History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 40

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Minnesota > Fillmore County > History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota > Part 40

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HISTORY OF THE SIOUX MASSACRE.

night, their leader, Little Crow, vainly ordering them to charge on the guns. They formed once for that purpose, about sundown, but a shell and round of canister sent into their midst closed the contest, when, with an unearthly yell of rage and dis- appointment, they left. These shots, as was after- wards ascertained, killed and wounded seventeen of their number. Jones continued to shell the ravine and timber around the fort until after dark, when the firing ceased, and then, as had been done on each night before, since the investment of the fort, the men all went to their several posts to wait and watch for the coming of the wily foe. The night waned slowly; but they must not sleep; their foe is sleepless, and that wide area of dry shingled roof must be closely scanned, and the approaches be vigilantly guarded, by which he may, under cover of the darkness, creep upon them unawares.

Morning broke at last, the sun rode up a clear and cloudless sky, but the foe came not. The day passed away, and no attack; the night again, and then another day; and yet other days and nights of weary, sleepless watching, but neither friend nor foe approached the fort, until about daylight on Wednesday morning, the 27th, when the cry was heard from the look-out on the roof, "There are horsemen coming on the St. Peter road, across the ravine!" Are they friends or foes? was the ques- tion on the tongues of all. By their cautious movements they were evidently reconnoitering, and it was yet too dark for those in the fort to be able to tell, at that distance, friends from foes. But as daylight advanced, one hundred and fifty mounted men were seen dashing through the ra- vine; and amidst the wild hurras of the assembled garrison, Colonel Samuel McPhail, at the head of two companies of citizen-cavalry, rode into the fort. In command of a company of these men were Anson Northrup, from Minneapolis, an . old frontiers-man, and R. H. Chittenden, of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. This force had ridden all night, having left St. Peter, forty-five miles dis- tant, at 6 o'clock the night before. From them the garrison learned that heavy reinforcements were on their way to their relief, under Colonel (now Brigadier-General) H. H. Sibley. The worn- out and exhausted garrison could now sleep with a feeling of comparative security. The number of killed and wounded of the enemy is not known, but must have been considerable, as, at the close oi each battle, they were seen carrying away their

dead and wounded. Our own fallen heroes were buried on the edge of the prairie near the fort; and the injuries of the wounded men were care- fully attended to by the skillful and excellent post- surgeon, Dr. Alfred Muller.

We close our account of this protracted siege by a slight tribute or behalf of the sick and wounded in that garrison, to one whose name will ever be mentioned by them with love and respect. The hospitals of Sebastopol had their Florence Nightingale, and over every blood-stained field of the South, in our own struggle for national life, hovered angels of mercy, cheering and soothing the sick and wounded, smoothing the pillows and closing the eyes of our fallen braves. And when, in after years, the brave men who fell, sorely wounded, in the battles of Fort Ridgely, Birch Coolie, and Wood Lake, fighting against the savage hordes who overran the borders of our beautiful State, in August and September, 1862, carrying the flaming torch, the gleaming toma- hawk, and bloody scalping-knife to hundreds of peaceful homes, shall tell to their children and children's children the story of the "dark and bloody ground" of Minnesota, and shall exhibit to them the scars those wounds have left; they will tell, with moistened cheek and swelling hearts of the noble, womanly deeds of Mrs. Eliza Muller, the "Florence Nightingale" of Fort Ridgely. [Mrs. Muller several years since died at the asylum at St. Peter.]

SERGEANT JOHN JONES.

We feel that the truth of history will not be fully vindicated should we fail to bestow upon a brave and gallant officer that meed of praise so justly due. The only officer of experience left in the fort by the death of its brave commandant was Ser- geant John Jones, of the regular artillery; and it is but just to that gallant officer that we should say that but for the cool courage and discretion of Sergeant Jones, Fort Ridgely would, in the first day's battle have become a funeral pyre for all within its doomed walls. And it gives us more than ordinary pleasure to record the fact, that the services he then rendered the Government, in the defense of the frontier were fully recognized and rewarded with the commission of Captain of the Second Minnesota Battery.

