Fort Ridgely Minnesota

American Civil War
August 20-22, 1862

In August 1862, the Santee Sioux of Minnesota under Chief Little Crow, angered by the failure of the Federal government to provide annuities and by the poor quality of rations, went on the offensive. They killed approximately 800 settlers and soldiers, took many prisoners, and caused extensive property damage throughout the Minnesota River Valley.

Fort Ridgely, about twelve miles from the Lower Sioux Agency, became the refuge for white civilians. The fort's commander, Capt. John S. Marsh, set out with most of his men for the Lower Sioux Agency.

Before reaching the agency, a large Native American force surprised the soldiers, killed half of them, including Marsh, and pursued the survivors back to the fort.

On August 20, about 400 Sioux attacked the fort but were repulsed.

On the 22nd, 800 Sioux attacked the fort again, but the garrison and civilians held the fort.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Nicollet County

Campaign: Operations to Suppress the Sioux Uprising (1862)

Date(s): August 20-22, 1862

Principal Commanders: 1st Lt. Timothy J. Sheehan [US]; Chief Little Crow [I]

Forces Engaged: Fort Ridgely Garrison and refugee civilians [US]; Santee Sioux [I]

Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 16; I unknown)

Native American Book Titles

Minnesota State Battle Map
State Battle Maps
American Civil War Exhibits
Civil War Timeline
Women in the War

American Civil War Book Titles

The Confederate War Bonnet: A Novel of the Civil War in Indian Territory
An evocative historical novel that helps to answer how Indians became involved in the Civil War, why they joined Confederate forces, and how the experience shaped their future in America.

The American Indian and the End of the Confederacy, 1863-1866
The vulnerability of the Indians caught between two warring sides. The failure of the US government to afford to the southern Indians the protection solemnly guaranteed by treaty stipulations was the great cause of their entering into an alliance with The Confederacy

General Stand Watie's Confederate Indians
The Confederacy pioneered the idea of giving blacks and women positions of authority [the Matron Law], placed Jews in positions of power, put General's stars on a Mexican and the first American Indian General. This book is his story

Sam Bell Maxey and the Confederate Indians
Accompanying photos, clear maps. This book will leave you wanting to learn more about this rather neglected region of the war. No less important in many regards for the defining of the nation's future than the more well-known battlefields of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Highly recommended

Civil War on the Western Border, 1854-1865
Fanatical politics of the western frontier, immigrant abolitionists with loaded Spencer rifles funded by mysterious personages back East, cut-throats, gin heads and horse thieves, colorful character descriptions

Civil War in the American West
An accurate and detailed history of the Western Theater of the Civil War, which was largely forgotten by history. He was one of the first historians to fully understand the impact that California had on the war as he gives an accounting of the Federal raid on the Dan Showalter Ranch in San Bernadino on October 5, 1861.

Black Flag: Guerrilla Warfare on the Western Border, 1861-1865: A Riveting Account of a Bloody Chapter in Civil War History
The guerilla warfare along the Kansas-Missouri boarder brought forth some of the bloodiest incidents of the Civil War

The American Civil War in Indian Territory
Native Americans fought in both Union and Confederate units. The Indian Territory saw its share of battles and campaigns. If you are a reenactor or modeler this is the kind of detail that you need. The photos and artwork make this a must-have.

Decision in the Heartland
The Civil War in the West

The western campaigns cost the Confederacy vast territories, the manufacturing of Nashville, the financial center of New Orleans, communication hub Corinth, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, along with the breadbasket of the Confederacy.

Lincoln and the Indians Civil War Policy and Politics
Overview of the system of Indian administration as it had developed by 1860. Dominated by the political spoils system and by corruption of the Indian agents. As a master of the art of pragmatic politics, Lincoln used the system as he needed to do to hold the Union together-resulting in tragedy for our country's Indian wards

War in Kentucky: From Shiloh to Perryville
Union gains in the Mississippi Valley and in Tennessee and Kentucky had brought the Confederacy to a point of crisis. This addition to the literature on the Civil War in the West tells how the Union then failed to press home its advantage while the Confederacy failed to force Kentucky into the Confederacy

The Civil War in Arizona: The Story of the California Volunteers, 1861-1865
History of the California Column in wartime Arizona and a rare compilation of letters written by the volunteer soldiers who served in the U.S. Army from 1861 to 1866. These letters provide testimony of the grueling desert conditions the soldiers endured as they fought on many fronts


Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.