Editing 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment (section)

===Gettysburg===

====July 2====
[[Image:1st Minn Gbg.JPG|thumb|left|275px|Monument to the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment at [[Gettysburg Battlefield]], Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, located on Cemetery Ridge, off South Hancock Avenue.]]The regiment's most famous action occurred during the [[Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day|second day's fighting at Gettysburg]], when [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Winfield Scott Hancock]] ordered the 1st Minnesota, composed of roughly 250 men, to charge into a brigade of roughly 1,200 men belonging to [[James Longstreet]]'s [[First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia|corps]] and [[Richard H. Anderson (general)|Richard H. Anderson]]'s Division. Although the regiment was outnumbered by a ratio of at least 5 to 1, charging was Hancock's only opportunity to buy time for Union reinforcements to arrive. One survivor stated afterward that he expected the advance to result in "death or wounds to us all".<ref>{{cite speech |title=Dedicatory Address, First Minnesota Monument |last=Lochren |first=Lieutenant William |location=Gettysburg National Military Park |date=July 2, 1897}} Cited in {{cite book |last=Colvill Commission |url=https://archive.org/details/04090632.3107.emory.edu |title=History of the First Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1864 |publisher=Easton & Masterman |year=1916 |location=Stillwater, MN |pages=[https://archive.org/details/04090632.3107.emory.edu/page/n378 344] |quote=Every man realized in an instant what that order meant. Death or wounds to us all—the sacrifice of the regiment to gain a few minutes time and save the position and probably the battlefield, and every man saw and accepted the necessity for that sacrifice, and responding to Colvill's rapid orders the regiment in perfect line, with arms at right shoulder shift was in a moment down that slope directly upon the enemy's center.}}</ref> The regiment immediately obeyed the order and Hancock was reportedly amazed at the unit discipline, valor, and the tremendous casualties taken in carrying out his order. This action blunted the Confederate attack and helped preserve the Union's precarious position on [[Cemetery Ridge]] at the end of the [[Battle of Gettysburg, second day|second day of the battle]].

[[File:Gettysburg Battlefield 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment Monument.jpg|thumb|Gettysburg Battlefield 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment Monument.]]
[[Major General|Maj. Gen.]] [[Winfield S. Hancock]], commander of [[II Corps (ACW)|II Corps]], could see two brigades of Southerners commanded by Brigadier General [[Cadmus M. Wilcox]] breaching the line in front of one of his batteries. Hancock quickly rode up to the troops guarding the battery and asked Colonel [[William Colvill (colonel)|William Colvill]] what unit the troops belonged to. Colvill responded "the 1st Minnesota", to which Hancock responded "Attack that line!" With their bayonets leveled, the Minnesotans broke the first lines. The intensity of their charge disrupted the Southern forces' advances. Just before the 1st Minnesota became nearly encircled by enemy troops, Union reinforcements arrived in time to allow some of the men to make a fighting withdrawal. Their  charge bought the Union the time it needed for reinforcements to be brought up.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} During the charge, 215{{#tag:ref|The 215 casualty figure is disputed. Morning muster on July 2 for companies A, B, D, E, G, H, I & K, involved in the assault, was 262 with the evening muster 47. To arrive at the casualty figure of 215, the Regimental Historian (Lt. Wm. Lochren) subtracted the muster figures (262-47=215)(82.1%) and asserted that "[every one of the] 215 [missing men] lay upon the field."<ref>{{cite book|last=Colville Commission|title=History of the First Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1864|year=1916|url=https://archive.org/details/04090632.3107.emory.edu|publisher=Easton & Masterman|location=Stillwater, MN|pages=[https://archive.org/details/04090632.3107.emory.edu/page/n379 345]}}</ref> Conducting an enumeration by individual names in 1982, Robert W. Meinhard of Winona State University accounted for only 179 (68.3%) casualties for the single day of July 2, 1863.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Maciejewski|first=Jeffrey|title=Buying Time|journal=America's Civil War|date=July 2011|pages=50}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Meinhard|first=Robert W.|title=Letter to Tom Harrison, Chief Historian, Gettysburg National Military Park|date=20 May 1982}} cited in {{cite book|last=Moe|first=Richard|title=The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers|year=1993|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|location=St. Paul, MN|isbn=978-087351406-4|pages=275}}</ref>  Whether Meinhard's and Lochren's conclusions are based upon the exact same records is unknown; accounting for the disputed 36 (=215-179) men remains unresolved.|group="nb"}} of the 262 who made the charge became casualties within five minutes (47 killed, 121 wounded, 47 missing).<ref>1st Minnesota Casualties, 
The Goodhue Volunteer, July 22, 1863, p.3, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, 2023, Minnesota historical Socieety, 345 Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, Mn [https://newspapers.mnhs.org/jsp/PsImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=b99c121a-6285-4180-b361-d84a5d586505%2Fmnhi0031%2F1H0YNM56%2F63072201]</ref> That included the unit commander, Col. [[William Colvill (colonel)|William Colvill]], and all but three of his captains.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}
[[File:The First Minnesota by Don Troiani (4101092782).jpg|thumb|The bayonet charge by the 1st Minnesota regiment against a Confederate brigade on July 2, 1863]]
The 1st Minnesota's flag lost five flag bearers, each man dropping his weapon to carry it on. The 47 survivors rallied back to General Hancock under the command of their senior surviving officer, Captain Nathan S. Messick. The 82% casualty rate stands as the [[American units with the highest percentage of casualties per conflict|second largest loss by any surviving  U.S military unit]] in a single day's engagement. The unit's colors are displayed in the [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]] of the Minnesota Capitol for public appreciation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rotunda at State of Minnesota |url=https://fmd-inquiry.state.mn.us/booking/rooms/capitol-rotunda |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=fmd-inquiry.state.mn.us}}</ref>

