Wakefield's History of the Black Hawk war

the long version

Author John Wakefield had served as a scout during the War of 1812 while a teenager. He subsequently trained as a medical doctor and then as a lawyer, and in the 1820s was a politician in Illinois. He enlisted in the army at the beginning of the Black Hawk War, serving first as a surgeon, then as a scout. He kept a daily journal throughout the campaign, and immediately afterward drew upon that journal to write this history.