USA > Minnesota > Concise history of the state of Minnesota > Part 17
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About six o'clock A. M. on the eighteenth of August, 1862, a large number of Sioux warriors, armed and in their war paint, assembled about the buildings at the Lower Agency. It had been rumored purposely in ad- vance that a war-party was to take the field against the Chippewas, but no sooner had the Indians assumed their several positions, according to the programme, than an
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233
WHITES MURDERED AT LOWER AGENCY.
onslaught was made indiscriminately upon the whites, and with the exception of two or three men who con- cealed themselves, and a few of the women and children who were kept as captives, no whites escaped destruc- tion but George H. Spencer, a respectable and intelli- gent young man, who, although twice seriously wound- ed, was saved from instant death by the heroic interven- tion of his Indian comrade, named "Wak-ke-an-da-tah," or the "Red Lightning." A number of persons were also slaughtered at the Upper Agency, but through the agency of "Other Day," a Christian Indian, the mission- aries, and others, including Rev. Messrs. Riggs and Williamson and their families,-in all about sixty per- sons,-were saved, being conducted safely through the Indian country to the white settlements. Their escape was truly providential. The massacre of the people, the pillage of stores and dwellings, and the destruction of the buildings having been consummated, parties were despatched to fall upon settlers on farms and in villages along the entire frontier, extending nearly two hundred miles. The scenes of horror consequent upon the gen- eral onslaught can better be imagined than described. Fortunate, comparatively speaking, was the lot of those who were doomed to instant death, and thus spared the agonies of lingering tortures, and the superadded an- guish of witnessing outrages upon the persons of those nearest and dearest to them. The fiends of hell could not invent more fearful atrocities than were perpetrated by the savages upon their victims. The bullet, the tomahawk, and the scalping-knife spared neither age nor sex, the only prisoners taken being the young and comely women, to minister to the brutal lusts of their captors, and a few children. In the short space of thirty-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
six hours, as nearly as could be computed, eight hun- . dred whites were cruelly slain. Almost every dwelling along the extreme frontier was a charnel-house, contain- ing the dying and the dead. In many cases the torch was applied, and maimed and crippled sufferers, unable to escape, were consumed with their habitations. The alarm was communicated by refugees to the adjacent settlements, and soon the roads leading to St. Paul were crowded by thousands of men, women, and children, in the wild confusion of a sudden flight. Domestic ani- mals, including hundreds and even thousands of cattle, were abandoned, and only those taken which could expe- dite the movements of the terror-stricken settlers.
The savages, after accomplishing their mission of death, assembled in force and attempted to take Fort Ridgely by a coup de main. In this they were foiled by the vigilance and determination of the garrison, aided by volunteers who had escaped from the surrounding settlements. The attack was continued at intervals for several days, but without success. The town of New Ulm was also assailed by a strong force of the savages, but was gallantly defended by volunteers from the neighboring counties under the command of Colonel C. H. Flandrau. Captain Dodd, an old and respectable citizen of St. Peter, was among the killed at this point. Fort Abercrombie, on the Red River, also suffered a long and tedious siege from the hands of Sioux from Lacqui- Parle, until relieved by a force despatched by Governor Ramsey, from St. Paul.
The first advices of the outbreak reached St. Paul on the day succeeding the massacre at the Lower Agency. Instant preparations were made by Governor Ramsey to arrest the progress of the savages. At his personal solici-
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235
COL. H. H. SIBLEY IN COMMAND.
tation, H. Henry Sibley, a resident of Mendota, whose long and intimate acquaintance with Indian character and habits was supposed to render him peculiarly fitted for the position, consented to take charge of military operations. He was accordingly commissioned by the Governor, colonel commanding, and upon him developed the conduct of the campaign in person.
Unfortunately, the State of Minnesota was lament- ably deficient in the means and appliances requisite to carry on successfully a war of the formidable character which this threatened to assume. The Sioux allied bands could bring into the field from eight hundred to a thous- and warriors, and they might be indefinitely reinforced by the powerful divisions of the prairie Sioux. Those actually engaged in hostilities were good marksmen, splendidly armed, and abundantly supplied with ammu- nition. They had been victorious in several encounters with detachments of troops, and had overwhelming con- fidence in their own skill. On the other hand, the State had already dispatched five thousand, more or less of her choicest young men to the South, her arsenal had been stripped of all the arms that were effective, and there was little ammunition on hand, and norations ,There was no government transportation to be had, and the prospect was by no means favorable. Governor Ramsey, notwithstanding, acted with promptness and vigor. He telegraphed for arms and ammunition to the War Department, and to the governors of the adjoin- ing States. He authorized also the appropriation for public use of the teams belonging to individual citizens, and adopted such other measures as the emergency demanded.
