History of Company E of the Sixth Minnesota Regiment of Volunteer Infantry

PART I.. Origin and Organization--1862.

ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION--1862.

In the spring of 1862 a sixth regiment of infantry had been called for from Minnesota by the Governor of the State, but, from various causes, the enlistments proceeded very languidly till the disasters of the Virginian armies in the summer and the consequent proclamations of the President of the United States for volunteers gave an immense impulse to recruiting.

Under such circumstances it was that the "Sigel Guards," afterwards Company E of the Sixth Regiment, were projected and raised. In the month of June, Mathias Holl, of St. Paul, was authorized to recruit for the proposed company; and on the 23rd of July, twenty men having been enlisted, he received a regular recruiting commission. Rudolph Schoenemann and Christian Exel, of the same city, also engaged in the work in connection with Lieutenant Holl, themselves enlisting in the company on the 6th and 14th of August, respectively. Many of the members, however, were not obtained particularly by these gentlemen, some having been recruited for other companies or regiments and transferred involuntarily to the Sigel Guards, others who had purposed enlisting in other companies--that never were filled--having joined it of their own accord, while a large proportion acted as their own recruiting officers, and made it their first choice. The names of those recruited for, or who intended to join, other organizations, are as follows, viz.: (1) Beckendorf, Besecke, Detert, Gropel, Mahle, Mann, Metz, J. J. Mueller, Schaefer, Simon, and Temme, were to have belonged to the company projected by Messrs. Klinkenfus, Knauft, and Krueger, of Lower Town, St. Paul. They joined in a body. (2) Bast, Blesius, Blessner, Dreis, Fandel, Greibler, Hoscheid, and Neierburg were enlisted August 15th by Messrs. Julius Gross and Lieutenant Kreitz, of St. Paul, for the Tenth Regiment, but were transferred to the Sixth. (3) George Paulson, a recruit for L. C. Dayton's company (St. Paul) for the Eighth Regiment, was transferred to the Sixth. (4) John, Kilian, Kraemer, Meyer, Praxl, and Radke came to Fort Snelling from Winona, as recruits for the Seventh Regiment, but enlisted instead in the Sigel Guards. All the recruits were enlisted and sworn in as privates except the drummer, the period of enlistment being "for three years unless sooner discharged."

The general rendezvous was at Fort Snelling, and, the "minimum" number (83) having been obtained, the company was provisionally organized there, on the 16th of August, by the enlisted men expressing, by vote, their preference for candidates to fill the commissioned offices, and by the captain, then chosen, appointing the non-commissioned officers. Schoenemann and Holl were thus respectively elected captain and second lieutenant of the Sigel Guards, and were commissioned as such, on the 19th, by the Governor of the State, and Lieutenant Exel, already commissioned (August 11th), accepted as first lieutenant.

By the 19th of August the aggregate number of members was 94; their names, rank, etc., being shown in the following roll:

