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036 - Battle of Stony Lake · History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty six 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. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Sharon Chimmeridan. The History of Minnesota and Tales of
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  Speaker 1: the Frontier Part one by Charles E. Flandraw, Section thirty six.
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  Speaker 1: Battle of Stony Lake. On the twenty eighth of July,
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  Speaker 1: Indians were again seen in large numbers. They endeavored to
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  Speaker 1: encircle the troops. They certainly presented a force of two
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  Speaker 1: thousand fighting men and must have been reinforced by friends
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  Speaker 1: from the west side of the Missouri. They were undoubtedly
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  Speaker 1: fighting to keep the soldiers back until their families could
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  Speaker 1: cross the river. The troops were well handled. A tremendous
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  Speaker 1: effort was made to break our lines, but the enemy
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  Speaker 1: was repulsed at all points. The artillery was effective, and
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  Speaker 1: the Indians finally fled in a panic and route toward
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  Speaker 1: the Missouri. They were hotly pursued, and on the twenty
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  Speaker 1: ninth the troops crossed the Apple Creek, a small stream
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  Speaker 1: a few miles from the present site of Bismarck, the
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  Speaker 1: capital of North Dakota, and pushing on, struck the Missouri
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  Speaker 1: at a point about four miles above the Burnt Boat Island.
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  Speaker 1: The Indians had succeeded in crossing the river with their families,
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  Speaker 1: but in a very demoralized condition as to supplies and
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  Speaker 1: camp equipage. They were plainly visible on the bluffs on
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  Speaker 1: the opposite side. It was here that Lieutenant Beaver lost
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  Speaker 1: his life. While carrying an order, he missed the trail
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  Speaker 1: and was ambushed and killed. Here was a young Indian
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  Speaker 1: bishmen who had volunteered to accompany the expedition, and whom
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  Speaker 1: General Sibley had placed on his staff as an aid.
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  Speaker 1: Large quantities of wagons and other material abandoned by the
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  Speaker 1: Indians in their haste to cross the river were destroyed.
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  Speaker 1: The bodies of Lieutenant Beaver and a private of the
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  Speaker 1: sixth Regiment who was killed in the same way, were
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  Speaker 1: recovered and buried. It was clear that the Indians, on
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  Speaker 1: learning of the magnitude of the expedition, never contemplated overcoming
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  Speaker 1: it in battle, and made their movements with reference to
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  Speaker 1: delaying its progress. While they pushed their women and children
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  Speaker 1: to ward and across the river, knowing there was no
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  Speaker 1: resting place for them on this side. They succeeded admirably,
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  Speaker 1: but their success was solely attributed to the failure of
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  Speaker 1: General Sully to arrive in time. General Sibley's part of
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  Speaker 1: the campaign was carried out to the left, and every
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  Speaker 1: man in it, from the commander to the private, is
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  Speaker 1: entitled to the highest praise. On August first, the command
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  Speaker 1: broke camp for home. As was learned afterwards, General Sully
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  Speaker 1: was then distant down the river one hundred and sixty miles.
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  Speaker 1: His delay was no fault of his, as it was
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  Speaker 1: occasioned by insurmountable obstacles. The march home was a weary
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  Speaker 1: but uneventful one. The campaign of eighteen sixty three may
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  Speaker 1: be summed up as follows. The troops marched nearly one thousand,
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  Speaker 1: two hundred miles. They fought three well contested battles. They
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  Speaker 1: drove from eight to ten thousand Indians out of the
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  Speaker 1: state and across the Missouri River. They lost only seven
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  Speaker 1: killed and three wounded, and inflicted upon the enemy so
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  Speaker 1: severe a loss that he never again returned to his
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  Speaker 1: old haunts. For his meritorious services, General Sibley was appointed
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  Speaker 1: a major general by Brevet on November twenty nine, eighteen
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  Speaker 1: sixty five, which appointment was duly confirmed by the Senate,
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  Speaker 1: and he was commissioned on April seventh, eighteen sixty six.
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  Speaker 1: In July eighteen sixty three, a regiment of cavalry was
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  Speaker 1: authorized by the Secretary of War to be raised by
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  Speaker 1: Major E. A. C. Hatch for duty on the Northern frontier.
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  Speaker 1: Several companies were recruited and marched to Pembina on the
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  Speaker 1: extreme northern border, where they performed valuable services and suffered
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  Speaker 1: incredible hardships. The regiment was called Hatch's Battalion. End of
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  Speaker 1: Section thirty six. Recording by Sharon Chimerdan of Sharonmedia dot Net.