There were at Fort Snelling, happily, the nucleus of
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
regiments that had been called into service. Colonel Sibley left Fort Snelling with four hundred of the 6th Regiment Minnesota Volunteers, early on the morning of August twentieth. Upon an inspection of the arms and cartridges furnished, it was found that the former comprised worthless Austrian rifles, and the ammunition was for guns of a different and larger calibre. The command was detained several days at St. Peter, en- gaged in swedging the balls so as to fit the arms, and in preparing canister-shot for the six-pounders. Mean- time arms of a better quality were received, reinforce- ments of troops arrived, and the column took up the line of march for Fort Ridgely, which was reached without interruption, and the troops went into camp a short distance from the post, to await the reception of rations and to make the final preparations for an ad- vance upon the hostile Indians, who had drawn in their detached parties, and were concentrating for a decisive battle.
Scouts were dispatched to ascertain the location of the main Indian camp, and upon their return they report- ed no Indians below Yellow Medicine River. A burial party of twenty men under the escort of one com- pany of infantry and the available mounted force, in all about two hundred men, under the command of Major J. R. Brown, was detailed to proceed and inter the remains of the murdered at the Lower Agency and at other points in the vicinity. This duty was per- formed, fifty-four bodies buried, and the detachment was en route to the settlements on Beaver River, and had encamped for the night near Birch Coolie, a long and wooded ravine debouching into the Minnesota River, when about dawn the following morning, the camp was
237
BIRCH COOLIE AND WOOD LAKE.
attacked by a large force of Indians, twenty-five men were killed or mortally wounded, and nearly all the horses, ninety in number, shot down. Providentially, the volleys of musketry were heard at the main camp, although eighteen miles distant, and Colonel Sibley marched to the relief of the beleagured detachment, drove off the Indians, buried the dead, and the weary column then retraced its steps to the camp.
The period spent in awaiting necessary supplies of provisions was made useful in drilling the men and bringing them under discipline. So soon as ten days' rations had been accumulated, Colonel Sibley marched in search of the savages, and on the twenty-third of Sep- tember, 1862, was fought the severe and decisive battle of Wood Lake. The action was commenced by the In- dians, and was bravely contested by them for more than two hours, when they gave way at all points, and sent in a flag of truce, asking permission to bury their dead and wounded, which was refused. A message was sent back to Little Crow, the leader of the hostile Indians, to the effect that if any of the white prisoners held by him re- ceived injury at the hands of the savages, no mercy would be shown to the latter, but they would be pursued and destroyed without regard to age or sex.
The success at Wood Lake was not achieved without serious loss. Major Welch, of the 3d Minnesota Volun- teers, commanding, was severely wounded in the leg: Captain Wilson, of the 6th Regiment, badly contused in the breast by a spent ball; and nearly forty non-commis- sioned officers and privates were killed or wounded. The loss of the enemy was much greater, a half-breed prisoner stating it at thirty killed and a large number wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall and Major
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
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Bradley, of the 7th Regiment, distinguished themselves, the former leading a charge of five companies of his own and two companies of the 6th Regiment, which cleared a ravine of the enemy, where they had obtained shelter. Lieutenant-Colonel Averill and Major McLar- en, of the 6th Regiment, also performed signal service, as did all the officers and men of both regiments. The 3rd Regiment, composed of fractions of six companies, fought gallantly, having for a time, in conjunction with the Renville Rangers, borne the brunt of the fight, and their loss was great in proportion.
