Ist Minnesota-heroes

[rhettbutler1865]

As many of you know, Minnesota was in the fight. The 1st Minnesota Volunteer infantry, one of the first to form at the beginning of the war, I think, has been overlooked. When Hancock ordered the !st to charge through a gap at Gettysburg, the men knew they were going to die,but charged on. They were outnumbered at least 3 to 1, and lost 82% of their men. All to buy precious minutes for reserves to come up, their valiant charge was so fierce, the Confederates did not counter-attack.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

As many of you know, Minnesota was in the fight. The 1st Minnesota Volunteer infantry, one of the first to form at the beginning of the war, I think, has been overlooked. When Hancock ordered the !st to charge through a gap at Gettysburg, the men knew they were going to die,but charged on. They were outnumbered at least 5 to 1, and lost 82% of their men--the highest casualty rate for a unit in American history. All to buy precious minutes for reserves to come up, their valiant charge was so fierce, the Confederates did not counter-attack.

Gettysburg after battle report:

Report of Capt. Henry C. Coates, First Minnesota Infantry.

Near Ellis' Ford, Va.,
August 3, 1863.
Sir: Pursuant to circular of this date, I respectfully submit the following
statement of the part taken by this regiment in the late battle
near Gettysburg, Pa.:

About 3 o'clock on the morning of July 2, we were ordered into
position near the center of our line of battle, to the left of the town.
The battle commenced at daylight, and raged with fury the entire day.
We remained under a severe artillery fire, but were not actively engaged
until about 5 p. m., when we were moved to support Battery C,
Fourth U. S. Artillery. Company F was about this time detached
from the regiment as skirmishers, and Company L as sharpshooters.

Our infantry in front of us had advanced upon the enemy and pushed
him for a while, but were in turn driven back in some confusion,
the enemy following in heavy force. To check the enemy, we were
ordered to advance, which we did, moving at double-quick down the
slope of the hill right upon the rebel line. The fire we encountered
here was terrible, and, although we inflicted severe punishment
upon the enemy, and stopped his advance, we there lost in killed and
wounded more than two-thirds of our men and officers who were engaged.

Here Capt. Muller, of Company E, and Lieut. Farrar, of
Company I, were killed; Capt. Periam, of Company K, mortally
wounded. Col. Colvill, Lieut.-Col. Adams, Maj. Downie,
Adjutant Peller, and Lieut.'s Sinclair, Company B; Demarest,
Company E; De Gray, Company G; and Boyd, Company I,
were severely wounded.

The command of the regiment now devolved upon Capt. Nathan
S. Messick, and we were moved again to the right, near the position
first occupied by us, where we slept on our arms during the night.

At daybreak the next morning the enemy renewed the battle with
vigor on the right and left of our line with infantry, and about 10 a.
m. opened upon the center, where we were posted, a most severe fire
of artillery, which continued without intermission until 3 p. m., when
heavy columns of the enemy's infantry were thrown suddenly forward
against our position. They marched resolutely in the face of a
withering fire up to our lines, and succeeded in planting their colors
on one of our batteries. The point of attack was to the right of our
position, and held by the Second Brigade of our division (Second
Division, Second Army Corps). As the enemy approached, we were
moved by the right flank to oppose them, firing upon them as we approached,
and sustaining their fire, together with the fire of batteries
which they had brought up to within short range. The fighting
here was desperate for a time. At length the regiment and others
closed in upon the enemy, and nearly the whole of the rebel force
which remained alive were taken prisoners. About 500 were captured
by this regiment; also the colors of the Twenty-eighth Virginia
Regt., taken by Private Marshall Sherman, of Company C.*

The regiment here again lost severely. Capt. Nathan S. Messick,
while gallantly leading the regiment, fell early in the action. Capt.
W. B. Farrell, Company C, was mortally wounded, and died on the
day following. Lieut.'s Mason and Heffelfinger, Company D,
Harmon, Company C, and May, Company B, were wounded.

The enemy did not recover from this repulse, and the battle was
now won. The entire regiment, excepting Company L, was in this
last fight. This company had been detached as sharpshooters, to
support Kirby's battery, where it did very effective service. Every
man in the regiment did his whole duty.

The accompanying list of killed and wounded shows the severity
of our loss.

Your obedient servant,

H. C. COATES,
Capt., Comdg. Regt.

Lieut. F. W. Haskell,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen.

Source: Official Records: Series I. Vol. 27. Part I. Reports. Serial No. 43

********************************************************************************

Henry C. Coates

Residence was not listed; 28 years old.

Enlisted on 4/29/1861 at St Paul, Ramsey County, MN as a 1st Lieutenant.

On 4/29/1861 he was commissioned into "A" Co. MN 1st Infantry
He was Mustered Out on 5/5/1864
(Commanded 1st MN Inf 3 months after Gettysburg)


Promotions:
* Capt 9/18/1861
- Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861-65
- Minnesota Adjutant General's Report of 1866
- Photo courtesy of Wayne Jorgenson
(c) Historical Data Systems, Inc. @ www.civilwardata.

 

[Tom Elmore]

One of the enduring myths of the war. The regiment lost about 174 (of 262) on 2 July, and 55 more on 3 July. That is still an impressive 66% for the second day, but not 82%. They faced off against the 9th Alabama directly, and other Alabamans plus part of the 5th Florida, all together perhaps a little better than 2:1 odds against them, which is formidable enough; and they had help on their flanks from the 19th Maine and 111th New York.

 

[pamc153PA]

Their monument (historic photo) near PA monument.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

I beg to differ; THIS time I will back it up: Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 63 2) History of the First Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry (Eastman and Masterman), .344 3) Hancock the Superb (Bobbs-Merrill), p. 145. I have read may accounts of their heroism, even that Calvin Coolidge called them "saviors of their country." Accounts may differ slightly, but this is something I know a lot about--it is no "myth".

