They were St. Paul
organizations and most all of their members were St. Paul boys. They
never had had an opportunity to drill and most of them were not
familiar with the use of firearms. After marching for two days, during
which time they interred a large number of victims of the savage
Sioux, they went into camp at Birch Coulie, about fifteen miles from
Fort Ridgely. The encampment was on the prairie near a fringe of
timber and the coulie on one side and an elevation of about ten feet
on the other. It was a beautiful but very unfortunate location for the
command to camp, and would probably not have been selected had it been
known that they were surrounded by 400 or 500 hostile warriors. Maj.
Brown had about one hundred and fifty men under his command. About 4
o'clock on the following morning the Indians, to the number of 500 or
600, well armed and most of them mounted, commenced an indiscriminate
fire upon the almost helpless little command. For two days they
bravely defended themselves, and when relief finally arrived it was
found that about half their number had been killed or wounded. When
the news of the disaster reached St. Paul there was great excitement.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69