The following is a list of those who defended the Forest City
Stockade in September of 1862 who were mustered in on August 24,
1862 (names noted w/*) and known as the 'Meeker County Volunteers' by August 28, 1862. G. C. Whitcomb claimed to be captian of the
group by the captians commission issued by Colonel H. H. Sibley to
send 75 Springfield muskets with him (31 were dropped off in
Hutchinson who too were in dire need)

ANGIER, HENDERSON M
*ATKINSON, J. B. - Sheriff & County Commissioner - Never left Forest City -Elected 1st Lieutenant
*BEHRMANN, H
*BRADSHAW,J. H.
*BRANHAM, JESSIE V, JR - Idea to build stockade at Forest City - Scout with Captain Strout when shot and injured near Acton September 3rd
BRANHAM, JESSIE V, SR - rode 100 miles to get military aid
in Sioux uprising.
*BRANHAM, WILLIAM H/A - Elected 1st Sergeant - Guard watch the night of attack - Wounded during counterattack on Forest City
*CASWELL, WILLIAM
*CHAPIN, D
*CHAPIN, E A - County Commissioner
*COBB, JESSE F - Forage Detail
*CONDON, PATRICK
DANIELSON, NELS - Injured in the attack - Secured north side during attack
DART, CHANCEY - Guard watch the night of attack and gave warning shot
DOUGHERTY, THOMAS
*GARRISON, J B
*GIBBONS, ELI
*GIBBONS, OLIVER - Forage Detail
*GORTON, MILTON - Never left Forest City
*GOULD, FREEMAN L/G - Elected Fourth Sergeant
*GRAYSON, THOMAS - Never left Forest City
*HAMILTON, ANDREW
HANSON, PETER E
*HARVEY, JAMES M - County Auditor - Never left Forest City - Elected 5th Sergeant - Quarter Master Commission on August 28th - hero during Indian outbreak
*HEATH, A F - Elected 1st Corporal
*HEATH, J
*HILL, H J - Elected 2nd Corporal
*HOLBROOK, D M
*HOWE, H S - Elected 2nd Sergeant
*HOYT, AZRO B/ALONZ B - Elected 8th Sergeant
*HUTCHINS, SAMUEL - Elected Fourth Corporal
*JEWETT, T C (Carlos/Charles) - Register of Deeds - Never Left Forest City - Elected Third Corporal
*JOHNSON, HENRY
*JOHNSON, W
*KRUGER, CHARLES
*KRUGER, HERMAN
*LANG, JAMES B
LARSON, ANDREW
*LUTONS, H
*MAYBEE, CHARLES D
MCGRAW, CORNELIUS
*MCGRAW, DANIEL - Elected Third Sergeant
*MCGRAW, MICHAEL (JR)
MERRILL, M D/NEHEMIAH D
*MICKELSON, HOVER
MORRILL, N D (NEHEMIAH)
*MOUSLEY, ALFRED
*NELSON, ANDREW - Guard watch the night of attack
NELSON, JAMES H
*OLSON, ASLOG - Secured north side of stockade during attack - wounded during counterattack
OLSON, HALGA(R)
*PAGE, GEO R
*PAYSON, C E
*RAGAN, THOMAS
*RALSTON, R B - Elected 6th Corporal
REEF, EMANUEL M - (Gottlip?) - Stock Guard
*ROGERS, JEROME
SCHULTZ, RUDOLPH
*SHOLES, GEORGE S, SR - Never left Forest City
SKINNER, THOMAS H - Never left Forest City
*SMITH, ABNER COMSTOCK - Judge of Probate - Never left Forest City
*SMITH, HENRY L - Never Left Forest City - Guard watch the night of attack - Fired First Return shot at the Indians
*SMITH, LORY (Louis?)
*SPERRY, ALBERT C
STANTON, JUDSON A - Clerk Of Court - Never Left Forest City - Forage Detail
*STEVENS, HAMLET - Never Left Forest City - Elected 2nd Lieutenant - Guard watch the night of attack and gave warning shot
*STEVENS, SYLVESTER - Never Left Forest City - Guard watch the night of attack
*SWOUTART, E
*THOMAS, JOSEPH C
*TODD, O B
*TORNBORN, NELS
TOWLER, WM - Never left Forest City - Stock Guard
*WAGGONER, G W
WHITCOMB, GEORGE C - Treasurer of Meeker Co 1862, rode from the
Forest City Fort to Carver & took a boat to St Paul to sound the
alarm of the attack Aug 22-3, before Jessie Branham did the same
thing.
*WHITE, N H - Elected 7th Sergeant
*WHITE, S W
*WILCOX, WILLIAM H


