accepted the position, with
the rank of colonel in the state militia. The Sixth Regiment was being
recruited at Fort Snelling for the Civil War, and, on the 20th of
August, Colonel Sibley started up the valley of the Minnesota with four
companies of that regiment, and arrived at St. Peter on Friday, the 22d.
Capt. A. D. Nelson of the regular army had been appointed colonel of the
Sixth, and William Crooks had been appointed lieutenant colonel of the
Seventh. Colonel Crooks conveyed the orders of the governor to Colonel
Nelson, overtaking him at Bloomington Ferry. On receipt of his orders,
finding he was to report to Colonel Sibley, he made the point of
military etiquette, that an officer of the regular army could not report
to an officer of militia of the same rank, and turning over his command
to Colonel Crooks, he returned to St. Paul and handed in his
resignation. It was accepted, and Colonel Crooks was appointed colonel
of the Sixth. Not knowing much about military etiquette, I will not
venture an opinion on the action of Colonel Nelson in this instance, but
it always seemed to me that, in the face of the enemy, and especially
considering the high standing of Colonel Sibley, and the intimate
friendship that existed between the two men, it would have been better
to have waived this point, and unitedly fought the enemy, settling all
such matters afterwards.

On Sunday, the 24th, Colonel Sibley's force at St. Peter, was augmented
by the arrival of about two hundred mounted men, under the command of
William J. Cullen, formerly superintendent of Indian affairs, called the
Cullen Guard. On the same day six more companies of the Sixth arrived,
making up the full regiment, and also about one hundred more mounted
men, and several squads of volunteer militia. The mounted men were
placed under the command of Col. Samuel McPhail. By these acquisitions
Colonel Sibley's command numbered about 1,400 men. Although the
numerical strength was considerable, the command was practically
useless. The ammunition did not fit the guns of the Sixth Regiment, and
had to be all made over. The horses of the mounted men, were raw and
undisciplined, and the men themselves were inexperienced and practically
unarmed. It was the best the country afforded, but was probably about as
poorly equipped an army as ever entered the field--and to face what I
regard as the best warriors to be found on the North American continent;
but fortunately the officers