Inscription
ATTACK FROM THE NORTHEAST
You are standing where cannon fire stopped the Dakota assault on August 20, 1862. According to Tasina Wakanhdi (Lightning Blanket), who was involved in both attacks on the Fort, the warriors who made the first attack on Fort Ridgely were men from Wambdi Tanka's (Big Eagle), Pejutazanzan's (Medicine Bottle), Sakpedan's (Little Six), and Taoyateduta's (Little Crow) camps—about 400 men in all.
The plan of attack called for Pejutazanzan's men to give a signal of "three big shots," drawing the soldiers' attention to the north and allowing warriors hiding in the ravines on the east, west, and south sides of the fort to rush in. However, the warriors were delayed coming up the ravines, so Tasina Wakanhdi and others on the north were left exposed to cannon fire. Heavy artillery fire coming from the fort, coupled with a lack of powder and bullets, caused the warriors to withdraw to Taoyateduta's village to regroup.
Tasina Wakanhdi recalled:
While shooting we ran up to the buildings near the big stone one. As we were running in, we saw the man with the big guns whom we all knew and as we were the only ones in sight he shot into us.
We did not fight like white men, with one officer. We all shot as we pleased. We shot at the windows, mostly at the big stone building, as we thought many of the whites were in there.... During the shooting we tried to set fire to the buildings with fire arrows, but the buildings would not burn, so we had to get more powder and bullets.
Fort Ridgely
Details
| HM Number | HM1CZ4 |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Minnesota Historical Society series, and the Minnesota: Fort Ridgely Interpretive Series series. |
| Tags | |
| Historical Period | 19th Century |
| Historical Place | Battlefield, Fort, Military Installation, Monument, Park |
| Marker Type | Other |
| Marker Class | Neither |
| Marker Style | Free Standing |
| Placed By | Minnesota Historical Society |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Thursday, September 11th, 2014 at 3:56am PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Photo Credits: [1] MARTHA DECKER [2] MARTHA DECKER
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 15T E 362077 N 4923698 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 44.45343333, -94.73353333 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 44° 27.206', W 94° 44.012' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 44° 27' 12.3600" N, 94° 44' 0.7200" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 507 |
| Can be seen from road? | Yes |
| Is marker in the median? | No |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling West |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 609 Co Hwy 30, Fairfax MN 55332, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.
Nearby Markersshow on map
Maintenance Issues
- This marker could use another picture or two.
Comments 0 comments