John McConnell soon after leaving the Union Army in 1866
John McConell was born in Ayr Scotland in 1846. In 1849, soon after John’s birth, the family decided to move to the United States.
Drawing of Fort Ridgley, 1862
Like many other immigrant families of the time, they initially settled on the East Coast, and then moved West, lured by the prospect of land ownership. The McConnells settled in Pennsylvania, then traveled to Iowa and Illinois, eventually coming to Minnesota in 1854.
When the family arrived in the area they settled at Fort Ridgley. The encampment had been built a year earlier in 1853, in response to the treaties of 1851 between the Dakota and the United States. Fort Ridgley’s goal was to ensure that Dakota lands became available for resettlement by Europeans and Americans. John McConnell’s father was employed by the military to build boats and run the sawmill for the fort.
After two winters at Fort Ridgley, the family moved to Blakley Township with the goal of starting a farm. These plans were waylaid by the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1862, John McConnell’s father enlisted in the 8th Minnesota Regiment. At age 17 in March of 1863, John McConnelll Enlisted in the Third Company of the Minnesota Volunteer Calvary, later known as Brackett’s Battalion. He served until the end of the war.
Brackett’s Batillion was made up of men from the First, Second and Third Companies of the Minnesota Volunteer Calvary. Alfred Brackett was the captain of the Third Company.
Brackett’s Battalion, 1864
During their first winter of service, the companies were stationed at Benton Barracks near St Louis Missouri. Due to weather and poor sanitation, many of the men fell ill. In February of 1862, the struggling company was assigned to garrison duty in the hopes of improving their health and training. They garrisoned at Forts Henry and Heiman in Tennessee for over a year.
During this time, they were employed in riding to escort prisoners and deliver information. They also repaired telegraph lines, and scouted for opposing forces. There were occasional skirmishes with Confederate guerrillas.
In June and July of 1863, the regiment participated in the Tullahoma Campaign. In little more than a week the Army of the Cumberland drove Confederate forces out of middle Tennessee.
In January of 1864, the unit was sent home on a thirty day furlough. Because of on-going conflicts with the Dakota in the aftermath of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Brackett and Governor Alexander Ramsey arranged for the cavalrymen to be reassigned to the Department of the Northwest. The veteran soldiers were reorganized into a new battalion. Major Brackett was given command, giving the unit the official name “Brackett’s Battalion.”
Brackett’s Battalion, 1864
Brackett’s Battalion began the second chapter of its service in February of 1864. The unit joined General Alfred Sully’s army for the Northwestern Indian Expedition into Dakota Territory. The expedition was the continuation of a punitive campaign against the Dakota begun in 1863. It was also an effort to remove Dakota people who were living in areas that blocked access to gold that had recently been found at the Missouri headwaters. During this time John Mcconnall fought alongside his father who had also been stationed in the Western part of North America. The battalion spent the winter of 1865, ironically, at Fort Ridgley. In May and June of 1866, the men were finally mustered out.
John McConell returned to Minnesota where he lived out the remainder of his life as a farmer. He was active in the Grand Army of the Republic, or GAR, a nationwide veterans’ organization for Civil War soldiers.
Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager