1864 August 27: The 30th Wisconsin Infantry Marches West Across Minnesota

The following column is from the August 27, 1864, issue of The Prescott Journal.  Company A of the 30th was the Saint Croix Guards and Company F was the Salomon Tigers, both primarily from northwest Wisconsin.  Companies D, I, and K also contained men from northwest Wisconsin.

OUR ARMY CORRESPONDENCE.

From the 30th Regiment.

The Departure of the Indian Expedition from
Fort Ridgely—What it consisted of—The March—
General Appearance of the Country—Incidents by the Way, etc., etc.

GARRISON FOR FORT WADSWORTH, D. T. }
Camp on Kettle Lake, Aug. 2d, 1864.}

In compliance with previous promise, I embrace this opportunity of acquainting your readers of the departure and progress of our expedition for the wilds of the great Northwest, under command of Major John Clowney, of the 30th Wisconsin volunteers.

Pursuant to orders, the 9th of July witnessed our departure from Fort Ridgely.  The expedition comprised companies B, E, and K, 30th Wis. Vol. Inf.; company M, 2d Minnesota cavalry, and three guns of Jones’ ¹ artillery, 3d Minnesota Light Artillery.  The accompanying train reached 2½ miles.  Twelve miles march brought us to Camp Hope, on the Lower Sioux Agency, overlooking the Minnesota river.  This agency, once the pride of the white man, now lies a complete ruin on the summit of the overhanging banks of the deep waters of the beautiful St. Peters.

July 10—We resumed our march, and 13 miles brought us to Redwood Lake, where we went into camp.  Our resting place for the night was in full view of the defense thrown up by Captain Pope in 1862.  Graves of whites and Indians encompassed us on all sides.  The remains of the whites had been exhumed, and funeral rites gone through with by relatives, friends and acquaintances.  Thus has the unfortunate been cared for who fell by the savage hand of the red man in their furious onset August 18th, 1862 ;  while on the other hand the ravens of the air have preyed upon the the dingy carcasses of the red men till nothing remains to mark their resting place but hollow graves and mouldering bones.

July 11.—At 5:15 p. m. we left Redwood Lake, and after marching till fifteen minutes of 9, camped on the open prairie, three miles from water, but within range of timber, and went to bed supperless.  This day was marched 9 miles.

July 12.—At 9 a. m. we left and marched five miles, and coming to water halted for the day.  Our camping ground was in full view of the former residence of the notorious Joe Brown, the husband of so many Indian women, the father of a multitude of half-breeds, and the possessor of an estate of 5,000 acres.  Joe was captured by the Indians in 1862, and his scalp was saved from the scalping knife through the intercession of his “better-halves.”  At present Joe is the leading scout of Gen. Sully [Alfred Sully], and is said to be one of the best in the Northwest.

July 13.—At about  5:30 A. M., we broke camp, passing on the Wood Lake route, where a desperate battle between whites and Indians was fought.  In the engagement the Indians are said to have numbered 3,000 and the whites 1,500.  The loss sustained by the whites was 75 killed, that of the Indians unknown.  The works thrown up are still existing.  At 10 A. M. we crossed the Yellow Medicine at the Upper Sioux Agency.  This place retains every indication of a once flurishing [sic] place.  Natural advantages for manufacturing are abundant.  Climbing to the summit of the hills on the western side of Yellow Medicine, a sad and desolating spectacle greets the eye.  Stretching for miles lies a fertile plain, once subservient to the hand of the husbandman, now assuming a harsh and primitive state.  Once beautiful buildings of brick now stand bereft of roofs, sections of walls, etc.  Household furniture lies rotting, while miles of fences are torn down, burned and strewed around.  Years of hard toil have been ruthlessly destroyed by savage fiends, men and women butchered, and children tortured to death.  We marched twelve miles this day, camped on an elevation of ground, close by good water, with abundance of pasturage.

Before proceeding further, I will say that the Upper Sioux Agency, on the Yellow Medicine, is the last place where signs of civilization will greet us.  Henceforth we are to encounter the wilds of Minnesota and Dakotah.  A more beautiful section of country than the Upper Sioux Agency is very seldom met with.  Wood and water are abundant.  Materials for building purposes and convenient.  Brick of the first class can be manufactured, in proof of which stands a kiln already burned, awaiting use.  I understand the Sioux reservation lands are to be appraised by three commissioners (already appointed) and sold for the benefit of the United States.  The lands comprise 710,000 acres, lying on the south and west banks of the Minnesota river, in a strip from nine to twelve miles long, running from Fort Ridgely to Big Stone Lake.  I have been creditably informed that the day is not far distant when this country will have the advantage of being penetrated by two railroads—one extending from Winona, the other from Minneapolis, running due west to the foot of Big Stone Lake.  I hold that the security of this country from all Indian depredations is complete, and emigrants seeking a home in the far West can here repose in safety.

July 14.—At 5½ o’clock A. M., broke camp and marched till 6 o’clock P. M., making 20 miles.  The day was exceedingly warm ;  men and animals suffered much from dust and the lack of water ;  several oxen fell by the way.  Sloughs the most filthy were explored for water, and finally an article unfit for man or beast was found, and devoured as if the best.  This day’s march was over a continuous plain, no tree or shrub to relieve the eye from monotony.  Our route led us past Camp Relief, where, in 1862, the Indians to the number of 1,800, comprising women, children and 250 warriors, peaceably delivered themselves up to the safe keeping of Brig. Gen. Sibley [Henry Sibley].  We camped on an eminence overlooking the peaceful waters of the Minnesota.  At this point of the stream wild fruits are plentiful.

July 15.—At precisely the hour of the day previous we packed tents, but owing to the fatigue of the 14th we made but eight miles march.  Coming in full view of Lac qui Parle river, which is bounded on both sides by broken hills, the ravines thickly wooded by ordinarily sized trees and a dense growth of underbrush, Company B being in front, the 1st platoon was “deployed in line” and skirmished the passage for the “redskins,” the 2d platoon following after, and each alternate company doing likewise ;  but “redskins” were scarce in this vicinity, and many of the boys evinced their confidence by taking to picking wild gooseberries, and did not make good their appearance till the western hills of the Lac qui Parle had been reached by the entire expedition.  The utility of having the rear company skirmish the passage after the entire train had passed did not appear evident to me, and I failed to see the “military necessity” of it on that occasion.  All things being satisfactory, a high hill was chosen as our camping ground, giving us a commanding view of the immediate country for miles.  This day was as hot as the previous one, and the atmosphere more oppressive.  About bedtime dark clouds loomed up from the west, and came spilling on a massed column, the artillery of heaven fired signal guns, warning us of the raising of the floodgates of the upper realm, while the lightning flashed—grapevine like—illuminating the entire sky.  Rain upon rain fell, and nature drank freely for a brief spell, when all was hushed in silence.  I must again remark that all the ills soldiers are heir to are not embodied in poor whisky [sic], salt junk and hard tack.  “Pup-tents,” commonly called shelter tents, are to the soldier the most abominable of them all, and often are they emphatically damned in a rain storm, and on this night got a severe blessing.

July 16.—Broke camp at 6 o’clock A. M.  The morning was delightful, and favorable for our march.  Traveling four hours, a halt was made to rest the animals and let them feed.  After an hour and ten minutes halt the march was renewed.  The afternoon’s sun came out with all his power, the intense rays of which affected man and beast.  The incidents of the day were enlivened by a brisk chase after a prairie wolf, which made good his escape.  A march of twelve miles brought us to Lake Ann, a small body of water on the open prairie.  The water of this lake being stagnant and unfit for use, wells were dug ;  but the supply they furnished not being sufficient to meet the demand on them, recourse was had to the lake water, which by straining and boiling was rendered “go-down-able.”  At this lake we remained for the night.

