As my profession is that of news paper reporter, and being desirous of obtaining information in regard to the Indian outbreak in Minnesota in the Summer of 1862, I asked Capt C Keysor for an interview. he appoligized for the reason that he lost the diary that he had kept from the organization of the Company untell the Battle of Guntown Missippi June 10^th 1864 and therefore could only approximate as to dates of their movements prior to that time.

 

He informed me that he with his family arrived at Mankato May 11^th 1858 and that this had been his home continously since and about the middle of August 1862 he enlisted in the U.S. Military Service in a company that was being raised to go South an join the union army and / when the complement of men were secured they went to Fort Snelling and was there sworn into the US Service, and while standing in line and had just elected the Company Officers, and was assigned to the 9^th Minn Infantry Vols, Jerome Dane was Capt and myself 1^st Lieut and J. R. Roberts 2^nd Lieut. and while standing in line the report came of the Sioux Indian outbreak and as the company was raised in Mankato South Bend Judson Garden City Butternut Valley and Cambria, and the Winnebago Indian reservation upon which was about three thousand Indians and only about six miles from Mankato and while they were apparently friendly yet we knowing something of the Indian nature and the fear that they might join with the Sioux and endeavour to regain posession / of the Minnesota Valley, the impulse was general throught the entire company to return at once to Mankato, to protect our homes and families from the barborous treatment that we well knew was in store for them, iff they fell into the hands of the barberous Soux's they therefore asked for, and received orders to return to Mankato at once and as there was no railroad we started by boat and was some three or four days in making the trip he cannot give the date of their arrival but is quite certain that it was on Saturday and as they were under Sealed Orders they marched through to the south part of the town to what was called Brink place, where they opened and read the order that directed them to press horses into the service and mount the Company / and go to Lake Crystal as soon as possible the Capt with about one half of the Company were mounted and left for Lake crystal that evening, leaving Lieut Keysor and the balance of the Company to secure horses and follow as soon as possible, which he did the next day and arrived at the Lake about four P.M. they had about 108 men, and as many horses they had no tents nor rations or forage of any kind for the horses. they camped in Riley Robinsons log house and barn and shortly after the Lieuts arrival, the Capt informed him that it was necessary that he (the captain) should return to Mankato leaving the Lieut, (inexperienced in mitary affairs) in charge of that large and inexperienced Co to arrange Guard and patrol duty and at the same time secure provisions / for me and horses, the process of which gave them the humiliating name of Danes thieves, this was the consoling epithet furnished by the people for the Soldiers that were in the saddle almost continually night and day to protect them and their families and property from destruction by the barberous savages that infested that locality at that time. He says that wherever the owner could be identified that he gave receipts as commander which the government honered and paid all bills for services of horses and losses and damage and all supplies used by the Company. 2^nd Lieut J. R. Roberts was appointed by the Capt. C^o Clerk Commisary & Quarter Master his opportunity for knowing was that he and Lieut Roberts bunked to gether and enjoyed the most impicent confidence in / the integrity of each other, and he saw the Lieut pay many of the bills that looked as iff they were strangly magnified. We were at Lake Crystal a few days when the report came that Mankato was to be attacked by the combined forces of the Sioux's and Winnebagoes, and were immediately ordered to Mankato where the excitement baffels dissription. he the Lieut was invited to attend a meeting of citizens that had assembled to divise meanes and ways for guarding the town. I asked him where his captain was? he replied that he did not know, but was informed that he was guarding a ravine in southwest part of town the whole company was on guard all night reinforced by some citizens at every post along the bluffs on the east and south side of the town / after one or two days they returned to the Brrott farm some 3 or 4 miles from Lake Crystal where they camped for one night when they were ordered to Niulm [sic, New Ulm]. the captain joined and went to Niulm with them arriving there about 4.PM the village was in a terrible situation not a living soul there, houses and stores open, and goods thrown in the streets, and dead men and animals, the stench was beyound the comprehension of any one that did not experience the conditions that exhisted there we marched through town to some high land and pitched our tents and the next morning the Capt left for Mankato; and the Lieut at once organized the guard, and patrole system, and proceeded to burry the dead, and gether supplies for men and horses and about the 3^rd day John Ireland reported to the Lieut that / he was at Lake Sheteck during the macere and had received several gunshot wounds but made his escape and had been out about seven days layin in the sloug's day time and travailing nights without food except raw corn, and when about twenty five miles of Niulm he fell in company with Mrs Eastlick with her two children and Mrs Hurd who wer also refugees makin their escape from the Lake Shetec macecre and like Ireland had been in hiding day tim's and travailing nights the women and children were exhausted and he left them at a farm house that had been vacated for some time and he had come for help for himself and the women and children I asked the Lieut what he did in such a case he informed me that he at once ordered the 2^nd Lieut to take charge of a detail of sixteen / mounted men and a spring waggon with guilts and cushions for the women and children and go at once to the relief of the sufferers the order was promptly obeyed and they arrived at their destination about midnight and after feeding and letting their horses rest they took up their return march and arrived at Niulm about 2 or 3 P.M. the women and children were nearly starved and also almost destitute of clothing and there were no women in Niulm at that time to administer to their necesities he consigned them to a room and then sent out a detaill to procure women's clothing for them he kept them till the next morning and then sent them under guard to Mankato.

