Pitchforks to Rifles: A Farmer's Journey in the Dakota and Civil Wars (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798303630918)

Join Truman Andrus as he is recruited into the 8th Minnesota just days after the Dakota Rebellion of 1862 in Acton, Minnesota. Picture yourself among friends and neighbors-all young men-as they report to Fort Snelling in Minneapolis. There, they undergo brief training, learning how to protect the farming and lumber communities on the Minnesota frontier. The 8th Minnesota guards this frontier until they are led by Colonel Minor T. Thomas to the Missouri River to meet General Sully and his regiment. The journey is grueling, as they travel through the blistering summer heat with a wagon train full of military supplies. They escort more than a hundred settlers and their wagons to the Yellowstone River. From there, the settlers head off to the gold camps of Idaho and Wyoming.

The 8th Minnesota fights two major battles in North Dakota: Killdeer Mountain and the Badlands. Throughout these battles, they struggle with a lack of drinkable water and endure relentless heat. They travel up the Yellowstone River to Fort Union, at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, and patrol the area known as Mouse River near the Canadian border. Finally, they return to Fort Snelling, covering over 800 miles in four months.

With only a few days of rest, the 8th is shipped by boat and rail to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where they fight a brutally cold battle, which proves to be a pivotal confrontation against Confederate forces and tests their endurance to the limit. They defeat forces led by the infamous Confederate general and cavalryman, Nathan Bedford Forrest. From there, they are sent to Washington, D.C., where they endure freezing weather. They camp near the Potomac in canvas tents with very little firewood. Soon after, they are deployed by sea to Fort Monroe. From here, their mission is to resupply General Sherman's 60,000 men at Goldsboro, North Carolina, in hopes of meeting Grant in Southern Virginia to crush Lee's forces and end the war..

By early 1865, they find themselves in Raleigh, North Carolina, experiencing the joy of Lee's surrender, followed by the sorrow and anger of Lincoln's assassination. The Civil War officially ends when General Johnston surrenders to General Sherman at the Bennet Farmhouse near Hillsborough.

The 8th Minnesota is mustered out of the Army and travels back to Pleasant Grove, Minnesota, to resume their lives.

Experience the battles and travels of the 8th through the eyes of the three main characters: Truman Andrus, a dedicated farmer; Jim Perkins, a skilled farrier; and Jim Bennett, Truman's young neighbor studying law under the guidance of Minnesota's governor, Alexander Ramsey.

This 5,000-mile journey, facing enemies in extreme heat and cold, will help you appreciate the incredible trials young men in their late teens and early twenties endured simply to survive and return home to their beloved families.

Although this is historical fiction, the author, a first-time writer and long-time student of the Dakota War and the Civil War, brings to life Truman Andrus, his actual great-great-grandfather, as the main character. The author provides careful, accurate details about the times, places, and events of both wars. Readers will gain insights into little-known aspects of these conflicts and experience these significant events through the eyes, hearts, and minds of the three main characters. Truman is determined to bring himself and his friends back home. Jim Perkins becomes a complex figure, both noble and fierce, as he embraces the fight. Jim Bennett, a competent and reliable soldier, views the experience through the critical eyes of a future lawyer.

Readers are sure to be captivated by the story and the rich historical context of both wars, honoring Truman Andrus and the 8th Minnesota.

Author: Richard Andrus
ISBN-13: 9798303630918
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 12/13/2024
Pages: 326
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.73d