July 17th.—As early as 1 o’clock a. m. the sound of the bugle awoke us—as soon as possible, all hands flew to packing—breakfast over, “loading up” commenced, and at 20 minutes past three we had broken camp and were on our way.  The 17th being the Sabbath, the commanding officer went through a general overhauling of soldiers detached from their companies as teamsters, for the purpose of finding out whether or not they were properly equipped to defend themselves against an attacking foe.  Many were and more were not, but all were given to understand that they must become so at once, or abide the penalty of military disobedience, stringently administered.  The train was then formed into four lines deep—the front of the column protected by Company B and one piece of artillery, the centre supported by Co. K. and another piece of artillery, while the rear was guarded by Co. E., one piece of artillery and one platoon of cavalry, while the other platoons of cavalry were deployed as flankers.  The scouts being far in advance completed our marching position.  A march of 32 miles brought us to Big Turtle Lake, where we camped for the night.  Severe driving and want of water killed six of our oxen.  The waters of Big Turtle being very inferior, we were compelled, as on former occasions, to dig for it.

The departure of the returning train from Fort Wadsworth to Fort Ridgely, compels me to draw my letter to a close, as it carried with it all letters from the boys to the dear ones at home, and is the only means of conveyance we have as yet.  I understand that a mail route will be established by Major Clowney between Forts Wadsworth and Abercrombie.  Abercrombie is some eighty miles distant from Wadsworth, and if things are properly managed, we can have a mail once a week hereafter.  Capt. Fisk’s expedition, which is accompanying an emigrant train to Idaho, rendered us much service in getting the mails since leaving Fort Ridgely.  We being five march in advance, by the aid of our cavalry we held communication with him, and his cavalry with Fort Ridgely.—Thus since the 9th of July to the present we have received three mails.

In my next I shall give you a full account of our trip from Big Turtle Lake to Fort Wadsworth.

F. J. R.

1.  John Jones, from Saint Paul, Minnesota, was 39 when he became the captain of the 3r Minnesota Light Artillery Battery on February 25, 1863. He served in that capacity until the battery mustered out on February 27, 1866.

1864 August 20: Indian Hostilities and Military Fort Building on the Plains

Along with fighting the Civil War, the United State Army was also fighting an Indian War on the Great Plains.  In yesterday’s post we saw several references to General Alfred Sully fighting Indians in Idaho Territory.  The articles here on Indian affairs are from the August 20, 1864, issues of The Polk County Press and The Prescott Journal.  The first two describe hostilities with various Indian tribes in Nebraska and Colorado.

During the summer of 1864, Indians in Dakota Territory were angry and apprehensive because of the previous year’s  military expeditions—the Sibley and Sully Expeditions of 1863—which had severely injured area Dakota, Lakota, and Yanktonai bands of the Sioux nation.  In response, the Indians increased their attacks on Northern Plains transportation routes, including the Fisk Expeditions to the Idaho gold fields and steamboats traveling on the Upper Missouri.  In the summer of 1864, General Sully returned to the Upper Missouri to build a series of military forts.

The larger article below, from the Journal, is a letter from the 30th Wisconsin Infantry at Fort Wadsworth in “Dacotah” Territory (now called Fort Sisseton, located in present-day South Dakota).  The fort was formally established on August 1, 1864, by Major John Clowney and three companies (B, E, K) of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry. It was named to honor General James Samuel Wadsworth, who was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. The fort was strategically located atop a tableland called Coteau des Praries.  The post was renamed Fort Sisseton, on August 29, 1876—after the local Sisseton Dakota Indians—when it was discovered that the original name conflicted with a Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island in New York.

The 30th Wisconsin Infantry included many northwest Wisconsin “boys” in companies A (Saint Croix Guards) and F (Salomon Tigers) and scattered other soldiers from northwest Wisconsin in companies D, I, and K.  Of those, only Company K was with Major Clowney.  Fort Rice, in present-day North Dakota, was established on July 7, 1864, and the first structures were built by companies A, C, H, and I of the 30th Wisconsin under Colonel Daniel J. Dill.  When Confederate General John Bell Hood invaded Tennessee, the 30th Wisconsin was called east, with only Company I staying in Dakota Territory at Fort Union.

From The Polk County Press:

FROM NEBRASKA.
WIDE-SPREAD INDIAN HOSTILITIES.

OMAHA, Aug. 11.

W. H. S. Hughes, Adj. Gen’l of Nebraska, has issued an order calling for two regiments of mounted infantry for Indian service, for four months to report to Brig. Gen. Hurford, and Brig. Gen. Coe, as soon as possible.¹  The following is the address of Gov. Saunders² to the citizens of Nebraska :  “News from our western borders is alarming.  Numerous trains of emigrants and freighters have been attacked, the owners have been killed, their wagons destroyed, stock run off, &c.  No less than four different points on the route between our territory and Denver were attacked in one day.  Indians are now known to be infesting those roads for a distance of several hundred miles.

All available troops have been sent forward.  We need more men in order to punish those savages, and give security to our frontier settlements.  In order to meet this want I have thought proper to call upon the able-bodied militia of the Territory to organize a few companies of minute men, who can, and will, if necessary, move at a moment’s warning to the scene of these depredations, to assist in punishing these murderers and robbers, or in driving them from the country.  I make this appeal hoping it will be responded to with willingness on their part.  The Adjt. Gen. has to-day issued a special order from these headquarters, giving particulars in regard to the manner of organizing and reporting these companies.

ALVIN SAUNDERS.²

INDIAN WAR FROM TEXAS TO BRITISH POSSESSIONS.

NEW YORK, Aug. 13.—The Herald’s Washington special says the Commissioner of Indian Affairs is informed by Gov. Evans³ of Colorado, that he is satisfied that nearly all the Indian tribes of the plains are combined in war against the whites, and it will be the largest Indian war this country has ever had, extending from Texas to the British Possessions.

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 13.—Gen. Curtis [Samuel R. Curtis] has returned from Fort Leavenworth.  White men supposed to be rebel emissaries, have been among the Indians, distributing gold, and inducing them to rise against the whites.

From The Prescott Journal:

MORE DEPREDATIONS.—A few days since a party of Sioux Indians made their appearance in Blue Earth Co. Minn., murdering and carrying away thirteen whites, stole eighteen horses, and succeeded in getting away unharmed.  They are pursued, and will probably be overtaken and scalped.

From the 30th Wisconsin—Interesting from Dacotah Territory.

Correspondence of the State Journal.

FORT WADSWORTH, DACOTA [sic] TERRITORY, }
July 29, 1864. }

The 30th Wisconsin volunteers having been so long stationed at Camp Randall, had formed many intimate associations.  Our name had become as familiar with you as household words.  Those associations, we trust, have not yet lost their interest at home.  After the slightly overdrawn picture, I noticed in your paper, of the sufferings endured by a portion of our command on our trip hither, I am tempted to intrude myself on your patience, deeming that a brief description of the locality of the destined goal in the far-off land of the Dacotahs, to which the command of Major Clowney⁴  has joined, will not be unacceptable.

Fort Wadsworth is to be located on a point between 45° and 40° north latitude, and in longitude 97° west, amid a cluster of beautiful lakes, laid down at random on the maps, on the Coteau des Prairies.⁵  Away from these lakes the country is bare and broken, the soil poor and rocky, the vegetation consisting principally of stunted buffalo grass and the treacherous cactus plant.  But the cluster of little lakes away in among these dry hills, surrounded by grassy, fertile valleys, and small groves of stately trees, form enchanting pictures, fit scenes for the inspiration of poet or painter.  You, with your beautiful lakes at Madison, may be able to form some conception of the scene.  Fancy a cluster of beautiful lakes, such as Lake Mendota, of clear, sparkling water, and a beach of sand and gravel ;  around the shores the landscape dotted with every variety of hill, valley, forest and prairie ;  around the margin, capes, promontories and peninsulas, covered with groves ;  islands rising up in oval forms from the centre, covered with trees and luxuriant shrubbery ;  then, in the various windings and turnings in the labyrinth, one sees straits, harbors, bays and channels, all in a miniature picture.  The effect of these visions of beauty is only heightened by the uninviting wilderness surrounding.

