Chapter 10 Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising (continued)

Background: At this point in the story line, Chief Scout Toby Ryker is visiting the sick and wounded soldiers from the Dakota Conflict and the larger Civil War at Fort Snelling. He meets a mortally wounded young soldier named Edwin Balch from Glencoe, Minnesota, and accompanies him on his last journey home. We call him Eddy and have him as an amputee with gangrene. Balch is cited on page 333 of Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-1865 published in 1890 by the Pioneer Press Company, St Paul, Minnesota. The cite states: Enlisted Men Balch, Edwin, age 20, mustered in June 13, '62, mustered out (blank) Died November 27, '62 at Glencoe, Minn. This is our literary tribute to Edwin Balch. 

Once Ryker was settled in the wagon, Henrick clucked to the horses and the short caravan headed west from Fort Snelling. Eddy’s cheerful voice could be heard by passersby as he moved his pegs up and down the board and as he counted, “Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, and a pair is eight,” when the pegging was done. 
Ryker didn’t try to let the boy win the games easily. He played it straight, but quickly realized he was no match for the skill of this soldier when it came to playing cribbage. They covered sixteen miles that day, which took them beyond the southwest side of Minneapolis. There they made camp for the evening and helped Eddy with his slops and changed his bandages. Henrick, a quiet man, proved to be not only an able teamster but also a good orderly and cook as well. He prepared a tasty hot dish of potatoes, corn, and ground beef, and added to it some dried mushrooms. Ryker figured no Swede, not even Big Faye, could have done it better. 
That night, they built a campfire and moved Eddy’s cot out and set it next to the flames. They visited and joked and even Henrick joined in. Both Ryker and Eddy were pleasantly surprised when Henrick brought out a banjo from under the wagon seat and began to play some lively tunes. Ryker dug out his Jew’s harp and twanged along with Henrick, and Eddy laughed with glee. For a little while he was Eddy Balch, a normal twenty-one year old man from Glencoe rather than Private Edwin Balch, wounded war veteran, making the last long trip home to die. Ryker glanced at him several times and was amazed at the spirit of this fellow. 
“Hey Henrick, you know ‘Oh, Susanna?’” Eddy asked excitedly. “The boys down south sing it a lot and it sounds real good with a banjo.” 
“You mean, like this?” Henrick immediately launched into a lively version of the popular Civil War melody. Eddy picked up the beat and began to sing the words to the Stephen Foster song, but with his own twist to it. 

I came from Alabama 
With my banjo on my knee 
I’m going to Minnesota 
My true love for to see. 
It rained all night the day I left 
The weather it was dry 
The sun so hot, I froze to death 
My Becky don’t you cry. 
Oh! My Becky, 
Oh don’t you cry for me 
I’ve come from Alabama 
With my banjo on my knee 
I had a dream the other night 
When everything was still 
I thought I saw my Becky 
A-coming down the hill 
The buckwheat cake was in her mouth 
The tear was in her eye 
Says I, I’m going to the North 
My Becky don’t you cry. 
Oh! My Becky, 
Oh don’t you cry for me 
I’ve come from Alabama 
With my banjo on my knee 
I soon will be in Glencoe town 
And then I’ll look around 
And when I find my Becky 
I’ll fall upon the ground. 
But if I do not find her 
This man will surely die 
And when I’m dead and buried 
My Becky, don’t you cry. 
Oh! My Becky 
Oh, don’t you cry for me 
I’ve come from Alabama 
With my banjo on my knee 

Read the story of the Sioux Uprising in the format of your choice below as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Dakota Conflict of 1862. 
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Chapter 10 Blood on the Prairie: A Novel of the Sioux Uprising Serial (continued)

Background: At this point in the story line, Chief Scout Toby Ryker is visiting the sick and wounded soldiers from the Dakota Conflict and the larger Civil War

at Fort Snelling. He meets a mortally wounded young soldier named Edwin Balch from Glencoe, Minnesota, and accompanies him on his last journey home. We call him Eddy and have him as an amputee with gangrene. Balch is cited on page 333 of Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-1865 published in 1890 by the Pioneer Press Company, St Paul, Minnesota. The cite states: Enlisted Men Balch, Edwin, age 20, mustered in June 13, '62, mustered out (blank) Died November 27, '62 at Glencoe, Minn. This is our literary tribute to Edwin Balch.

