Battle of Acton

Battle of Acton
Part of Dakota War of 1862, American Civil War
Battle of Acton Historical Marker
Date September 3, 1862 Location Acton, Minnesota, Meeker County, Minnesota 45°05′03″N 94°39′39″W / 45.08417°N 94.66083°W / 45.08417; -94.66083 Result See Aftermath
Belligerents
United States	Santee-Sioux
Commanders and leaders
Captain Richard Strout	Chief Little Crow Walker Among Stones
Units involved
Company B, 10th Minnesota Infantry Regiment	Bands of Walker Among Stones and Chief Little Crow[1]
Strength
55[1] 64[2]	75 under Walker Among Stones[2] 35 under Little Crow[2]
Casualties and losses
3 Killed[2][1] 15–23 Wounded[2] 3 died of wounds[2][1]	Unknown

The Battle of Acton (also referred to as the Battle of Kelley's Bluff) was fought between the United States Army and the warrior bands of Chief Little Crow and Walker Among Stones during the Dakota War of 1862. Following the defeats at Fort Ridgley and New Ulm, Chief Little Crow led an incursion north out of the Minnesota River Valley into central Minnesota. Company B of the Tenth Minnesota Infantry Regiment commanded by Captain Richard Strout was sent to protect the citizens of Meeker County.

On September 2, Company B made camp near the town of Acton. Strout was warned overnight that the Dakota were encamped with around 100 men nearby split into two groups. Marching southeast on September 3, 1862, Strout's men were attacked by Little Crow's men, then Walker Among Stones' men from the front, rear, and flanks multiple times, but managed to reach the relative safety of the stockaded town of Hutchinson.

After being repulsed at Fort Ridgely and New Ulm, Dakota leaders Little Crow, Mankato, and Big Eagle planned their next course of action. Little Crow wished to strike north into the Big Woods. He believed the local settlements to be lightly defended and that supplies such as flour were plentiful. Success in the Big Woods may have also allowed Little Crow to fall on the northern flank of Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley at Fort Ridgely and attack his supply trains.^[3] Gray Bird, Mankato and Big Eagle, however, chose to continue their campaign along the Minnesota River. Along the way, Walker Among Stones, Little Crow's second-in-command, disagreed with his strategy. Wishing to plunder the countryside, he garnered the support of 75 other men, leaving Little Crow with just 35.^[4]

Meanwhile, realizing the vulnerability of the settlers of central Minnesota, the U.S. Volunteer Army preemptively dispatched mustering units from Fort Snelling to reinforce and protect the frontier. Among these was Captain Richard Strout's Company B, Tenth Minnesota Infantry Regiment. On this journey, Strout's company consisted of 55-65 men,^[4][5][6] most of whom originally enlisted for the Civil War or were civilian volunteers seeking to protect their communities. Strout's command reported to Militia General John H. Stevens, the commander of state forces in the northern frontier, to patrol the areas around Hutchinson, Acton and Forest City. On September 2 they camped 2½ miles northwest^[7] of the home of Robinson Jones, where the murder of Jones and several others by four young Dakota men on August 17, in what was later termed the Acton Incident, had shed the first blood of the conflict.

Over the night of September 2–3 messengers from Forest City warned Strout that hostile Dakota were camped nearby with over 100 warriors.^[8][4] A party of ten Dakota observed the exchange from a nearby house and hurried back to alert Little Crow that the Minnesotans had been warned.^[9] With the element of surprise lost, the Chief waited until morning to attack. The messengers entered camp at 3:00 am without detection and awoke Strout, who did not place any guards.^[6] Strout prepared his company to march at dawn, and stepped off heading southeast along the Pembina-Henderson trail, with 25 miles between his command and the fortified town of Hutchinson.^[7] The soldiers, issued .62 caliber balls for their .58 calibre muskets, had to quickly whittle down 20 bullets per man before stepping off.^[10]

As Strout's command arrived near Long Lake, soldiers noticed the glistening of gun barrels in the distance. Strout initially believed this to be a relief column;^[9] this was not the case. It was Little Crow's band of 35 men. Scouts ahead of the column on Kelley's Bluff soon heard gunfire and war cries as enemy warriors burst forward. 20 men of the company charged with bayonets up the bluff;^[9] giving time for the rest of the men to come up and fight from higher ground. Once all of Strout's command was in position, the only thing left to do was to decide on whether to fall back on Hutchinson or fight entrenched on the Bluff. Some scouts including Albert H. DeLong, a well-known local frontiersman,^[11] already left the field in an effort to bring reinforcements from Hutchinson.

Soon, Walker Among Stones' men evened the odds by rushing the column's rear. Strout decided that remaining on Kelley's Bluff would be fatal. The dead were left behind and the wounded were loaded on the wagons.^[11] The Tenth initially continued their retreat unmolested until they reached Cedar Mills. Strout's column was then attacked in the front, rear, and flanks by Dakota fighting both on foot and horseback. Food and supplies loaded in the wagons were dumped in exchange for speed.^[10] Despite their lack of training and experience, the Minnesotans fought well and managed to get a few volleys.^[9] The Santee-Sioux then circled around once more to the rear of the column, targeting the wagons and sewing panic among many of Strout's men. 20 men were sent to retake them. After his wagons were reclaimed, he managed to rally his men and finally broke free of the encirclement. The drivers, terrified, nearly left the wounded behind.^[10] Reportedly, Little Crow observed the breakthrough on a fence line while bullets passed by him.^[10] However, the company continued to be harassed in a six-hour running battle along the final eight miles to Hutchinson. Help would come from a group of militia under DeLong along the way.^[11]

As his column arrived in Hutchinson, Strout immediately assumed command of the settlement's defenses. The Captain would count 3 killed and 15 wounded outright, but some estimates put the number of wounded as high as 18 or 23.^[8][4][9] At least two-three of the wounded men would die of wounds after the battle in the Hutchinson Hotel, then being used as a hospital.^[11][9] Dakota casualties are unknown. The next day, the Dakota attacked the settlements of Hutchinson and Forest City, burning and looting numerous outlying buildings but failing to breach either town's defenses, forcing the Chief to withdraw southwest to friendlier ground. Captain Strout's company of the Tenth Minnesota would later become Company B of the Ninth Minnesota Infantry Regiment.^[9]

The Ninth Regiment's history lists the following as killed in action or died of wounds from the Battle of Acton:^[9]

• Carley, Kenneth (2001). The Dakota War of 1862: Minnesota's Other Civil War. Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0873513920.
• Anderson, Gary (2019) Massacre in Minnesota: The Dakota War of 1862, the Most Violent Ethnic Conflict in American History University of Oklahoma Press ISBN 978-0-8061-9199-7
• Eggleston, Michael A. (2012). The Tenth Minnesota Volunteers, 1862-1865: A History of Action in the Sioux Uprising and the Civil War, with a Regimental Roster. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0786465934.
• "Battle of Acton Historical Marker" www.hmdb.org
• "The U.S Dakota War of 1862 and the Battle of Acton" Tri County News P. 1
• Brian, (July 9, 2018) "A Real Frontiersman" Mcleod County Historical Society & Museum