St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1863-01-08

t.
Wingt to Saint Vincent and to transfer the
grant in aid of . road from some point
between Saint Anthony and Grow Wing,
north easterly TO Lake Superior. The
resolution to take effect from the filing iii
the General Land Office st the acceptance
by the authorities Of the State, 81 such
exchange or substitution u
Your early attention is invited to. this
subject 2e}3.it,
5. MILITARY AFFAIRS. g ,s"
During the past year, the military de-
partment Of the State Government has been !.
Of increasing Importance The fifth regi- ::
.ment, second company of Sharp-shoo ters, 80
and second battery of light artillery, were
raised during the early part Of the year, and -,
were together with the: fourth regiment, af-
ter it filled its ranks, sent, at the opening
of navigation, to: the seat of war. :. : 80 =,
= When the necessities of the General
Government compelled it to again appeal .
to the patriotism of the loyal citizens for
an additional force Of 100000 men to pro-
tect the integrity and liberties Of the coun: fl.
try, immediate steps were taken to raise
and organize the quota Of troops assigned .
to this State; being 1892 men. Pursuant
to: orders issued from the Adjutant Gene "
rails Office for that purpose. FIVE new in :
fantry regiments, numbering i'll the aggre-,
gate ,482 men, and one cavalry regiment :.
numbering 1900 men were mustered into
the United States service, the former for
the period of three and the latter for the
period of one year. Thus the alacrity, with
which our citizens responded to the seve-
raj calls for volunteers, saved the State from
the necessity Of resorting to q draft, aud
even enabled her to furnish the General
Government 800 troops in excess Of tho
quota. .,. ..,-',., -. ~. So. -,
Besides the troops mentioned a number
of men were recruited for the old regi-
ments, Of whom IS have been reported to ,
the Adjutant Generals Office 81 80 So. :.
The organization and equipment Of the
regiments raised under the two last calls Of
the President have been attended with but
little expense to the government; which is
in part due to the strict economy practiced
by the Adjutant General, as acting Quar-
termaster General f..... .... ->....-.
| During the Indian war, there have also
been organized % companies of irregular
militia, numbering in the aggregate over
1900 men, who, assisting the United States
volunteers have done good service in pro-
tecting our frontier. - .'.....- .,.-,.
10 the whole country, and more espec-
tally to this State, the absence Of an avail
able militia force has proved great ca
lamity, and l invite your earnest attention
to the plan Of organizing an efficient and
always disposable militia, proposed by the
Adjutant General, to whose report refer
you for the particulars. ..-.-. ......:.'.
1t is q source Of excusable PRIDE we
trust to every Minnesotian that his State
which in 1850 possessed population Of
only 5000, should, within the last few
months, have been able to furnish the Fed
elal government with an army of 1000
men, while at the same time she unaided
crushed out the most formidable Indian up
rising known in history. 't 49,
Can we over-estimate the future of such
people? .&.5 $50,
In the war against the Sioux Indians,
our citizens responded, with alacrity, to the
call made upon them. Many gallant men
fell in the service, and many were returned
to their friends with honorable wounds. It
wasso,also with many Of the volunteers, who
in the haste with which they were COM
PEELED to leave for the frontier, had not
time to pass through the formality ofbeing
mustered into the service. ','s~ -..''
l. therefore beg of you, at an early day
Of the session, to present their case, in the
form of memorial, to the Congress of the
United States, and ask that the families Of
the slain, as well as the wounded, may be
placed on the pension rolls of the country.
In the months Of June and July, per-
sonally called upon every sick aud wound
ed Minnesota soldier, then III the st. Louis
Hospitals, and also visited the Regiments
and Batteries of Artillery in Tennessee,
Mississippi and Alabama "
Through the agency Of gentlemen ap-
pointed at New York and Philadelphia,
and others occasionally sent to st. Louis,
Cairo, and other points on the Mississippi,
and to Kentucky, many who had been lin
gering hopelessly. in the hospitals, have
been discharged, and the comfort of others
has been improved. ,..,..' ..' " ....t ,...
TIKI INDIAN WAR.
In my message to the Legislature at its
extra session in September last I gave, in
detail, history of the Sioux raid upon
our borders. SO far as it had then trans
pired. .. - ,'-.,.@ 60
At that time, Col. Sibley, with a com
mand of fifteen hundred men, had Just ar
rived at Fort Ridgley, under Instructions
to prosecute offensive operations with all
possible vigor and dispatch. h.
Some three hundred women and children
were captives in the hands of those fiends,
exposed to all the insults and outrages
which savage ingenuity could devise or
demoniac lust and malignity infict
The rescue Of these persons, from cap
tivity worse than death, was the first object
which engaged the attention Of our forces
and their commander Possessed of an in
innate knowledge of the habits and char
acter of the willy foe, with whom he was
to deal, acquired from a long residence in
their vicinity, Col. Sibley adopted a tenn
porizing policy unsuited, indeed, to the in
tensely excited state of the putlic mind,
but which. subsequent events have album
dainty justified. - D.. ~ .8....