The catastrophe, instead of inspiring the troops with resolution to revenge their fallen comrades, spread disaffection, and demands arose from all sides to be discharged from a campaign which promised nothing but trouble and a long absence from home. The Governor, foreseeing the plight likely to visit him, at once, by the light of a solitary candle, wrote out the following call for 2,000 more volunteers to rendezvous at Hennepin on the 10th of June:
“Dixon’s Ferry, on Rock River, May 15, 1832.
“It becomes my duty to again call on you for your services in defense of your country. The state is not only invaded by the hostile Indians, but many of our citizens have been slain in battle. A detachment of mounted volunteers, about 275 in number, commanded by Maj. Stillman, were overpowered by hostile Indians on Sycamore Creek, distant from this place about thirty miles, and a considerable number killed. This is an act of hostility which cannot be misconstrued. I am of the opinion that the Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes have joined the Sacs, and all may be considered as waging war against the United States. To subdue these Indians and drive them out of the state, it will require a force of at least 2,000 mounted volunteers, in addition to troops already in the field. I have made the necessary requisition of proper officers for the above number, and have no doubt that the citizen soldiers of the state will obey the call of their country. They will meet at Hennepin, on the Illinois River, in companies of 50 men each, on the 10th of June next, to be organized into brigades.
John Ewing of Franklin County and John A. Wakefield and Robert Blackwell of Fayette County were the trusted messengers selected to carry this call over the state. At the same time, Col. James M. Strode, colonel and commander of the Jo Daviess County militia, was empowered and requested to organize his county for immediate action.
Governor Reynolds also sent word of the defeat to Colonel Dodge at the camp of the latter on the north side of the river some distance above, with the request that he forthwith take measures to protect the frontier of Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin).
Major Horn[126] of Reynolds’ staff was dispatched to St. Louis with a message to Colonel March, who was at that place, to forward the supplies for the new levy to Hennepin. With his conspicuous vigor the order was executed, but not by leaving the provisions at Hennepin. Fort Deposit, or later Fort Wilbourn, so-called from Captain John S. Wilbourn of the militia from Morgan County, was a point on the south bank of the Illinois River about midway between the present cities of Peru and LaSalle. It was nearer the seat of action at Dixon’s Ferry and was accordingly chosen by Major Horn, and there he deposited the provisions. Thither, too, the troops marched, and, as Albert Sidney Johnston wrote in his journal on June 12, 1832: “General and staff arrived at this place this evening. The Illinois volunteers having arrived here in great numbers, the General decided upon organizing them at this point, supplies for the troops having been placed in depot at this place, and the route to Dixon’s quite as good and as near as the mouth of Fox River.”