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CAPTAIN WHITCOMB AT FOREST CITY.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

CAPTAIN WHITCOMB'S ARRIVAL AT ST. PAUL-PASSES THROUGH MEEKER COUNTY-A FORT CONSTRUCTED -ENGAGEMENT WITH INDIANS-ATTACK ON FOREST CITY-CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY-CAPTAIN STROUT AT GLENCOE-ATTACKED NEAR ACTON BY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY INDIANS-ATTACK ON HUTCHINSON.

This chapter will be devoted to the upper por- tion of the state, and the movements of troops for the relief of the frontier, not immediately con- nected with the main expedition under Colonel Sibley; and to avoid repetition, the prominent in- cidents of the massacre in this portion of the state will be given in connection with the movements of the troops. We quote from the Adjutant-Gen- eral's Report:

The 19th day of August the first news of the outbreak at Redwood' was received at St. Paul. On the same day a messenger arrived from Meeker county, with news of murders committed in that county by the Indians, and an earnest demand for assistance. The murders were committed at Ac- ton, about twelve miles from Forest City, on Sun- day, the 17th day of the month. The circum- stances under which these murders were committed are fully detailed in a previous chapter.

George C. Whitcomb, commander of the state forces raised in the county of Meeker, was sta- tioned at Forest City. On the 19th of August, Mr. Whitcomb arrived at St. Paul, and received from the state seventy-five stand of arms and a small quantity of ammunition, for the purpose of enabling the settlers of Meeker county to stand on the defensive, until other assistance could be sent to their aid. With these in his possession, he started on his return, and, on the following day he met Col. Sibley at Shakopee, by whom he was or- dered to raise a company of troops and report with command to the Colonel, at Fort Ridgely. On ar- riving at Hutchinson, in McLeod county, he found the whole country on a general stampede, and small bands of Indians lurking in the border of Meeker county.

Captain Richard Strout was ordered, under date of August 24, to proceed with a company of men to Forest City, in the county of Meeker, for the protection of that locality.

In the meantime Captain Whitcomb arrived at Forest City with the arms furnished him by the

state, with the exception of those left by him at Hutchinson. Upon his arrival he speedily en- listed, for temporary service, a company of fifty- three men. twenty-five of whom were mounted, and the remainder were to act as infantry.

Captain Whitcomb, with the mounted portion of his company, made a rapid march into the county of Monongalia, to a point about thirty miles from Forest City, where he found the bodies of two men who had been shot by the Indians, who had muti lated the corpses by cutting their throats and scalping them. In the same vicinity he found the ruins of three houses that had been burned, and the carcasses of a large number of cattle that had been wantonly killed and devoted to destruction.

Owing to rumors received at this point, he pro- ceeded in a north-westerly direction, to the distance of ten miles further, and found on the route the remains of five more of the settlers, all of whom . had been shot and scalped, and some of them were otherwise mutilated by having their hands cut off and gashes cut in their faces, done apparently with hatchets.

On the return to camp at Forest City, when within about four miles of Acton, he came to a point on the road where a train of wagons had been attacked on the 23d. He here found two more dead bodies of white men, mutilated in a shocking manner by having their hands cut off, being dis- emboweled and otherwise disfigured, having knives still remaining in their abdomens, where they had been left by the savages. The road at this place was, for three miles, lined with the carcasses of dead cattle, a great portion of which belonged to the train upon which the attack had been made. On this excursion the company were abont four days, during which time they traveled over one hundred miles, and buried the bodies of nine per- sons who had been murdered.

On the next day after having returned to the camp, being the 28th of the month, the same party made a circuit through the western portion of Meeker county, and buried the bodies of three more men that were found mutilated and disfigured in a similar manner to those previously mentioned. In addition to the other services rendered by the company thus far, they had discovered and re- moved to the camp several persons found wounded and disabled in the vicinity, and two, who had been very severely wounded, had been sent by them to St. Cloud for the purpose of receiving surgical attention.

