Sibley talks about his military preparations

"Sunday, Aug. 24, 1862. St. Peters

One of my parties brought in three bodies at two o’clock this morning, those of an old man and his wife and a young woman, probably their daughter, all disfigured with wounds.... Oh the fiends, the devils in human shape! My preparations are nearly complete to begin my work upon them with fire and sword, and my heart is hardened against them beyond any touch of mercy. We shall advance toward Fort Ridgely tomorrow, but as it is forty five miles distant, we shall not reach it until the day following…. We intend to clean out the scoundrels with the utmost possible expedition."

Source:
Henry Hastings Sibley, "Extracts from letters to my wife in 1862." Henry Hastings Sibley Papers, Minnesota Historical Society. Copied by Rhoda H. Gilman.