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030 - Battle of Birch Coulie Occurences in Meeker County and Vicinity · History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty of the History of Minnesota and Tales of
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  Speaker 1: a Frontier Part one. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
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  Speaker 1: or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot Ford recording by
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  Speaker 1: Elijah Fisher. The History of Minnesota and Tales of a
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  Speaker 1: Frontier Part one by Charles E. Flandras. Section thirty. Battle
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  Speaker 1: of Birch Collie the thirty first of August a detail
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  Speaker 1: of Captain Grant's company of infantry, seventy men of the
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  Speaker 1: Colin Guard under Captain Anderson, and some citizens and other soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: In all, about one hundred fifty men under command of
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  Speaker 1: Major Joseph R. Brown, with seventeen teams and teamsters were
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  Speaker 1: sent from Fort Ridgeley to the Lower Agency to feel
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  Speaker 1: the enemy, bury the dead, and perform any other service
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  Speaker 1: that might arise. They went as far as Little Crow's Village,
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  Speaker 1: but not finding any signs of Indians, they returned, and
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  Speaker 1: on the first of September they reached Berg Coully and
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  Speaker 1: encamped at the head of it. Birch Coullie is a
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  Speaker 1: vein extending from the upper plateau to the bottom nearly
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  Speaker 1: opposite to the ferry where Captain Marsh's company was ambushed.
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  Speaker 1: The Indians, after the defeat at Fort Ridgeley and new
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  Speaker 1: Ulm had concentrated at the Yellow Medicine River and decided
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  Speaker 1: to make one a more desperate effort to carry their
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  Speaker 1: point of driving the White out of the country. Their
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  Speaker 1: plan of operation was to come down at the Minnesota
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  Speaker 1: Valley in force, stealthily, passing assibly as a command at
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  Speaker 1: Ridgely and attacking Saint Peter at man Cato simianeously. They
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  Speaker 1: congregated all their forces for this attempt and started down
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  Speaker 1: the river. When they reached the foot of Briche Collie,
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  Speaker 1: they saw the last of Major Brown's command going Collie.
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  Speaker 1: They decided to wait and see where they encamped and
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  Speaker 1: attack them. Early in the morning, the Whites went to
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  Speaker 1: the upper end of the Collie and camped on the
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  Speaker 1: open prairie about two hundred and fifty feet from the
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  Speaker 1: brush and of the Collie. On the other side of
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  Speaker 1: their camp, there was a roll in the prairie about
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  Speaker 1: four or five feet high, which they probably did not notice.
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  Speaker 1: This gave the enemy cover on both sides of the camp,
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  Speaker 1: and they did not fail to see it and take
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  Speaker 1: advantage of it. The moment daylight came sufficiently to disclose
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  Speaker 1: the camp, the Indians opened fire from both sides. The
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  Speaker 1: waves hang, the horses hitched to a picket rope, and
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  Speaker 1: their wagons formed in a circular coral with their camp
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  Speaker 1: and the center. The Indians soon killed all the horses
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  Speaker 1: but won, and the men used their carecasses as a
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  Speaker 1: breastworks behind which to fight. The battle raged from September
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  Speaker 1: second to September third, when they revealed by Colonel Sibley's
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  Speaker 1: a whole command and the Indians fled to the west.
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  Speaker 1: Major Joseph R. Brown was one of the most inexperienced
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  Speaker 1: Indian men in the country and would never have made
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  Speaker 1: the mistake of locating his camp in a place that
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  Speaker 1: gave the enemy such an advantage. He did not arrive
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  Speaker 1: until the camp was selected, and should have removed it
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  Speaker 1: at once. I have always supposed that he was the
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  Speaker 1: old into a sense of a security by not having
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  Speaker 1: gues seen the signs of Indians in his march, But
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  Speaker 1: Salt proved that when in a hostile Indian country, no
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  Speaker 1: one is ever justified in omitting any precautions. The firing
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  Speaker 1: at Bertche COLLI was heard at Fort Rigially and a
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  Speaker 1: relief was sent under Colonel MacPhail, which was checked by
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  Speaker 1: the Indians a few miles before it reached its edition.
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  Speaker 1: The colonel sent a courier to the fort for reinforcements,
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  Speaker 1: and it fell to a Lieutenant Sheehan to carry the message.
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  Speaker 1: With his usual energy, he succeeded in getting through his horse,
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  Speaker 1: dying under him on his rifle. Colonel Sibley at once
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  Speaker 1: started with his whole command, and when he reached the battleground,
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  Speaker 1: the Indians left the field. This was one of the
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  Speaker 1: most disastrous battles of the war. Twenty the three were killed,
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  Speaker 1: outraged or mortally wounded, and forty five were severely wounded,
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  Speaker 1: while many others received their light injuries. The tents were
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  Speaker 1: by the shower of bullets made to resemble lacework so
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  Speaker 1: completely where they perforated. One hundred and four bullet holes
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  Speaker 1: were counted in one tent. Besides the continual shower of
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  Speaker 1: bullets that wept up by the Indians, the men suffered
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  Speaker 1: deterriablely from thirst as it was impossible to get water
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  Speaker 1: into the camp. This fight forms a very important feature
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  Speaker 1: in the Indian War as notwithstanding its horse, it probably
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  Speaker 1: prevented awful massacres of Saint Peter and Mankato, the former
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  Speaker 1: being absolutely defenseless, and the latter only prove detected by
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  Speaker 1: a small squad of about eighty men, which formed my
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  Speaker 1: headquarters a guard at South Bend, about four miles distant
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  Speaker 1: occurrences Inner Country and Vincente. While these events were passing,
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  Speaker 1: other portions of the state were being prepared for defense.
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  Speaker 1: In the region of Forest City, in Meager Country, and
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  Speaker 1: also at Hutchinson and glen Coe. The excitement was intense.
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  Speaker 1: Captain George C wytecombe bettained in Saint Paul's seventy five
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  Speaker 1: stand of arms and some anmunition. He left a part
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  Speaker 1: of the arms at Hutchinson, and with the rest armed
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  Speaker 1: a company at Forest City of fifty three men, twenty
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  Speaker 1: five of whom were mounted. Captain Richard Strout of Company
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  Speaker 1: B ninth Regiment was ordered to Forest City and went
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  Speaker 1: there with his company. General John H. Stevens of Glencoe
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  Speaker 1: was commander of the state Amilotia for the countries of
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  Speaker 1: m mc loyd, Carver, Subley and Runville. As soon as
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  Speaker 1: he learned of the outbreak, he erected a very annial
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  Speaker 1: fortification of sawlogs at Glencoe, and that place was not
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  Speaker 1: disturbed by the savages. A company of volunteers, it was
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  Speaker 1: informed at Glencoe under Captain A. H. Brown's Company, F
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  Speaker 1: of the Ninth Regiment under Luit O. P. Stearns and
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  Speaker 1: Pony H of the same regiment Captain W. R. Baxter,
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  Speaker 1: an independent company from Exclesire and the good Hue Country
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  Speaker 1: of Arrangers Captain David L. Davis, all did duty at
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  Speaker 1: about Glencoe. During the continuance of the trouble. Captains Whitcomb
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  Speaker 1: and Strout, with their companies made extensive vary connencias into
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  Speaker 1: the surrounding countries, rescuing Iamuni refuges and having several risk
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  Speaker 1: and sharp encounters with the Indians in which they lost
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  Speaker 1: several in killed and wounded. Presence of these troops in
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  Speaker 1: this region of country, in their ecuative operations, prevented its
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  Speaker 1: declaration and saved the town's and much valuable property from destruction.
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  Speaker 1: End of Section thirty