Elizabeth Armstrong was a wife and mother who found temporary shelter at

Apple River Fort Apple River Fort, today known as the Apple River Fort State Historic Site, was one of many frontier forts hastily completed by settlers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin following the onset of the 1832 Black Hawk War. Located in presen ...

with her husband John and two children during the 1832

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

. She was praised for her bravery during the

Battle of Apple River Fort The Battle of Apple River Fort, occurred on the late afternoon of June 24, 1832 at the Apple River Fort, near present-day Elizabeth, Illinois, when Black Hawk and 200 of his " British Band" of Sauk and Fox were surprised by a group of four m ...

Early life

Elizabeth Armstrong was born Elizabeth Boyd on October 21, 1798, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Shortly after her birth, her family emigrated to Spanish Missouri. Her father became a Spanish citizen and was awarded a land grant in present-day Lincoln County, Missouri. In 1817, Elizabeth, 19, was married to John Armstrong. The couple had two children, David and Catherine. Around 1827, the Armstrong family moved to Jo Daviess County, Illinois and settled south of the Falls of Apple River in present-day Hanover Township. In late May, during the 1832

, the Armstrong family sought protection at the new

Black Hawk War

On the afternoon of June 24, 1832 the Black Hawk War came to Apple River Fort. There were 28–30 armed militia and civilians inside Apple River Fort at the time of the attack. Another 40 women, children, and infants sought protection at the stockade. Captain Clack Stone command the militia company at the Fort, some of whom were not present for the battle.Marshall, Janet A. and Marshall, Mary K., ''Black Hawk's War 1832'', 1997, pp. 90-94. As Black Hawk's 200-strong war-party closed in on the Fort, the locals ran for shelter inside the fort while the 28–30 men and boys took up positions at the

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicles ...

s that had been cut between the fort's pickets. A vicious firefight erupted, involving about 150 of Black Hawk's war-party.Apple River Fort
," Historic Sites, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency'', accessed April 12, 2009. The fighting raged for about an hour with heavy gunfire from both sides. At the battle's onset most of the settlement's women had huddled in small panic-stricken groups, but Armstrong and other married women rallied the young women, boys, and girls to provide support to the soldiers. She assigned them to such tasks as molding new

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

balls, rolling gunpowder cartridges, and reloading the weapons, while the soldiers tried to keep up a steady stream of gunfire.Harmet, A. Richard.
Apple River Fort Site
, (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, March 31, 1997, HAARGIS Database, ''

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...

'', p. 14, accessed April 12, 2009.

Legacy

Elizabeth Armstrong was praised as a heroine for her actions during the battle, displaying the kind of courage under fire the Illinois militia had so badly lacked during the first month of the Black Hawk War.June 24, Elizabeth, Ill.: Women Save the Apple River Fort
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''

Wisconsin State Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

'', accessed April 12, 2009. Her actions, in part, helped give

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...

the impression that Apple River Fort was too heavily defended. It was some time before the settlers learned that Black Hawk, himself had led the attack. In the past, there was some confusion regarding the name of the woman who assumed a lead organizational role at Apple River Fort; a 1900 collection from the Wisconsin Historical Society described her as "Mrs. Graham." The same source stated that Armstrong was "cursing & swearing like a pirate" throughout the battle; so angry that even Black Hawk's band purported to hear her. The same collection described such action as "profane" and "a great drawback upon her credit." State Historical Society of Wisconsin. ''Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin'',
Google Books
, The Society: 1900, Vol. XV, p. 278, accessed April 12, 2009. A newspaper report in Galena, Illinois described Armstrong's actions at the Battle of Apple River Fort.

Trask, Kerry A. Kerry A. Trask (born October 17, 1941) is an American historian and author. Trask has worked as a history professor at the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc for more than thirty years. Trask was also the Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin State ...

''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America'',
Google Books
,

Henry Holt Henry Holt may refer to: *Henry Holt (North Dakota politician) (1887–1944), lieutenant governor *Henry Holt (publisher) (1840–1926), American publisher and author **Henry Holt and Company, Holt's publishing company *Henry E. Holt (born 1929), ...

: 2006, pp. 229, (). "Elizabeth Armstrong took charge of the women's activities and set a coolheaded, courageous example." Since the 1930s it was mistakenly suggested that Armstrong was the namesake for the village of Elizabeth, IL. That honor went to another "Elizabeth" at

: Elizabeth Winters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Elizabeth American people of the Black Hawk War People from Elizabeth, Illinois Women in warfare in North America Year of death missing Year of birth missing