----------------------------+-----------------------+----------- | | When NAME | NATIVE COUNTRY | Enlisted | | 1862 ----------------------------+-----------------------+----------- OFFICERS. | | ----------------------------+-----------------------+----------- Captain -- | | *Rudolph Schoenemann | Prussia | Aug. 14 First Lieutenant -- | | Christian Exel | Hesse Darmstadt | Aug. 6 Second Lieutenant -- | | Mathias Holl | Hesse Darmstadt | July 23 First Sergeant -- | | Justus B. Bell | Ohio | Aug. 4 Second Sergeant -- | | George Huhn | Bavaria | Aug. 7 Third Sergeant -- | | *Frederick Scheer | Prussia | July 23 Fourth Sergeant -- | | Ernst J. Knobelsdorff | Prussia | July 29 Fifth Sergeant -- | | *Elias Siebert | Hesse Cassel | Aug. 2 First Corporal -- | | *Paul P. Huth | Prussia | June 13 Second Corporal -- | | John Burch | Prussia | Aug. 13 Third Corporal -- | | *Mathias Mueller | Prussia | Aug. 5 Fourth Corporal -- | | *William Rohde | Hesse Cassel | Aug. 2 Fifth Corporal -- | | Peter Leitner | Bavaria | Aug. 6 Sixth Corporal -- | | Reinhard Stiefel | Prussia | Aug. 7 Seventh Corporal -- | | George Sauer | Bavaria | Aug. 7 Eighth Corporal -- | | Richard Mueller | Prussia | Aug. 8 Musician -- | | *Charles Seidel | Prussia | July 9 Privates -- | | Bast, William | Luxemburg | Aug. 15 Beckendorf, Peter H. | Prussia | Aug. 14 Becker, Mathias | Prussia | Aug. 13 Besecke, Ferdinand | Prussia | Aug. 14 Blesius, John | Prussia | Aug. 15 Blessner, Charles | Luxemburg | Aug. 15 Boos, Michael | Bavaria | June 12 Bristle, Christian | Baden | Aug. 4 Detert, Henry | Prussia | Aug. 14 Dreis, Nicholas | Luxemburg | Aug. 15 *Eberdt, Charles | Mecklenb | Aug. 13 Eheim, Joseph | Austria | Aug. 14 Fandel, Henry | Luxemburg | Aug. 15 *Ferlein, Joseph | Bavaria | June 2 Fischer, Louis | Switzerland | Aug. 16 Gaheen, Samuel | Canada | Aug. 14 *Gantner, Jacob | Switzerland | June 10 Goldner, Joseph | Prussia | July 23 Griebler, Joseph | Prussia | Aug. 15 *Gropel, Henry | Prussia | Aug. 14 Hahn, F. Carl | Wurtemberg | July 23 Harrfeldt, August | Holstein | July 28 Hauck, Jacob | Baden | Aug. 14 *Hellmann, Herman | Prussia | Aug. 9 Henricks, Frederick | Prussia | July 28 Henricks, Henry | Prussia | Aug. 5 Hill, Alfred J. | England | Aug. 14 Hill, William A. | Virginia | July 22 Hoscheid, Nicholas | Luxemburg | Aug. 15 Jakobi, Conrad | Hesse Darmstadt | July 18 John, Jacob | Bremen | Aug. 18 *Juergens, Louis | Waldeck | Aug. 16 *Kellermann, August | Prussia | Aug. 14 Kernen, Jacob | Switzerland | Aug. 14 Kilian, Philip | Hesse Darmstadt | Aug. 18 *Klinghammer, Louis | Prussia | July 9 *Kobelitz, Frederick | Bremen | July 28 *Koenig, Louis | Baden | Aug. 12 *Kraemer, Frederick | Wurtemberg | Aug. 18 *Krueger, Henry | Schleswig | Aug. 15 Mahle, William | Wurtemberg | Aug. 14 Mann, Jacob | Wurtemberg | Aug. 14 *Martin, Frederick | Prussia | Aug. 16 Metz, Charles | Hanover | Aug. 14 Maurer, John J. | Prussia | Aug. 13 Meyer, John H. | Ohio | Aug. 18 Mueckenhausen, Joseph | Prussia | Aug. 14 Mueckenhausen, Mathias | Prussia | Aug. 14 Mueller, John Jacob | Wurtemberg | Aug. 14 Munson, John | Sweden | June 26 Neierburg, Michael | Luxemburg | Aug. 15 Parks, Thomas M. | Pennsylvania | June 13 *Paulson, George | Prussia | July 28 Paulson, Paul | Norway | June 10 Peterson, Ole | Norway | July 28 Porth, William | Prussia | Aug. 7 Praxl, Anthony A. | Austria | Aug. 18 Radke, Rudolph | Prussia | Aug. 18 Rehse, August | Prussia | Aug. 4 *Reimers, Joachim | Holstein | Aug. 13 *Reuter, Henry | Hanover | July 23 Rossion, Jean | Belgium | July 31 Schafer, Henry | Canada | Aug. 14 Schauer, August | Prussia | Aug. 4 Scheibel, Augustin | France | Aug. 15 Schene, William | Hanover | Aug. 12 Schermann, George | Austria | Aug. 11 Schoenheiter, Frederick | Prussia | Aug. 16 Simon, John | Prussia | Aug. 14 Smith, Joseph | France | Aug. 14 Smith, William A. | Indiana | Aug. 19 Sproesser, William D. | Wurtemberg | July 23 Stengelin, Gottfried | Wurtemberg | July 16 Temme, Charles | Prussia | Aug. 14 Wetteran, Louis | Wisconsin | Aug. 5 Willialms, August | Sweden | June 10 *Wolf, Anton | Prussia | June 2 ----------------------------+-----------------------+-----------

* In military service before.

This young man's real name was Paul Bierstach, the other having been assumed to enable him to get sworn in without his parents' consent.

With the exception of less than half a dozen, all of the above were residents of Minnesota, fifty-four being from St. Paul, eight from Winona, and the remainder from other parts of the state. Twenty-four of the members had been soldiers previously, many of them having seen active service--seventeen in European armies, one in the United States regulars, and six in the United States volunteer forces. Wolf--then a boy of sixteen--enlisted in Bulow's Army Corps, fought at Quatre Blas, and was present at the battle of Waterloo.

PART 2.. Services in Minnesota Against the Sioux Indians--1862-63.

SERVICES IN MINNESOTA AGAINST THE SIOUX INDIANS--1862-63.

Immediately after the organization of the company the usual recruit life began. Military clothing and equipments were issued, squad drill commenced, and light guard duty done in and around the fort. The quarters of the company were two rooms on the northern side of the parade grounds, 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.

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