 

Joseph Gilfillian having strayed from Lieut Roberts command was killed on their return trip about 6 miles from Niulm where his / boddy was found by a detail of six men under the command of Lieut Keysor. it was given a temporary burial, and as they discovered that they were near the old Indian trail that led from the Sioux agency to the Winnebago Agency, they scouted through the brush and slough's they returned to camp where they arrived about sunset. after a day or two they received orders to move their camp to Crisps farm which was about fourteen miles on the Mankato and Niulm road where they arrived about noon on Sunday and pitched their tents, and early Monday morning a small party of Indians killed four farmers within one mile of camp as they were getting out to their work. a part of the company immediately gave chase and persued them nearly all day there was a few shots exchanged but no visable effect. the Indians were / mounted and made for the timber and on the detail arriving there about sundown they abandoned the chase and returned to camp and as they had been in the saddle all day and had no rations they were not particular as to quality if the quanty was sufficient to fill the vacum. The whole community was freightined and at he was confronted with the problem how to care for over one hundred citizens mostly women and children who had fled to him for protection and provisions. He at once sent out a detail on a foraging expedition, and ordered the refugees to take possession of Crisps barn which afforded them shelter from the rain during the night and the next morning he furnished them with beef and potatoes for breakfast. He then organized the teams at his command into a procession and loaded them with the women and children and sent them under guard to Mankato They remained at that camp about one week and was then ordered to move to Judson and build winter quarters the Capt returned and took possession of a farm house for Head Quarters and then returned to Mankato to meet his family after a few days he returned with them, and when they were duly installed in their new home, his buisiness would often detain him in Mankato over night. that left Lieut Keysor to attend to Company drill and arrainge for winter Quarters for the Company which he did by securing the use of a saw mill just across the river from Judson and as there was logs that /