"Hey Eddy, I see you're anxious to get to Glencoe," Ryker said.
"Sure am," Eddy said. "I can hardly wait. I wonder how long it will take."
"We got to go slowly," Henrick said. "I don't want to jostle you around on these rutted trails on account of your injuries. Probably four or five days, I'd guess."
"Then I'm glad you're coming along, Toby. You can keep me company."
Sure thing," Ryker said. "I got my cribbage board along, and some cards and some pennies to play poker with."
"Cribbage?" said Eddy, smiling. " I love to play cribbage! When Becky, she's my girl, and I used to get together on a date, we'd sometimes play cribbage for hours."
"The heck you say."
"Yeah!"
"Didn't you do any courting?"
"Well," Eddy said, blushing, "we did some of that too."
"Well I should hope so. Tell you what, " Ryker added as he tied Wino too the back of the ambulance, "I'll ride with you in the wagon so we can play cribbage while we ride. It'll sharpen your skills so much that by the time we get to Glencoe, you'll be so danged handy with this cribbage board that you'll beat Becky every time."
"Oh, I can't beat her every time," Eddy said seriously. "That would hurt her feelings, and it would get her steamed up, too. I have to let her win most of the time."
"I think that's what they called being chivalrous back in the olden days, Eddy."
"Well, i don't know what it's called, but I know I have to do it."

Read the complete book "Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising at your choice of links below, as the 150th anniversary commemoration of the Dakota Conflict of 1862 continues.
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Chapter 10 Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising

Background: At this point in the story line, Chief Scout Toby Ryker is visiting the sick and wounded soldiers from the Dakota Conflict and the larger Civil War at Fort Snelling. He meets a mortally wounded young soldier named Edwin Balch from Glencoe, Minnesota, and accompanies him on his last journey home. We call him Eddy and have him as an amputee with gangrene. Balch is cited on page 333 of Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-1865 published in 1890 by the Pioneer Press Company, St Paul, Minnesota. The cite states: Enlisted Men Balch, Edwin, age 20, mustered in  June 13, '62, mustered out (blank) Died November 27, '62 at Glencoe, Minn. This is our literary tribute to Edwin Balch, serialized.

Chapter 10 - "How are you feeling today?" Ryker said to Edwin Balch as he entered the infirmary at Fort Snelling. The surgeon was changing the young man's bandages and inspecting his wounds.
"Pretty good, considering," Eddy replied.
"Well, young man," the surgeon said, trying to sound cheerful, "I think you are ready to go home today." He looked at Ryker so the boy couldn't see, and shook his head sadly.
"How will I get there?" Eddy asked. "I can't sit a horse."
"Don't fret about that," the surgeon said. "You'll ride home in style in one of our fancy new ambulance wagons."
"That's good," the private said, grinning. "Toby Ryker here is coming with me."
"He is?"
"Yup, I promised him one of my Mama's delicious pot roast dinners."
"What I know of Ryker, he'll ride a hundred miles out of his way for a dinner like that."
"You got that right, sir," Ryker replied. "An army travels on its stomach, you know."
"That it does. Well, Private Balch, let's get you into the ambulance, so you can be on your way."
While the physician and the hospital stewards  assisted Private Balch, Ryker headed to his quarters in the barracks and readied himself for the trip. Once he had his clothing and weapons and all his other truck packed, he went to the stable and saddled Wino. The big gelding seemed happy to be heading back to the trail. Like its rider, it never liked standing around doing nothing for vary long.
Arriving back at the infirmary, he saw that Eddy was tucked comfortably into the ambulance wagon, and was busy eating a sandwich. The driver, Henry Henrick, a teamster and wagoneer with Company E of the Sixth, sat up on the front seat. He read the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper until they were ready to roll.
"Hey Eddy, I see you are anxious to get to Glencoe," Ryker said.
"Sure am," Eddy said. "I can hardly wait. I wonder how long it will take."
(to be continued)
Read the entire story of "Blood on the Prairie a Novel of the Sioux Uprising" in the format of your choice at the following links:
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American Civil War, Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising, Dakota Conflict

Coming soon for your review is a serialization of chapter 10 of "Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising," telling the story of a young union soldier, mortally wounded in Mister Lincoln's war, making his last journey home. This bittersweet character-driven story, although fictional, is based on an actual casualty of the American Civil War.

