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VII. Rebellion in Minnesota "A Most Terrible and Exciting Indian War" THE DATE WAS 2[ AUGUST [862. Se you scrouge an Indian damsel, steal her moccasins while sht sleeps and bring th~m to mt." H3y'S desire for moccasins was stimulaltd by tht prtsident's new footwear. ''The Tycoon [Lincoln] has just rtcdlled a pair gorgtously quilled, from an lndian Agent who is aeeused of stealing. Ht PUt thtm on & grinned. Will he remember thtm on tht day when Calth [Smith] proposes anothtt to fill the pecu[adng donor's office? I fear nOl, my boy, I ftar not." 6. ,. H. Bakt r to C. P. Wolcott, 2I August 1862, OR, 1:13, p. 590. 7. ealt b B. Smith to Abraham Lincoln, 12 February 1863, Roll 4, M606, LS, !D. OSlo RG48, NA. REBELLION IN M INNESOTA the Tr~nt affair, in which two Southern emissaries to Great Britain were arrested by Union naval forces. Some reports claimed that Indian warriors were given orders in English. Secretary Smith found it significant that Confederate prisoners of war were being paroled to the North on the condition that they could not be used against the Indians. The Sioux agent, Thomas Galbraith, insisted that "rebel sympathizers" were responsible for instigating the violence in Minnesota.' Washington authorities found it safer to assume the worst. Lincoln was more cautious than his subordinates, but even he spoke of his "suspicions." He told the Congress, "Information was re· ceived . .. that a simultaneous attack was to be made upon the white settlements by all the tribes between the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains." It was not until 12 February 1863 that Caleb Smith concluded, "I have not been able to discover any satisfactory and conclusive evidenee of a pre.meditated design on the part of the Indians.'t9 Given the circumstances, the Lincoln administration's fearful reaction was understandable. They could not know with certainty. They had seen how far the Confederacy would go to gain the aid of the southern Indians. John Ross was on his way to Washington to witness to that. For all Lincoln knew, a new front had been opened in the War for the Union. "Attend to the Indians" The Minnesota war demanded men and supplies needed in the South. The Third Minnesota Volunteer Regiment, which had sur· rendered in Tennessee and been paroled, was quickly ordered into action in Minnesota. The news reaching theWar Department damp. ened hopes for a quick end to the Indian war. From Wyoming came rumors of a wider war, "Indians, from Minnesota to Pike's Peak, 8. AR, SI, 1861; Galbrailh to William P. Dole, 28 January 1863, AR, CIA, 1863. p. 401. 9. LAM, 1861, p. 1; Smith to Lineoln, Il February 1861, Roll 4, M606, LS, 10, OSI, RG45, NA. 79 LINCOLN AND THE INDIANS and from Salt Lake to near Fort Kearney, committing many depredations ."tO On 25 August 1862 Governor Ramsey wired that the war was worsening, "The panic among the people has depopulated whole coumies." Then, Ramsey made the one request guaranteed to upset the War Department-he demanded an extension on the draft deadline for Minnesota's quota of 5,360 men.tt Lincoln desperatdy needed soldiers for the Union army. On 4 August, the president had issued an order to call up 300,000 militia . The Minnesota contingent was not large, but its leaving might set a dangerous precedem for other states that were also reportedly suffering from the spreading Indian war.12 Commissioner William P. Dole immediately endorsed Ramsey's request for a draft extension. Secretary Stanton refused the request, so Ramsey promptly appealed to Lincoln. "Half the population of the State are refugees," he told the president. He demanded a onemonth extension. Lincoln's response bluntly swept away the legal niceties: "Attend to the Indians. If the draft can not proceed, of course it will not proceed. Necessity knows no law. The government cannot extend the time."13 Lincoln eventually regretted the blanket authority he gave Minnesotans to "attend to the Indians." However, he was in a crisis situation. The day of his reply to Ramsey, Lincoln read a joint telegram from Nicolay, Dole, and Sen. Morton Wilkinson: "We are in the midst of a most terrible and exciting Indian war. Thus far the massacre of innocent white settlers has been fearful. A wild 10. Henry H311t2T While General Pope prepared to leave for Minnesota, the war went forward, and so did the corruption that...

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