The 3rd Artillery was sent to Fort Ridgely in southwestern Minnesota on September 1, 1858. Tensions between whites and Native Americans in the region were tense, as Minnesota's statehood (granted on May 11, 1858) led to white settlement of Indian lands. Although this would lead to the Dakota War of 1862, Du Barry's time at Fort Ridgely was quiet. He received his first lengthy leave on May 18, 1859, and did not return to duty until August 31, when he was again appointed to an assistant professorship at West Point, where he taught French.