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Fighting an Indian War is Tedious for You and Me. We Need a Break (Continued)

We are back at the Metropolitan Hotel in St. Paul with Chief Scout Toby Ryker, who is on furlough from the Dakota Conflict authorized by his commander, Henry Sibley. He and his Swedish girly friend, Big Faye Knutsen are cavorting about in her bedchamber. Ryker is about to tell her a joke he heard in camp.

"And speaking of dumbbells, did you hear the story about Hans and Hannah's wedding?"
"Oh, I suppose," she said, drawing a deep breath. "Another Hans and Hannah joke? You do need to get more material."
"Oh, maybe someday," Ryker said.
"Okay, I'm listening."
"Well, Hans marries Hannah, see, and the two start off in the buggy on their honeymoon. They got married in Glueck, out west by Montevideo, and were going to spend their honeymoon in Granite Falls, but by the time they got half way there, Hans was so danged smitten with passion over Hannah's beauty that he pulled the buggy off the trail and started kissing her all over. Well, after a while, Hannah, she gets passionate, too. She starts wheezing, and breathing heavy, and squirming around, and then she farts a couple times, you know, just like you do to signal when you're really excited, and she says, 'Uff-da, Hans, she says, "you shure do-on't have tah stop.' So Hans, he says, 'Yes, my dearest," and clucks to the horse and drives the buggy clear into Granite Falls." Ryker paused and looked at Big Faye, who looked back at him with a blank expression on her face.
"Yeah? So?"
"So, that's it," Ryker replied. "That's the joke."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what's so danged funny about that?"
"You see, Faye, when Hannah told Hans he didn't have to stop, She meant he didn't have to just kiss her, but he could go all the way and let the stallion out of the corral and put the blocks to her. But Hans, he thought she was talkin' about the horse." Ryker chuckled as he said it.
"What about the horse?" Faye said.
"Huh?"
"What about the horse then? Why would Hans think Hannah was talking about the horse?"
"Because he stopped the horse before he started kissin' Hannah, that's why."
"Oh." Faye thought a moment. "Oh, I get it! Hans thought Hannah meant he shouldn't have stopped the horse!"
"Yup, you got it, Faye."
"But if he hadn't stopped the horse, how could he start kissing Hannah? With all that bouncing around, the buggy would have tipped over."
"Well..."
"Or, if he hadn't stopped the horse, he would have to put the reins down when he went to kiss Lena..."
"Faye."
"...and the horse would have run away."
"Faye."
"That would have been just awful."
"Close your pretty mouth, Faye. It's a joke, that's all. Don't bust your brain trying to figure it out."
"Well, okay, but it's kind of a stupid joke, if you should ask me."
"That's what I love about you, Faye. You're so danged dense."
"Aw..." Faye snuggled up to him, "that's what I love about you too, my lard-ass soldier boy. Come over here to mama and give me some loving."
He kissed her. "Do you want to do the dance of love?"
"No, I want you to put the blocks to me, like Lena wanted Ole to do."
"You sure have a way with words, Faye."
"I know. It's a Swedish thing."
(Author's note: Faye was so used to hearing Ole and Lena jokes that she confused the names with Hans and Hannah. This explanation sits better with me than to admit I confused the names. Anyway, Faye can handle it. She's got broad shoulders.)

Read "Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising" at the links below.
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Fighting an Indian War is Tedious for You and Me. We Need a Break.

So do our characters. Fictional scout Toby Ryker is, by this time, experiencing burnout, battle fatigue, shell-shock, or as it is called today, Delayed Stress Syndrome. He realizes this and asks Sibley for a leave of absence for some R & R. Sibley agrees and issues Ryker a furlough, and he's off to St. Paul to visit Big Faye Knutsen, his Swedish whore, for relaxation. From "Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising," here is the report on their rendezvous.

