Dakota War of 1862: Civil War Soldier's Letter from Camp Lincoln, Minnesota. Three pages, 5.25" x 8", "Camp Lincoln, near ...

Description

During the Dakota War of 1862, Sioux Chief Little Crow and his warriors burned the town of New Ulm, Minnesota. Sergeant Major Norwood writes about what he witnessed later, as his regiment escorted 375 Sioux prisoners through the small town. In part:

"Our march down was very pleasant. . . . We started at five oclock in the morning make our breakfast on hard bread and coffee and keep on till night and then camp out on the prarie [sic]. . . . As we passed through New Ulm, a [?] town above this place, we had quite a little battle. Half of the town had been burnt by the Indians some time since and 40 or 50 persons were killed. We had 375 Indians with us [?] wagons and as we passed about one hundred rods in rear of the village the men and women came out armed with stones, knives, and [?] and made an attack on the prisoners. The women were the fiercest and would run between the guards and try to stab the prisoners with their long knives. . . . One Indian was killed and a good many were seriously wounded. The German women acted like devils and if we had not had a large force mothers[?] would themselves have killed every Indian."