Of many of these lands[c]apes, ours is a chosen one.  In beauty I think it excels any I have seen, and as a defensive position, when fortified with proper care and guarded by soldierly vigilance, with a sufficiency of stores on hand, we think it may bid defiance to the whole Sioux [Dakota] nation, with their savage confederates thrown in.  We are on a table land, nestled among a cluster of these gens of the desert, a little peninsula connected with the main land by a strip of but a few rods wide.  Our peninsula extends from north to south about the distance of a mile and from east to west not quite half a mile.  In the centre of this the grounds are laid out for the fort.  A square, 676 feet deep by 61_ feet wide, is to be occupied by the various buildings of the fort, and outside of the embankments and rifle-pits are being thrown up.

The scenery on each side of us is of a character previously described.  Hills, valleys, groves and mild placid waters.  Groves narrowing into thin strips, sometimes in straight margins, at others crescent shaped, then widening out into a broad belt.

From the point of view occupied by our company on the east, we behold a picture excelling anything we have ever seen.  At our feet, separated by a steep grade, is a large lake about a quarter of a mile distant, a strip of timber extends out into the lake.  In this there is a break about the centre, revealing another sheet of water beyond ;  beyond this, timber and water again ;  thus continuing a succession of lakes, points, parks, and groves, terminating in hills, in a back ground, at a misty distance of 18 miles.

In the center of our parade ground, or square to be enclosed by the fort, is a circular mound of proportions so uniform that one would suppose them to be thrown up by the hand of a gardner [sic].  On this little mound occurred the following little incident :

JULY 29th, 1864.

I-ha-o-jaw-jaw, chief of the Sissatoes [sic], of Lac Traverse Sioux, accompanied by a body guard of brawny red men, dressed in gaudy attire—some in buckskin hunting shirts, ornamented with fine bead work, some with red blankets thrown around their bare shoulders, some with red sashes wound around their heads, others with antique head dresses, ornamented with feathers and other trinkets pleasing to the eye of the savage.  They rode into camp in true military style, alighted from their ponies and were received in the center of the camp ground by Major Clowny [sic], Adjutant Preistley⁶ and an interpreter.  The Indians, Major, Adjutant and interpreter sat on the ground.  After sitting in grave silence for a few moments, the soldiers meanwhile being kept at a respectful distance by the guard, Chief I-ha-o-jaw-jaw arose and approached the Major, shook him by the hand, likewise afterward the Adjutant and interpreter.  After the chief, each of the warriors, according to rank, arose successively and shook hands with the Major, Adjutant and interpreter.  The ceremony of shaking hands being ended, I-ha-o-jaw-jaw again arose, approached the Major and made a speech as follows :

“We have never been as well satisfied as now.  Whatever happened below was not the work of my band.  We did not join in the council to massacre whites.  We are not responsible for it.  Our fear of the consequences of it drove us away.  We hear that our Great Father has permitted those who did not join in the former massacre, to hold their former intercourse with the whites.  This affords the great satisfaction I speak of.  We see you now, and it is like seeing our Great Father.  We are much pleased at the meeting.  Our Great Father has a very long arm, and it has reached us here—we are under its shadow to-day.  We can only live when under the influence of our Great Father’s hand.  We look upon ourselves as the people of our Great Father.  The Indians of the North-west have a difficulty—we are ready to espouse the cause of the whites.  To the Great Father, whose representative you are to us, we go for protection and care.  We have been driven from our fields and hunting grounds.  We could not plant our corn—we do not know how we are to live through the coming winter.  We wish this to be made known to our great father, that we suffer not and die not for want of food.”

We were not present to hear the reply of the Major, but understood that I-ha-o-jaw-jaw was promised protection and that his statement with regard to food should be sent to the Great Father for consideration!

DACOTAH.

P. S.—The ridiculous picture drawn of our sufferings from Fort Snelling to Fort Ridgley is the subject of many amusing comments by the boys.  We have been trying to learn who were the soldiers that threw aside their guns and rushed frantically into the water.  None but your correspondent having had the pleasure of witnessing the interesting sight.  He must have had a more fortunate point of observation, back with the train, in the rear, from an ambulance or wagon.          D.

1.  According to the Illustrated History of Nebraska ( p. 177):  “A hundred Indians attacked a wagon train, killing, sacking, and burning with characteristic savagery. On the 11th of August, 1864, Adjt.-Gen. W. H. S. Hughes [William H. S. Hughes (1838-1901)] called for a regiment of six companies to be raised each side of the Platte [river], sixty-four men to a company ;  the North Platte companies to report to Brig.-Gen. O. P. Hurford [Oliver Perry Hurford (1830-1913)] at Omaha, and the South Platte to report to Col. Oliver P. Mason [Oliver Perry Mason (1828-1891)] at Nebraska City.”  Isaac Coe (1816-1899), brigadier general of volunteer militia, was at this time in charge of the 2d Brigade of Nebraska militia (p. 385). Illustrated History of Nebraska: A History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region, by Julius Sterling Morton, Albert Watkins, George L. Miller, (Lincoln, Neb.: Jacob North & Company, 1907); available digitally on the Internet Archives.
2.  Alvin Saunders (1817-1899) was the Civil War governor of Nebraska Territory, serving from 1861 to 1867. He also served as a U.S. senator from Nebraska from 1877-1883.
3.  John Evans (1814-1897) was the second governor Colorado Territory from 1862 to 1865. Originally he was a medical doctor practicing in Indiana and Illinois. His wealth garnered him a fair amount of political power. He founded the Illinois Republican Party, becoming a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him the territorial governor of Colorado in 1862. In 1864 Governor Evans appointed the Reverend John M. Chivington as colonel of the Colorado Volunteers and sent him with 800 cavalry troopers to attack a group of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians led by Black Kettle and camped along Sand Creek. The “Sand Creek Massacre” took place on November 28, 1864, when Colonel Chivington ordered his men to attack the encampment, killing about 53 unarmed men and 110 women and children and wounding many more. Governor Evans decorated Chivington and his men for their “valor in subduing the savages.” Evans fought off rumors that it was an unprovoked massacre, but in 1865 after an army and two Congressional investigations into the massacre, the U.S. Government admitted guilt and Evans was forced to resign. Important here is that Evans was implicated in creating the conditions for the massacre to occur by issuing a proclamation on August 11, 1864, “authorizing all citizens of Colorado, either individually or in such parties as they may organize, to go in pursuit of all hostile Indians on the plains” … and “also, to kill and destroy, as enemies of the country, wherever they may be found, all such hostile Indians.” (The Sand Creek Papers at the Tutt Library, Colorado College, include a copy of the August 11, 1864, proclamation; accessed August 21, 2014.)
4.  John Clowney (1816-1885), from Mineral Point, was commissioned the major of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry on September 8, 1862. Besides being in charge of this fort-building expedition in the Dakotas, he was on command of the Post at Frankfort, Kentucky, from March 8 to September 20, 1865, when the regiment mustered out.
5.  French for “hills of the prairies.” The fort sat atop the Coteau des Prairies.
6.  Thomas Priestly (d. 1890) was also from Mineral Point. He originally enlisted September 9, 1861, in the 11th Wisconsin Infantry where he was the 1st sergeant of Company E.  From there he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant of Company B of the 30th Wisconsin on September 8, 1862, and captain of Company B on January 27, 1865. He mustered out with the company on September 20, 1865.

1864 July 30: Draft Quotas and Substitutes, the USS Dictator, the 37th Wisconsin, the Deaths of 2 Taylors Falls Soldiers, and Other News

Following are the smaller news items from the July 30, 1864, issue of The Polk County Press.

The Quota of Wisconsin.

WAR DEPARTMENT, }
PROVOST MARSHALL GENERAL’S OFFICE, }
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 19, 1864. }

His Excellency James T. Lewis, Governor Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. :

SIR : The quota for the State of Wisconsin under the call of the President for 500,000, of date July 18th, 1864, is 19,032.  This quota will be divided among the different sub-districts, and the quota for each sub-district will be reduced by any excess it may now have over all calls heretofore made, or increased by its deficiency on such calls, as the case may be.

.    .Very respectfully,
.      .Your ob’t. servant,
.                .JAMES B. FRY,
Provost Marshal General.

AN IMPORTANT ORDER RESPECTING SUBSTITUTES.