   Two hours and a bathtub full of trail dust later, Ryker emerged from Faye's personal toilette dressed in a crimson robe that she had bought him the previous Christmas. She sat with him as he bathed, scrubbed his back, and added sweet smelling toilet water to the tub. He came out not only clean, but also smelling like a refined gentleman rather than horse manure and saddle leather.
   Ryker scratched his whiskers. "You know, a fellow could get used to this."
   "Hell, just up and quit the army and move in here. There's sure plenty of work to do, and I can use the help."
   "Naw, reckon I wouldn't make a gentleman of leisure. But I thank you for offering to marry me."
   "Who said anything about marriage?" Faye replied. "I don't want to marry you. I just want you to live with me."
   "Oh, Faye, you just want me to be your love slave. Now, admit it."
   "I have to admit that for not being a Swede, you're pretty good in the sack."
   "Thanks. It runs in the family. Have you had any excitement up here lately?"
   "Not much, just those two idiots who rode down the street last week."
   "Who's that?"
   "Well, Ethel and me, see, we were sitting on the front steps airing ourselves out when these two guys come up Wabasha Avenue riding a Missouri mule. They looked kind of stupid, so after they rode past, I says to Ethel, I says, 'Look at those two assholes on that mule!" I must have said it kind of loud, because they heard me say it too."
   "You? Talking loud? Go on, Faye. I don't believe it."
   "Oh, shut up," Faye said, slapping him playfully on the arm. "So anyway, after I said that, those two morons climbed off that mule and backed it up so its butt was facing us, and then they lifted its tail and looked and said, 'Naw, he only has one asshole. See?' Well, that mule didn't like us gawking at its bung, I guess, so it up and kicked at those two fellows, and when they fell back, the danged critter up and ran away."
   Ryker stared at Faye a second then started to laugh so hard he turned red in the face. "Stop it, Faye. You'll give me the apoplexy!"
   Faye chuckled. "I haven't seen you laugh this hard since the time I tied you to my bed and tickled you with that feather."
   "It's good to laugh, Faye. This takes the knots out of my guts."
   "Yes, that's what this trip is all about for you, isn't it? Well, anyway, that story about those two dimwits on the mule is true. That's no joke. it really happened."
   "No! You got to be kidding me!"
   "If I'm lying, I'm dying."
   Breaking into hysterical laughter again, Ryker slapped his knee. "Well, if that don't beat all, for cripes sake." He shook his head and wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "So what did you do then?"
   "We didn't do nothing. We just went back insid ehte house and watched them wander up the street."
   "Did they ever catch their mule?"
   "Oh, sure, sure, it didn't wander very far. They climbed back on the dumb thing, and after the critter dumped a load of crap on my sidewalk, all three of them continued on down Wabasha Avenue."
   "I wonder who in the dickens they were."
   "Haven't the foggiest idea, except that the first one called the second one Steve and the second one called the first one Mike. But they were obviously a few bricks shy of a load."
   Ryker started laughing again. "I guess it takes all kinds to make a world, so they say."
   "I suppose."
(to be continued)

Read more about the antics of Big Faye Knutsen and Ryker on furlough at the links below.
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Letter From Governor Ramsey to President Lincoln

10/22/2012 3:25:45 PM
State of Minnesota, Executive Department,
St. Paul, October 22, 1862

