Battle of Birch Coulee

Battle of Birch Coulee
Part of the Dakota War of 1862, American Civil War
Battlefield in 2010
Date September 2–3, 1862 Location Morton, Renville County, Minnesota 44°34′35″N 94°58′29″W / 44.57639°N 94.97472°W / 44.57639; -94.97472 Result Santee Sioux victory
Belligerents
United States	Santee Sioux
Commanders and leaders
Captain Hiram P. Grant Captain Joseph Anderson Major Joseph R. Brown	Gray Bird Mankato Big Eagle Red Legs
Units involved
Company A, 6th Minnesota Infantry Regiment Cullen Frontier Guards	Big Eagle's Band Mankato's Band Gray Bird's Band Red Legs' Band
Strength
~150	~200
Casualties and losses
13 killed 47 wounded 90+ horses killed	2 killed Unknown number wounded

The Battle of Birch Coulee occurred on September 2–3, 1862, and resulted in the heaviest casualties suffered by U.S. forces during the Dakota War of 1862. The battle occurred after a group of Dakota warriors followed a U.S. burial expedition, including volunteer infantry, mounted guards and civilians, to an exposed plain where they were setting up camp. That night, 200 Dakota soldiers surrounded the camp and ambushed the Birch Coulee campsite in the early morning, commencing a siege that lasted for over 30 hours, until the arrival of reinforcements and artillery led by Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley.