Table of Contents
July 2, 1863, the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg rages on. Union General Dan Sickles advances his division into the Wheatfield where he is met by a Confederate force under the command of General James Longstreet. Brutal fighting took place between the two divisions across the Wheatfield and the nearby Peach Orchard. While this was happening, Sickles decision to ignore orders given to him by commanding General of the Army of the Potomac, George G. Meade, results in a mile-and-a-half gap formed between his and General Winfield Scott Hancock’s division. Advancing through this gap were 1,200-1,300 Confederate forces under General A.P. Hill. The only Union regiment able to stop the advancing Confederates were the 262 men of the 1st Minnesota.
The 1st Minnesota arrived at Gettysburg towards the end of the first day of the battle and began to set up camp a few miles south of Cemetery Ridge. On the second day of the battle, the regiment marched up to the ridge to be placed in reserve with Companies F and L sent to function as skirmishers while Company C served as divisional guards. The men of the 1st Minnesota had a clear view of Sickles’ actions from their spot on Cemetery Ridge.
When the men of the III Corps began to fall back and retreat, the Confederates seized the opportunity to advance on the gap in the lines, potentially splitting the Union lines in half. According to Lieutenant William Lochren of the 1st Minnesota, “Hancock spurred to where we stood, calling out as he reached us, ‘What regiment is this?’ ‘First Minnesota,’ replied Colvill. ‘Charge those lines!’ commanded Hancock.”[1] The 1st Minnesota was the closest regiment ready to be deployed in time to stop the advance despite being outnumbered by 6-to-1. Recognizing the situation they were in, Colonel William Colvill ordered the men to fix bayonets and prepare to advance.
Hancock needed a few minutes to ready more reinforcements and sent out the 1st Minnesota to buy him time. The men were ready and marched out to meet the wave of Gray ahead of them, “no hesitation, no stopping to fire, though the men fell fast at every stride before the concentrated fire of the whole Confederate force… ‘Charge!’ shouted Colvill as we neared the first line, and with leveled bayonets, at full speed, we rushed upon it…”[2] For fifteen minutes, the men of the 1st Minnesota engaged in brutal combat. During their engagement the regimental color bearer was shot, and the flag was dropped, a soldier threw down his gun and picked up the colors, he was then shot, this happened five times during their counterattack, but the colors remained in the stubborn hands of the Minnesotans.
The 262 men of the 1st Minnesota held the line against all odds and Union reinforcements drove back the remaining Confederates. However, their actions came at a great cost, of the 262 men that went in to battle, 47 walked away unharmed. 215 men were either killed or wounded and the regiment suffered a casualty rate of 82%, the highest of any single regiment for a battle. The regiment also lost every one of their field commanders in the assault.
The regiment gathered their wounded and brought them to field hospitals set up throughout Gettysburg. Colonel Colvill was first taken to the Nathaniel Lightner Farm before eventually being moved to the James Pierce House. Colvill received two wounds, one to the ankle and one to the shoulder while leading the defense. The shoulder wound had a detrimental effect on his back and surgeons determined the foot needed to be amputated. Colvill refused to let them amputate his foot and several months later, he walked out of the house, using crutches, when he was pronounced well enough to do so.[3]
Mathew Marvin, soldier in the 1st Minnesota, was crippled by a foot wound during the attack. He would later write about the experience, “I thought that if the rebs had a shell for me that it could not kill me any younger… A solled shot came & struck whare a man had just got up not more than ten ft from me… I was laying by the side of my capt who was wounded in the head the ball going in at the nose and out back of the left ear… He wanted to go back to the front so I had to hold him most of the time.”[4] Marvin and his Captain were right in the thick of it along with the rest of the regiment.
The following day, Companies F and C returned to the regiment to bolster their numbers for the upcoming Confederate assault on the Union center. The men took their positions and in the afternoon of July 3, artillery pieces on both sides opened and according to Lt. Lochlan, “we had been in many heavy battles and thought ourselves familiar with artillery, but nothing approaching this cannonade had ever greeted our ears.”[5] The air filled with smoke from the hundreds of cannon firing shot and shell towards the enemy.
The Confederate guns went silent, and the infantry advanced towards Cemetery Ridge. The 1st Minnesota opened fire on the ranks of Confederate infantry marching their way. At some point, the color bearer heard someone order for a charge, and he sprang up. This caused the men of the regiment to do the same in order to protect the colors. They repelled the Confederates to their front and were able to capture the colors of the 28th Virginia. The soldier who did so was Marshall Sherman of Company C, he survived the battle but would later lose his leg while in service to his country.[6] For capturing an enemy flag, Private Sherman received the Medal of Honor. The regiment lost seventeen men in Pickett’s Charge, included among the dead was Captain Nathan S. Messick, acting regimental commander after the 2nd day of battle.
The men of the 1st Minnesota and the actions they performed during the Battle of Gettysburg should be remembered by all. Some say that the 20th Maine were the saviors of the Union for repelling the already battered 15th Alabama from Little Round Top. The 1st Minnesota faced overwhelming odds and held off against a force almost six times as large as their own. The 262 men who went into that field preserved the Union lines on the second day of battle and saved the Union effort at Gettysburg.
The First Minnesota rushed through the storm of bullets coming from the direct fire of two brigades, into the midst and centre of this overwhelming force, with nothing but death to look for, and no hope or chance; for any other success than to gain the brief time needed to save that battlefield. And not a man wavered.[7]
About the Author
Michael Mahr is the Education Specialist at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. He is a graduate of Gettysburg College Class of 2022 with a degree in History and double minor in Public History and Civil War Era Studies. He was the Brian C. Pohanka intern as part of the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute for the museum in the summer of 2021.
Sources
[1] Lochren, William. “The First Minnesota at Gettysburg.” Gettysburg Discussion Group, January 14, 1890. http://www.gdg.org/research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html.
[2] Lochren, William. “The First Minnesota at Gettysburg.” Gettysburg Discussion Group, January 14, 1890. http://www.gdg.org/research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html.
[3] Gindlesperger, James. Bullets and Bandages: The Aid Stations and Field Hospitals at Gettysburg. Durham, NC: Blair, 2020. Pg 57
[4] Maust, Roland R. Grappling with Death: The Union Second Corps Hospital at Gettysburg. Dayton, OH: Morningside, 2001. Pg 165
[5] Lochren, William. “The First Minnesota at Gettysburg.” Gettysburg Discussion Group, January 14, 1890. http://www.gdg.org/research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html.
[6] Lochren, William. “The First Minnesota at Gettysburg.” Gettysburg Discussion Group, January 14, 1890. http://www.gdg.org/research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html.
[7] Lochren, William. “The First Minnesota at Gettysburg.” Gettysburg Discussion Group, January 14, 1890. http://www.gdg.org/research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html.
