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William Dean Sloan was born in Lake City, Iowa, andgraduatedfrom the UnitedStatesNavalAcademy at Annapolis on June 1, 1956. This article is a result of Ensign Sloans study of the 6th Iowa Cavalry while a student at the Academy. Iowa Cavalry-Sixth Regiment WILLIAM D. SLOAN Prior to 1861 regular troops had been stationed on the Northwest Frontier in the Dakota Territory to surpress Indian uprisings and keep peace between the warring Indian tribes and white settlers. With the shelling of Fort Sumter and the beginning of the Civil War, the Union government had no choice but to caU aU avadable troops into action, including those from the Dakota Territory. As the troops left, the Indians realized they were unguarded and started plundering settlements, farms, and wagon trains. In late 1862 the Sioux warriors and their chief, Little Crow, massacred some 600 soldiers and settlers in western Minnesota. This was the worst massacre in the history of the country.1 They continued to attack almost every week and forced some 5,000 settlers to leave their homes and property. The War Department realized that something must be done immediately to combat the uprising and put out a special order for volunteer troops. It was from this call that the Sixth Regiment of Volunteer Iowa Cavalry was formed. Eight companies of the regiment were mustered into the service of the United States on January 31, 1863, at Camp Hendershott near Davenport , Iowa. David S. Wilson, a prominent member of the Democratic party in Iowa and a successful lawyer, was the first commanding officer of the unit Colonel Wilson gave up a chance for advancement in government to fight for the cause of the Union. He hated no one but a rebel against the Union, and his hatred was based more on loyalty to the Union than on personal feelings. The men in the regiment had much the same feelings as those of their colonel. They were older than the average soldier from Iowa and many had already established homes of their own. 1 Iowa Adjutant General's Office, Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion ... (6 vols.; Des Moines: E. H. English, State Printer, 1908-1911), IV, 1116; hereafter cited as Ia. Soldiers in Rebellion. 189 190 Iowa Cavalry191 They came from aU parts of tiie state and "responded to a caU to defend the border because they understood the hazards of the famines exposed to Indian depredations."2 Shortly after the first eight companies were mustered into the service, three more were sworn in, and the twelfth company was mustered on March 5, 1863.3 At this time there were slightly more than 1,100 men in the regiment. With more men constantly enlisting, the regiment was almost up to the maximum strength when it left the rendezvous on March 16, 1863.4 Most of the men had been at Camp Hendershott since November and consequently were weU driUed and disciplined. When the regiment rode out of the rendezvous, they were weU mounted and armed and presented a fine and impressive appearance that remained as a lasting memory in the minds of the spectators. The spring storms of the latter part of March and early April, combined with the melting snow and poor roads, made traveling slow and tedious, but this hard traveling was useful, as training for what the regiment was to encounter later in Dakota Territory. The 350-mile trip to Sioux City took until April 26, 1863.5 Upon the arrival at Sioux City, Colonel Wilson reported his regiment to Brigadier General John Cook, commanding general of the District of Iowa and Dakota. The regiment was ordered to cross the Sioux River and remain at Camp Cook, Dakota Territory, until final preparations were completed for the campaign. Plans caUed for two expeditions to be fitted out to move against the Indians. One was to move westward from Minnesota into Indian country and the other to move up the east bank of the Missouri River, the two to meet at some point on the upper Missouri River. The expedition from Sioux City, which included the entire Sixth Regiment of Iowa Cavalry, was to be...

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