Battle of Wood Lake

The Battle of Wood Lake, September 23, 1862

On the morning of September 23, Henry Sibley and his forces were camped near the shore of Lone Tree Lake. Before dawn, Dakota soldiers had hidden in the grass waiting to ambush Sibley’s forces as they broke camp and marched down the road. But before they could carry out this plan, several foraging soldiers from the Third Minnesota began crossing the prairie in the direction of the Dakota. When the U.S. soldiers were nearly upon them, the Dakota opened fire and the battle began.

The veterans of the Third Minnesota and Sibley’s militia forces eventually drove the Dakota from the field. Over the course of this battle seven white soldiers were killed and 33 were wounded. Fifteen Dakota, including chiefs Makato and Mazamani, were killed during or after this battle, which effectively ended organized Dakota war efforts in Minnesota.

Theme:

1862

Topics:

Military
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Bibliography

Anderson, Gary Clayton, Woolworth, Alan R. Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988.

Carley, Kenneth. The Dakota War of 1862: Minnesota’s Other Civil War. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976.

Dahlin, Curtis A. The Dakota Uprising. Edina, MN: Beaver’s Pond Press, 2009.

Resources for Further Research

Websites

Family and Friends of Dakota Uprising Victims

Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Association

Glossary Terms

Battle of Wood Lake

Key People

Makato t
Makato
henery-sibley
Henry H. Sibley
Makato t

Makato

Born about 1822, Mankato was the son of Good Road, for whose family the village "Mankato" was named. The Blue Earth River takes its name from the Dakota phrase "Makato Osa Watapa," or "the river where blue earth is gathered."

Mankato was a member of the delegation who signed the Treaty with the Dakota on June 19, 1858. He appears (left) in the famous photograph of the treaty signers made at a photography studio in Washington, D.C. During the U.S.-Dakota War he led a band of Mdewakanton soldiers into battle at Fort Ridgely, Birch Coulee, and Wood Lake. On September 23, 1862, he was killed by a cannonball at the battle of Wood Lake.

View full article: Makato

henery-sibley

Henry H. Sibley

In 1834, Henry Sibley became a partner in the American Fur Company and settled in Mendota, Minnesota. Like a number of other traders, Sibley entered into a relationship with a Dakota woman, Red Blanket Woman. Their relationship produced a daughter, Helen Sibley, before the couple parted to live separate lives. Sibley acknowledged his daughter, protected her interests and education, and remained involved in her life. After the fur trade dwindled, Henry Sibley became a successful businessman, investing in lumbering, river transportation, railroads, and land. He played a pivotal role in the 1851 treaty negotiations and later commanded U.S. troops during the war and on the 1863 punitive expeditions. From 1867-70, he served as president of the Minnesota Historical Society.

During the war, Sibley was vilified in the press for his slowness in advancing to Fort Ridgely to liberate captive settlers. He wrote to his wife on September 4, 1862:

"I see . . . that the people are dissatisfied with my slow advance. Well, let them come and fight these Indians themselves, and they will [have] something to do besides grumbling. I have told Gov. R. in my dispatch that he can have my commission when he sees fit, as I would be too glad to let some one take my place. . . . I have not slept more than an hour in two nights, and have been in the saddle almost [all] of the time for two days and nights. . . ."

Colonel Sibley to Governor Ramsey, August 25, 1862:

"My heart is steeled against them, and if i have the means, and can catch them, I will sweep them with the besom of death."

Sibley convened the military commission that condemned 303 Dakota men to death in the wake of the war.

Letter From Col. Henry Sibley to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, December 19th, 1862.

"[I]t should be borne in mind that the Military Commission appointed by me were instructed only to satisfy themselves of the voluntary participation of the individual on trial, in the murders or massacres committed, either by voluntary participation of the individual on trial, in the murders or massacres committed, either by his voluntary concession or by other evidence and then to proceed no further. The degree of guilt was not one of the objects to be attained, and indeed it would have been impossible to devote as much time in eliciting details in each of so many hundred cases, as would have been required while the expedition was in the field. Every man who was condemned was sufficiently proven to be a voluntary participant, and no doubt exists in my mind that at least seven-eighths of those sentenced to be hung have been guilty of the most flagrant outrages and many of them concerned in the violation of white women and the murder of children."

Source: Executive documents, MNHS collections and Henry H. Sibley: An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society and Governors of Minnesota.

View full article: Henry H. Sibley

Related Images

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The Wood Lake Battle
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The Wood Lake Battle

The Wood Lake Battle.

Three historical markers with outdated language were replaced and ready for viewing in 2012. The content of the new sign was reviewed by an MNHS historical marker committee, as well as by Dakota consultants and the MNHS Indian Advisory Committee.

The marker reads: In mid-September, 1862, more than 1,600 soldiers commanded by Colonel Henry Sibley marched northwest from Fort Ridgely into the Minnesota River Valley with an aim to end the U.S.-Dakota War. Word of that movement reached the Dakota soldiers’ lodge near present-day Montevideo, sparking a debate about the most effective campaign to permanently defeat the enemy. Dakota leader Taoyateduta (Little Crow) argued for a risky nighttime attack; others called that cowardly, preferring to attack in the early morning hours. Sibley’s command camped here, the site of the Lone Tree Lake which has since disappeared. (At the time of the war, Lone Tree Lake was mistaken for Wood Lake, 3.5 miles to the west.) At dawn on September 23, 1862, hundreds of Dakota warriors prepared to attack from the tall grass near Sibley’s encampment, three miles south of the Yellow Medicine Agency, known today as the Upper Sioux Community. The ambush was thwarted when several men from Sibley’s camp left in a wagon in search of potatoes. Gunfire erupted as the wagons threatened to run over the Dakota, alerting the soldiers at Sibley’s camp. Battle-hardened Civil War veterans of the Third Minnesota Infantry sprang into action, bolstering the raw recruits and volunteers during this final battle of the war. Two hours of fighting on the 600-acre-site brought victory for Sibley’s command and put an end to the war. Taoyateduta retreated westward with 200 to 300 warriors who refused to surrender. The Dakota who surrendered were taken into custody; almost 400 men, including non-combatants, were hastily tried by military tribunal. Of those, 303 Dakota men were found guilty and sentenced to hanging. Aides to President Abraham Lincoln reviewed the records, and Lincoln reduced the sentences. On December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 men were sentenced to hang in what became the largest mass execution in U.S. history.