the men at the plum river settlement waited overnight and then fled to galena where they reported the incident to colonel james m. strode. he ordered a militia party to the settlement to secure the it and make sure the attackers were dealt with accordingly. when the detachment arrived at savanna they found no native americans, and plenty of bullet holes from the battle. the group continued to fort armstrong, where they picked up supplies, and returned to galena without incident. on june 1, then-colonel zachary taylor expressed his concerns about recent events, including the plum river raid in a letter to general henry atkinson. he stated that there had no doubt been an attack at the settlement, but no one was killed and the site abandoned since.