Charles Eugene Flandrau

Charles Eugene Flandrau (July 15, 1828 – September 9, 1903) was an American lawyer who became influential in the Minnesota Territory, and later state, after moving there in 1853 from New York City.

During the Dakota War, Flandrau enlisted in the Union Army and was commissioned as a captain in 1862 to raise a force to defend settlers at New Ulm.

After unsuccessfully campaigning for a couple of positions, Flandrau moved in 1870 to St. Paul, where he had a law partnership with two men until his death in 1903.

His father was Thomas Hunt Flandrau of New Rochelle, New York, an attorney and law partner of Aaron Burr.

Her brother became a career officer, general and hero of the War of 1812; afterward he was appointed as head of the United States Army.

[1][2][3][4] In August 1862, learning of a violent Dakota uprising in the southwestern corner of the state (caused largely by the federal government's failure to deliver annuities in goods and payments on time, and resulting in the Dakota starving), Flandrau enlisted in the Union Army as a captain.

Governor Alexander Ramsey appointed Flandrau in charge of the defense of the southwestern frontier of the state, and he served in this capacity at the rank of colonel for two years, simultaneous to his position on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

[1][2] Flandrau married again to Rebecca B. Riddle, a widow and daughter of Judge William McClure and his wife of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.