Left New Ulm on the 3rd of the month, and reached Mankato, 28 miles distant, the assembling point of the train and escort, the next day. Eberdt and Jakobi left on the 4th to report at Fort Ridgley, and Lieutenant Holl for St. Paul. Seidel and Sproesser left, on the 6th, for Fort Ridgley, Corporal Steifel was sent there sick, and Radke was sent to the hospital at Mankato on the same day.
The expedition, with Captain J. C. Whitney in command, started on the 7th. The escort consisted of Companies D, E, and H, of the Sixth Regiment. The 9th, 10th, and 11th were spent in camp, also the 14th at Leavenworth, where the nuts were taken off the wagons (said to have been done by the men of Company D who felt themselves aggrieved). Sergeant Siebert, sick, left for St. Peter on the 15th, and Bast on furlough; from which, falling sick, he did not return at the appointed time. Reached Des Moines River, near the outlet of Lake Shetek, on the 18th, and there remained in camp all the next day. Here Lieutenant Holl rejoined and commenced to act as first lieutenant, having been commissioned as such November 7th; the present strength of the company was now 59, and aggregate 79. G. Paulson accompanied the expedition, but is not reckoned in this number, as he was on detached service at the headquarters of the expedition. The route of the train was a few miles to the northward of the Red Pipe Stone Quarry, and the Big Sioux River was reached and crossed--53 miles from Lake Shetek--on the 23rd. Crossed the James River, 90 miles from the Big Sioux, on the 28th. Arrived at Fort Thompson, 75 miles further, on the 2nd of December, and remained there three days. This fort is a stockaded inclosure about 500 feet square, built to include and protect the Agency and barracks; it is 95 miles, by river road, above Fort Randall, two miles from the Missouri, and about a mile from Crow Creek. On the 5th left the fort for return. Remained in camp on the 14th, twelve miles below Yankton; Corporal Leitner was promoted fifth sergeant, and privates Juergens, Gaheen, and Hoscheid appointed to fill the vacant offices of sixth, seventh, and eighth corporal. The 17th was also spent in camp on account of a terrible snowstorm. Reached the neighborhood of Sioux City, Iowa, on the 18th, camping two and one-half miles northwest of it. On the 21st the troops again moved; traveling by the way of Melbourne, Cherokee, Peterson's, Spirit Lake, and Estherville, Iowa, they came to Fairmont, Minnesota, on the 30th. Remained in camp the next two days. Passed through Winnebago City and arrived at Mankato on the 3rd of January, 1864, when Company D left for the north.