University of Virginia Library

STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT G. A. HESSELBERGER.

I have the honor to make the following statement in
relation to the captivity and release of Mrs. Fanny
Kelly.

In the summer of 1864, an expedition under the
command of General Alfred Sully, U. S. A., started
against the hostile Sioux in Dakota Territory, of which
expedition I was a member, being then an officer, First
Lieutenant, in the Sixth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry.
Whilst on the expedition, we ascertained that Mrs.
Fanny Kelly was a prisoner of the Indians that we
were then engaged against. After the command returned
to Fort Rice, in Dakota Territory, news was
received from Captain Fisk, an officer of the Engineer
Department, U. S. A., that he was surrounded, and his
train corralled by the same Indians that we had been
fighting. I, with others, saw Fisk, and was personally
told by him that he had received notes and letters of
warning from Mrs. Kelly, telling him that he must
not break his train, that the Indians intended to fall
upon the two portions, if he did, and to massacre his
guard and the emigrants and children with him.

In the fall, after the expedition had been abandoned,
the troops were scattered at different posts along the
Missouri River, I, with my company, being left at
Fort Sully, Dakota Territory. About the latter part of
November, an Indian came inside the post. I, being
officer of the day, asked him what he wanted. He
said he came a long way, and wanted to know if I
was the "big chief," if so, he had a paper for me to
see. He gave it to me. It was a sheet torn out of a
business book, and numbered 76 in the corner. The
substance of the letter was as follows:

"I write this letter, and send it by this Indian, but
don't know whether you will get it, as they are very
treacherous. They have lied to me so often; they have
promised to bring me to town nearly every day. I
wish you could do something to get me away from
them. If they do bring me to town, be guarded, as
they are making all kinds of threats and preparations
for an attack. I have made a pencil of a bullet, so it
might be hard to read. Please treat this Indian well.
If you do n't, they might kill me." After having the
Indian remain for a few days, and giving him plenty
to eat, he was sent on his return with a letter to Mrs.
Kelly. A short time after this, one morning, we discovered,
back of the Fort on the hill, a large body of
Indians. The commanding officer was notified of the
fact. He immediately gave orders to prepare the fort
for defense. Since the warning received from Mrs.
Kelly, we had been unusually watchful of the Indians.
The fort was poorly constructed, having been built by
soldiers for winter quarters. The Indians were notified
not to approach the fort, and only the chiefs, who numbered
ten or twelve, were allowed to come inside the
gates, bringing with them Mrs. Kelly, and when inside
the fort, the gates were immediately closed, shutting
out the body of the Indians, who numbered about 1,000

to 1,200. A bargain was made for her, and the articles
agreed upon were delivered for her in exchange.

I believe, and it was the opinion of others, that the
advice and warning of Mrs. Kelly was very valuable
to us, and was instrumental in putting us on our guard,
and enabled us to ward off the threatened attack of the
Indians. In my opinion, had the Indians attacked the
fort, they could have captured it.

The day that Mrs. Kelly was brought into the fort
was one of the coldest I ever experienced, and she was
very poorly clad, having scarcely any thing to protect
her person. Her limbs, hands, and face were terribly
frozen, and she was put in the hospital at Fort Sully,
where she remained for a long time, nearly two months,
for treatment.