 Colonel Henry Dodge was at Gratiot 's Grove when the war descended upon Spafford Farm , having just sent his volunteers to their forts to resupply and recuperate . Shortly after he arrived back at his home fort , he received word of the Aubrey murder at Fort Blue Mounds and the incident at Spafford Farm . Dodge ordered militia detachments from Fort Defiance , Fort Jackson , and Fort Hamilton to the scene of the massacre . 
