Howdy Chase !

As for Union troops that did fight the Sioux 62-63 the were a max of 3000-4000 men. The majority of the troops was raw recruits bound for the war and settlers. If I recollect correctly - when the great push came, they did get help from one veteran regiment that was withdrawn from the front to help.

So, in number it was insignificant for the war effort. One of the reasons the number was so low was that they hadn`t troops to send.

Another aspect was that the Sioux started this war was based on the fact they had noticed the number of troops stationed in the different forts and trade stations was lower than usual in 1862.

The reason I do know a little about this is that there was a significant number of the troops and victims (settlers/farmers) of the Sioux war was Scandinavians ( Norwegians and Swedes ).

Roy H