Fort Snelling and the Civil War

One hundred fifty years ago, our state offered the first volunteers to defend the Union in the fight against slavery. Every Minnesota soldier passed through historic Fort Snelling to the fighting. Using detailed research and first-hand accounts, Stephen E. Osman’s new book, Fort Snelling and the Civil War, tells the stories of the men and women who created a community in the old Fort.

Fort Snelling and the Civil War explores the role of Fort Snelling as a major military post in Minnesota, and its transformation during the Civil War and the U.S.-Dakota Conflict of 1862 that followed. The Fort eventually expanded to include several large camps of Native Americans, massive stock yards, huge warehouses, and secure barracks for draftees before reverting to a supply depot in 1865.

Beautifully illustrated with more than 100 photos and 7 maps, it is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who is interested in the people and places that made Minnesota history, as well as those who are devotees of Civil War history and re-enactment, or are explorers of historic sites. The book will appeal to professional historians, Civil War devotees and students of all ages.

• Author: Stephen E. Osman
• Publisher: Ramsey County Historical Society
• Format: Softcover, 16 chapters, source notes, bibliography, index, more than 100 photos and 7 maps in 336 pages

About Stephen E. Osman
Stephen Osman managed Historic Fort Snelling for over three decades and actively researches, speaks and writes about Minnesota’s role in the Civil War and the U.S. Dakota War of 1862. Osman served with the US Army Reserve in Psychological Operations at Fort Snelling, and has served on the boards of the Minnesota Military Museum, the Friends of Fort Snelling, the Twin Cities Civil War Roundtable, among others. He is the author of numerous articles, and Fort Snelling: Then and Now (2011).