To His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
President of the United States,
Dear Sir:
As I have before informed you on the 17th of August last the Sioux commenced a war, which for human barbarity is almost unexampled. I at once took most rigorous measures to protect our defenseless people and punish the savages. Fortunately about 2500 volunteers had assembled at Fort Snelling in response to your call; these with portions of state militia were sent to the frontier as fast as they could be armed and equipped; and shortly after a part of the Third Minnesota came to our aid, making in all about 4000 men. We had but few guns and no ammunition, no transportation or commissary stores.
I bought all the guns and ammunition to be had here and borrowed from neighboring states what they could spare.
Transportation and subsistence I ordered to be impressed, being my only means of procuring it, and two weeks thereafter the forces were in the exposed frontier, many of them much sooner. Meanwhile the Indians struck at distant points. They burned New Ulm, Hutchinson, and many other thriving settlements and invested Fort Ridgley and Abercrombie. They were driven back by our forces, taking with them, however, much plunder and some 300 or 400 captives, women and children. The arrival of General Pope on the 15th of September relieved me from the responsibility of providing for the troops and their further disposition, and I am now happy to inform you that General Sibley, to whom I gave command of the main expedition, has been able to rescue nearly all the captives, and now holds some 1500 men, women, and children of the Indians prisoners, and unless there is a greater combination of hostile savages further west than I think probable, the war is virtually closed. The question now arises, how shall the expense thus incurred be paid? The United States military officers now here very justly say they cannot pay them without special instructions, as they were incurred by state authority. Our young state id feeble and poor. We are without ready means, and have very many refugees and destitute (made so by this war) to provide for. Our people, whose supplies equipped the troops and teams I was forced to impress, took them from their harvest fields (many of which are yet detained in the service), need their pay to prepare for a Northern winter.
In this dilemma I have thought it best to send to you the bearer, Col. Richard Chute, who is the acting quartermaster of this state, to lay this whole matter before you, in order that you may fully understand all that has been done and the position we are placed in as to these accounts. I trust you may give his statements a candid hearing and make such orders in the premises as the exigency demands. In all things I have endeavored to be economical. I suppose $150,000 will pay all expenses prior to General Pope's arrival, and I think it will be judicious and wise if the United States will at once assume the payment of all indebtedness incurred by the state authorities in this emergency, and either direct the several departments to pay the same or furnish us the means and we will settle the accounts and file the vouchers at Washington City.
The state furnished the transportation now used by General Sibley. For the teams so used by the state may possibly be called upon to pay. This is manifestly unjust. Some of them can be returned to their owners and some will have to be paid for.
All stores and supplies that I purchased are either consumed or in the hands of the military officers of the general government. The chief item of expenditure will be for guns, ammunition, transportation, camp equipage, subsistence, pay of our regular volunteers for from thirty to sixty days, and a little clothing. A commission is now in session here, selected by our state legislature, to determine the amount and justice of these claims, and I would suggest that as it is composed of three good men, acting under oath, that their awards be made the basis of payment. I do not know any fairer way to determine the value of the articles taken, or what is justly due.
Very respectfully,
ALEXANDER RAMSEY

Letter taken verbatim from Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-1865 Volume II Official Reports and Correspondence, St. Paul, Minn. Electrotyped and Printed for the State by the Pioneer Press Company, 1893. This letter was written by Governor Ramsey to President Lincoln on October 22, 1862, exactly 150 years ago this date as the sesquicentennial of the Dakota Conflict continues.
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Buy Link at Google Ebooks for Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising

I finally figured out how to give you the buy link for this Ebook title at Google, if I did it correctly. The link to the Google ebook edition should be the link below. It is a versatile way for you to read this ebook as the commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Dakota Conflict continues. The Dakota Conflict occurred exactly 150 years ago. We honor all victims of the Dakota Conflict of 1862, or Sioux Uprising as it was called, we forgive the crimes of our ancestors, and we support the reconciliation between cultures.


http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&id=6rU-6z03smwC#v=onepage&q&f=false

Dakota Conflict, Sioux Uprising, American Civil War

 Quoted for you from the Ancestry, Life, and times of Hon. Henry Hastings Sibley, L.L.D. page 250 as the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Dakota Conflict continues.

The annexed sad poem is worthy of preservation, not only because of its literary merit, but because of its theme. The incident on which it is founded was a deeply touching one. When Colonel Sibley dispatched McPhail and his command up the Minnesota valley, to raise the siege at Fort Ridgley, Charles Nelson, a Swede, having walked, with bleeding feet, twenty-five miles, joined the expedition. His dwelling had been burned to the ground the day previous, his daughter outraged, the head of his wife Lela cleft by the tomahawk, and while seeking to save himself, saw, for a moment, his two sons, Hans and Otto, rushing through the corn-field, the Indians in swift pursuit. Returning with the troops, under McPhail, and passing by the ruins of his home, he gazed about wildly, acting mechanically, and, closing the gate of the garden, asked: "When will it be safe to return?" His reason was gone! Captain Chittenden, of McPhail's command, while sitting a few days after under the Falls of Minnehaha, embodied in verse the sad tragedy, and has given to the world the following lines, which, with the incident just narrated, Mrs. Harriet E.B. McConkey has made a chapter by themselves, entitled "The Maniac," in her admirable work, "The Dakota War Whoop," P. 195.

