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028 - The Attack on Fort Ridgely Battle of New Ulm Part 1 · History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty eight of the History of Minnesota and Tales
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  Speaker 1: of the Frontier, Part one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
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  Speaker 1: History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part one
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  Speaker 1: by Charles E. Flandrau, Section twenty eight The Attack on
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  Speaker 1: Fort Ridgeley Battle of Neulm, Part one. On the twentieth
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  Speaker 1: of August, at about three p m. An attack was
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  Speaker 1: made upon the fort by a large body of Indians.
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  Speaker 1: The first intimation the garrison had of the assault was
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  Speaker 1: a volley poured through one of the openings between the buildings.
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  Speaker 1: Considerable confusion ensued, but order was soon restored. Sergeant Jones
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  Speaker 1: attempted to use his cannon, but to his utter dismay,
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  Speaker 1: he found them disabled. This was the work of some
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  Speaker 1: of the half breeds belonging to the Wrenville Rangers, who
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  Speaker 1: had deserted to the enemy. They had been spiked by
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  Speaker 1: ramming old rags into them. The his ergent soon rectified
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  Speaker 1: this difficulty and brought his pieces into action. The attack
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  Speaker 1: lasted three hours when it ceased with a loss to
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  Speaker 1: the garrison of three killed and eight wounded. On Thursday
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  Speaker 1: the twenty first, two further attacks were made on the fort,
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  Speaker 1: one in the morning and one in the afternoon, but
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  Speaker 1: with a reduced force, less earnestness, and little damage. On
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  Speaker 1: Friday the twenty second, the savages seemed determined to carry
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  Speaker 1: the fort. About eight hundred or more under the leadership
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  Speaker 1: of Little Crow, came down from the Agency, concentrating themselves
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  Speaker 1: in the ravines which lay on several sides of the fort.
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  Speaker 1: They made a feint by sending about twenty warriors out
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  Speaker 1: on the prairie for the purpose of drawing out the
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  Speaker 1: garrison from the fort and cutting them off. Such a movement,
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  Speaker 1: if successful, would have been fatal to the defenders, but
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  Speaker 1: fortunately there were men among them of much experience in
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  Speaker 1: Indian warfare who saw through the scheme and prevented the
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  Speaker 1: success of the maneuver. Then followed a shower of bullets
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  Speaker 1: on the fort from all directions. The attack was continued
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  Speaker 1: for nearly five hours. It was bitterly fought and courageously
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  Speaker 1: and intelligently resisted. Sergeant Jones and other artillerists handled the
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  Speaker 1: guns with effective skill, exploding shells in the outlying buildings
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  Speaker 1: and burning them over the heads of the Indians, while
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  Speaker 1: the enemy endeavored to burn the wooden buildings composing the
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  Speaker 1: fort by shooting fire arrows on their roofs. One of
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  Speaker 1: the most exposed and dangerous duties to be performed was
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  Speaker 1: covering the wooden roofs with earth to prevent fire. One
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  Speaker 1: White man was killed and seven wounded in this engagement.
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Sheehan, who commanded the post through all these trying occurrences,
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Gorman of the Wrenville Rangers, Lieutenant Whipple, and Sergeants
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  Speaker 1: Jones and McGrew all did their duty in a manner,
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  Speaker 1: becoming veterans, and the men seconded their efforts handsomely. The Indians,
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  Speaker 1: after this effort, being convinced that they could not take
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  Speaker 1: the fort, and anticipating the coming of reinforcements, withdrew and
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  Speaker 1: concentrating all their available forces, descended upon Nuolm the next morning,
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  Speaker 1: August twenty third, for final struggle. In the official history
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  Speaker 1: written for the State of this battle at Fort Ridgeley
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  Speaker 1: I placed the force of the Indians as four fifty,
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  Speaker 1: but have learned since from reliable sources that it was
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  Speaker 1: as above stated. Battle of new Olm. We left Nuolm
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  Speaker 1: after the arrival of the various companies which I have named,
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  Speaker 1: on the twenty first of August, strengthening its barricades and
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  Speaker 1: awaiting events. I had placed a good glass on the
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  Speaker 1: top of one of the stone buildings within the barricades
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  Speaker 1: for the purpose of observation, and always kept a sentinel
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  Speaker 1: there to report any movement he should discover in any
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  Speaker 1: direction throughout the surrounding country. We had heard distinctly the
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  Speaker 1: cannonading at the fort for the past two days, but
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  Speaker 1: knew nothing of the result of the fight. At that point.