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The company, in addition to their other labors, were employed in the construction of a stockade fort, to be used if necessary for defensive purposes, and for the protection of those who were not capa- ble of bearing arms. It was formed by inserting the ends of pieces of rough timber into the earth to the depth of three feet, and leaving them from ten to twelve feet above the surface of the ground. In this way an area was inclosed of one hundred and forty feet in length and one hundred and thirty in width. Within the fortification was in- cluded one frame dwelling-house and a well of water. At diagonal corners of the inclosure were erected two wings or bastions provided with port- holes, from each of which two sides of the main work could be guarded and raked by the rifles of the company.

Information was received by Captain Whitcomb that a family at Green Lake, in Monongalia county, near the scenes visited by him in his expedition to that county, had made their escape from the In- dians, and taken refuge upon an island in the lake. In attempting to rescue this family Captain Whit- comb had a severe encounter with Indians found in ambush near the line of Meeker county, and after much skirmishing and a brisk engagement, which proved very much to the disadvantage of the Indians, they succeeded in effecting their es- cape to the thickly-timbered region in the rear of their first position. The members of the company were nearly all experienced marksmen, and the Springfield rifles in their hands proved very gall- ing to the enemy. So anxious was the latter to effect his retreat, that he left three of his dead upon the ground. No loss was sustained on the part of our troops, except a flesh-wound in the leg received by one of the company. As it was deemed unadvisable to pursue the Indians into the heavy timber with the small force at command, the detachment fell back to their camp, arriving the same evening.

On the following day, Captain Whitcomb, taking with him twenty men from his company, and twenty citizens who volunteered for the occa- sion, proceeded on the same route taken the day previous. With the increase in his forces he expected to be able, without much difficulty, to overcome the Indians previously encountered. After proceeding about ten miles from the camp, their further progress was again disputed by the Indians, who had likewise been reinforced since their last encounter. Owing to the great superi-

ority of the enemy's forces, the Captain withdrew his men. They fell gradually back, fighting steadily on the retreat, and were pursued to within four miles of the encampment. In this contest, one Indian is known to have been killed. On the part of the whites one horse and wagon got mired in a slough, and had to be abandoned. No other injury was suffered from the enemy; but two men were wounded by the accidental discharge of a gun in their own ranks.

A fortification was prepared, and the citizens, with their families, were removed within the inclosure. Captain Whitcomb quartered his com- pany in the principal hotel of the place, and guards were stationed for the night, while all the men were directed to be prepared for any contin- gency that might arise, and be in readiness for using their arms at any moment.

Between 2 and 3 o'clock the following morning, the guards discovered the approach of Indians, and gave the alarm. As soon as the savages per- ceived that they were discovered, they uttered the war-whoop, and poured a volley into the hotel where the troops were quartered. The latter immediately retired to the stockade, taking with them all the ammunition and equipments in their possession. They had scarcely effected an en- trance when fire was opened upon it from forty or fifty Indian rifles. Owing to the darkness of the morning, no distinct view could be obtained of the enemy, and, in consequence, no very effective fire could be opened upon him.

While one party of the Indians remained to keep up a fire upon the fort and harass the garrison, another portion was engaged in setting fire to buildings and haystacks, while others, at the same time, were engaged in collecting horses and cattle found in the place, and driving them off. Occa- sional glimpses could be obtained of those near the fires, but as soon as a shot was fired at them they would disappear in the darkness. Most of the buildings burned, however, were such a dis -. tance from the fort as to be out of range of the guns of the garrison. The fire kept up from that point prevented the near approach of the incen- diary party, and by that means the principal part of the town was saved from destruction. On one occasion an effort was made to carry the flames into a more central part of the town, and the torches in the hands of the party were seen approaching the office of A. C. Smith, Esq. Directed by the light of the torches, a volley was

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poured into their midst from the fort, whereupon the braves hastily abandoned their incendiary implements and retreated from that quarter of the village. From signs of blood afterward found upon the ground, some of the Indians were sup- posed to have met the fate intended for them, but no dead were left behind. .

