Read my review of Mendota and the Restive Rivers of the Indian and Civil Wars 1861-65 (The Simmons family saga) by Dane Pizzuti Krogman @dekester09 @maryanneyarde

Mendota and the Restive Rivers of the Indian and Civil Wars 1861-65

(The Simmons family saga)

By Dane Pizzuti Krogman 

This is the fictional story set in Mendota, Minnesota of the Simmons family who are faced with the consequences of the Dakota Sioux Uprising of 1862 that swept across the state as well as the Civil War.

The father, Dan enlists in the 1st regiment of Minnesota volunteers as a teamster. His two sons, who are both underage join the 2nd Regiment. John, aged 16 becomes a bugler and William, aged 15 becomes a drummer. Their sister, Sara is left behind with their mother, Louise to fend for themselves. Dan is sent east to fight with the Army of the Potomac while his sons are sent to the western theater to serve in the army of the Cumberland. Back in Mendota, their neighbor and close friend, Colonel Henry Sibley is ordered to stay in the state to control the Indian uprising.

Dan will see action up through the battle of Antietam. He will later find himself in the hospital in Washington DC where he befriends a comrade also from the 1st Regiment. His sons barely miss the action at Shiloh but after, are engaged in all the major battles in the West. While they are passing through Louisville, William falls for a young woman, Mary who works as a hospital nurse. Back in Mendota, Sara befriends a young Chippewa native boy while her mother struggles with the breakup of her family. After Colonel Sibley defeats the Sioux, he is promoted to General and ordered to round up all the Dakota and push resettle them in the Dakotas.

This leads to the punitive expeditions that he and General Sully will command up until 1864. William is captured at the battle up Missionary Ridge and then sent to the prison camp at Belle Isle, VA. and then onto Andersonville. GA. John receives a 30 day furlough and returns to Mendota before he re-enlists. Louise and Sara wait for the war’s end so the family can be reunited, but events may not turn out as anticipated.

Publication Date: 15th March 2021
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 416 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

MY THOUGHTS

War causes suffering, there is no getting away from that, but as America fights a bitter Civil War, the Dakota tribes are facing hardship and desperate hunger. Little Crow knows that they could never win a war, but it wasn't as if they had anything else to lose.

Dan Simmons has no real desire to go to war, but his sons think it is his patriotic duty to fight, and so, against his own better judgment he enlists as a Teamster, thinking that such a job would keep him somewhat safe. Before he leaves he reminds his sons that under no circumstances do they enlist. But alas, John and William have war fever and are caught up in all the excitement. As they grind their mother down with their consistent whining and pleading, Louise, after talking to Henry Sibley who promises the boys will drill in the day and come home at night, reluctantly agrees for her sons to become musicians—one to learn the snare drum and the other the bugle. But to her horror, Louise quickly learns that Sibley might talk a good game but he has very little influence and his lies slip from his tongue as smoothly as butter on a burn.

This novel started out a little unsteadily and initially, I wondered if this book was a work of historical non-fiction. But as the characters were introduced the fictional side of the story took off. I must admit, I felt slightly taken back by the writing style, much of the dialogue is muddled together without the use of separate paragraphs, which made it somewhat difficult to decipher who was saying what. A new paragraph is needed every time someone different speaks (I was surprised that the editor did not correct this). But, as I continued to read I found myself looking past these flaws and I became invested in the story.

This novel tells two stories that run parallel to each other. On the one hand, this novel is about the American Civil War, and because of this some of the characters in this novel face unimaginable horrors. The fact that two of the protagonists are children, made it even worse. Running alongside the story of the Civil War is the desperate story of the Dakota tribes and the awful situation that they found themselves in when the annuity payments, promised by the government, were not paid. This plunged the tribes into desperate poverty and hungry bellies made angry men. 

There are many characters in this novel and each plays their part in driving the story forward. All of the characters have a sense of realism, and their reactions to events around them came across as incredibly realistic. The one character that found a place in my heart with Louise. Her trusting innocence and her heartache as a wife and mother were heartrending. I thought Krogman did an absolutely amazing job in portraying her fear and sense of hopelessness. 

I thought the depiction of Little Crow was fabulous—he is a man conflicted. He knows that they do not stand a chance against the white man's army, but what else could they do? When they were refused credit and faced terrible hostility it seemed they had little choice—fight or starve. The way there were treated was awful, but the war that was to follow meant that terrible acts of atrocities were carried out on both sides. Krogman has detailed a very shameful episode in American history with a keen authority on the subject.

The war caused shortages of everything and Krogman has depicted just what it was like when a soldier did not have replacement equipment, especial things like boots, medical supplies, and food. The abject poverty and the terrible conditions that the soldiers had to endure meant that many thousands of men died from things such as dysentery. I thought Krogman portrayal of this desperate situation was spot on. He has captured the misery and the hardships of this era.

Aside from the shaky beginning, I thought this book was really rather good. It is certainly one of those books that once read is difficult to forget. 

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Dane Krogman

Dane Pizzuti Krogman was educated in the fine arts at the University of Minnesota, receiving BFA and MFA degrees. He also specialized in Asian art history, with a concentration in textile and surface design. After graduation, he worked as a freelance designer creating fashion samples for women’s athletic wear. He eventually relocated to California and taught at Cal-Poly Pomona in the Environmental Design program then moved on to work as a pictorial artist for outdoor advertising. Moving back to the Twin Cities in 1981 he formed a scenic design company call Artdemo which in 10 years did over 1000 designs and productions for sets, props, and special effects for television commercials and feature films. In the early 90’s he relocated to Charleston, SC to work as a spec writer for feature film scripts. Six of his screenplays have won major writing awards and two of these have been optioned for production. During this time he also taught scene design at the College of Charleston. This position led to an adjunct teaching position at Virginia Commonwealth University where he taught art direction for filmmakers. In 1998 he took a full time teaching position at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he taught art direction, life drawing, set construction, and Asian film studies, eventually becoming chairman of the department. 

The common thread through all of this has been his passion for Japanese design, art, and fashion. He has lived in Kyoto, Japan for the past 20 summers studying Japanese kimono and obi design of the Heian and Edo periods. In 2002 he won the Grand Prize for the best graphic novel at the Hiroshima manga competition. His graphic Novel Skeleton boy was selected for inclusion into the Hiroshima peace memorial library in 2007.

He was most recently an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate Program in Digital Filmmaking at Stony Brook Southampton. He is also an award-winning screenwriter. His screenplay, The Schooner was produced as the Australian film, AUSTRALIA in 2008. He has other award-winning films that have been optioned for production or are in production.

As a Civil War historian he has worked as a technical advisor for the films, Dances with Wolfs, Gettysburg, and Glory. He currently has one Civil War novel in pre-publication; MENDOTA, AND THE RESTIVE RIVERS OF THE CIVIL AND INDIAN WARS 1861-65.

He also works part-time as a crew member on a Grand-Am Rolex series race team. The team won the national championship in 2008.

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