The Minnesota Massacre and Sioux War of 1862-63

An eyewitness account of Indian warfare during the American Civil War



For anyone interested in the history of the American West-and the wars against the Plains Indian tribes in particular-this book will be a delight. The author enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the American Civil War, but instead of marching eastwards to fight the soldiers of the southern Confederacy he found himself involved in the bitter and savage campaigns against the Sioux and their allies in Minnesota. Readers may be familiar with the Plains Indian wars of the post Civil War period, dominated by the doomed figure of George Armstrong Custer, but whilst the 'boy general' was gaining fame with his Michigan cavalry brigade, the desperately under protected and vulnerable frontier settlements had to fight off sustained and overwhelming attacks by hostile Indians. Fort Ridgeley was dangerously besieged and the small town of New Ulm was so fiercely attacked and surrounded that there was the potential for massacre the like of which was unprecedented. Connelly tells his story in a way that conveys the immediacy of events; with him the reader will experience the close fought fight at Birch Coolie and the Battle of Wood Lake. The year of 1863 saw the Minnesota troops on campaign again fighting at the battles of Big Mound, Buffalo Lake and Stony Lake. While the Civil War continued many miles from the troubled frontiers of westward expansion, 1864 brought more campaigning against hostile tribes for Connelly that culminated in the Battle of the Bad Lands. The author's narrative is added to by the inclusion of panoramic battlefield drawings which usefully assist the reader's understanding.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.