One of the main objects of the campaign, the deliver- ance of the white captives, was yet to be accomplished, and required the exercise of much judgment and cau- tion. There was good reason to fear that, in the exas- peration of defeat, they might fall victims to the sav- ages. Colonel Sibley, therefore delayed his march tow- ards the great Indian camp until the second day after the battle, to allow time to the friendly element to strengthen itself, and to avoid driving the hostile In- dians into desperate measures against their prisoners. On the twenty-fifth of September, the column, with drums beating, and colors flying, filed past the Indian encampment, and formed the camp within a few hun- dred yards of it. Colonel Sibley, with his staff and field officers, then proceeded to the lodges of the Indians, and directed that all the captives be delivered up to him, which was forthwith done. A sight was then presented which sufficed to suffuse the eyes of strong men with tears. Young and beautiful women, who had for weeks endured the extremity of outrage from their brutal cap- tors, followed by a crowd of children of all ages, came forth from the lodges, hardly realizing that the day of
239
RELEASE OF CAPTIVES.
their deliverance had arrived. Convulsive sobbings was heard on every side, and the poor creatures clung to the men who had come to their relief, as if they feared some savage would drag them away. They were all es- corted tenderly to the tents prepared for their reception and made as comfortable as circumstances would admit. The number of pure whites thus released amounted to about one hundred and fifty, including one man only, Mr. Spencer. The latter expressed his gratitude to Col- onel Sibley that he had not made a forced march upon the camp after the battle, stating emphatically that if such a course had been pursued, it was the determina- tion of the hostile Indians to cut the throats of the cap- tives, and then disperse in the prairies. There were delivered also, nearly two hundred and fifty half-breeds, who had been held as prisoners.
Two of the principal objects of the campaign, the defeat of the savage and the release of the captives, having now been consummated, there remained but to punish the guilty. Many of these, with Little Crow, had made their escape and could not be overtaken, but some of the small camps of refugees were surrounded and the inmates brought back. The locality where these events transpired was appropriately called Camp Release, and the name should be perpetuated.
At the proper time, the Indian camp was surrounded by a cordon of troops, and four hundred of the warriors were arrested, chained together in pairs, and placed in an enclosure of logs made by the troops, under strong guard. Others who were known to be innocent were not interfered with. Colonel Sibley constituted a mili- tary commission, with Colonel Crooks, commanding 6th Regiment, as president, for the trial of the prisoners.
240
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
A fair and impartial hearing was accorded to each, and the result was, the finding of three hundred and three guilty of participation in the murder of the whites, and the sentence of death by hanging was passed upon them. Others were convicted of robbery and pillage and were condemned to various terms of imprisonment, and a few were acquitted. The witnesses were composed of the released captives, including mixed bloods, and of Christian Indians who had refused to join Little Crow in the war. A full record was kept of each case that was tried.
The preparations for the execution of the guilty In- dians were brought to a summary close, by an order from President Lincoln prohibiting the hanging of any of the convicted men without his previous sanction. The people of the State were highly indignant at this suspension, and an energetic protest was made by their Senators and Representatives in Washington. Finally,
after much delay, Colonel Sibley was directed to carry ont the sentence of the commission in certain cases specified, and on December twenty-sixth, 1862, thirty- eight of the criminals were executed accordingly at Mankato, on the same scaffold, under the direction of Colonel Miller, commanding that post. The remainder of the condemned were sent to Davenport, Iowa, early in the spring, where they were kept in confinement for more than a year, a large number dying of disease in the meantime. Those that remained were eventually despatched to a reservation on the Upper Missouri, where the large number of prisoners taken by Colonel Sibley, principally women and children had already been placed.
The President testified his approbation of the conduct
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CAMPAIGN TERMINATED.
of Colonel Sibley by conferring upon him, unasked, the .commission of brigadier-general of volunteers, and the appointment was subsequently confirmed by the Senate.
Thus happily terminated the Indian campaign of 1862, entered upon without due preparation, against an enemy formidable in numbers, completely armed and equipped, and withal confident of their own powers and strength. It was a critical period in the history of the State, for it was then suspected, and has since been con- firmed, that if the column of troops under Colonel Sib- ley had met with a reverse, there would have been a rising of the Chippewas and Winnebagoes against the whites, and many of the counties west of the Missis- sippi would have been entirely depopulated. Indeed, in a speech to his warriors the night previous to the battle of Wood Lake, Little Crow stated the programme to be, first the defeat and destruction of the old men and boys composing, as he said, the command under Colonel Sibley, and second the immediate descent there- after of himself and his people to St. Paul, there to dis- pose summarily of the whites, and then establish them- selves comfortably in winter quarters. That the people of Minnesota succeeded, without extraneous aid, in speed- ily ending an Indian war of such threatening and form- idable proportions, while they continued to bear their full share of the burdens imposed on the Northern States in the suppression of the great rebellion, consti- tutes an epoch in their history of which they may be justly proud.
