Gen. Atkinson writes Gen. Winfield Scott: "The country is so cut up with Prairie, wood and swamp, that it is extremely difficult to approach them. Indeed many parts of the country for miles is entirely unpassable, even on foot. We are engaged at this moment [July 9] in throwing a Bridge across this creek (White Water) with a view of getting up with the enemy, who is represented to be only five or six miles before us." Gen. Atkinson has 450 regulars, and about 2,100 mounted volunteers, with 100 Indian allies.Atkinson Letter Book, Black Hawk War Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.

Early's company is probably one of scouting parties sent out in morning. They report Indians still nearby, but later party returns with news that Sauk have advanced "up the country" about 12 miles, causing Atkinson to postpone pursuit.Atkinson Letter Book, Black Hawk War Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL; John H. Wakefield, Wakefield's History of the Black Hawk War (Chicago: Caxton Club, 1908), 83-84; Stevens, Black Hawk War, 210; Johnston Journal, Black Hawk War Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.