Henry G. Bailly
Name: Henry G. Bailly
Company: G, D
Enlisted in Company G March 10, 1862; Promoted First Lieutenant Company
D September 11, 1863; died January 7, 1865, of wounds
received in the battle of Nashville
|
Birth
- Date: October 29,
1828
- Place: Wisconsin
(Prairie du Chein?)
|
Mustered In
- Date: March 10,
1862, Company G
- Rank: Private
- Age: 33
- Residence prior to
military service: Wisconsin; Hastings, Dakota County, Minnesota
- Vocation prior to
military service: Trader, legislator
|
Death
- Date: January 7,
1865
- Burial: Bell
Wood Cemetery, Marshan Township, Dakota County, Minnesota
- Rank: First
Lieutenant, Company D
|
Henry G. Bailly Biography
Henry G. Bailly was born on
October 29, 1828 to
Alexis C. and Lucy Anne (Faribault) Bailly in Wisconsin (perhaps at
Prairie-du-Chien where his father operated a trading post). Alexis was one-fourth Ottawa
Indian, and Lucy Faribault was the child of a French trader father and
a mixed-blood mother.
According to a web site describing sites along the Mississippi River,
including the history of Hastings, Minnesota:
In 1850 Alexis
Bailly and his son, Henry were the first American settler in Hastings.
They obtained government approval for a trading post on the west side
of the Mississippi River in Indian territory. Henry was sent here at
the request of his father to keep hold of the proposed site and be
ready on the spot as the first claimant. He opened up the Old Buckhorn
trading post and kept enough calicos and trinkets to trade with the
Indians to keep his license.
Alexis [perhaps Henry's
brother?] and Henry Bailly,
along with their friends Henry Sibley, and Alexander Faribault believed
the territory would soon open to settlement. A year later, as
anticipated, a treaty was signed. The group commenced to plat the
future city of Hastings. William LeDuc later bought out Faribault.
Bailly's cabin became the city’s first hotel and tavern, the Buckhorn.
At the Buckhorn the group of four placed suggested town names in a hat.
After indecisive votes they agreed on Hastings, Henry Sibley's middle
name. Nobody knows exactly what the other three suggestions were. The
future town of Hastings was platted in 1853 and in 1857, Hastings
incorporated as a city. [http://www.riverroads.com/]
In 1853:
The future city was
given a new name by the major landholders. Alexis Bailly, Henry G.
Bailly, Alexander Faribault and Henry Hastings Sibley placed names in a
hat. Hastings was drawn. [http://minnesotabound.com/visit/Hastings/]
Henry G. Bailly served as a representative in the Territorial
Democratic Consitutional Convention from July 13 to August 29, 1857. On
October 13, 1857, he was elected to represent Dakota County in the
senate of Minnesota's first state legislative session. He served from
December 2, 1857 to December 6, 1859.
On March 10, 1862, Bailly enlisted as a Private in Company G of the 5th
Minnesota Regiment. His brother, Alexis P. Bailly, had already enlisted
in Company G on January 5, 1862. Henry was promoted to First Lieutenant
of Company D
on September 11, 1863.
Henry Bailly was mortally wounded at the Battle of
Nashville on December 15-16, 1864. In his report of the Battle of
Nashville dated December 18, 1864, William B. Gere, Lieutenant Colonel
commanding the 5th Minnesota Regiment, mentions Bailly's participation and
casualty: OFFICIAL
RECORDS: Volume 45, Chapter LVII, Page 451. For some reason, Gere
states that Bailly was "commanding Company K." The list of "Officers
Killed or Mortally Wounded" from Minnesota at the Battle of Nashville
also includes "Lieutenant Henry G. Bailly, 5th Infantry": OFFICIAL
RECORDS: Volume 45, Chapter LVII, Page 106.
A burial marker for Henry G. Bailly is located in the Bell Wood
Cemetery, Marshan Township, Dakota County, Minnesota.
Link: Minnesota
Historical Society page regarding Henry G. Bailly's service in the
first state legislature (Note: this page includes a photo of Henry
G. Bailly.)
This page is maintained by Tim Bode (timbode@juno.com ). Last modified
on 3/30/08.