The Milwaukee “Sentinel” says :  “Col. Bean, Provost Marshal for this District, received yesterday an order from Gen. Fry, directing him to accept colored men as substitutes.  He was also authorized to exempt persons enrolled in this district, upon the presentation of the certificate of any Board of Enrollment in this State that they had furnished substitutes in such districts.”

The Dictator.

The Dictator¹ is about to make a voyage across the Atlantic under the Command of Captain Rogers [sic: John Rodgers], on of the finest sailors in the United States Navy.  There has been some difference of opinion expressed by sea going men as to her adaptability for seagoing, but Captain Rogers [sic] has confidence in his craft.  The arrival of this new wonder in Yankee naval architecture will undoubtedly awaken fresh admiration in the minds of our cousins on the other side.  If the Dictator should weather the swell of the Atlantic she may do something towards informing Earl Russell² as to the relations between Great Britian [sic] and the “Northern” States, as well as the balance of power in Europe.

The USS Dictator¹

THE THIRTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.—We have omitted to notice that the last company of this regiment left for GRANT’S army last week.  Col. HARRIMAN [Samuel Harriman] has been with the other companies at the front some time.—State Journal [Madison, Wis.]

ATTENTION.—We solicit the attention of our readers to the call for a Mass meeting, to take into consideration the last call for troops, which we print in another column.

REMEMBER IT.—We trust our people will bear in mind that Thursday, August 4th, is a day set apart for fasting and prayer.  We trust it will be duly observed, in every town in the county.

OUR QUOTA.—Assuming our quota to be the same under the present call as it was under the last 500,000 call, Polk county’s quota will be thirty-nine men.  Under former calls the county is ahead three—leaving thirty-six men to raise.

THE AMENDED DRAFT ACT.—We publish in this issue the amendment by the late Congress to the conscription act.  It is scarcely necessary to call the attention of the public to it, as we doubt not it will be noticed and read with avidity.

DEATH OF SURGEON L. B. SMITH.—The St. Paul “Press” of the 24th inst., contains a letter from Col. W. R. MARSHAL of the 7th Minnesota, giving the losses of the different Minnesota regiments, in the late battles with the rebel FOREST [sic: Forrest], at Tupelo, Miss.  Among the killed in the 7th regiment, we are pained to find the name of our much respected friend, Surgeon L. B. SMITH, of Taylors Falls.  Surgeon S. is well known by almost every man residing in the Upper Valley.  He was a christian [sic] gentleman, loved by his friends, and respected by his enemies.  He entered the service in the Fall of ’62, as Assistant Surgeon of the 7th Minnesota regiment, and was promoted in the Spring of ’63 to 1st Surgeon.  He was a true patriot, a firm advocate of liberty, and undoubtedly died at his post, as becomes a brave man and true soldier.  He leaves a loving wife, two beautiful children, and a host of friends to mourn his loss.  Sadly we pen these lines, for they record the loss of a good and worthy citizen, whose vacant place in our society will hardly be filled with another so true and brave.  God take his soul to Thy keeping, for he loved and followed Thee.³

— Col. Wilkin⁴ of the Ninth Minnesota, was killed at Tupelo, Miss., on the 14th inst.

— The city of St. Paul has appropriated $30,000 for the purpose of raising volunteers to fill the last call for 500,000.

— The Tribune’s Washington special says :  “Gen. Lew Wallace has been relieved from his command at Baltimore, and Gen. Tyler [Erastus B. Tyler] will take his place.”

—Three other radical papers in Missouri have run up the names of Lincoln [Abraham Lincoln] and Johnson [Andrew Johnson], making over rhity [sic] papers in the State which support that ticket.

— The Tribune’s Washington special says we have upward of 62,000 rebel prisoners including 4,000 officers.—This, we suppose means the whole number now in our hands.

— The Washington “Intelligencer” says that Senator Sumner [Charles Sumner] was on the train captured by the rebels at Gunpowder Bridge.  He was not recognized, and was permitted to depart with the other passengers.

— The Toronto “Globe” says of the pirate Semmes [Raphael Semmes] :  “His was a most inglorious task—the burning of more trading ships !—The first time he dared enter upon a fair stand up fight he was beaten, and his career for a time, at least, is ended.”

— The carpenter of the “Alabama,” when he saw the battle was lost with the Kearsarge, drew his revolver and shot himself in the breast.  He was a native of Massachusetts, named Robinson, and committed suicide as Iscariot did, as a partial atonement for his treachery.

—A dispatch from Pro. Mar. [Provost Marshal] Fry states that all men furnished, whether for 1, 2, or 3 years, as well as all defficiences [sic] and excesses on calls heretofore made, will count as man for man.  The equalization of the amount of military service will come hereafter.

— Kearsarge, whence our victorious ship is named, is a mountain, half a mile high, near the centre of New Hampshire, one of the sentinel outposts of the White Hills, but not connected with them.  The Unionists of the Granite State will hencefourth [sic] regard this noble eminence with a prouder affection, since its name is indissolubly blended with one of the happiest exploits of our Navy.

— Gowan [sic],⁵ the brave fellow who had one of his thighs badly crushed while serving one of the big guns on the Kearsarge, in the encounter with the Alabama, died in the hospital at Cherbourg, on Wednesday, June 29.  Dr. Brown [sic],⁶ Surgeon of the Kearsarge after speaking at a dinner in Paris of the gallantry and fortitude shown by the Yankee tar, was favored with a subscription from Americans in Paris, sufficient to errect [sic] a handsome monument to his memory.

The Sioux War.

On the 1st of July the forces of Colonel THOMAS, which marched through Minnesota joined Gen. SULLY [Alfred Sully], at Satan Lake.  [Minor T. Thomas, colonel of the 8th Minnesota Infantry]

A message has been received by Gen. SULLY, from the Sioux, demanding pay for the buffaloes killed last year, and for all damages done by Sibley [Henry Hastings Sibley] and Sully.  They insist that roads shall not be laid out or travel permitted through their territory.—“Upon these terms and no other,” they say, “can we make peace with you.  If they are rejected the war will go on, and your white officers shall be made to eat the flesh of their soldiers if captured.”

On the 28th day of June Indians in ambush shot and instantly killed Capt. FIELDING of the 2d United States Cavalry.  He was a scientific officer of the Smithsonian Institute, attached to the expedition, and was riding a short distance from the train.  It is said that the Sioux number eighteen hundred lodges at Long Lake, about 600 miles west of the Missouri.  Hot work with the red devils may be expected soon to be reported from Gen. SULLY’S Army.

1.  The USS Dictator was a single-turreted ironclad monitor, commissioned November 11, 1864, under the command of John Rodgers. The image is from the Naval History and Heritage Command website.
2.  Lord John Russell (1792-1878) was a prominent English politician who served as the English Home Secretary (1835-1839), Foreign Secretary (1852-1853 and 1859-1865), and Prime Minister (1846-1852 and 1865-1866). He was the first Earl Russell, the title being created for him on July 30, 1861. Philosopher and Nobel Prize-winner Bertrand Russell was the third Earl (1931-1970).
3.  An article about Dr. Lucius Smith appears in Life & Times in Taylors Falls: The Taylors Falls Historical Journal, vol. 14, no. 1 (spring 2014): 1-8, available in the UWRF Archives.
4.  Alexander Wilkin (1819-1864), from Saint Paul, Minn., was killed in battle July 14, 1864, during the Battle of Tupelo in Mississippi. An article about him appeared in the Spring 1865 issue of Minnesota History, available online (“The Civil War and Alexander Wilkin,” by Ronald M. Hubbs, vol. 39, issue 5: 173-190). Wilkin County, Minnesota, is named for him.
5.  William Gowin, an “ordinary seaman.” Dr. Browne wrote on July 23, 1864, “I have previously reported the death of the brave Gowin. Hopes were reasonably entertained that his recovery would occur, but, anæmic from hemorrhage and debilitated by previous attacks of malarial fevers, little vital power remained; phlebitis supervened, soon succeeded by death. Gowin was brought with a smile upon his face, although suffering acutely from his injury. He said, ‘It is all right and I am satisfied, for we are whipping the Alabama,’ adding, ‘I willingly will lose my leg or life if it is necessary.’ During the progress of the action he comforted his suffering comrades by assuring them that ‘Victory is ours!’ Whenever the guns’ crews cheered at the successful effect of their shot, Gowin would wave his hand over his head and join in the shout. In the hospital he was calmly resigned to his fate, repeating again and again his willingness to die, since his ship had won a glorious victory. His patience and cheerfulness during intense suffering and his happy resignation attracted general notice, enlisted sympathies for his recovery, and occasioned sincere regrets for his decease. To record the gallant conduct of this noble sailor is to me a gratification and my apology for mentioning these minor incidents. His shipmates will erect a proper monument to his memory at Cherbourg. I have in my possession a sum of money given by the resident Americans in Paris for a like memorial in his native town in Michigan.”
6.  John Mills Browne (1831-1894) was appointed an Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Navy on March 26, 1853, at the age of 29. He served on board the USS Warren, USS Dolphin, USS Constellation, USS Kearsarge, and USS Pensacola.  He continued in naval service after the Civil War and retired as Surgeon General in May, 1893.

