The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-06-28

breed Campbell, who was hanged ir
Mankato for participation in this
murder was captured by an armed
citizen by the name Of Dodge and
taken to Mankato." This is not cor
rect This man Dodge, whom
we'll knew, and who signed for inlist
ment in my company, was walking
along public road near Jones
ford going toward Mankato about
| three miles away when he fell in
/ with Campbell going in the same
| direction: nothing was said or done
| in the way of capture, but on the
! way, Campbell's actions and talk
was such as to create suspicion that
| he knew of the killing of the Jew
EFT family, and arriving at Mankato
! Dodge related his experience and sus
picions, and Campbell was then tax
en- into custody. Campbell was on
his way to kasota at the time, where
his mother then lived.
Capture of Campbell.
Campbell was tried a few days
after this murder on the court house
lawn in Mankato, by sort or drum
head court-martial, and then and
there executed by being hanged to
tree. ia"
l might say here that William J.
Jewett who was baby in arms
when this family was murdered, and
who was struck upon the head and
left for dead, but who of the entire
family survived, was last summer
killed in an automobile accident in
the suburbs Of Mankato. ..
I have said that l enlisted on
August II, 1862. We were must
cred on the 10Th and assigned as
Company D of the ninth Minnesota,
but we did not meet the other COM
panies of our regiment for more
than a year thereafter. On the
very day of our muster we learned
of the Indian outbreak at the low
er agency, and our company was
ordered to march at once for St.
Peter. .a.
Makeup of Company D.
Company d. was made up very
largely of farmers boys right from
the harvest fields, dressed in denims
and straw hats, some in bare feet,
and we were not in first class march
ing order, nor very presentable.
Uniforms and government clothing
could not be had, and more than
this, the only ans with which we
could then be furnished were old
Austrian and Belgian muskets, which
had been stored and poorly cared
for since the war of 1912, and very
many of which were utterly useless
as firearms.
Notwithstanding these little de-
ficiencies in our makeup, we made
forded march to st. Peter looking
more like a squad of Missouri bush
whackers, than Union soldiers.
On our arrival at st. Peter we
at once dug a line of rifle pits along
the crown of the bluffs, extending
from the present location Of the
Insane Hospital on the south to the
Minnesota river on the north, and
spent the fall and winter in drilling,
picketing in the rifle pits, and scout
ing the country toward New Ulm
and Fort Ridgley, and in the vicinity
of Swan Lake. l we'll remember
there being brought into st. Peter
a woman and children who were
found hiding in the tall grass and
PUSHES near their house which was
yet burning, the husband and father
having been killed.
On The Road All Night.
After the second battle at New
Ulm, and when that city was
evacuated, there came over the hill on
the New Ulm road and into st.
Peter, very early one morning, a
very large number of men, women
and children, with horse teams, on
oxen, on horseback and on foot, a.
veritable mob or rabble which had
been on the road all night coming
from New Ulm to st. Peter in i'm
minent peril of their lives. There
were two large stone warehouses
on the river front at st. Peter, and
these were hastily converted into
barracks, and what we then rallied
"soup houses" for these refugees,
where they remained for long
time. We called these quarters
soup houses" because for want of
sufficient rations on which to feed
these peope, they were fed largely
on soup made in large kettles, as
the cheapest food and that which
would make the food supply go far
thest. The old court house, frame
building not far from the Episcopal
church was converted into a hos |
pital for the sick and wounded, of
which there were many the patients
lying upon the floors for want of
beds and cots We were diligently
and persistently drilled in military
maneuvers through the entire win
ter, and became quite proficient.
While as a steady diet we did not
enjoy these drills, there were some
experiences. A company
of German cavalry was there and
their orders on drill were given in
German. Our Infantry company and !