APPALACHIA AND THE OZARKS, Chapter 8

Chapter 8, Appalachia and the Ozarks, states that during the Civil War, "People in the mountain areas saw little reason to join their states in secession. The plantation economy and its way of life were foreign to those in the mountains. Opposition to secession was strong and widespread throughout the Appalachian South." (p.154)

Out of the 44 states and territories belonging to the United States in 1861, Dakota Territory provided 206 boys or men who served on both sides, Union and Confederate. The 206 men comprised 8% of the area's population, giving Dakota Territory an overall participation rank of 43rd out of 44.

In 1861 the War Department ordered the forming of the 1st Dakota Cavalry, a Union battalion of two companies raised in the Dakota Territory. They were used for service along the frontier, primarily to protect the settlers during the August, 1862, Sioux Uprising. Company A was stationed at Fort Randall, Yankton,Vermillion, Sioux Falls, and Brule Creek.They served as bodyguards for the settlers as they moved to stockades for protection. Governor William Jayne called for "every able-bodied man to arms in defense of the homes of Dakota." Three hundred, ninety-nine men responded. Company B, formed in 1863, became known as the Dakota Rangers. Both companies protected the Dakota frontier towns, and both were split into detachments, allowing them to spread to several settlements. Soldiers under General Henry Sibley and Alfred Sully sought out hostile Indians throughout the territory.


Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2009