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  Speaker 1: I was perfectly familiar, as were many of my command,
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  Speaker 1: with the country between Nuolm and the fort on both
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  Speaker 1: sides of the river, knowing the house of every settler
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  Speaker 1: on the roads. Saturday, the twenty third of August opened
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  Speaker 1: bright and beautiful, and early in the morning we saw
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  Speaker 1: column after column of smoke rise in the direction of
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  Speaker 1: the fort, each smoke being nearer than the last. We
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  Speaker 1: knew to a certainty that the Indians were approaching in force,
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  Speaker 1: burning every building and grain or haystack they passed. The
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  Speaker 1: settlers had either all been killed or had taken refuge
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  Speaker 1: at the fort or nulms, so we had no anxiety
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  Speaker 1: about them. About nine thirty a m. The enemy appeared
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  Speaker 1: in great force on both sides of the river. Those
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  Speaker 1: on the east side, when they reached the neighborhood of
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  Speaker 1: the ferry, burned some stacks as a signal of their arrival,
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  Speaker 1: which was responded to by a similar fire in the
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  Speaker 1: edge of the timber, about two miles and a half
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  Speaker 1: from the town. On the west side. Between this timber
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  Speaker 1: and the town was a beautiful open prairie with considerable
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  Speaker 1: descent towards the town. Immediately on seeing the smoke from
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  Speaker 1: the ferry, the enemy advanced rapidly, some six hundred strong,
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  Speaker 1: many mounted and the rest on foot. I had determined
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  Speaker 1: to meet them on the open prairie, and had formed
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  Speaker 1: my men by companies in a long line of battle
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  Speaker 1: with intervals between them, on the first level plateau on
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  Speaker 1: the west side of the town, thus covering its whole
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  Speaker 1: west front. There were not over twenty or thirty rifles
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  Speaker 1: in the whole command, and a man with a shotgun,
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  Speaker 1: knowing his antagonist carries a rifle, has very little confidence
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  Speaker 1: in his fighting ability. Down came the Indians in the
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  Speaker 1: bright sunlight, galloping, running, yelling, and gesticulating in the most
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  Speaker 1: fiendish manner. If we had had good rifles, they never
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  Speaker 1: would have got near enough to do much harm, but
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  Speaker 1: as it was, we could not check them before their
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  Speaker 1: fire began to tell on our line. They deployed to
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  Speaker 1: the right and left until they covered our entire front,
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  Speaker 1: and then charged My men, appreciating the inferiority of their armament.
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  Speaker 1: After seeing several of their comrades fall, and having fired
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  Speaker 1: a few ineffectual volleys, fell back on the town, passing
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  Speaker 1: some buildings without taking possession of them, which mistake was
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  Speaker 1: instantly taken advantage of by the Indians, who at once
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  Speaker 1: occupied them. But they did not follow us into the
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  Speaker 1: town proper, no doubt, thinking our retreat was a feint
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  Speaker 1: to draw them among the buildings and thus gain an advantage.
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  Speaker 1: I think if they had boldly charged into the town
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  Speaker 1: and set it on fire, they would have won the fight.
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  Speaker 1: But instead they surrounded it on all sides, the main body,
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  Speaker 1: taking possession of the lower end of the main street
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  Speaker 1: below the barricades, from which direction a strong wind was
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  Speaker 1: blowing towards the center of the town. From this point
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  Speaker 1: they began firing the houses on both sides of the street.
