The Sixth Minnesota, occupied in the Indian war, was not sent south till July, 1864, when it took station at Helena, Arkansas. Here malarial poison, far more fatal than the gun-fire of the enemy, attacked officers and men. During the four and one half months of its service here, six hundred men of this regiment were sent to the Northern hospitals. On August 7 there were but seven officers and one hundred and seventy-eight men for duty. By the time the sick had recovered, the war was substantially over. But their division commander at the capture of Fort Blakely, April 9, 1865, thanked in orders the brave officers and men for their gallantry in the daring charge to which the fall of the fort was due. The First Minnesota was the only one which served its whole term east of the Alleghanies. The Fourth and Eighth reached salt water in the last months of the war. All the other Minnesota troops remained in the West. It was not easy for Minnesota to respond to the calls of the nation for recruits in the last years of the war. Some 2700 volunteers were sent to fill the ranks of the old regiments, but these were not enough. The draft enforced in May and September, 1864, was, as elsewhere, a farce: 14,274 names were listed; the exemptions left 2768 liable for service; 2497 failed to report, and two deserted. The remaining number of 269, increased by 282 substitutes, in all 551, were mustered into service. There remained the resource of raising additional regiments not likely to be exposed in deadly battle. By promises of commissions to gentlemen who should recruit the companies, two strong regiments were raised: the Eleventh Infantry, 1000 strong, and the First Minnesota Heavy Artillery, 1760 officers and men. These commands were sent to Tennessee late in 1864, where they relieved veteran troops for active service. By the month of September, 1865, all the Minnesota troops had been mustered out except one battery and three cavalry battalions engaged on the Indian frontier. The whole number of men furnished by Minnesota was 22,016. Only the people who lived through that war period can fully appreciate the sacrifices and privations undergone. * * * * *