Three companies of volunteer cavalry were organized in Minnesota in 1861, and mustered into the Curtis Horse (regiment), later redesignated the 5th Iowa Cavalry. In February 1864, the Minnesota companies were removed from the regiment, and remustered as an independent cavalry battalion, known as Brackett's Battalion, after its commander, Major Alfred B. Brackett. The unit participated in the western theater during the Civil War, with duty in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama, and later, as part of the Northwestern Indian expedition in the Dakotas.
A handsome and critical addition to the library of every historian, genealogist, and Civil War buff, this rare two-volume set is the official record of Minnesota's participation in the Civil and Dakota Wars. Published in two parts in the 1890s and written by the men who fought in battle, Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars contains regimental rosters (names lists with ages, muster dates, transfers, and remarks) as well as detailed narratives describing the wartime service of each regiment, battery, battalion, and brigade--their marches, campaigns, battles, surrenders, wounded lists, furloughs, reenlistments, and return to Minnesota. Letters, telegrams, and descriptions related to the development of the Dakota War, including dispatches written from the field, offer a personal face to this wartime history. Included for the first time is a 144-page index to all the regimental rosters, making this an invaluable research tool. Together, these volumes are the essential reference for Minnesota's troops and their campaigns.