band; he recounted that there was no commander leading the attack:"I was not in the first fight at New Ulm nor the first attack on Fort Ridgely... I was in the second fight at New Ulm and in the second attack on Fort Ridgely. At New Ulm I had but a few of my band with me. We lost none of them. We had but few, if any, of the Indians killed; at least I did not hear of but a few. A halfbreed named George Le Blanc, who was with us, was killed. There was no one in chief command of the Indians at New Ulm. A few subchiefs, like myself, and the head soldiers led them, and the leaders agreed among themselves what was to be done. I do not think there was a chief present at the first fight. I think that attack was made by marauding Indians from several bands, every man for himself, but when we heard they were fighting we went down to help them. I think it probable that the first attack on Fort Ridgely was made in the same way; at any rate, I do not remember that there was a chief there."On the other hand, Big Eagle described the second battle at Fort Ridgely as a "grand affair," including Little Crow and Good Thunder, who had counted 800 soldiers on the march to the attack. According to Big Eagle, the chief leaders at the battle included The Thief, who was the head soldier of Mankato's band, and Mankato himself, "a very brave man and a good leader":"We went down determined to take the fort, for we knew it was of the greatest importance to us to have it. If we could take it we would soon have the whole Minnesota Valley. But we failed, and of course it was best that we did fail... But for the cannon I think we would have taken the fort. The soldiers fought us so bravely we thought there were more of them than there were. The cannon disturbed us greatly, but did not hurt many. We did not have many Indians killed. I think the whites put the number too large, and I think they overestimated the number killed in every battle. We seldom carried off our dead. We usually buried them in a secluded place on the battlefield when we could. We always