Native Memoirs from the War of 1812: Black Hawk and William Apess

Carl Benn

Jan 2014 · Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM

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“A fascinating look at the diverse experiences of two native combatants...an important contribution to our understanding of the War of 1812.” —The Journal of America’s Military Past

Native peoples played major roles in the War of 1812 as allies of both the United States and Great Britain, but few wrote about their conflict experiences. Two famously wrote down their stories: Black Hawk, the British-allied chief of the still-independent Sauks from the upper Mississippi, and American soldier William Apess, a Christian convert from the Pequots who lived on a reservation in Connecticut. Carl Benn explores the wartime passages of their autobiographies, in which they detail their decisions to take up arms, their experiences in the fighting, their broader lives within the context of native-newcomer relations, and their views on such critical issues as aboriginal independence.

Scholars, students, and general readers interested in indigenous and military history in the early American republic will appreciate these important memoirs, along with Carl Benn’s helpful introductions and annotations.

“A thought-provoking and rich exploration of both indigenous involvement in the war and the diverse realities of individual native people’s lives in early nineteenth-century North America.” —History

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Carl Benn is a professor of history at Ryerson University in Toronto. His books include Mohawks on the Nile: Natives among the Canadian Voyagers in Egypt, 1884–85, The War of 1812, and The Iroquois in the War of 1812.