It was deemed requisite by the military authorities at Washington, and by Major-General Pope, command- ing the Department of the Northwest, that a second campaign should be entered upon against the refugees
242
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
who had been concerned in the massacres, and had fled to the upper prairies. where they had been hospitably received and harbored by the powerful bands of Sioux in that remote region. Accordingly, General Sully, commanding the District of the Upper Missouri, and General Sibley, commanding the District of Minnesota, were summoned to the head-quarters of the department at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to confer with General Pope. It was finally decided that a large force under the dis- trict commanders mentioned should march as early in the summer of 1863 as practicable, from Sioux City on the Missouri, and from a designated point on the Min- nesota River respectively, the objective-point of the two columns being Devil's Lake, where it was supposed the main body of Indians would be encountered. The force under General Sully was to be composed entirely of cavalry, and that under General Sibley of three reg- iments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and two sections of light artillery. The Minnesota column reached the point of rendezvous after a most weary and indeed distressing march, the summer being exceedingly warm, and the prairies parched with the excessive drouth. Learning from the Red River half-breeds that the large Indian camps were to be found on the Mis- souri coteau, in the direction from which General Sully was to be expected, General Sibley left the sore-footed and weary of his men and animals in an entrenched camp on the Upper Sheyenne River, and marched rap- idly towards the Missouri River. He succeeded in fall- ing in with the camp in which many of the refugees were to be found. and which contained several hundred warriors, attacked and defeated them with considerable loss, and followed them as they retreated upon other and
243
LITTLE CROW KILLED.
stronger camps, the tenants of which were driven back ยท in confusion successively, until the Missouri River was interposed as a barrier to the advance of the pursuing column. The command of General Sully, delayed by unexpected obstacles, was not fallen in with, and the Minnesota troops having accomplished more than was allotted to them in the co-operative movement, and se- cured their own frontier from apprehensions of further serious raids on the part of hostile Sioux, returned to their quarters in their own State. The year 1863 was also signalized by the death of Little Crow, who, with a small party of seventeen men, made a descent upon the frontier with the object of stealing horses, and after committing a few murders and depredations, he was fatally shot by a man named Lamson, in the Big Woods, and his son who was with him, was subsequently taken prisoner near Devil's Lake, by a.detachment from Gen- eral Sibley's column, condemned to death by military commission, but subsequently pardoned on account of his extreme youth. .
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
CHAPTER FIFTEENTH.
SERVICES OF REGIMENTS IN THE SOUTH.
On the first of March the fourth Regiment embarked at Memphis and entered the Yazoo Pass, and on the fifteenth of April returned to Milliken's Bend. A few days after, Colonel Sanborn was temporarily placed in command of Quinby's Division. On the thirtieth of April the regiment was opposite Grand Gulf, and in a few days they entered Port Gibson, and here Colonel Sanborn resumed the command of a brigade; and on the tenth of May the regiment, which was a part of his brigade, was present at the battle of Raymond, and on the fourteenth took part in the battle of Jackson.
A newspaper correspondent says: "Captain L. B. Martin, of the 4th Minnesota, A. A. G. to Colonel San- born, seized the flag of the 59th Indiana Infantry, rode rapidly beyond the skirmishers (Company H of 4th Minnesota, Lieutenant George A. Clark), and raised it over the dome of the capitol. Lieutenant Donaldson of the 4th, also riding in advance, captured a flag made of silk; on one side was inscribed 'Claiborne Rangers,' and on the other 'Our Rights.'
On the sixteenth the regiment was in the battle of Champion Hill, and took one hundred and eighteen prisoners. Four days later it was in the rear of Vicks- burg. Lieutenant-Colonel Tourtellotte reports as fol- lows:
FIFTH REGIMENT AT JACKSON AND VICKSBURG. 245
"On the morning of the twenty-second, by order of General Grant, an assault was made on Vicksburg. My regiment, with the forty-eighth Iowa for reserve and support, was ordered to charge upon one of the enemy's forts just in front, as soon as I should see a charge made upon the fort next on my right." This order being modified, the report continues: "No sooner had we taken position than General Burbage withdrew his brigade from the action. Under the direct fire from the fort in front, under a heavy cross-fire from a fort on our right, the regiment pressed forward up to and even on the enemy's works. In this position, contending for the possession of the rebel earthwork, the regiment remained for two hours, when it became dark, and I was ordered by Colonel Sanborn to withdraw the regiment. Noticing a field-piece which had been lifted up the hill by main strength, and which had apparently been used by General Burbage in attempting to batter down the walls of the fort, I sent Company C to withdraw the piece from the ground and down the hill. * *
* In this action the regiment suffered severely, losing some of its best officers and men."
