Final answer:
Wounded Man and other Dakota reacted to the start of the war with frustration and desperation, initiating the Dakota War of 1862 against white settlers due to unfulfilled treaty obligations and encroachments on their lands, leading to significant violence and the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
Step-by-step explanation:
At the start of the War of 1862, the Dakota, including Wounded Man, were dissatisfied with the United States government due to failed treaty obligations, particularly the delayed annuity payments and the constant infringement on their reservation lands. This ignited the Dakota War of 1862, where Dakotas in Minnesota, frustrated and desperate due to increasing hunger, launched an attack against White settlers, which resulted in the deaths and capture of over a thousand settlers. The violence escalated as U.S. forces captured Sioux participants, with 303 sentenced to death—though President Lincoln intervened, sparing most but still resulting in the largest mass execution in U.S. history with thirty-eight men hanged. The subsequent exile of the Dakota from Minnesota, and the brutal events such as the Sand Creek Massacre, represented the harsh response to what the settlers considered an Indian threat. These clashes signaled a period of extreme conflict and served as precursors to the final massacres, including the tragedy at Wounded Knee, where U.S. troops killed many unarmed Lakota during a Ghost Dance ritual.