Attack on Fort Ridgely

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Fort Ridgely, by James McGrew in 1890.

On the afternoon of August 20, 1862, Little Crow led a company of roughly 400 Dakota men in an attack against Fort Ridgely. The battle lasted five hours. The battle of Fort Ridgely continued on August 22, 1862. This time the Dakota had nearly doubled their number of soldiers and heavily outnumbered the soldiers at the fort. Over the course of the battles, three soldiers and four civilians were killed; 13 soldiers and 26 civilians were wounded. Because Dakota carried away their dead, only two Dakota deaths were confirmed. Historians agree there were many more.

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Bibliography: 

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

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

Primary

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

Secondary

Carley, Kenneth. The Dakota War of 1862: Minnesota’s Other Civil War. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976.
 
Dahlin, Curtis A. The Dakota Uprising. Edina, MN: Beaver’s Pond Press, 2009.
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