Minne-ha-ha, laughing water,
Cease thy laughing now for aye,
Savage hands are red with slaughter
Of the innocent today.

Ill accords thy sportive humor
With their last despairing wail;
While thou'rt dancing in the sunbeam,
Mangled corpses strew the vale.

Change thy note, gay Minne-ha-ha;
Let some sadder strain prevail -
listen, while a maniac wanderer
Sighs to thee his woeful tale:

"Give me back my Lela's tresses,
Let me kiss them once again!
She, who blest me with caresses,
Lies unburied on the plain!

See you smoke; there was my dwelling;
That is all I have of home!
Hark! I hear their fiendish yelling,
As I, houseless, childless, roam!

Have they killed my Hans and Otto?
Did they find them in the corn?
Go and tell that savage monster
Not to slay my  youngest born.

Yonder is my new-bought reaper,
Standing 'mid the ripened grain,
E'en my cow asks why I leave her
Wandering, unmilked, o'er the plain!

Soldier, bbury here my Lela;
Place me also 'neath the sod;
Long we lived and wrought together - 
Let me die with her - oh God!

Faithful Fido, you they've left me.
Can you tell me , Fido, why
God at once has thus bereft me?
All I ask is here to die.

O, my daughter Jennie, darling!
Worse than death is Jennie's fate!
Nelson, as our troops were leaving,
Turned and shut his garden gate.


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Antique Warehouse Mankato Video, Dakota Conflict, Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War

For those of you in the Mankato Minnesota area, feel free to stop down to the Antique Warehouse on Ruth Street off of North Riverfront Drive and right behind the Bobber Shop to see the civil war display being assembled. Also displayed are artifacts of the Dakota Conflict of 1862 which resulted in the largest mass execution in United States history, about two miles downriver from the Antique Warehouse. We'd love to have you stop in and see the exhibit.

Copies of "Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising" are available for sale as the 150th anniversary of the Sioux Uprising continues. You can also read the story in the format of your choice at the link below.

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Timeline October 17, 1862, Dakota Conflict, Sioux Uprising, American Civil War

President Lincoln enters the fray of the Sioux Uprising by issuing an order to General Pope, who relays to Sibley: "The president directs that no executions be made without his sanction." This order was delivered on October 17, 1862, exactly 150 years ago today.

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Timeline: October 14, 1862 Dakota Conflict

 October 14, 1862, exactly 150 years ago at President Lincoln's cabinet meeting, the ongoing Dakota trials were discussed. Lincoln and several cabinet members are disturbed by General Pope's report on the trials and planned executions, and move to prevent precipitous action.

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Dakota Conflict, American Civil war, Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising

We honor all victims of the Dakota Conflict, or Great Sioux Uprising as it was called, in this, the 150th anniversary of Minnesota's Great Sioux Uprising of 1862, a little-known part of the American Civil War. We forgive the crimes committed by our ancestors and we support the healing and reconciliation long-sought by both the white and Indian cultures.

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Sibley's Account of the Rescue of Prisoners from Camp Release

Quoted from the Ancestry, Life and Times of H.H. Sibley, commander of the Indian Expedition of 1862.

