In the rush of other events yesterday, I neglected to write a post I’ve had in my mental notes for years. July 2 was the 145th anniversary of the epic charge of the First Minnesota Regiment.<\/p>\n
The charge was one of the pivotal moments in the Union victory in the battle of Gettysburg, and arguably of the entire Civil War.<\/p>\n
The first of nine regiments of Minnesota troops that fought in the war, the First was the only one to serve in the Army of the Potomac, the key eastern theatre of the war (the other eight regiments served up and down the Mississippi, and in fighting against the Indians in Minnesota and the Dakota Territory).<\/p>\n
The First had served throughout the Army of the Potomac’s operations throughout the war; like most veteran regiments, it was down from its initial strength of about 1,000 men when it mustered at Fort Snelling, to 262 on the morning of July 2; the Union army didn’t replace men lost to casualties or illness, preferring to muster new regiments (with the attendant political appointments that went along with forming a new unit).<\/p>\n
The First was part of the wave of reinforcements that raced to Gettysburg when it became clear that Lee’s invasion of the North was heading into central Pennsylvania; the day before, Union cavalry under General Buford and the First Union Corps had stopped Lee’s advance in a furious rear-guard action in and around the town of Gettysburg; the First Brigade of the First Division of the First Corps, the “Iron Brigade” – largely Wisconsin and Michigan troops – had suffered eighty percent casualties repelling the Confederate advance until evening and the wave of reinforcements that brought the Minnesotans to the scene.<\/p>\n
On July 2, we take up the story by Wayne Pafko at the U of M<\/a>, and a website on the Regiment:<\/p>\n “To support Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles’ hard-pressed Third Corps, Brig. Gen. John C. Caldwell’s division of the Second Corps was moved to the left, leaving a large gap in the center of the Union line. About 5:00 p.m., parts of Hall’s and Harrow’s brigades were shifted to the left to fill that gap. The First Minnesota was shifted to the left about six hundred yards in support of Evan Thomas’ Company C. Fourth United States Artillery on Cemetery Ridge. From this position, the Minnesotans had a grandstand seat from which to observe some of the war’s most savage and bloody fighting, although at times the smoke of battle obscured their view… When at times the smoke lifted enough to see, the First watched with increasing anxiety as the Union left crumbled under the sledgehammer blows of Longstreet’s Corps. They witnessed the disasters taking place before them, and their apprehension increased rapidly as they saw Sickles’ Third Corps fallback, slowly at first, then in some disorder. The men felt a foreboding of disasters to come. The First Minnesota now occupied the former position of Caldwell’s division. The 262 Minnesotans were hardly an adequate replacement… It was a very thin line, and the batteries on Cemetery Ridge were in grave danger.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In the fog of war, under immense Confederate pressure, there’d been a snafu, and a Union division had bailed, leaving a hole in the line big enough for Lee to march his entire army through.<\/p>\n It was clear that something had to be done. “…General Hancock, commander of that portion of the battlefield, quickly studied the situation and determined that this Southern rush must be halted, regardless of the hazard. With only a single aid he rode desperately toward the station of the First Minnesota. Reserves had been sent for, they were known to be coming, but the delay might be fatal. If only the approaching troops could be delayed for five minutes, the impending catastrophe could be averted. Hancock galloped madly up to Colonel Colvill and demanded to be told the name of the latter’s regiment; on being told it was the First Minnesota he immediately gave the order to ‘Charge those lines’ and at the same time pointed to the oncoming Confederates.” (P1<\/a>,p.71)<\/font><\/p>\n “Colvill, and every member of the First realized what they were being asked to do – sacrifice themselves to gain the few minutes Hancock and the Union army so desperately needed. Without hesitation, the Minnesotans responded quickly to Colvill’s orders, and, in a moment, the regiment was moving down the gentle slope on the double. The eight companies of 262 men present formed a front of not much more than a hundred yards, as they headed towards the Confederate brigade of more than a thousand men.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It couldn’t end well, naturally:<\/p>\n The First Minnesota was engaging a force over four times its size. Alfred Carpenter described the advance… “We advanced down the slope till we neared the ravine, and ‘Charge’ rung along the line, and with a rush and a yell we went. Bullets whistled past us; shells screeched over us; canister and grape fell about us; comrade after comrade dropped from the ranks; but on the line went. No one took a second look at his fallen companion. ‘We had no time to weep.'” (C1)<\/p>\n Henry Coates also described the charge… “It seemed as if every step was over some fallen comrade. Yet no man wavers, every gap is closed up… bringing down their bayonets, the boys press forward in unbroken line. Men stumbled and fell. Some stayed down but others got up and continued.” (M1, p.82) At last the reserves reached the First Minnesota, and the danger was ended. But at what cost…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/font><\/font>Of the 262 that started off on the charge, 47 walked out. 82 percent of the regiment was killed or wounded that day.<\/p>\n But it made all the difference; the charge gave Hancock time to reinforce the position along the row of hills, forcing the Confederates back to the lowlands to the west. Reinforced overnight, the row of hills became an impregnable position, into which Lee sent Pickett’s division the next day on its ill-fated charge into a the meatgrinder that broke the back of the Confederate invasion, and with it General Lee’s will and the future of the rebellion.<\/p>\n A monument to the First stands across from the Cathedral above downtown Saint Paul. Many of the First’s officers and men, including Colonel Colvill, are the namesakes of streets around and about Saint Paul.<\/p>\n
\n“When the Confederates were only about thirty yards away, Colvill ordered his men to fire a volley into their faces, causing much confusion. Wilcox’s second line returned the fire through the remnants of their own first line, and, according to Colvill, ‘felling more of their own men then ours.’ Colvill shouted, ‘Charge,’ and with a wild yell and leveled bayonets, the First sprang forward, smashing head-on into the somewhat disorganized first line of Wilcox, which recoiled in the confusion back into his second line; both fell back across the dry run and a distance up the far slope…Quickly, the men of the First took whatever shelter they could find behind rocks and the shallow banks of the creek bed, as they began the struggle to win those precious five minutes of time Hancock and the Union army needed. Seemingly confused by the audacious and savage attack upon him, Wilcox’s Alabamians kept their distance from the First, but poured a continuous and heavy fire into the ranks of the Minnesotans. Casualties were extremely heavy…Receiving fire from the front and both flanks, the First could not hold its position much longer, but the attack gained the precious five minutes of time, and a bonus, that the Army of the Potomac needed. Fifteen minutes or more went by – an eternity to the men in the smoky glen. The Confederates poured a murderous fire into the regiment. Meanwhile, Hancock succeeded in rallying some of the Humphrey’s division, which re-entered the fight.”<\/p>\n