unds, with a kitchen and dining room below. Fritz Stirneman,
a civilian, but an ex-soldier of the First Regiment, assisted by
Rossion, was hired to do the cooking.

The monotony of barrack life, however, did not last long. The news of
the outbreak of the Sioux Indians in the western part of the state
turned all thoughts from anticipations of Southern campaigns to the
necessities of the hour. The regiment was put on a war footing, orders
to march were issued, and arms and accoutrements supplied to the men;
four Sibley tents being allowed for the enlisted men of each company.
On the 20th of August the first battalion of the Sixth Regiment,
consisting of three companies, left Fort Snelling for the scene of the
massacre, and, together with Company A, which had been ordered to march
across the country, arrived at St. Peter on the 22nd. All being ready,
the second battalion, including Company E, embarked on the evening of
the 22nd, on the steamboat _Wilson_ for the upper Minnesota River. At
the time of embarkation the aggregate strength of the company was 94,
the number present being 84; the absentees being Lieutenant Exel, on
recruiting service; John, Harrfeldt, Kraemer, Martin, Meyer, Praxl, and
Radke, on furlough; Dreis and Fandel, who had not yet joined; and
Porth, left behind at the fort on account of inability to march.

On the morning of the 23rd we disembarked at Shakopee, 24 miles from
the fort. From this day commenced the official organization of the
regiment, it being the date of Colonel William Crooks' commission. The
route followed was through Jordan, Belle Plaine, and Henderson, to St.
Peter, where we arrived on the 24th. All the companies of the Sixth
were now concentrated at this point, where an expeditionary force was
collecting for the relief of Fort Ridgley, then sorely pressed by the
Indians. On the 26th the expedition commenced the march, and arrived at
the fort on the 28th; the regiment encamping on the prairie near by.

H. Henricks was appointed wagoner of the company on the 30th. Also on
that day Louis Thiele, a Prussian settler of the neighborhood, whose
family had been murdered by the Indians, enlisted in the company as a
private.

On the 31st an expedition under the command of Major Joseph E. Brown,
consisting of the Union Guards (Company A), under Captain Grant, and a
detail of men from the other companies of the Sixth Regiment, and the
Cullen Guards under Captain Anderson, was dispatched to the