The fight continued, without other decided re- sults, until about daylight, at which time the prin- cipal part of the forces retired. As the light in- creased, so that objects became discernible, a small party of savages were observed engaged in dri- ving off a number of cattle. A portion of the garrison, volunteering for the purpose, sallied out to recover the stock, which they accomplish- ed, with the loss of two men wounded, one of them severely.

This company had no further encounters with the Indians, but afterward engaged in securing the grain and other property belonging to the set- tlers who had abandoned, or been driven from, their farms and homes. Nearly every settlement be- tween Forest City and the western frontier had, by this time, been deserted, and the whole country was in the hands of the savages. In speaking of his endeavors to save a portion of the property thus abandoned, Captain Whitcomb, on the 7th of September, wrote as follows:

"It is only in their property that the inhabitants can now be injured; the people have all fled. The country is totally abandoned. Not an inhab- itant remains in Meeker county, west of this place. No white person ( unless a captive) is now living in Kandiyohi or Monongalia county."

On the 1st of September, Captain Strout, who had previously arrived at Glencoe, made prepara- tions for a further advance. Owing to the vigor- ous measures adopted by General John H. Stevens, of the State militia, it was thought unnecessary that any additional forces should be retained at this point. Under his directions no able-bodied man having deserted the country further to the westward, had been permitted to leave the neigh- borhood, or pass through. All such were re- quired to desist from further flight, and assist in making a stand, in order to check the further advance of the destroyers of their homes. The town of Glencoe had been fortified to a certain extent, and a military company of seventy-three members had been organized, and armed with such guns as were in possession of the settlers. With Glencoe thus provided for, General Stevens did

not hesitate to advise, nor Captain Strout to at- tempt a further advance into the overrun and threatened territory.

The company of the latter, by this time, had been increased by persons, principally from Wright county, who volunteered their services for the ex-" pedition, until it numbered about seventy-five men. With this force he marched, as already stated, on the 1st day of September.

Passing through Hutchinson on his way, no 'op- position was encountered until the morning of the 3d of September. On the night previous, he had arrived at and encamped near Acton, on the west- ern border of Meeker county.

At about half-past five o'clock the next morning his camp was attacked by a force comprising about one hundred and fifty Indians. The onset was made from the direction of Hutchinson, with the design, most probably, of cutting off the retreat of the company, and of precluding the possibility of sending a messenger after reinforcements. They fought with a spirit and zeal that seemed determ- ined to annihilate our little force, at whatever cost it might require.

For the first half hour Captain Strout formed his company into four sections, in open order, and pressed against them as skirmishers. Finding their forces so much superior to his own, he concentra- ted the force of his company, and hurled them against the main body of the enemy. In this manner the fight was kept up for another hour and a half, the Indians falling slowly back as they were pressed, in the direction of Hutchinson, but maintaining all the while their order and line of battle. At length the force in front of the compa- ny gave way, and falling upon the rear, continued to harrass it in its retreat.

About one-half of the savages were mounted, partly on large, fine horses, of which they had plundered the settlements, and partly on regular Indian ponies. These latter were so well trained for the business in which they were now engaged, that their riders would drive them at a rapid rate to within any desirable distance of our men, when pony and rider would both instantly lio down in the tall grass, and thus become concealed from the aim of the sharp-shooters of the company.

With the intention, most likely, of creating a panic in our ranks, and causing the force to scat- ter, and become separately an easy prey to the pursuers, the Indians would at times, nttering the most terrific and unearthly yells of which their

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lungs and skill were capable, charge in a mass upon the little band. On none of these occasions, however, did a single man falter or attempt a flight; and, after approaching within one hundred yards of the retreating force, and perceiving that they still remained firm, the Indians would halt the charge, and seek concealment in the grass or elsewhere, from which places they would continue their fire.

After having thus hung upon and harrassed the rear of the retreating force for about half an hour, at the end of which time the column had arrived within a short distance of Cedar City, in the extreme north-west corner of McLeod county, the pursuit was given up, and the company continued the retreat without further opposition to Hutchin- son, at which place it arrived at an early hour in the same afternoon.