1863 August 22: The End of the Indian War, and an Anti-Draft Speech in Illinois

The following two articles are from the August 22, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.

The Indian War.

The Campaign against the Sioux Nation has ended.  The expedition is now on the return march.

On the 24th of July Gen. SIBLEY [Henry Hastings Sibley] had a spirited engagement with the Indians 1,000 strong at a place called Big Mound, and defeated them with considerable loss.  On the 26th he again met them at Dead Buffalo Lake, and again defeated them with slaughter, and following them up he met them again on the 28th, completely routing them and driving the whole tribe, women, children, and all, across the Missouri River.  The Indians in the last battle numbered 2,500 strong.  All their provisions they were forced to abandon, and together with a large number of skins designed for their winter’s clothing, were destroyed by our troops.  The loss of the Indians in killed was 150, our loss 7 killed and 3 wounded.  Gen. SIBLEY having fought three successive battles and driven the red devils across the Missouri, has evidently ended the Indian campaign.  Our troops are much fatigued and the horses of the expedition needing rest and recruiting, they will stop at Fort Abercrombie.  Gen. SULLY [Alfred Sully], it is thought, will intercept the retreating foe, and cut off their retreat, and it is hoped will succeed in totally annihilating the whole tribe.

Disloyal Speech at Peoria.

CAIRO, Aug. 10.—There was a meeting at Peoria, Ill., on the 5th, at which there were about 800 persons present.  It was addressed by one Robert Davis, a lawyer of Hillsboro, in which he used language of the following import :  You should resist the conscription with your rifles, your shot guns, or whatever weapons you can get hold of.

If you young men don’t resist the conscription, you are unworthy to be called American citizens.  Will you permit Lincoln [Abraham Lincoln] and his shoulder strapped hirelings any longer to make laws and put them in force at the point of the bayonet ?  It was only last Monday that the election came of in Kentucky.

On the Friday previous Burnside [Ambrose E. Burnside] issued an order that no democrats should be allowed to vote.  The conscription is unconstitutional.  It is no use to leave to Lincoln’s courts to decide such a question, and much other stuff of the same kind.  He would undoubtedly like to be arrested, in order to become in the eyes of some a martyr.

1.  Robert W. Davis.  On September 1, 1863, Davis will counsel five men to resist the draft, and will be indicted by a grand jury for the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Illinois. In July of 1864, Davis will be sent out to try to persuade the Clingman gang of Confederate desperadoes to go away and leave Hillsboro alone.

1863 August 6: The Sibley and Fisk Expenditions, the Battle of Big Mound, and Other Happenings in North Dakota

A lengthy letter from Private Thomas F. Morton with the 7th Minnesota Infantry in Dakota Territory. The 7th Minnesota was part of General Henry Hastings Sibley’s troops that pursued Dakota Indians from Minnesota across Dakota Territory.  Some of the Indians were believed to have participated in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.  For those unfamiliar with present-day North Dakota geography, the Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North and meanders for 591 miles across eastern North Dakota.

As with his last letter, Morton’s atrocious spelling and lack of punctuation make his writing almost unintelligible at times.  We have added periods wherever it seemed like the end of a sentence should be and capitalized the beginning of the next sentence, added the occasional comma, and added apostrophes (Fisk’s party, don’t, etc.).

The original letter is in the W. H. C. Folsom Papers (River Falls Mss S) in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

[sheet] No 1

Camp Atchison
Dakota Tery. [Territory]     Aug 6 /63

Mr. Folsom Dear sir,   It is some time since we have heard from the civilized world tho we have heard of the Fall of Vicks Burg [sic], Port Hudson and the victory in Pennsylvania.  I would like to hear from that part of America as the last dates from there was of June the 30^th.  I am fearful that the crops is [sic] short on account of the drouth [sic].  The Log crop faild [sic] and if the wheat crop has faild [sic] Bread may be high and Money scarce with some of us at $13 per month Don’t pay for many Barrels of flour at high prices.  [paragraph break added]

We are all well so fare [sic] as I know.  Capt Fisk’s¹ party over took us at this camp on the 2d.  Our Friends visited with us and they went on there [sic] way Rejoicing.  They left heare [sic] the 23[rd].  Visited with us one day.  Mr. Torbet Smith and Meril [?] looks Ruged [sic] tho they are badly sun burnt.  There was a Rumor the other day around camp got up for the express purpose of having some excitement that Capt Fisk’s party was cut to pieces by the Indians.  I speak of this on account of Mrs. Torbet for some Believed it and I heard one man say that he wrote home about it so if Such a Rumor gets in circulation you may asure [sic] their friend that if it is so we don’t know any thing about it for their [sic] has bin [sic] no communication between his forces and Sibly’s [sic].   I think Capt Burt² is pretty well posted in what is going on and I have made free to ask him and he has freely answerd [sic] me and told me more then I ask him.  [paragraph break added]

The  Imposision [sic] arived [sic] hear [sic] at this cam[p] the 18th of July and the 20[th] Sibly [sic] took the mane [sic] force of the command and went on in the direction of the James River where the Red River half Breeds told him that there was some Soux [sic] camped.  The [sic: There] on the 19^th  He started two of his loyl [sic] Soux [sic] on ahead to demand their surrender.  In this you may see that he Rather give them a chance to run than to gave move on still and get in position and then demand their surrender and if they refused pithed [pitched?] in and cleand [sic] them out but he was afraid that the Boys would hurt them.  Know [Now] if you doubt the statement I have made about the messengers head being sent ahead I will Refer you to Capt Burt, he understands it well.  On the 23rd he sent dispathes [sic] back that he had found whare [sic] they had bin [sic] two incampments [sic] and that he was in pursuit of them.  And that there was a small camp at Devils Lake and ordered that Capt Burt took two cos [companies] of Infantry and one of cavilry [sic] the only one that was left at the camp and one mountain Hoytzer [sic] with 8 Days Rations and go to the lake and look them up and capture them.  On the 24[th] the [he?] organized his litle [sic] forces.  No one wished it grateer [sic] for every one knew that if Mr Sibly [sic] dident [sic] want the indians hurt that he had chose [sic] the wrong man backed bye [sic] the worong force.  Small as it was, every one thot [sic] to find indians there and Returnd [sic] after a tiresom [sic] march of 75 miles