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  Speaker 1: We soon rallied the men and kept the enemy well
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  Speaker 1: in the outskirts of the town, and the fighting became
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  Speaker 1: general on all sides. Just about this time my first Lieutenant,
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  Speaker 1: William B. Dodd, galloped down the main street, and as
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  Speaker 1: he passed across street, the Indians put three or four
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  Speaker 1: bullets through him. He died during the afternoon, after having
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  Speaker 1: been removed several times from house to house as the
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  Speaker 1: enemy crowded in upon us. On the second plateau there
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  Speaker 1: was an old don Quixote windmill with an immense tower
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  Speaker 1: and sail arms about seventy five feet long, which occupied
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  Speaker 1: a commanding position, and had been taken possession of by
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  Speaker 1: a company of about thirty men who called themselves the
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  Speaker 1: Lesser Tigers, most of whom had rifles. They barricaded themselves
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  Speaker 1: with sacks of flour and wheat, loop holed the building
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  Speaker 1: and kept the savages at a respectful distance from the
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  Speaker 1: west side of the town. A rifle ball will bury
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  Speaker 1: itself in a sack of flour or wheat, but will
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  Speaker 1: not penetrate it. During the battle, the men dug out
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  Speaker 1: several of them and brought them to me, because They
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  Speaker 1: were the regulation mini bullet, and there had been rumors
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  Speaker 1: that the Confederates from Missouri had stirred up the revolt
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  Speaker 1: and supplied the Indians with guns and ammunition. I confess
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  Speaker 1: I was astonished when I saw the bullets, as I
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  Speaker 1: knew the Indians had no such arms, But I soon
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  Speaker 1: decided that they were using against us the guns and
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  Speaker 1: ammunition they had taken from the dead soldiers of Captain
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  Speaker 1: Marsh's company. I do not believe the Confederates had any
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  Speaker 1: hand in the revolt of these Indians. We held several
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  Speaker 1: other outposts, being brick buildings outside the barricades, which we
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  Speaker 1: loop holed and found very effective in holding the Indians
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  Speaker 1: aloof The battle raged generally all around the town, every
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  Speaker 1: man doing his best in his own way. It was
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  Speaker 1: a very interesting fight on account of the stake we
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  Speaker 1: were contending, for we had in the place about twelve
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  Speaker 1: or fifteen hundred women in chis children, the lives of
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  Speaker 1: all of whom and ourselves depended upon victory, perching on
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  Speaker 1: our banners. For in a fight like this, no quarter
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  Speaker 1: is ever asked or given. The desperation with which the
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  Speaker 1: conflict was conducted can be judged from the fact that
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  Speaker 1: I lost sixty men in the first hour and a half,
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  Speaker 1: ten killed and fifty wounded out of less than two
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  Speaker 1: hundred fifty. As my force had been depleted by the
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  Speaker 1: number of about seventy five by Lieutenant Hughey taking that
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  Speaker 1: number to guard the approach to the ferry crossing to
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  Speaker 1: the other side of the river, he was cut off
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  Speaker 1: and forced to retreat towards Saint Peter. It was simply
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  Speaker 1: a mistake of judgment to put the river between himself
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  Speaker 1: and the main force. But in his retreat he met
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  Speaker 1: Captain E Saint Julian Cox with reinforcements for Newelm, joined them,
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  Speaker 1: and returned the next day. He was a brave and
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  Speaker 1: willing officer. The company I mentioned as having arrived from
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  Speaker 1: South Bend, having heard that the Winnebagoes had joined in
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  Speaker 1: the outbreak, left us before the final attack on Saturday
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  Speaker 1: the twenty third of August, claiming that their presence at
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  Speaker 1: home was necessary to protect their families, And on the
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  Speaker 1: morning of the twenty third, when the enemy was in sight,
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  Speaker 1: a wagon load of others left us and went down
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  Speaker 1: the river. I doubt if we could have mustered over
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  Speaker 1: two hundred guns at any time during the fight. End
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  Speaker 1: of section twenty eight recording by Jefferson Thlan