The Dakota War
The United States Army Versus the Sioux, 1862–1865
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About the Book
As the United States fought the Civil War in the early 1860s, the country’s western frontier was simultaneously the site of significant military campaigns that took the lives of both American and Sioux. The Dakota campaign, led by Commander Henry Hastings Sibley and Brigadier General Alfred Sully against the Sioux between 1863 and 1864 was greater in scope, intensity and bloodshed than almost all other Indian battles fought in the West but is often overlooked.
The Minnesota War of 1862 and the Dakota War of 1863–1865 were among the most significant U.S. victories in the Indian wars, but did not temper the passions of the Sioux to preserve their people and land or the desires of the whites to settle the frontier. The wars only incited the Teton Sioux to enter into a long-term resistance that would end only at Wounded Knee in 1890.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Micheal Clodfelter
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 279
Bibliographic Info: 28 photos, maps, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2006 [1998]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2726-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0408-4
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
Prologue 3
Part One: The Minnesota War, 1862
1. The Frontier Army 9
Indian Scouts and Allies 15
2. The Sioux Nation 17
The First Sioux War, 1854–55 19
Little Crow 20
3. Inkpaduta and the Spirit Lake Massacre 23
Spirit Lake 27
4. Little Crow and the Minnesota Massacre 35
General John Pope and the Department of the Northwest 45
Henry Hastings Sibley 49
The Defeat of the Santees 52
5. The Death of Little Crow 62
The Last Hangings 65
The Minnesota Toll 65
Part Two: The Dakota War, 1863–65
6. The Raiding Season, 1863 71
The Raiding Season in Dakota Territory 75
Winnebago Troubles 79
7. Into Dakota 80
8. The Sibley Brigade 88
The Battle of Big Mound 94
The Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake 101
The Battle of Stony Lake 104
The Push to the Missouri 106
Mackinaw Massacre 113
The Conclusion of the Campaign 114
9. The Battle of Whitestone Hill 118
General Alfred Sully 118
The March of the Sully Column 122
Whitestone Hill 125
The Conclusion of the Campaign 146
10. The Battle of Killdeer Mountain 155
Preparations 155
The Raiding Season, 1864 159
The Commencement of the Campaign 159
The March to Killdeer Mountain 163
Killdeer Mountain 166
11. The Battle of the Badlands 178
The Return March 187
12. The Siege of Fort Dilts 192
The Conclusion of the Campaign 197
13. The Last Dakota Campaign 202
Sand Creek and the Powder River Expedition 202
The Last Sioux Raid into Minnesota 206
The Sully Campaign of 1865 207
Results of the 1865 Campaigns 214
14. The Ride of Sam Brown 216
Results of the Campaigns of 1863–65 217
Epilogue 221
Appendix A: Non-hostile Fatalities 225
Appendix B: Whitestone Hill and Killdeer Mountain Today 227
Chapter Notes 233
Bibliography 249
Index 257
Book Reviews & Awards
“recommended…all-but-forgotten story of the West”—Choice; “detailed and well-documented…an important contribution”—The Journal of American History; “contains a detailed analysis of the politics, strategy, and tactics of the campaign”—C&RL News; “sure to please”—The Reviewers Consortium.
