The Attack at Ament's Cabin was an event during the Black Hawk War that occurred on 17 or June 18, 1832. The cabin site, in present-day Bureau County, Illinois, was settled by John L. Ament and his brother in 1829, although Ament's brother was quickly bought out by Elijah Phillips. After the 1832 Black Hawk War broke out, Ament and Phillips evacuated the site but later returned to collect belongings. On the morning of 17 or 18 June, the men were attacked by a band of Potawatomi, led by Mike Girty, probably those responsible for the Indian Creek massacre in May. Phillips was killed and the other men took shelter in Ament's cabin. Soldiers from Hennepin arrived after the attack and found Phillips' badly tomahawked body where he had fallen. They set off in a short pursuit of the attackers but eventually returned to Hennepin, Illinois with Phillips' remains.

The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crossed the Mississippi River, to the U.S. state of Illinois, from Iowa Indian Territory in April 1832. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but he was apparently hoping to reclaim land that was taken over by the United States in the disputed 1804 Treaty of St. Louis.