson County, 1832. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States | Sauk | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| James W. Stephenson | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12+ | unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 KIA | 2-6 KIA | ||||||
The Battle of Waddams Grove, also known as the Battle of Yellow Creek was part of the Black Hawk War. It took place in present-day Stephenson County, Illinois on June 18, 1832. After several incidents of Sauk Indian raids on settlers along the Apple River, Captain James W. Stephenson left Galena with a group of volunteer militia in pursuit of the Native party. The group clashed on June 18, 1832 near Yellow Creek and the ensuing battle descended into a bayonet and knife fight in which several Sauk and three militia men were killed. Stephenson was severely wounded by a musketball to the chest during the fighting. The dead were eventually interred in a memorial cemetery in Kellogg's Grove, Illinois where a stone monument was erected in memory of those killed during the war.