[sheet] No 2

with out seeing more than one indian.  The scouts found him in the wee [weeds?] with out any thing to load his gun with, he had just shot a wolf with the last charge he had.  He is the celebrated Little Crows son just from the Minn. River whare [sic] he says his Father was kild [sic]. He was when we found him he was hard up.  He was 28 days from Henderson.  His thyes [sic: thighs] isent [sic: isn’t] larger than my arms.  He expected to find his friends there about the lake and had bin [sic] there around the lake for three days and couldent [sic] find any traces of them.  Thay [sic] had left and burnt the whole contry [sic] over on that side of the Shayenne [sic] River so as to hide there [sic] trail.  The Expedition mite [sic] just as well have bin [sic] there before they left as not one month.  The 23[rd] is the last we have heard from the Imposition.  A mail was started to it last Saturday by some half Breeds and thay [sic] Returnd [sic] that nite [sic].  Had came across some Sioux and they wouldent [sic] let them go any further, so on munday [sic] thay [sic] started agane [sic].  On the forth [sic] day after Sibly [sic] [s]tarted out thre [sic] was five of his men strayed away from the force some distance and got after a[n] antelope and run it down and held it and while dressing it some Indians shode [sic] them selves and three of Mr Sibly’s [sic] loyl [sic] Sioux and Capt Bracket [sic] and Lieut Freeman of Co D³ MT R [Mounted Rangers, or Cavalry] constituted the party, and the Loyl [sic] Sioux sed [sic] to the other two to save them selves if thay [sic] could [pose?] time to save them selves by flight after runing [sic] there [sic] horses down after the antelope.  The loyl [sic] Sioux give them selves up with there [sic] horses and aquipments [sic] so the other two started to save them selves on theire [sic] run down horses and the indians persude [sic: pursued] and kild [sic] Lt. Freeman.  Capt Bracket [sic] saved him self by leaveing [sic] his tired horse and hid him self in some Rushes by the side of a lake and waited til the indians went away, then Roved about on the plains seven days and then he got back to this camp very hungry having nothing to eat for the seven days except some hard bread that he picked up at one of Sibly’s [sic] camps the fifth day.  This shoes [shows] what the loyl [sic] Sioux will do if they have a chance.  One before it semes [sic] left with two horses [—] you have seen that perhaps in the paper.  [paragraph break added]

There is a bout 150 Beef cattle come up missing our herd the indians has like a nuff [enough?] got them our hard Bread is about every Barrel of it Damaged more or less and the Quarter master sargent [sic] Ed Wood told me that it was condemnd [sic] before it started, and Col Miller⁴ knew that it was damaged as early as in May.  I will Refer you to Wyman⁵ for the proof.  Know [now?] he is helt [sic] up for governor of the State.  If you voters thare [sic] at home wants to put an end to this Sioux war let Col Miller alone get him out of the army and get him to preaching for I don’t want an officer over the Seventh Reg. that preaches, plays cards and drinks Brandy Saturday nights til into Sunday.  Frank Prat [sic]⁶ is the Proof, call on him.

[sheet] No 3,

Know [Now?] it is the intention to to [sic] keep up this Sioux war another summer and keep the troops in the state this winter.  I have heard boste [sic: boast?] made that it was helping the state, it was bringing money in the state.  It may be very nice for those that is speculating out of it tho it ant [sic: ain’t] very nice for the poor solders [sic].  I can speak for one in leted [intent?] in ernist [sic] to put an end to the war not to make money out of it.  It is nothing uncommon for an officer to say I don’t want to get out of it til my three years is out.  The United States sevennight [Senate?] was wise when it Refused to confirm the appointment of Mr Sibly [sic].  Know [now?] I want the voters of Minn to speak if the Peole [sic: People] of Minn wants to take a millitary [sic] man take Col Mashal [sic]⁷ who is a man if he could had command of this Imposition it would have bin [sic] an Expedition and there would have hardly Bin [sic] a Sioux indian under the light of the sun to day [sic, although a common way of spelling “today” at the time].  When he was in 40 miles of them he wouldent [sic] have sent some loyl [sic] Sioux to demand of them to surrender.  No he ant [sic: ain’t] that kind of man, he would have went him self and took his amunition [sic] along.  But as it is the soldiers is to be Run Down after them.  After awhile there will Bee [sic] a grate [sic] flourishing Report of the arderous [sic: arduous] campaign and Raped [?] marches and nothing acomplished [sic] unless thay [sic] attact [sic] him or see proper to come in and give them selves up which is not likely they will do the latter.  It is the intention of the Millatary [sic] Power and Speculators of this north west, especly [sic: especially] those partisioners [sic: petitioners] for the Reappointment of Mr Sibly [sic] as Brigadier and those who connived in the hard Bread Speckulation [sic].  It was justly condemnd [sic] for there the goverment [sic] lost it or what it cost then the speculators took it along and Deels [sic] it out to the soldier as good Bread so you can see that the goverment [sic] pays for Bread that is moldy or at least part of abot [sic] every Barel [sic] of it is and when a Part is the Remainder tasts [sic] of the mold and not only pays But pays twice.  Some one pockets the full cost of good Bread.  Allso [sic] we started from Camp Pope on half Rations of some artickles [sic] for instance salt, soap and candly [?].  Some one is making a good thing of it.  And if the powers that be was not intersted [sic] in the profits such things would not exist.  Know [Now?] what was Col Miller stationed at St Paul for Col Crooks Ranks him I think Because they can make a cats paw of him.  Capt Burt cant [sic] lead him whare [sic] he chooses tho he is a loyl [sic] man and would end the thing if he could, that is I mean Capt Burt.

I would go on if I had time and space.  Every letter that I send out or Receive I have to pay 10 cts so you see that is a B thing [big thing?].  Wyman is out with the Imposion [sic].

Yours Truly
Thos. F. Morton

W H C Folsom

1.  James Liberty Fisk (1835-1902) led four expeditions from Minnesota to Montana between 1862 and 1866 to promote settlement in the West. Fisk had been a private in the 3rd Minnesota Infantry, but in May 1862 he was commissioned a captain and appointed to escort emigrants and gold-seekers through the Dakota Territory between Fort Abercrombie, Dakota, and Fort Walla Walla, Washington. Because of Indian unrest described here, Fisk’s second expedition in 1863 had only around 60 people. The group departed from Fort Ripley, Minnesota, on June 25 and reached the vicinity of Fort Benton, Montana Territory, on September 7. Fisk took a route further north of his previous route due to the widespread drought described in this letter.
2.  William H. Burt was the captain of Company C of the 7th Minnesota Infantry. In 1864 he will be promoted to major.
3.  George Brackett was the Sibley Expedition’s beef contractor. Chaska, an Indian scout, witnessed Lieutenant Ambrose Freeman’s death on July 24 and then helped Brackett hide in tall grass to avoid detection. Chaska was instrumental in Brackett’s escape.  Ambrose Freeman (1823-1863) was the 1st lieutenant in Company D of the 1st Minnesota Cavalry, or Mounted Rangers.
4.  Stephen Miller was the colonel of the 7th Minnesota Infantry. He will be promoted to brigadier general in November 1863.
5.  W. H. C. Folsom’s son, Wyman H. Folsom, also in Company C of the 7th.
6.  Frank H. Pratt (1835-1884) was originally from Maine but was living in Taylors Falls, Minnesota, when he enlisted. He mustered into Company C of the 7th Minnesota Infantry on November 24, 1862. On May 25, 1863, he became the 2nd lieutenant; was promoted to 1st lieutenant on April 15, 1864; and captain on January 18, 1865. After the War he will serve in the Minnesota Legislature in 1874, chairing the Military Affairs Committee.
7.  William Rainey Marshall (1825-1896) was the lieutenant colonel of the 7th Minnesota Infantry. He will become the 5th governor of Minnesota, serving from 1866 to 1870.  The William R. Marshall Papers, 1853-1894, at the Minnesota Historical Society (A/.M369) include Colonel Marshall’s journal of the 1863 Sibley Expedition. The journal was published in the North Dakota Historical Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 3, pp.38-40; no.4, p.11; vol. 2, p.126 (April, July, 1927; January, 1928).

Thomas F. Morton letter of August 6, 1863, from the W. H. C. Folsom Papers (River Falls Mss S) in the University Archives and Area Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

1863 March 7: “The whole rebeldom need say their prayers, for the ‘Yankees are coming'”

Following is the war news from the front page of The Polk County Press of March 7, 1863.

LATE WAR NEWS.

The President has called for an extra session of the Senate.

There is a report through rebel sources of a great battle at Vicksburg, with no definate [sic] result.  This is probably a traitor cannard [sic].

There was quite a severe engagement between a regiment of U. S. Regulars and a large body of rebels in the vicinity of Murfreesboro.  The rebels were defeated with a loss of eight killed, twenty wounded, and one hundred and forty prisoners.  Our loss was eight killed and wounded.

