The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-10
SULLY AGAINST THE SIOUX
SHEETS OF LIEUT..
KINGsBURY's PUBLICATION

1t Gives History of. the Expedition
That Went Afterithe BIoodthirsty
Reds in 1S64-Eirat' Rattle Was
Fought at KilIdcar Mountain,
Where Six Thousand Indians
Were Encountered.
Lieut.. David L. Kfngsbury, secretary
of the Minnesota State Historical So
ciety, has just received from the print
er advance sheets Of his new historical
publication, "Sully's Expedition Against
the Sioux in 1854" which followed a
few months after the expedition led
by Gen. Henry H. Sibley, which sue
ceeded in driving the Sioux westward
from his traditional hunting grounds
beyond the Missouri river.
The work contains much that is in
structlve about the interesting race of
Indians, which composed the dominant
aboriginal population during the early
settlement of the Northwest 1t Is also
accompanied by map which gives the
geography of Minnesota and the Da-
kotas before progressive civilization
mad dotted its prairies with marks Of
commerce. The map is said to be the
best one Of the Northwest at that
time and the only one giving the exact
course f the famous Sully expedi-
tions. The object of the expedition
led by Gen. Alfred Sully, was to further
chastise the Sioux, who had massacred
the white emigrants of Southwestern
Minnesota, and to compel their COM
plete submission to the will Of the
white man.
The Minnesota contingent of this ex-
petition designated as the Second bril-
gade rendezvoused at Fort Ridgely
during the month of June, in 1864 The
eHpedltlon was composed of the fol-
lowing Minnesota troops: Eighth Min
nesota volunteer infantry, mounted,
Lieut.. Col. Henry c. Rogers in COM
mand six companies Of the Second
Minnesota volunteer cavalry, with
Robert N. McLaren in command: the
Third Minnesota battery, with how
wltzers and six-pound, smooth-bore
guns, twelve ambulances, ninety-three
slx-mule teams and forty-five scouts.
2,1OO men, all mounted
All the Minnesota Companies In the
Eighth were enlisted at Fort Smelling,
and many of the members of that ex-
petition are still alive and residents
of this state. Directly after the troops
were mustered in, additional atrocities
py the Indians were, reported, and the
brigade hurried westward, fired with
Unsuitable desire for revenge. One of
the first battles engaged in by the ex-
petition was at Killdear mountain,
where the troops gave, battle to 5000
Indians, who were only partially arm
ed Six of the soldiers were killed,
ana LOO OF the redskins sWere shot. In
describing the battle, Lieut. Kingsbury
says:
TO soldiers or others who have not seen or
heard an Indian charge, it. cannot be de-
ser1hed. 1t is calculated to strike terror to
the hearts of the bravest I have not the
command of words to attempt to make any
description of 1t, and can make no better
comparison. imaginary, of course, than with
the imps of he'll let loose. ~
When, the bad lands were reached.
Gen. Sully described the country to
one in his command as hell with the
fires put, out" -,
The author says that, if the Indians
had been as we'll armed. as they were
later, when the famous battle, with
Custer and his men took place, the
result might have been different in the
battle which followed in the bad lands.
In further describing the country,
Lieut.. Kingsbury writes that, thou
sands of buffalos were, constantly. seen
on the prairiess5 and that oftentimes
more dead and dying buffalos were
seen than could be counted, having
been killed in a stampede. After re-
citing the hardshipss and battles and
skirmishes with the red man. in the
far West, the. author closes with the
following.
events presented in this paper. Nearly AL CT
the principal officers, many Of the subordinate
officers, and many Of these who filed tie
humble but necessary positions Of non-con-
m1ssioned officers and privates, are dead
Some lived long enough to witness the mar
yelous changes which their bravery and
IN q r oh ylodn
living see what the most visionary never
dreamed Of, territory, which at that time
contained a population Of few hundreds,
now possessing several millions.
AS matter of record of my regiment. and
1 trust Of general interest, will, In conclu-
sion, quote the words of one who has writ
clude slight reference to our later service
in the closing part of the great Civil war:
The Eighth regiment was fortunate in the
harmony within; fortunate in the thew variety let Of
Its service, mounted and on foot, railroad and
steamship: fortunate in the wide extent OF the
United Sta. States it VISITED at Uncle Sans .ex-
bama, Washington. Fort Fisher, and South
west North Carolina, to Minnesota again;
fortunate that in the last year of the war
variety of service and country than any
other regiment In the United States army:
fortunate that the end of its enlistment saw
the end of the Rebellion and a saved COIN
try. In a word, the Eighth Minnesota, in
that wonderful contest of splendid organiza-
tons OF men,. thinks its honor sufficient to
claim only to be the peer of Its fellows.
And now, after twenty-five years a large
part Of the regiment are still citizens OF Min
nesota, and are fun average in charac 'er
and usefulness of the citizens of the towns
where they have since made their homes
When we know how they freely gave three
of the best years of their lives to their coun-
with a will to secure an Independent position.
in civil life, and how sturdily, how bravely
they have struggled to overcome the o6-
staces in their way. it Is the GROWING glory
of the volunteer soldier and the best guaran