Brief note of events: August 18th, 1862 - news of the Acton Massacre reached Forest City
and within the hour, A. C. Smith, J. B Atkinson, Milton Gorton, and a few
others headed for Acton, held an inquest, and upon return to Forest City
appeared that 'the whole community was in a panic'.
August 19th, 1862 - news of the outbreak on the Minnesota River
arrives and A. C. Smith prepares a dispatch to the Governor, asking for
good guns and ammunition.
August 20th, 1862 - At 6am, sends his message to Governor Ramsey
with Jesse V. Branham Sr, the only volunteer of 600 people assembled to
deliver the message.
August 21st, 1862 - At 1am, the message is delivered to Governor
Ramsey, who then found George Whitcomb in Saint Paul and gave him the
responsibility with 75 muskets and ammunition.
Between the 18th and nightfall, 98 teams, mostly double, have left Forest
City east to Clearwater, most teams having between five and twelve
people with as much goods as they could pack in a moments haste.
August 22nd, 1862 - 72 more teams left Forest City.
August 23rd, 1862 - At 11am, Whitcomb arrives in Forest City by
way of Hutchinson and finds almost everyone had deserted Forest City,
and decision was made by the ones who 'Never left Forest City' to stay
and save what was worth saving.
August 24th, 1862 - a military organization was started, with
people coming back after placing family with loved ones elsewhere.
The first mission was to go to Kingston on this day and round up horses
to use, which they rounded up 33.
August 25th, 1862 - 27 men set out west for Monongalia County
(northern Kandiyohi County) in pursuit of Indians, but buried seven
people, and passed by ruins of three dwellings and a number of
mutilated cattle. This expediation returned August 27th, 1862.
August 27th, 1862 - 11 men left west to the Manannah-Union
Grove area to obtain stoves, bedding, provisions and stock, stopped
at Wilmot Maybee's home and had dinner, then to Carlos Caswells,
where plans were made to spend the night so they left a yoke of cattle,
and proceded to Silas Caswell's house and put bedding and provisions
into the Maybee two horse wagon. At this time, David Hoar, Chancey
Wilson, Moody Caswell, Thomas Ryckman, James Nelson, N.C. Caswell, and
R.D.C. Cressy set out to recover all the stock they could. Wilmot
Maybee and Joseph Page, in Maybee's team, and Phillip Deck and Linus
Howe, in Deck's one-horse team, approached the Carlos Caswell residence
again, but approximately 15 indians were waiting, hidden behind a
pile of lumber, and shot Page out of the wagon, Deck and Howe were shot
at and killed within 350 feet, and Maybee, who ran his team 700 feet
before getting cut off, left the team and ran for 500 feet before he
was killed. Wilson and Ryckman were close at hand but could not
render assistance as thier weapons were in the wagons. The party
returned to Forest City via Main Prairie, thinking it a safer route,
that evening.

August 28th, 1862 - 24 men under Lieutenant Atkinson went to
the Manannah Massacre scene to bury the dead (three of the four -
Maybee was not fould until the following spring).

August 30th, 1862 - 24 men started for Hutchinson for the
31 guns left there by Whitcomb, but seeing they still needed them,
came back August 31st without them.

September 1st, 1862 - 17 men and some citizens started for Green Lake on the
word their was a family on an island (Green Lake has no islands) but
turned back at Swede Grove after a skirmish with the indians, which
two indians were reportedly killed and soldier Sam Hutchins hit in
thigh with a musket ball.

September 2nd, 1862 - 20 soldiers and 20 citizens set out on
the same mission as the day before, when again they retreated at the
site of approximately three dozen Indians. During the flight back,
O. B. Todd was injured as someone's gun accidently discharged.

September 3rd, 1862 - The Forest City Stockade was built by
planting a double row of logs on end, three feet into the ground and
ten feet protruding out, approximately 120 feet square.

September 4th, 1862 - 250 Indians appeared at 3am, and finding
the stockade, resorted to burning, random shooting and stealing horses
which had not been secured yet. Ten to Twelve Indians were reportedly
killed, and one soldier injured, one barn and six houses belonging to Wm Richardson,
Milton Gorton, James P. Howlett, Dudley Taylor, A. B. Hoyt, William
Richards, and A. C Smith burned.
September 15th, 1862 - Captain Pettit's Company B 8th Regiment arrived
as the first military organization to help in Meeker County.
October 15th, 1862 - The Volunteers disbanded by Governor Ramsey.