The Fifth Regiment, attached to the Third Division of Fifteenth Army Corps, reached Grand Gulf on the seventh of May. On the thirteenth they were at Ray- mond, and the next day in action near Jackson. On the twenty-second it was before Vicksburg, and exposed to a galling fire, but lost only two men.
The First Regiment left Falmouth, Virginia, and by hurried marches reached Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the first of July. The next morning Hancock's Corps, to which it was attached, moved to a ridge, the right resting on Cemetery Hill, the left near Sugar Loaf
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
Mountain. The line of battle was a semi-ellipse, and Gibbons' Division, to which the regiment was attached, occupied the centre of the curve nearest the enemy. 1
Captain H. C. Coates, commanding the regiment after the battle, writes:
"At three o'clock on the morning of the second instant, we were ordered into position in the front and about the center of our line just to the left of the town. The battle commenced at daylight and raged with fury the entire day. We were under a severe artillery fire, but
1 As the battle of Gettysburg was one of the decisive battles of the Rebellion, we give the following extracts from a most graphic account, written by one signing himself "Sergeant," which appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer, August 9, 163.
He says: "General Hancock rode np to Colonel Colville, and, pointing to the smoke-covered masses of the advancing foe, said, 'Colonel, advance and take their colors" 'Forward" shouted our Colonel, and as one man we commenced to move down the slope towards a little run at its foot, which the enemy evi- dently wished to gain. Now their cannon were pointed to us. and round shot, grape, and shrapnel tore fearfully through our ranks, and the more deadly Enfield rifles were directed to us alone. Great heavens, how fast our men fell! Marching as file-closer, it seemed as if every step was over some fallen comrade. Yet no man wavers, every gap is closed up, and, bringing down their bayonets, the boys press shoulder to shoulder; and disdaining the fictitious courage pro- ceeding from noise and excitement, without a word or cheer, but with silent, desperate determination, step firmly forward in anbroken line within a hundred -within fifty steps of the foe. Three times their colors are shot down, and three times arising go forward as before. One-fourth of the men have fallen, and yet no shot has been fired at the enemy, who paused a moment to look upon that line of leveled bayonets, and then, panic-stricken, turned and ran; but another line took their place, and poured murderous volleys into us. not thirty yards distant, 'Charge" cried Colonel Colville, and with a wild cheer we ran at them. We fired away, three, four, five irregular volleys, and but little ammunition is wasted, when the muzzles of opposing guns almost meet. The enemy seemed to sink into the ground. They are checked and stag- gered; one division came up at this instant. and before we recovered from the bewilderment of the shock, we scarcely knew how, but the rebels are swept back over the plain. But, good God! where was the First Minnesota? Our flag was carried back to the battery, and seventy men, scarce one of them unmarked by scratches and bullet holes through their clothing, are all that formed around it. The other two hundred, alas! lay bleeding under it. Our field officers, rendered conspicnons by their great personal stature and cool and dashing gallantry, had all fallen, each perced by several balls, and the coinmand devolved upon Captain Messick. Tired and weary, we might not sleep, or even build tires to make coffee. but rested on our arms all the long, damp, drizzling night, in wakeful anticipation of an attack. Red and fiery through the morning mists at length arose the sun on the third of July. The forenoon passed as did the previous one. About noon two guns were fired as a sort of signal, and immediately after one hundred and eighty pieces of cannon opened on our line. When you remember our formation and that of the enemy conformed to it, you will see that their cannon were on three sides of us and that their converging lines of fire crossed each other in all directions over us. Many of their shot fired from batteries to the west of us, passed clear over our 'horse shoe,' and fell among their own men facing us from the east. Imagine our position in the centre! Our artillery opened ns vigorously in return, and
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