Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion
| Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion | |
|---|---|
 Flag of Minnesota | |
| Active | July 25, 1863 to June 22, 1866 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | Cavalry |
| Engagements | none |
Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion was a Minnesota USV cavalry battalion that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and American Indian Wars.
Service[]
Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion was organized at Fort Snelling and St. Paul, Minnesota, with Companies A, B, C, and D being mustered in from July 25, to September, 1863. In October 1863 Major E.A.C. Hatch and his Battalion were ordered from Fort Snelling to retrieve Sioux leaders who had crossed into Canada.[1] Companies A, B, C, and D headed to Pembina, Dakota Territory from October 5, to November 13, 1863, but winter set in before they reached Pembina. Hatch made an encampment, sending 20 men across the border to meet a Canadian trader named John McKenzie. They encountered and killed Minnesota Sioux at St. Joseph 15km across the border in the Northwest Territory.[1] At Fort Gerry two Sioux leaders were drugged by McKenzie. He bound them to dogsleds and took them Hatch's men and across the border to Major Hatch for Minnesota's $1000.00 bounty.[2] The killings at St. Joseph caused almost 400 Sioux to turn themselves in to Hatch as well.[1] When conditions allowed, his Cavalry took the prisoners back to Fort Snelling. The two chiefs were hanged at the fort.[3] They were Little Six (Taoyteduta Shakopee) and Medicine Bottle (Wakanozanzan).[4] In May, 1864 the battalion moved to Fort Abercrombie from May 5–16, 1864, where Companies A and B were assigned to the garrison, with Company C moving to Alexandria and Pomme de Terre, Company D sent on a patrol from Fort Abercrombie to Pembina. Hatch returned with the prisoners to Fort Snelling and left military service in June. On 15 July Lt. Col. C. Powell Adams, a survivor of the 1st Minnesota's Gettysburg charge, assumed command. The battalion was increased in size when Company E was mustered on August 31, 1864, and again when Company F was mustered on September 1, 1864. Companies E and F then served on frontier duty. Hatch's Battalion was finally mustered out between April 26 and June 22, 1866.
Commander[]
- Major E. A. C. Hatch - September 30, 1863 to June 1864
- Lieutenant Colonel Charles Powell Adams - July 15, 1864 to June 22, 1866
Casualties and total strength[]
Hatch's Minnesota Cavalry Battalion did not lose any men who were killed or who died of wounds received in battle, but did have 21 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 21 fatalities.[4]
References[]
- ^ a b c History of Fort Pembina 1870-1875, University of North Dakota Thesis, 8-1968, William D. Thomson [1]
- ^ In 1865, two Dakota leaders meet a gruesome end, Curt Brown, Star and Tribune, November 8, 2015 [2]
- ^ This Week in History, March 3, 1968, Manitoba Provincial Historical Society, newsgov.mb.ca
- ^ The United States Dakota War Trials, A Study in Military Injustice, Stanford Law Review Vol. 43:13, November 1990, University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository, Carol Chomsky [3]
- Andrews, General Christopher Columbus, ed. (1891). Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars. Pioneer Press.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- Jones, Robert Huhn (1960). The Civil War in the Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press.
External links[]
See also[]
- List of Minnesota Civil War Units
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- Units and formations of the Union Army from Minnesota
- 1863 establishments in Minnesota
- Military units and formations established in 1863
- Military units and formations disestablished in 1866
- American Civil War unit and formation stubs