In his official report, Confederate Brigadier General [[Cadmus M. Wilcox]] perceived the inequality of the fight differently (bold emphasis likely refers to the First Minnesota):<blockquote>''This stronghold of the enemy [i.e., Cemetery Ridge], together with his batteries, were almost won, '''when still another line of infantry descended the slope in our front at a double-quick''', to the support of their fleeing comrades and for the defense of the batteries. Seeing this contest so unequal, I dispatched my adjutant-general to the division commander, to ask that support be sent to my men, but no support came. '''Three several times did this last of the enemy's lines attempt to drive my men back, and were as often repulsed.''' This struggle at the foot of the hill on which were the enemy's batteries, though so unequal, was continued for some thirty minutes. With a second supporting line, the heights could have been carried. Without support on either my right or left, my men were withdrawn, to prevent their entire destruction or capture. The enemy did not pursue, but my men retired under a heavy artillery fire, and returned to their original position in line, and bivouacked for the night, pickets being left on the pike.''<ref>{{cite web|last=Wilcox|first=Brig. Gen Cadmus M.|title=Official Report, The Gettysburg Campaign|url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/wilcoxgettysburgor.htm|publisher=Home of the American Civil War|access-date=25 August 2012}}</ref></blockquote>

====July 3====
[[File:28th Virginia Infantry Color.jpg|thumb|[[28th Virginia Colors]] taken by St. Paulite. Private [[Marshall Sherman]] of Company C.]]
[[Image:1MN July3 Mon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|July 3 Monument to the 1st Minn. Reg., the Codori farmstead behind]]
Carrying on from the heavy losses of the previous day, the remaining men of the 1st Minn. were reinforced by detached Companies C and F. The reunited regiment was moved a bit north of the previous day's fight to one of the few places where Union lines were breached during [[Pickett's Charge]]. They again had to charge into advancing Confederate troops with more losses.  Capt. Messick was killed and Capt. W. B. Farrell mortally wounded, and Capt. Henry C. Coates had to take command. During this charge, Private [[Marshall Sherman]] of Company C captured [[28th Virginia battle flag|the colors]] of the [[28th Virginia Infantry]]<ref>[http://www.gdg.org/Research/MOLLUS/mollus7.html research file] ([[MOLLUS]] at Gettysburg Discussion Group website)</ref> and received the [[Medal of Honor]] for this exploit. The Confederate flag was taken back to Minnesota as a [[war trophy]], where it remains.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Resnick |first=Brian |date=2013-06-28 |title=150 Years After Gettysburg, Virginia and Minnesota Fight Over Confederate Flag |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/150-years-after-gettysburg-virginia-and-minnesota-fight-over-confederate-flag/313796/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>

After being knocked out by a bullet to the head and later shot in the hand, Corporal [[Henry D. O'Brien]] repeatedly picked up the fallen colors of the 1st Minnesota and carried a wounded comrade back to the Union lines. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}