History of Company E of the Sixth Minnesota Regiment of Volunteer Infantry

by A. J. Hill; Charles J. Stees

Five men of the company were with the original detachment at the battle of Birch Coolie. R. Mueller and Klinghammer were severely wounded, the former in the side and arm, and the latter in the leg. They were cared for at the post hospital. Dreis and Fandel were there, having accompanied the volunteer cavalry from St. Paul; Dreis joined on the 4th and Fandel, being wounded in the hand, went to the hospital. Thiele, too, was present at this fight. About this time Lieutenant Exel with the seven furloughed Winona men returned.

Shortly after this affair the order of the adjutant general of the state was received and published, fixing the letters of the companies according to the rank of the respective captains. The Sigel Guards were the fifth company, and so became E; in position it was therefore the seventh from the right wing of the regiment, and had, when marching during the summer, Company A of the Ninth Regiment in front, and Company K of the Sixth in the rear.

While preparations for the campaign were progressing, the troops were drilled daily in the "school of the soldier" and "of the company;" and, among other things, trenches were dug at the fort, and beyond the camps. About the middle of the month Eberdt was detailed as regimental pioneer.

On the 18th of the month the expeditionary force took up the line of march from its base at Fort Ridgley. Crossing at the ferry near by, the route pursued was on the south side of the Minnesota River, fording the Red Wood at the usual place, and touching Wood Lakes, about three miles from Yellow Medicine, which was reached on the 22nd. On the morning of the 23rd the Indians surprised a foraging party half a mile distant from the camp. The Third Regiment formed in line, and, crossing a ravine, opened fire on the Indians, but immediately received orders to fall back. The Third recrossed the ravine, and, the Renville Rangers coming to their support, the Indian advance was checked. Captain Hendricks placed his artillery in a raking position at the head of the ravine, and soon dislodged the enemy. On the right, Colonel Marshall with five companies of the Seventh Regiment, and Companies A and I of the Sixth under Lieutenant Colonel Averill, charged and drove the Indians from their position. On the left, a similar flank movement was repelled by Major McLaren with Companies F and K of the Sixth, while the remainder of the regiment was held in reserve. The action lasted about two hours, at the end of which time, the Indians being unable to withstand the murderous fire of shot and shell rained upon them, fled with great precipitation, and thus ended the battle of Wood Lake. The whole plan of battle seems to have been of defense, fought on the old lines of chivalry—man for man, instead of bringing all the troops in line of action and dealing the enemy a crushing blow at the beginning. This mode of action may have been very nice from an Indian's point of view, but the men in the reserve who stood in line of battle for nearly two hours, and those engaged at the front who were held back and not allowed to drive the enemy, would have preferred a little less chivalry and a few more dead Indians.

On the 25th the line of march was again taken up, and on the 26th we arrived at the camp of the "so-called" friendly Indians, where were most of the white captives taken during the insurrection, and who in a day or two were delivered up. This place was nearly opposite the mouth of the Chippewa River, and near by, about a quarter of a mile south of the Minnesota River, was formed the camp ever afterwards to be known in local history as Camp Release, from this memorable surrender of captives there.

On the 4th of October, Captain Whitney, with two companies of the Sixth and one from the Seventh, was sent below in charge of the Indian prisoners to gather the crops in the vicinity of the Yellow Medicine Agency. On the 5th all the company present, 91 in number, were mustered into the military service of the United States, "for three years from their respective dates of enrollment." On the 13th, Colonel Marshall was sent to the westward with a detachment consisting of Company G of the Sixth Regiment, 100 men of the Third, and one howitzer, in quest of the Indians reported to be near the headwaters of the Lac qui Parle River and Two Lakes (Mde-nonpana) in the Coteaus. The expedition returned on the 21st, having penetrated the prairies nearly to the James River, and having in charge about 150 Indian prisoners, including men, women and children.

By company order of September 22nd, Corporal Huth was promoted to fifth sergeant, and Privates J. Smith and Martin appointed seventh and eighth corporals, respectively. On October 13th warrants bearing the same date were made out and signed by the colonel for all the non-commissioned officers, making the grades agree with said order, but causing them to take effect from the 18th of August. On the 14th Company F left for Yellow Medicine to reinforce Captain Whitney. On the night of the 15th, Captain Merriman, with Company B and 35 mounted men (including 25 scouts), made a raid beyond the lower Lac qui Parle, and captured 23 lodges, in all 67 Indians. On the 18th W. A. Hill rejoined. While at Camp Release the duty performed was chiefly guarding the Indian prisoners, foraging, and serving on camp guard,—a very strict and irksome one. Company drill in the morning and battalion drill in the afternoon were also required.

Though within sixty miles of depots of supplies, and though the majority of the fighting men of the insurgent Indians had either been captured, or had surrendered, or retreated further up the Minnesota river, the rank and file of this small army had here to suffer for the want of commissary stores,—truly following the advice of the ancient philosopher to leave off eating with yet a little appetite. Had it not been for the potatoes of the Indian gardens and cattle of the slaughtered and fugitive settlers—which provisions, though costing nothing to the government at the time, were made to offset the amounts due for non-issued rations, the source of "company funds"—we would have been nearly starved.

The return march was begun on the 23rd of October, on which day the weather turned suddenly cold and a high wind rose, which blew down many of the tents at Yellow Medicine that night. Arrived at the Lower Agency on the 25th, and then went into camp at Camp Sibley; and remained there till the 8th of November, and then resumed the march. The next day the company was detailed as guard for the prisoners, two men being assigned to each wagon. Though the troops left the village of New Ulm a mile or more to the left, yet the citizens, exasperated at the sight of the Indians in the wagons guarded by the soldiers, lined the road opposite the town in great excitement, hurling stones and endeavoring to get at the Indians, in which they partly succeeded. On the 10th we arrived at Blue Earth River bridge, and camped a little beyond it, on the townsite of Le Hillier (L'Huillier) and immediately south of the isolated bluff at the mouth of the river,—the camp being called Camp Lincoln.

Here Eberdt was relieved. Fischer left on the 15th on furlough, from which he never returned; Juergens and Knobelsdorff, sick, were sent to the hospital at Mankato the same day. Gaheen, Gantner, Meyer and Parks had been detailed or detached as regimental teamsters during parts of October and November, but by this time were all with the company again for duty.