    “I entered, with my officers, to the centre of the circle formed by the numerous lodges, and seeing the old savage whom I knew personally as the individual with stentorian lungs, who promulgated the orders of the chiefs and head men to the multitude, I beckoned him to me, and, in a preemptory tone, ordered him to go through the camp and notify the tenants that I demanded all the female captives to be brought to me instanter. And now was presented a scene which no one who witnessed it can ever forget. From the lodges there issued more than one hundred comely young girls and women, most of whom were so scantily clad as scarcely to conceal their nakedness. On the persons of some hung but a single garment, while pitying half-breeds and Indian women had provided others with scraps of clothing from their own little wardrobes, answering, indeed, a mere temporary purpose. But a worse accoutered, or more distressed, group of civilized beings imagination would fail to picture. Some seemed stolid, as if their minds had been strained to madness and reaction had brought vacant gloom, indifference, and despair. They gazed with a sad stare. Others acted differently. The great body of the poor creatures rushed wildly to the spot where I was standing with my brave officers, pressing as close to us as possible, grasping our hands and clinging to our limbs, as if fearful that the red devils might yet reclaim their victims. I did all I could to reassure them, by telling them how they were now to be released from their horrible sufferings and freed from their bondage. Many were hysterical, bordering on convulsions, laughter and tears commingling, incredulous that they were in the hands of their preservers. A few of the more attractive had been offered the alternative of becoming the temporary wives of select warriors, and so, helpless and powerless, yet escaped the promiscuous attentions of of a horde of savages bent on brutal insult revolting to conceive, and impossible to be described. The majority of these outraged girls and young women were of a superior class. Some were school teachers, who, accompanied by their girl pupils, had gone to pass their summer vacation with relatives or friends in the border counties of the state. The settlers, both native and foreign, were, for the most part, respectable, prosperous, and educated citizens whose wives and daughters had been afforded the privileges of a good common school education. Some were the delicate young girls and women who had been subjected for weeks to the inhuman embraces of hundreds of filthy savages, utterly devoid of all compassion for the sufferers. Escorting the captives to the outside of the camp, they were placed under the protection of the troops and taken to our own encampment, where I had ordered tents to be pitched for their accommodation. Officers and men, affected even to tears by the scene, denuded themselves of their entire underclothing, blankets, coats, and whatever they could give, or could be converted into raiment for these heart broken and and abused victims of savage lust and rage. The only white man found alive when we reached the Indian encampment was George H. Spencer, who was saved from death by the heroic devotion of his Indian comrade, but yet badly wounded. He said to me, “It is God’s mercy that you did not march ere the night after the battle. A plan was formed, had you done so, to murder all the captives, then scatter to the prairies” thus verifying my prediction of the course they would pursue. I bless God for the wisdom he gave me, and whereby, with the aid of my brave men, in spite of all slander and abuse, I was able to win a victory so decisive, and redeem from their thraldom those unfortunate sufferers who were a burden on my heart from the first moment of my campaign.”

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Free Promotion of Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising

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Dakota Conflict, Sioux Uprising of 1862 Timeline

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Timeline:Special Order 55, September 28, 1862 Dakota Conflict

SPECIAL ORDER, No. 55
HEADQUARTERS, CAMP RELEASE
September 28, 1862

A military commission composed of Colonel William Crooks of the Sixth Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Marshall of the Seventh Regiment, Captains Grant and Bailey of the Sixth Regiment, and Lieutenant Olin of the Third Regiment, will convene at some convenient place in camp at ten o'clock this morning, to try, summarily, the Indians and mixed-bloods, now prisoners, who may be brought before them by direction of the colonel commanding, and pass judgment upon them if found guilty of murder or other outrages upon the whites during the present state of hostilities. The proceedings of the commission to be returned to these headquarters immediately after their conclusion for the consideration of the colonel commanding. The commission will be governed in their proceedings by military laws and usages. Lieutenant Heard, Adjutant Cullen Guards, will act as recorder to the military commission.

By order of H.H. Sibley, Commanding, Military Expedition.

                                             S.H. Fowler
                             Lieutenant Colonel, S.M., A.A.

Actual order establishing the Military Commission as recorded in the Ancestry Life and Times of H.H. Sibley, L.L.D 1889, the official biography of Henry Hastings Sibley.

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Dakota Conflict, American Civil War, Blood on the Prairie A Novel of the Sioux Uprising

The fighting is over, but there is still much work to be done. General Sibley remains in command of federal troops at Camp Release and has 2,000  Indians in custody. The five-man military commission will continue to conduct summary trials of Indians accused of atrocities during the Dakota Conflict until November 9 when the last of the trials are completed. Then he still has to get his troops and prisoners off the prairie to Mankato and beyond to Fort Snelling. Sibley is busy, yesirreebob!

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