The loss of the company in the encounter was three men killed and fifteen wounded, some of them severely. All were, however, brought from the field.

In addition to this they lost most of their ra- tions, cooking utensils, tents, and a portion of their ammunition and arms. Some of their horses became unmanageable and ran away. Some were mired and abandoned, making, with those killed by the enemy, an aggregate loss of nine. The loss inflicted upon the enemy could not be de- termined with any degree of certainty, but Cap- tain Strout was of the opinion that their killed and wounded were two or three times as great as ours.

At Hutchinson a military company, consisting of about sixty members, had been organized for the purpose of defending the place against any attacks from the Indians. Of this company Lewis Har- rington was elected captain. On the first appre- hension of danger a house was barricaded as a last retreat in case of necessity. The members of the company, aided by the citizens, afterward con- structed a small stockade fort of one hundred feet square. It was built after the same style as that at Forest City, with bastions in the same position, and a wall composed of double timbers rising to the height of eight feet above the ground. The work was provided with loop-holes, from which a musketry fire could be kept up, and was of suffi- cient strength to resist any projectiles that the sav- ages had the means of throwing. At this place Captain Strout halted his company, to await fur- ther developments.

At about nine o'clock on the next morning, the

4th of September, the Indians approached the town thus garrisoned and commenced the attack. They were replied to from the fortification; but. as they were careful not to come within close range, and used every means to conceal their per- sons, but little punishment was inflicted upon them. They bent their energies more in attempts to burn the town than to inflict any serious injury upon the military. In these endeavors they were so far successful as to burn all the buildings sit- uated on the bluff in the rear of the town, includ- ing the college building, which was here. located. They at one time succeeded in reaching almost the heart of the village, and applying the incendiary torch to two of the dwelling-houses there situated, which were consumed.

Our forces marched out of the fort and engaged them in the open field; but, owing to the superior numbers of the enemy, and their scattered and hidden positions, it was thought that no advantage could be gained in this way, and, after driving them out of the town, the soldiers were recalled to the fort. The day was spent in this manner, the Indians making a succession of skirmishes, but at the same time endeavoring to maintain a sufficient distance between them and the soldiers to insure an almost certain impunity from the fire of their muskets. At about five o'clock in the evening their forces were withdrawn, and our troops rested on their arms, in expectation of a renewal of the fight in a more desperate form.

As soon as General Stevens was informed of the attack made upon Captain Strout, near Acton, and his being compelled to fall back to Hutchinson, he directed Captain Davis to proceed to the com- mand of Lieutenant Weinmann, then stationed near Lake Addie, in the same county, to form a junction of the two commands, and proceed to Hutchinson and reinforce the command of Captain Strout.

On the morning of the 4th of September the pickets belonging to Lieutenant Weinmann's com- mand reported having heard firing in the direction of Hutchinson. The Lieutenant immediately as- cended an eminence in the vicinity of his camp, and from that point could distinguish the smoke from six different fires in the same direction. Being satisfied from these indications that an at- tack had been made upon Hutchinson, he deter- mined at once to march to the assistance of the place. Leaving behind him six men to collect the teams and follow with the wagons, he started with

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the remainder of his force in the direction indi- cated.

Some time after he had commenced his march the company of Captain Davis arrived at the camp he had just left.

Upon learning the state of affairs, the mounted company followed in the same direction, and, in a short time, came up with Lieutenant Weinmann. A junction of their forces was, immediately effect- ed, and they proceeded in a body to Hutchinson, at which place they arrived about 6 o'clock in the evening. No Indians had been encountered on the march, and the battle, so long and so diligently kept up during most of the day, had just been terminated, and the assailing forces withdrawn. A reconnoissance, in the immediate vicinity, was made from the fort on the same evening, but none of the Indians, who, a few hours before, seemed to be everywhere, could be seen; but the bodies of three of their victims, being those of one woman and two children, were found and brought to the village.

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History of Fillmore County, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Part 40

Author: Edward D. Neill Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Edward D. Neill
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: