| Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Minnesota | |
| Active | July 25, 1863 to June 22, 1866 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | Cavalry |
| Engagements | none |
Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion was a Minnesota USV cavalry battalion that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and American Indian Wars.
The unit's formation was a product of the Mdewakanton uprising in August 1862. Very quickly nearly every band of Chippewa offered to fight the Sioux for the U.S. Government. First two Wisconsin chiefs sent a letter to President Lincoln with the offer. [1] Then on 15 September 22 chiefs did the same at the Crow Wing Indian Agency. [2] Both of Minnesota's U.S. Senators and Governor Ramsey thought the Chippewa should be taken up on their offers. A week later 40 odd Chippewa leaders from nearly every band in Minnesota, plus a couple from Wisconsin, arrived in St Paul at Gov. Ramsey's invite. [3] [4] At that time everyone learned that Major general Pope commander of the Department of the Northwest did not want "Indians" in his command as a matter of "public policy". Over the winter the politicians decided to go directly to the Secretary of War Stanton. They proposed a mounted unit of 1000 "auxiliary Chippewa warriors", [5] [6] on "Indian ponys", commanded E.A.C. Hatch, that reported directly to the War Department. [7] It was envisioned as an independent command, functioning "solely" for the prosecution of the Indian War. Pope had issues with most of the proposal and had enough rank to get it modified. The result was a mounted unit that reported to his command, solely for the Indian war, with only a few Native Americans in its ranks. To get volunteers a $40.00 bounty was advertised in the papers. The Battalion was Minnesota's last Civil War unit to stand down. Major Hatch sent letters to the media with the letterhead "Indian Battalion of Minnesota Volunteers". [8] [9]
Chippewa Chief Hole in the Day offered Brig. General Sibley 600 warriors for his 1863 expedition into the Dakota Territory and was turned down. [10] A month later he made an offer to Major Hatch. [11] [12] Hatch had to refuse because of Pope. Hole-in the-day told the newspapers that Hatch was the right man for the command. [13] In 1865 newspapers reported that Hole-in-the-Day regretted not having been able to raise the Chippewa battalion for Major Hatch. [14]
Hatch's Battalion was organized at Fort Snelling and St. Paul, Minnesota, with Companies A, B, C, and D being mustered in from July 25, to September, 1863. General Pope created a line of defense in the war's theater of operations starting at Sioux City, Iowa, through Minnesota to Fort Abercrombie, Dakota Territory and north to the international border. [15] [16] In May, 1864 the battalion was posted the northern section of the line with Hq posted to Fort Abercrombie along with Companies A and B assigned to the Fort's garrison, Company C moved to the stockades at Alexandria and Pomme de Terre, while Company D was sent north to Fort Pembina. The 2nd Minn Cavalry had the line south of them to near the Iowa border. The battalion was increased in size when Company E was mustered on August 31, 1864, and again when Company F was mustered on September 1, 1864. In October 1864 Major Hatch received orders from Fort Snelling to retrieve Sioux leaders who had crossed into lands of the British Crown owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). [17] Companies A, B, C, and D headed to Pembina, Dakota Territory, the first week of October in 1863 but winter set in before they reached Pembina. Hatch made an encampment, sending 20 men across the border to meet a HBC trader named John McKenzie. The troop encountered and killed Minnesota Sioux at St. Joseph 15km across the border. [17] At Fort Garry two Mdewakanton leaders were drugged by McKenzie. They were bound to dogsleds and taken to Hatch's men at the border for Minnesota's $1000.00 bounty. [18] The killings at St. Joseph caused almost 400 Sioux to turn themselves in to Hatch as well. [17] Hatch messaged Gen. Pope for instructions and was told he was not to make treaty with them, their surrender was unconditional. When conditions allowed, Hatch accompanied the prisoners back to Fort Snelling. The two chiefs were hung for crimes against unarmed civilians. [19] They were Little Six (Taoyteduta Shakopee) and Medicine Bottle (Wakanozanzan). [20] Those Sioux that turned themselves in were sent to Crow Creek Reservation. Hatch left military service in June. On 15 July Lt. Col. C. Powell Adams, ex-1st Minnesota's assumed command. He was in the 1st Minnesota's Gettysburg charge. In 1865 newspapers reported that Hole-in-the-Day regretted not having been able to raise the Chippewa for the battalion for Major Hatch. [21] The battalion was mustered out between April 26 and June 22, 1866, bringing an end to Minnesota's response to the 1862 Uprising and were Minnesota's last men to put down their swords of war.
Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion did not lose any men who were killed or who died of wounds received in battle, but did have 21 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 21 fatalities. [22]
Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anthony, but it was renamed Fort Snelling once its construction was completed in 1825.
Alexander Ramsey was an American politician, who became the first Minnesota Territorial Governor and later became a U.S. Senator. He served as a Whig and Republican over a variety of offices between the 1840s and the 1880s.
The Red Lake Indian Reservation covers 1,260.3 sq mi in parts of nine counties in Minnesota, United States. It is made up of numerous holdings but the largest section is an area around Red Lake, in north-central Minnesota, the largest lake in the state. This section lies primarily in the counties of Beltrami and Clearwater. Land in seven other counties is also part of the reservation. The reservation population was 5,506 in the 2020 census.
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 Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, also known as the Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in east-central Minnesota. The Band has 4,302 members as of 2012. Its homeland is the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, consisting of District I, District II, District IIa, and District III.
Mississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians or simply the Mississippi Chippewa, are a historical Ojibwa Band inhabiting the headwaters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries in present-day Minnesota.
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.
Brackett's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion was a Minnesota USV cavalry battalion that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 3rd Minnesota Light Artillery Battery was a Minnesota USV artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was a United States Army fort established by authority of an Act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River of the North in Dakota Territory to be used for a military outpost, but the exact location was left to the discretion of Lieutenant Colonel John J. Abercrombie. The fort was constructed in the year 1858. It was the first permanent military installation in what became North Dakota, and is thus known as "The Gateway to the Dakotas". Abercrombie selected a site right on the river. Spring flooding was a problem and the fort was abandoned. However, in 1860 the Army returned, moving the fort to higher ground.
The 30th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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.
Beshekee, also Pezeke and other variant spellings of Ojibwe Bizhiki, was a noted war chief from the Bear doodem of the Pillager Chippewa Band during the 19th century in North America.
The Pembina and Red Lake bands of Chippewa ceded to the United States the Red River Valley of the north in two treaties. Both were named for the treaty site, "Old Crossing" and the year, Treaty of Old Crossing (1863) and the Treaty of Old Crossing (1864). In Minnesota, the ceded territory included all land west of a line running generally southwest from the Lake of the Woods to Thief Lake, about 30 miles (48 km) west of Red Lake, and then angling southeast to the headwaters of the Wild Rice River near the divide separating the watersheds of the Red River of the North and the Mississippi River. In North Dakota, the ceded territory was all of the Red River Valley north of the Sheyenne River. In size, the area was roughly 127 miles (204 km) east-west and 188 miles (303 km) north-south, making it nearly 11,000,000 acres (45,000 km2) of prairie and forest.
Shakopee or Chief Shakopee may refer to one of at least three Mdewakanton Dakota leaders who lived in the area that became Minnesota from the late 18th century through 1865. The name comes from the Dakota Śakpe meaning "Six." According to tribal histories, the very first "Shakpe" was called that because he was the sixth child of a set of sextuplets.
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 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.
David Cooper (1821–1877) was an American lawyer and jurist. He served from 1850 to 1853 as an associate justice of the Minnesota (Territory) Supreme Court.
Hole-in-the-Day was a prominent chief of the Mississippi band of Ojibwe/Chippewa in Minnesota. The native pronunciation has been written with different spellings due different speakers variance in their enunciation, such as Bagone-giizhig, Bagwunagijik, Bug-o-nay-ki-shig, Pugonakeshig or Puk-O-Nay-Keshig. Hole-in-the-Day has also been called Hole-in-the-Sky. The name refers to a dream in which the guardian spirit was seen through an opening in the clouds. It also refers to the Anishinaabek name for the constellation of the same name, also known as the Pleiades.
Fort Ripley was a United States Army outpost on the upper Mississippi River, in mid-central Minnesota from 1848 to 1877. It was situated a few miles from the Indian agencies for the Ho-Chunk and Ojibwe in Iowa Territory and then the Minnesota Territory. Its presence spurred immigration into the area and the pioneer settlement of Crow Wing developed approximately 6.75 miles (10.86 km) north of the fort. The post was initially named Fort Marcy. It then was renamed Fort Gaines and in 1850 was renamed again for distinguished Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley of the War of 1812. It was the second major military reservation established in what would become Minnesota.