Battles of New Ulm In 1851 , the Santee Sioux Indians of Minnesota had been forced to cede to the government their hunting ground of . In 1852 , they were corralled into a reservation on the Minnesota River . In 1858 , they were swindled of half that land . In August 1862 , when the government failed to pay the $ 1 . 4 million compensation provided by treaty , and its agents and politicians stole most of the supplies that the treaty granted , the Indians rebelled . When Chief Little Crow complained that despite stacks of provisions in clear sight , supposedly theirs by treaty , his people had nothing to eat , the government agent responded , " So far as I ' m concerned . . . let them eat grass or their own dung . Minnesota political leaders , led by Governor Alexander Ramsey , in league with commercial interests , advocated expelling all Indians from Minnesota . The Battles of New Ulm were two battles in the Dakota War of 1862 in August . The settlement of New Ulm , Minnesota had 900 settlers around the time and was the largest settlement near the Sioux reservation . After the Battle of Fort Ridgely , the town was seen as a tempting target for a Sioux attack . The topography of the town also presented an advantage for the Sioux , since the land rises some 200 feet out of the Minnesota River valley in two large steps , with wooded area to provide cover for an attack . On August 18 , 1862 , a recruiting party for Civil War volunteers left New Ulm , but was ambushed in Milford Township . The survivors raced back to town and warned the settlers of an impending attack . The townspeople prepared for the attack by erecting barricades on the streets and packing the women and children into any available brick buildings . The first attack came on August 19 , with about 100 Sioux warriors firing on the city from the bluff behind the town . A small number of civilians returned the fire as best as they could . Later in the day , a thunderstorm discouraged the Indians from continuing their attack , and there were no chiefs present to give orders . The first battle ended with six settlers killed and five wounded . After the first attack , Charles Eugene Flandrau reached the city as part of a detachment from St . Peter and Le Sueur . Dr . Asa W . Daniels , Dr . Otis Ayer , and Dr . William Worrall Mayo ( father of William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo ) were also part of this group . Dr . Mayo and Dr . William R . McMahan of Mankato set up a hospital in the Dacotah House and Drs . Ayer and Daniels set up a hospital in a store across the street . This undoubtedly helped in the treatment of the wounded . Flandrau ' s forces were bolstered by about a hundred men from Mankato , two companies from Le Sueur , and militias from Brown County , Nicollet County , St . Peter , Lafayette , and New Ulm . In all , Flandrau had about three hundred citizen - soldiers under his command , but most were poorly armed . Meanwhile , more than a thousand settlers were barricaded on New Ulm ' s main street . On Saturday , August 23 , around 9 : 30 in the morning , the Sioux began their second attack on the city . The Sioux were superior in numbers , and were able to encircle the entire town . The defenders of New Ulm set many buildings on fire in an attempt to create an open space without cover . Captain William B . Dodd , second in command , was killed while leading soldiers beyond one of the barricades of the city . After nightfall , Flandrau ordered that the rest of the buildings outside of the barricades to be burned . In all , 190 structures within the city were destroyed . The next morning , August 24 , the Indians reappeared , fired some harmless long - range shots , and then withdrew . Flandrau convened with his officers later that day and decided to evacuate the city , due to a shortage of ammunition and food and epidemics of disease . The following morning , August 25 , 2000 people , including 153 wagons and a large number of refugees , left the city and headed to Mankato , about 30 miles to the east . The procession was escorted by about 150 troops and made it through to Mankato safely . William Watts Folwell , a Minnesota historian Bill Peterson , remarked , " This was no sham battle , no trivial affair , but an heroic defense of a beleaguered town against a much superior force . " Flandrau ' s Forces at New Ulm . ( Note several other Units were under Flandrau ' s command { Captain H . W . Holley ' s Company of " Winnebago Guards " ; Captain C . I . Post Company of " Fillmore County Volunteer Mounted Infantry " ; Captain N . P . Colburn Company of Fillmore County Volunteer Militia ; Captain C . F . Buck ' s Company of " Winona Rangers " ; Captain D . L . Davis " Goodhue County Rangers " } served under his command at the Southern Frontier . On August 1862 the following units relieved New Ulm : September 1862 : 1st Battalion Brown County Militia :