The ram Queen of the West which the rebels captured on Red River has served the rebellion well.  The iron-clad Indianola which was sent to recapture her, was met by the Queen and two other rebel gunboats, and after a fight of one and a half hours was sunk and captured. This has created considerable excitement in our Navy at Vicksburg and it is reported that Commodore PORTER’S entire fleet has run the blockade [David D. Porter].   If this is true we may expect stiring [sic] news from Red River and vicinity in a few days.

It is announced that the rebels are converting the Harriet Lane into an iron-clad.  It will be remembered that she was recently captured by the rebels at Galveston.

JEFF. DAVIS [Jefferson Davis] is again attacked with a fit of fasting and prayer, according to the present prospect of the rebel Confederacy we think the whole rebeldom need say their prayers, for the “Yankees are coming.”

The Conscripton [sic] Bill has passed both Senate and House, been signed by the President, and is now a law.  There is a prospect of another call for 600,000 men to fill up old regiments.  We publish part of the Bill in to day’s paper.

The present Congress has appropriated about $887,000,000.

Gen. SIGEL [Franz Sigel] has again resigned.  We have no particulars in regard to it.

A call has been extensively signed for a Ship Canal Convention at Chicago.

The Indianola was captured about forty miles below Vicksburg.  It is rumored that the rebels are again invading Kentucky.

The U. S. Marshal has commenced arresting deserters throughout the State of Iowa.

A discovery has been made that certain men have been hiring contrabands to take into the interior ostensibly as laborers, but in reality for the purpose of selling them into bondage.  Several arrests have been ordered.

The thirty-seventh Congress adjourned March 4th.  The extra session immediately commenced business.

Charleston dates to March 1st, state that the rebel steamer Nashville blockaded in Savannah harbor, has been destroyed by our iron-clads.

 It is reported that the roads in Virginia and Tennessee are getting good, and troops are again on the forward move.¹

A recent Washington letter states that an English officer has given information that a project is on foot in England superintended by Mr. MAURY,² late of the U. S. Navy, for the capture of the U. S. Mediterranean Squadron with iron-clads, said to be nearly ready for sea.

Two hundred and fifty thousand ($250,000) dollars has been appropriated to indemnify Minnesota for expenses incurred in prosecuting the Sioux war.

The rebel fort McAllister, at the mouth of the Ogeechee River, near Savannah, which has twice been attacked by Com. WORDEN [John L. Worden], has at last fallen by a combined attack of gunboats and land forces.  The 47th New York lost one hundred and fifteen men in the attack.  The Ogeechee River is navigable for forty miles, to the rear of Savannah, and it is probable that the city will be attacked in this direction by the land forces.

A committee of the Wisconsin Legislature has reported against the cession of Douglas county to the State of Minnesota.

Congress has passed an amendment to the tax bill, rendering absolutely void all loans over par on gold, which, it is asserted will stop speculation and drive speculators into another field.

1.  As we just saw in yesterday’s letter from Edwin Levings in Tennessee with the 12th Wisconsin Infantry.
2.  Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) was a career naval officer who resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy when the Civil War began and joined the Confederacy. He spent the war in the South and also abroad in Great Britain, Ireland, and France where he acquired ships and supplies for the Confederacy.

1863 March 4: Contingent Indian War Fund; Peace; What it Costs to Support Contrabands

From the March 4, 1863, issue of The Prescott Journal come the following news items.

Indian Raids.

There seems to be simultaneous, if nor [sic: not] a systematic movement among certain persons, contractors, speculators and jobbers, on our western fronteer [sic] in Minnesota, Nebraska, Dakota and Iowa, to create a panic in relation to apprehended Indian raids on the opening of spring.  The object of these mercenary men is to induce military movement in this direction, involving a great outlay, whereby they hope to secure a large reward.  Even in this state an effort has been made to induce the Legislature to make a large appropriation as a “Contingent” Indian War fund, to be really an electioneering fund.  From all the reliable knowledge we can gather on this subject, we do not behave [sic: believe] there is the least prospect of any disturbance with the Indians.  The stories of Indian purposes and savage preparations for a general border warfare next season, are trumped up for mercenary purposes.
Hudson North Star.

(From the Louisville Journal Feb 16)

We desire peace as ardently as the most orthodox follower of the humane Penn,¹ but the country can accept no offer of peace from the rebels until it is able to dictate and enforce the terms and we can listen to no propositions for truce unless coupled with a promise of reconstruction.  Until then our armies must be maintained in the field, and all the resources of the nation must be put forward to crush out the rebellion.  The adoption of the policy of Mr. Vallandigham [Clement L. Vallandigham] at the outset of the struggle, would have been fatal to our national honor, a confession that the theory of our Government had been a lamentable failure, and an admission that the people were unable or unfit to govern themselves under republican institutions.  How much more degrading and subversive of the great principles which underlie Constitution, would a craven peace be now, when we have so lavishly expended blood and treasure to maintain the integrity of the Union, and to show to the world that our popular institutions are self-sustaining, and that the great problem of our Government has not reduced its demonstration to an absurdity.

EXPENSES OF SUPPORTING CONTRABANDS AT HILTON HEAD.—Frequent charges of enormous expenditures by the Government for the support of the Contraband negroes at Hilton Head and vicinity, during its occupancy by the national troops have been made.  Congress has called on the Secretary of the Treasury [Salmon P. Chase] to inform it respecting the expenses for maintaining the slaves, &c, in that district from the commencement of the rebellion.  The Secretary replies that there has been expended for agricultural implements, in round numbers, $77,018 ;  for the purchase of the schooner Flora, $31,350 ;  for white labor, $85,748 ;  for colored labor, $34,527 total expenses, $255,705.

From this expenditure has been realized $726,984, Deducting the above expenses there remains on hand from this fund $501,279.  This was up to June last, at which time the business was transferred to the War Department.  The schooner Flora was used for transporting property to New York, and for military operations, and can now be sold at an advance above her cost.

The Secretary says that no expenditure whatever has been made from the Treasury on account of the cultivation of the plantations, or the collection of cotton, or the educational or benevolent care of the laborers.  The rations furnished by the War Department were paid for by the use of the Flora.  More than half a million of dollars was saved by these operations, and is in the hands of the assistant Treasurer at New York.—State Journal.

1.  William Penn (1644-1718), founder of Pennsylvania and a Quaker.

1863 February 11: A Victim of the Minnesota Indian Massacre

The newspapers on the eastern edge of Wisconsin continue to fan the Indian scare.  This is from the February 11, 1863, Prescott Journal., reprinted from the Hudson Times.

This same article will appear in the February 21, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.

THE INDIAN MASSACRE—ONE OF ITS VICTIMS.—Two or three weeks ago we mentioned the fact that an insane man was confined in the jail in this city.  We have since learned something of his history and of the terrible cause which produced his insanity.

His name is Thomas Shay.  He has been for some years a resident of Minnesota, near New Ulm, where he was industrious, thrifty and happy farmer.  He had a family consisting of a wife and three children.  At the time of the Indian massacre at New Ulm he was in the field at work.  The Indians came suddenly upon him, and after wounding him slightly he was taken prisoner.  He remained with the Indians some weeks, but finally made his escape, and after untold hardships reached the settlements in safety.  During all this time he had learned nothing of his family.  He immediately proceeded to New Ulm, where he received the awful intelligence that they were all murdered.  He at once went to his homestead, where he found that his house had been burned, his stock killed, his grainfields destroyed and the most utter desolation surrounding him.  In the yard, just in front of where his house had stood, he found a grave at the head of which stood a rough board upon which was written in red chalk, the names of his family.  He gazed at the words for some moments with the blank stupor of despair, and turned away a maniac.

Such, in brief, is the history of one life made desolate by the awful horrors of the Minnesota Indian Massacre.

Sheriff Barker, who has custody of this unfortunate being, has applied for his admittance into the State Insane Hospital,  where it is hoped he may recover.  His madness is of the milder form, but he can never find escape from the great sorrow which burdens him, and we fear his reason has forsaken its throne forever.—Hudson Times.

1863 January 3: Summary of the Week’s War News

The following synopsis of the news of the week is from the January 3, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.  The Prescott Journal did not publish an issue between Christmas and New Year’s’

The News.