^xx         about the 25^th of December 1862 the Company was ordered to report at Mankato the 26^th of Dec to take part in the execution of the 38 condemed Soux Indians ?was the Capt with the Company on that occasion? yes he came with them to the city but at the time of the execution he was not with them and the Lieut commanded the Co. and formed into line near the south west corner of the gallows as directed by the Officer of the day and after the exercises wer over and the Indians properly buried we returned to our quarters at Judson / had been hauled there by the farmers he soon started the mill and sawed lumber enough to build the necessary quarters for the Company ^xx and about the middle of Feb the Lieut was detailed to attend a military school conducted by Col Alex Wilkins at St Peter the Headquarters of the Regt and about the middle of March the Company was ordered there where we remained he thinks till the latter part of April was? the captain with you at St Peter no, he had instructed Lieut Roberts to make all reports and to sign his name as present with the company, but Col. Wilkins knowing the Capt to be absent, ordered me to sign as commanding Co all Regimental reports and to make all requisitions for comissary supplies and the latter part of April the Company / was ordered to Hutchinson Minn. owing to the bad roads they were two days on the march and on arriving there the Lieut organized the guard system and also the drilling of the Company from two to four hours daily. after a few days the Capt came and staid a few days when he claimed that he had buisiness in Mankato that he could not delegate to any one to perform for him, therefore the Lieut was again left in command. they remained at the Post about one month when they were ordered to Forest City where they done Post duty he thinks about one month when Capt Dane was ordered to join the Company and divide and take command of one half of it and go to long Lake and do post duty there and Lieut Keysor in command of / the balance of the Company to go to Pipe Lake and establish a post by building a sod fort and then cutting and putting up hay for government horses there were stationed with him a cavalry company for scouting and patrol duty they remained there till about October when they were ordered to mobilize at Fort Snelling Minn preparitory to going south. from there they were ordered to Jefferson City Mo. where they arrived in November and went into camp and the next morning there was about four inches of snow on the ground and the wind from the north that caused considerable suffering and a severe strain on the english language. but the afternoon was warm and the snow rapidly disappeared and while their rations seemed to be ample / they also rapidly disappeared, which seemed to be a great panecea for their real and immaginary troubles for the many little inconveniences that so often besets the weary travailer as he plods along lifes pathway with the consciousness of being a man, in line of duty to humanity, his god, and country, and home.

 

