1862 Dakota War Battle of Acton

By Dakota Huseby

        1862 Battle of Acton Map Photo By Brian Rogers
                                                                                                  

The mutilated remains of a 19 year old young farmer from Brooklyn Township have been resting for one hundred-fifty years at the Brooklyn Crystal Cemetery on West Broadway, with little public understanding of the events that led to his death. That has changed due to the work of the Brooklyn Historical Society and their efforts to restore a battlefield drawing that told the tale. The vivid imagery of the forgotten battle that left the young man and two fellow soldiers dead on the field, was unveiled for the first time at the Brookdale Library in Brooklyn Center Minnesota, just two days before the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Acton.

An intricate drawing by Ernst D. Kirst— a cabinet maker, draftsman, enlisted soldier, and witness to the battle— captured the history of that battle in his detailed drawing. For so long it was a remnant almost forgotten. Found tattered, frail and in pieces, the picture has now been laborious restored and for the first time, shown to the public. It’s a drawing that dramatically portrays the story of the battle. It is a visual diary of the men who were part of it.
Alvah Getchell was 19 years old when he and other willing men followed Captain Richard Strout on a mission north of the Minnesota River Valley They were a small band and not well trained for battle. Just twenty enlisted soldiers went on that mission, while another 45 citizens joined in. Along the way the group would commandeer wagons and additional volunteers— as long as they had a horse.
                                                                                                     
While much of the history of the Dakota War has been focused the 1400 soldiers led by Colonel Sibley, this much smaller rag-tag band carried an equally important mission in the war—to protect the settlers in outlying areas from attack.

The men gathered what equipment they could at Fort Snelling and made their way on foot, knowing the dangers they could face on their mission. They went through Brooklyn Township, Monticello and finally to their destination of Glencoe. Finding the settlers they were supposed to protect there had already left, Strout decided to journey back to Forest City. Along the way the soldiers set up camp at the Jones farm, a site of previous murders in the Dakota War conflict.

Captain Stout
Minnesota Historical Society photo

Captain Strout sent two men to scout ahead on September 2nd. Those men were unable to make it back when Dakota in the area were spotted and blocked the way back to camp. Instead, the two headed to Forest City and alerted Captain George Whitcomb at the Forest City Stockade. Whitcomb knew Strout’s men were going to be ambushed and that they must be warned. Three men, including Jesse Branham Jr., volunteered and rode into the night to warn the group. The three made it to the camp in the middle of the night. When Strout learned of the potential ambush coming, the men began to prepare.

The small group was struck with misfortune when they opened ammo boxes only to find a Quartermaster at Fort Snelling had mislabeled the ammunition. Despite feverishly trying to file down the musket balls to proper size, each of the men was left with only twenty rounds for daybreak.

When the group set out, they braced for the impending attack. The soldiers were quickly surrounded from all sides and outnumbered. Alvah Getchell was the first to die, a bullet piercing his brain and his body left on the battlefield. George Gidden was killed next, followed by Edwin Stone. Each man’s body, where they fell and name was painstakingly drafted into the now restored drawing.

Photo By Brian Rogers

The remaining soldiers fought and remarkably escaped the onslaught with most of the company battle-worn but alive. They were able to make distance between their group and the Dakota by throwing supplies to the ground which were quickly gathered and helped create distance between the groups. After eight miles and two and a half hours of battle, the Dakota let Strout and his company go.

The three men who died on the field were to be found days later. A soldier, wrote to his fiance about the horror of his discovery. The men were horribly mutilated in the tradition of the Dakota, who believed their enemies in life would be enemies in the afterlife. They believed if the enemies were mutilated, they would not need to be feared in the afterlife.

Photo By Brian Rogers

Twenty others were wounded in the Battle of Acton, and three would die from their injuries. Jesse Branhum, one of the man who bravely volunteered to ride through the night to alert Strout, would be shot through the lung. He amazingly survived. The losses to the Dakota in the battle are not known.All these details are so graphically captured in Kirst’s drawing, from the placement of soldiers, to the paths taken and methods used. The intricate drawing made it through the decades and tells the story that was almost forgotten.

Photo by Brian Rogers

Photo By D.Sannes

The Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grant was awarded to Brooklyn Historical Society and the painstaking restoration project of the drawing began. Just weeks ago, through the encouragement of  B.H.S. a marker has been placed on County Highway 23, South of Long Lake to memorialize the Battle of Acton.Until now, it was the only event in the Dakota War that had no marker.A single drawing, has told many stories of that fateful event on September 3, 1862. The Battle of Acton and the men who lived and died will no longer be forgotten.

*Story based on the Battle of Acton a presentation by Darryl Sannes of the Brooklyn Historical Society September 2012