The President [Abraham Lincoln] has issued a congratulatory order to the army of the Potomac.  The attempt of Burnside [Ambrose E. Burnside] he says, was not an error, not the failure other than an accident.  This gives the sanction of the commander-in-chief to what has been done.

Rebel papers from Richmond put the number of their killed and wounded in the late battle much higher than the official reports of Gen. Lee [Robert E. Lee].  The papers would not be likely to overstate the facts transpiring under their immediate attention.

No rebel forces have yet appeared on the north side of the Rappahannock, as it was feared they would in view of our late reverse.

Late St. Paul despatches inform us of the return of the rebels in large force in the vicinity of Columbus and Paducah, and with the probably intention of attacking the former stronghold.

There is also news of the capture of Holly Springs, of the loss of two hundred killed, and fifteen hundred taken prisoners, with a half million of public stores, and four thousand bales of cotton destroyed.

A rebel raid had been made on the suburbs of Memphis.

The Legislature of this territory of Dakota has been brought to a dead lock, through the secession of a portion of its members.

Union City, West Tenn. Has been captured by the rebels with two hundred Union troops.

Gen. Foster¹ in North Carolina after a series of brilliant victories succeeded in taking Goldsboro with not much loss.  The enemy having recieved [sic] reinforcement he fell back to Kingston.  His campaign entirely successful, he having captured seven hundred prisoners, eleven pieces of artillery, large quantities of stores, and destroying the rebels’ railroad and telegraphic communication between North Carolina and Virginia.

Gen. Burnside takes the responsibility of the late move on Fredericksburg, giving his reasons therefor, thereby relieving the President and Secretary Stanton [Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War] from all blame in the matter.

Thaddeus Stevens, from the Library of Congress (see footnote 1)

Secretary Chase [Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury] has sent to Representative Stevens² his financial project recommending a loan of $900,000,000 at rates of interest not exceeding those now authorized by law.

The Secretary does not suggest any augmentation of Treasury Notes.  The Committee on Ways and Means has not yet considered the subject.

Nothing reliable has come to hand in regard to Gen. Banks’ [Nathaniel P. Banks] expedition.  All that is known is that he has gone south and has not landed as reported by the despatches to the Associated Press.  His where abouts [sic] will soon be made known by his works.

Gen. McClelland [George B. McClellan] reported as having sailed from Memphis with a large expedition—destination, down the Mississippi.

Thirty nine of the Indian Prisoners were hung at Mankato, Minn. Friday the 26th ult.  No such wholesale hanging ever took place before in in [sic] this country, nor were greater villains ever suspended between heaven and earth.  Our only regret is that [. . .]³ Sioux nation, squaws pap- [. . .]  all were not served in a [. . .].

1.  John Gray Foster (1823-1874) was a graduate of West Point and a career military officer who served as an engineer in the Mexican War. When the Civil War began, Foster was in command of the garrison at Fort Moultrie. He immediately transferred his troops to Fort Sumter and became second-in-command to Major Robert Anderson. He was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers in October of 1861 and commanded a brigade in General Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition. Foster commanded the Department of North Carolina from 1862 to December 1863.
2.  Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was a Republican representative from Pennsylvania and one of the most powerful members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the chairman of the House’s Ways and Means Committee and he wrote much of the financial legislation that paid for the Civil War.
The photograph of Stevens is from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
3.  A small portion of the lower left corner of the newspaper page is missing.

1862 December 17: “Details of a trip to enforce the draft in Brown county”

The following letter appeared in the January 3, 1863, issue of The Polk County Press.  “Friend Sam” is the editor of the Press, Sam Fifield.  Company A, 30th Wisconsin Infantry, was the Saint Croix Guards.

The official history of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry confirms that Company A was enforcing the draft in Brown County: “On the 16th of November, 1864, Company A was sent to Green Bay, to protect the Draft Commissioner, remaining several weeks,” and “One company was sent into Lafayette County, to hunt up delinquents under the enrollment.”¹

Army Correspondence.

CAMP RANDALL, Dec. 17th, 1862.

FRIEND SAM:—I take this opportunity to give you a few items of the doings of Company A, and the details of a trip to enforce the draft in Brown county.  A sergeant and four men had been sent to the town of Morrison to bring in nine drafted men, but returned without accomplishing their object.  Some had fled to Canada, and others would not own their names, so the squad returned without a man.  This was not satisfactory, and Capt. HARRIMAN [Samuel Harriman] determined to make one more attempt.  Accordingly, on Wednesday December 10th, orders were given to eleven of us to pack up and be ready to move.  The next morning we started out.  We marched eighteen miles that day over mudy [sic] roads, and such mud! the good Lord deliver us from ever seeing again.  Our plan was to surprise the “conscripts” and so we did not allow any traveller [sic] to pass us on the road.  We stopped two females and although they had heavy loads to carry they managed to keep up with us, showing that the women in “these parts” know how to travel.

Gaining the vicinity of the town we stopped a short distance outside, while our Sergeant went on ahead to reconnoitre.  He found a loyal German that led us around to the back of his house, where we entered, and were concealed in his chamber, and who furnished us with a good warm supper.  Here we rested about four hours.  As the evening advanced the moon rose and shone brightly, and we quietly moved on to prosecute our search.  We could not procure a guide from among the settlers, they being afraid of the consequences of serving as such when they should be left without our protection, so we had to do the best we could without one.

We marched thirty miles that night, through timber and swamps, over bad roads, and sometimes nothing but foot trails, and searched twenty-two houses from top to bottom.  We found but one drafted man, and he was hid in a potato bin.

The country through which we have marched is very poor.  The roads where there are any, are very miserable, the swamps and marshes corduroyed² without being covered or leveled, and on the whole are as much worse than the poorest road in Polk county as one can imagine.  The inhabitants are all foreigners and are mostly Irish, good fighting men but not very patriotic.

We got back to our German friend’s house on the morning of the 12th, about nine o’clock, where we were supplied with a warm breakfast.

It now began to rain and we concluded to remain until the next morning.  We all got well rested and the next morning we took an early start for Fort Howard, our head-quarters, which place we reached at dark, tired and foot sore.  The next day being Sunday, we were allowed to rest.

On Monday the 15th we bid good bye to Fort Howard, taking the [railroad] cars for Madison, where we arrived the next morning at six o’clock, and went into our old barracks, having been absent just one month from the time we left them.

When we went to rest that night, we could not help but think of the comfortable rooms at Fort Howard, and the kind and smiling faces that so often greeted us while there, and which so forcibly reminded us of our dear friends at home; but sleep put an end to our musings.  About 11 o’clock we were aroused by the cry of fire, and on getting out found that Company H’s quarters were burning.  The flames spread rapidly and before they could be arrested the quarters occupied by three companies were destroyed.  No damage was sustained except by Company H, and their loss is trifling.  The Colonel and Sergeant Major³ were both slightly injured while assisting in extinguishing the fire.  The barracks, in order to keep the flames from spreading were torn down, and we now occupy more comfortable quarters.

The 25th regiment came in to-day and have pitched tents here.  They are a hardy looking set of men, and have had a hard time of it in Minnesota.  They tell some heart rending stories of the brutal treatment of the whites by the Indians in that state.

The Polk county boys are all able to eat their regular rations, and have been most of the time.  We have got a good Captain [Samuel Harriman] who looks after the interests of his men.  We like all of our officers, and it is really hard to tell which the men think the most of.  Company A is becoming proficient in drill, as is, also, the whole regiment.  We are counted number one here.  Trusting in Providence,

I remain yours, a POLK CO. BOY.

1.  The official regimental history of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry is in E. B. Quiner’s Military History of Wisconsin (UWRF Archives E 537 .Q56 1866), chapter 38, this quotation is on page 789.
2.  A corduroy road was a type of road made by placing logs perpendicular to the direction of the road, usually over a low or swampy area.  This Civil War-era illustration is from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, a publication very similar to Harper’s Weekly.
3.  Colonel Daniel J. Dill, from Prescott, and Sergeant Major Robert S. Ansley, from Mineral Point.