The Capt was with them but claimed to be unwell and therefore did no service with the Com. except to regail them with his wonderful experience in the Mexican war, and his hairbreadth escapes without a scratch. Lieut Keysor was detailed on a court commission that was organized and in session there at Jefferson City the buisiness of which was to try citizens for military offences that included the class that was called bushwhackers. he was on duty / there two or three months and 2^nd Lieut Roberts had to assume command of the Co. and he being Co. comissary and also Co clerk he done all the Co buisiness in the Captains name, which gave the Captain credit for doing what he did not do; in January or February the Co. was ordered to Rolla Mo., up to this time the Regt had not been together, as the diferent Companys had been doing duty in diferent places on the frontier in Minn. Col. Wilkins was desirous of getting them together for Regimental drill, and about the last of March Lieut Keysor was relieved and ordered to join the Regt. and at once assumed command of the Co, although the Capt was there apparently well but was on the sick list just the same and the Lieut drilled the Company in Company and Regimental Tacticks / about the first of April the Company was ordered to go as guard to a comissary train of about sixty or seventy wagons, to Waynesville Mo. only about two or three weeks prior to this there had been captured a train of about 80 wagons and all destroyed on the same road. The Capt immediately applied to the Surgeon, and obtained a certificate of disability, and the Lieut was in command of the Company and so reconized by the Coln. he therefore got his instructions from the Coln. and guarded the train safely to Waynesville, about two days march, and delivered it to the commanding officer at the Post and reported the Company ready for post duty. they remained till about the middle of May when they received orders to turn over to the Post Quartermaster all camp equipage and join the Regt at St Louis as soon as possible / These orders was received about three P.M. and at daylight the next morning they started on their march of about thirty miles to where they took the cars for St. Louis on their arrival there without tents or cooking utensils they went into camp, about sundown, and about midnight a good smart thunder shower wet them down in fine shape and also had a softening effect on their hard tack and sugar but not on the english language. he says that he there learned that it was not very pleasant to lay at night on the bear ground without any thing to protect you from the effects of a terrible thunder shower. he says that he does not remember just how long they were in St Louis when they were ordered aboard of a steamboat the destination was understood to be Little Rock Arkansas. but on their arrival at / Memphis Tenn. they were ordered off the boat to join an expedition fitting out under the command of Genl. S. D. Sturgis to move south east into Missippi in search of the command of the Rebel Genel Forrest and his command, which they found at Guntown Miss prepared to received company. and Genl. Sturgis being a West Point graduate, and a man of great experience in some things, and with his glass in hand conceived the idea of sending in one Regt at a time in order that Forest might be able to receive them in proper form, which he did by falling back in the center and flanking the advancing line, that of course would cause an immediate retreat. the 9^th Minn. Regt was ordered in at about 12 oclock and was under fire till darkness closed the scene and the Lieut in command of the Company all the time during the engagement and the / falling back and forming three new lines Genl. Sturgis tried the experiment of charging the enemys advancing line with his comissary and ambulance train and when he discovered the unsuccessful result of the experiment, he thought of something in Memphis that required his and his Staff attention at once and accordingly left the shattered Army 125 miles from Memphis in an enemys country to fight their way back or go to Andersonville and thus we were left but there was one field Officer that refused to go with them and stayed by the remnants of the various regts and brought them safely through to our lines at Memphis, and that was the Col of the 9^th Minn Infty, Alexander Wilkins who is held in the highest esteem by all those that was in his command on that ill fated day of the Guntown expedition / was the Captain of your Co with you during the retreat? No when the Regt was ordered forward into action the Capt at once thought of something that required his attention in Memphis and he left at once and acted as escort to the General and his Staff to a place of safety within our lines, and we did not see him until we returned to Memphis some four days after the battle. when the remnants of a once fine and loyal Regt returned to their former camp in Memphis the Lieutenant was carried in an army wagon from the Depot to the camp on Poplar St and placed on some straw on the ground when the Capt made his appearance and smilingly said Lieut, I am surprised to see you, for the Boys that came in said that you were shot and that they saw you fall. What answer did you give to his salutation? I said iff I had been / shot it would have been while in line of duty to my country and Flag and the interest of the men entrusted to my care, and not running at the first volley for Memphis and forsaking my men and Flag to the mercies of a relentless enemy. What did the Capt say? he turned and walked away, and I was told that he said the Lieut was out of his head and not responsible for what he said. the next morning Dr. W.W. Clark Surgeon of the 10^th Regt and a neighbor in Mankato called to see the Lieut and after talking with him for a few minutes intemated that he was in a very critical condition and that probably would not live but a very few days at longest. What answer did you give the Dr I told him that my work was not done and that I would soon be out again and with the boys. C^ol Wilkins called to see him / and after making some complementary remarks and assuring the Lieut of his earnest desire that he might soon recover he bid him farewell and left the tent and expressed the opinion that the Lieut would never be able for military duty again. He therefore unbeknown to the Lieut made application to the war department for an order detailing him in the Recruting Service at Draft Rendevous at Fort Snelling Minn. before the order was received, the Lieut had so far recovered, that he attempted to rejoin his Company by going to Legrange Tenn. where he expected to overtake the command under Genl. A. J. Smith which was composed of the remnants of S. D. Sturgis command and some other Regiments but on arriving at Legrange he learned that the command had left there some two days before and as the country was infested with bushwhackers his / only alternative was to return to Memphis, and on his arrival there he received the order sending him to Minn on Recruting Service he at once appealed in person to General Washburn, commander of the Dist and asked iff the order could not be revoked and he allowed to rejoin his company. he was informed by him, that the order would have to be obeyed

 

