| 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment Battle Flag | |
| Active | August 16, 1862, to August 16, 1865 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Engagements | American Civil War
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Stephen Miller William R. Marshall |
The 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army that served in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
The 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was mustered into Federal service at Camp Release, Fort Snelling, and St. Peter, Minnesota, between August 16 and October 30, 1862. In August Companies A, B, F, G, and H marched to relieve the embattled Fort Ridgely. [1] They would see action at the Battle of Birch Coulee and at the Battle of Wood Lake in September. [1] Following the surrender of the Sioux, the Seventh spent the winter in Minnesota. The next summer, they accompanied Colonel Henry Sibley against the native peoples in Dakota Territory. They fought in the Battle of Big Mound in July, 1863. [1] They returned to Minnesota to be sent south to St Louis in October for the winter. Once spring arrived, the regiment moved east to Paducah, Kentucky. From there, it headed south into Tennessee and by the end of June were in northern Mississippi. In July, they fought Confederate forces in the Battle of Tupelo. They pursued Sterling Price but did not engage his troops. They arrived in Nashville that winter and contributed to the Union victory at the Battle of Nashville. After the battle, they moved further south into Alabama for the Battle of Spanish Fort, one of the last battles on the Western theater. The war ended and by July the Seventh was heading north for home. The Regiment was mustered out in St. Paul, Minnesota, on August 16, 1865. [2]
The 7th Minnesota Infantry suffered 2 officers and 31 enlisted men killed in action or who later died of their wounds, plus another 138 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 171 fatalities. [3]
Both of the 7th regiment's commanders were later elected governor of Minnesota:
Fort Ridgely was a frontier United States Army outpost from 1851 to 1867, built 1853–1854 in Minnesota Territory. The Sioux called it Esa Tonka. It was located overlooking the Minnesota River southwest of Fairfax, Minnesota. Half of the fort's land was part of the south reservation in the Minnesota river valley for the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute tribes. Fort Ridgely had no defensive wall, palisade, or guard towers. The Army referred to the fort as the "New Post on the Upper Minnesota" until it was named for two Maryland Army Officers named Ridgely, who died during the Mexican–American War.
The Battle of Big Mound was a United States Army victory in July 1863 over the Santee Sioux Indians allied with some Yankton, Yanktonai and Teton Sioux in Dakota Territory.
The Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake was a skirmish in July 1863 in Dakota Territory between United States army forces and Santee, Yankton, Yanktonai and Teton Sioux. The Sioux attempted to capture the pack train of the army and retired from the field when they were unsuccessful.
Alfred Sully was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War and the American Indian Wars. He served as Brevet Brigadier General in the Union army during the American Civil War but was removed from command by John Gibbon for failure to suppress a mutiny by the 34th New York Infantry Regiment. He was cleared by a court of inquiry of any wrongdoing and sent to command the District of Iowa in the Department of the Northwest during the Sioux Wars. After the Civil War, he served as major in the United States Army and continued to fight in the Indian Wars including the Nez Perce War and out of Fort Dodge, Fort Harker and Fort Vancouver. He served as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Montana in 1869 and as colonel of the 21st Infantry Regiment in 1873.
The 1st Minnesota Cavalry Regiment, also known as the Mounted Rangers, was a Minnesota USV mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 3rd Minnesota Infantry Regiment was a Minnesota USV infantry regiment that served in the Union army during the American Civil War. It fought in several campaigns in the Western Theater.
The 5th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was a Minnesota USV infantry regiment that served in the Union Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and Dakota War of 1862. The regiment distinguished itself serving in its home state and the south, particularly at the Battles of Fort Ridgely, Corinth and Nashville.
The 6th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 6th Minnesota Infantry spent much of the war in the Northwest fighting Dakota Indians rather than participating in the battles with the Confederacy. Led by William Crooks, the regiment saw action in the American Civil War mainly with the Dakota Tribe.
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The 9th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was a Minnesota USV infantry regiment that served in the Union Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
The 10th Minnesota Infantry Regiment was a Minnesota USV infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota collectively known as the Santee Sioux. It began on August 18, 1862, when the Dakota, who were facing starvation and displacement, attacked white settlements at the Lower Sioux Agency along the Minnesota River valley in southwest Minnesota. The war lasted for five weeks and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of settlers and the displacement of thousands more. In the aftermath, the Dakota people were exiled from their homelands, forcibly sent to reservations in the Dakotas and Nebraska, and the State of Minnesota confiscated and sold all their remaining land in the state. The war also ended with the largest mass execution in United States history with the hanging of 38 Dakota men.
The 1st Dakota Cavalry was a Union battalion of two companies raised in the Dakota Territory during the American Civil War. They were deployed along the frontier, primarily to protect the settlers during the Dakota War of 1862.
The 10th Kansas Infantry Regiment served in the Union Army between April 3, 1862, and September 20, 1865, during the American Civil War.
The Department of the Northwest was an U.S. Army Department created on September 6, 1862, to put down the Sioux uprising in Minnesota. Major General John Pope was made commander of the Department. At the end of the Civil War the Department was redesignated the Department of Dakota.
The 117th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.