I asked him how it was that he was considred in such a precarious condition. He said that necesitated the turning back in the interview, to the time the expedition started out, on the 5^th of June he was detailed as officer of the rear guard and the colume commenced it march earley in the morning and continued on the / way all day in a drizling rain and clay soil. and there was a good many straglers to be looked after and kept along, for we were in an enemys country and bushwhackers were on every side and with his best efforts he did not get into camp before midnight, and it was raining hard at that time and the Regt was camped (without tents) in an old cornfield on decending ground and the water running between the roes and he could find no shelter or dry place to lay down for a little rest except one rail that the boys gave him which constituted his bed for the balance of the night, and not feeling very well he reported to the Surgeon of the Regt who had taken posession of a large comfortable house and as soon as he saw him, he said that he was / a very sick man (the Capt was there but Self held the ruling pawn and the men intrusted to his care never troubled him in the least) and that he was threatened with the typoid fever they staid at Lemars all that day and the next they resumed the march taking the Lieut in the Ambulance that was the 7^th of June 1864 where he remained till the morning of the 9^th when he got out and had not gone but a little ways when the surgeon saw him and ordered him into the Ambulance again with instructions to stay there he obeyed the order till about 5 P.M. when he joined the Company he did not see his Captain with them and about 6 PM they were halted and obliged to stand through a terrible thundershower after the shower was over which was probably one half hour they were ordered to move down / on to the bottom land where the thin clay was 2 or 3 inches deep where they expected to spend the night. but we were soon called into line and orders read informing them that the Company was to be divided and one half under Capt Dane was to picket one road and the other half under Lieut J R Roberts another and not to build any fires or allow the relief to sleep. Lieut Roberts requested Lieut Keysor to go and instruct him in his duties and he don so, and the result was the men had an oportunity to dry their clothes and drink some hot coffee and the relief and Lieut Roberts done some snoring Lieut Keysor had such a high fever that he could neither eat or sleep but they all lived to resume the march the next morning with Lieut Keysor doing duty in the Ambulance / where he remained till about 11 P.M. when he heard the bugle call the double quick and about the same time he heard the sound of artillery. he then got out of the Ambulance and soon overtook the Company Some of them had already fell by the wayside from the effect of the intense heat. on arriving at the edge of a cleared field and in a low place they formed in line of battle and the balls could be heard flying over. the the Capt was present they did not have long to wait they were ordered forward up rising ground and a cleared field,where they entered the woods they had not advanced in to timber very far before they encountered the enemy. they at once entered into a spirited engagement, the enemy falling back and the union line advancing the Lieut standing at the right / of his company as they were laying down and two or three of his men were wounded and disabled for duty at the first volley. he looked for his Captain for instructions as he had often told him (the Lieut) that he would not know a battle from a skirmish. and on discovering him behind a large oak tree, some distance in rear of the prescribed position of a captain, he ran back and asked him iff it was a battle or a skirmish. he tremblingly replied it is the hottest that he ever see. the Lieut immediately returned to the company where the fiting was going on they were soon ordered forward and their flanks not being protected, they were soon flanked on the right, and left, and forced to fall back and support their battery, and were soon flanked out of that position / from which they retreated by the left flank for some half a mile or more where they formed a new line that brought Co "E" near the hatchee Swamp he cannot say what time what time in the afternoon it was but as he remembers it, he thought the sun to be about one hour or so high. they were soon earnestly engaged when Col. Wilkins rode up in great haste and after giving the Lieut some instructions finally said Lieut, hold this position as long as you can. ?What answer did you give him? I said Col. I will hold it as long as I have a man left. How long did you hold the position? Till darkness closed the scene and the rest of the line had gone when i ordered a retreat which was promptly obeyed every man for / himself, and the next morning we arrived at Ripley and I only saw one Infty Regt that seemed to retain its organization and that was the 9^th Minn and her Flag was still there, and under command of that Gallant Officer Col. Alex. Wilkins whom we followed to Memphis Tennessee and every soldier in his command felt under obligations to him for their almost miracilus escape from the enemy ?How long did you remain at Draft rendesvious? I was there a little over one year. ?What duty did you have to perform while there I had charge of drafted men and recruits and act as Officer of the day and Officer of the guard in turn with two or three other officers and conduct recruits to their regts which servis took me to Fort Ridgely to Nashville to Memphis Tenn and to Helena and Washington / and as I had made two application to be relieved and sent to my Company and had met with a refusal to grant my request I availed myself of the oportuny when in Washington of enlisting Congressman Windom and with him went to the Office of Secretary of War and made personal application to be sent to the regt he remarked that the Regt would soon return to Minn and he therefore declined to issue any special order. the Regiment returned about the first of August /65 and as he had been promoted Capt but could not be mustered outside of the Dist in which the Regt was he at once was mustered and took charge of the Company and Company records and prepared for muster out which was done at Fort Snelling Minn, and here let me say

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