 

[ErnieMac]

The ground across which the 1st Minnesota attacked. Wilcox deployed his Confederate troops along Plum Run, the line of trees in the foreground. Sickles' Peach Orchard position, which had already fallen, is on the rise to the left of the photo. The Henry Spangler farm in the center background. (Photo taken March, 2014).

The positions of Wilcox and the 1st Minnesota are shown slightly right of center about half way up the map.

 

[Tom Elmore]

I am not disputing that the charge was the most heroic of any at Gettysburg, only that the 82 percent loss was sustained over two days of fighting, with about 215 falling on July 2 and 50 on July 3, by systematic count. I would concede the odds were closer to 3:1 in favor of the Confederates in their charge on the second day. The facts are impressive enough without embellishment.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

I am not disputing that the charge was the most heroic of any at Gettysburg, only that the 82 percent loss was sustained over two days of fighting, with about 215 falling on July 2 and 50 on July 3, by systematic count. I would concede the odds were closer to 3:1 in favor of the Confederates in their charge on the second day. The facts are impressive enough without embellishment.

Thank you for getting closer to the facts; and right, no embellishment needed.

 

[AUG]

For both days engaged, I believe it was the highest casualty percentage for a U.S. infantry regiment in the ACW, however there were U.S. Army and Marine infantry regiments and battalions throughout WWII that suffered over 100% casualty rates in a single battle, but of course not in one or two days. The 1st Texas Infantry lost 82.3% at Antietam in less than an hour of combat, which is often said to be the highest single-day casualty rate suffered by an infantry regiment in the war.

Don Troiani has done a couple paintings of the 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg, one depicting the charge and another depicting the moment right before. This one, titled 1st Minnesota, is probably my favorite. The look on the men's faces, the stragglers running through their lines to the rear, Hancock in the background, the tattered colors.....

 

[E_just_E]

Here is the other Troiani painting of the 1st MN in the second day of Gettysburg:

Expired Image Removed


Of course we all know the catastrophic and heroic action of the Regiment during Gettysburg, but this was an original regiment and previously had pretty bad losses (about a quarter of the Regiment each) during both First Manassas/Bull Run and Antietam. If I remember correctly they had if not the most, close to the most casualties from any other Regiment during First Manassas/Bull Run.

Also, little known, Company E was a Zouave company (St. Anthony's Zouaves, recruited out of what is now Northeast Minneapolis.) Would love to know what their uniforms looked like, if anyone has any pictures.

 

[kholland]

 

[JerseyBart]

The Last Full Measure is a great book chronicaling their exploits.

 

[kholland]

One of the enduring myths of the war. The regiment lost about 174 (of 262) on 2 July, and 55 more on 3 July.

This is on the monument of the 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg:

The loss of the eight companies in the charge was 215 killed & wounded. More than 82% percent. 47 men were still in line & no man missing. In self sacrificing desperate valor this charge has no parallel in any war.

But according to the author Brian Leehan, who wrote the Book "Pale Horse at Plum Run" in 2002 the casualty rate, which includes both killed and wounded, is calculated from an inaccurate estimate of 262 men who made the charge and a count of 47 left uninjured.

"Since the late nineteenth century, these figures have, literally, been carved in stone and cast in bronze and repeated endlessly in books, articles and newspaper stories about the regiment. The figures are wrong," Leehan writes. He says a more likely count for the number who charged is 289 and cites casualty numbers ranging from 222 to 245. That is still a 76% to 84% casualty rate.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_23563365/minnesota-civil-war-regiment-charged-into-history-at

 

[kholland]

The Last Full Measure is a great book chronicaling their exploits.

Excellent book. And reading it I realized that in marching from the rail line at Parole, Maryland (near Annapolis) to Washington DC they probably marched down the road a few blocks from where I grew up. I was even tempted (looking at the map) to go "treasure hunting" where the camped for the night as that was where most regiments passed through.

 

[Tom Elmore]

In, The Last Full Measure," by Richard Moe, he writes of the July 2 casualties (p. 275): "The research of Robert W. Meinhard of Winona State University led him to conclude that there were at most 179 killed and wounded, a casualty rate of 68 percent." /// Companies C, F, and L did not participate in the charge on July 2. Company F was on skirmish duty on July 2 but rejoined the regiment on July 3 - per James A. Wright of Co. F it had 3 wounded on July 2 and 10 casualties on July 3 out of 26 engaged [50.0%]. Company C had seven men wounded, all on July 3. In the other companies some July 2 casualties occurred before or after they made the charge. Christopher Heffelfinger of Co. D writes, "while sheltered behind the main line of battle, one man had been killed, and Sgt. O. M. Knight wounded." Sgt. P. H. Taylor, of Co. E wrote that his brother Isaac L. Taylor "was killed by a shell about sunset July 2d 1863."
Let's hear from other 1st Minnesota soldiers on their cumulative losses on the second and third days:
--James A. Wright, Co. F: regiment had 247 casualties out of 330 engaged [247/330 or 74.8%]
--Richard G. Krom, Co. G: 11 June, "we have 30 men in our company." ... 10 July, "we lost 4 killed and 18 wounded." [22/30 or 73.3%]
--Samuel Seymour, Co. I: "only 92 left after the fight."
--Sgt. Mathew Martin, Co. K: "came out [with] 10 left, 21 killed and wounded." [21/31 or 67.7%] "The regiment had 314 and had 224 killed and wounded. [71.3%]
--Alfred Carpenter, Co. K: On 4 July rations arrived, "we drew for 300 and had only 100 to eat them." [200/300 or 66.7%]

 

[7thWisconsin]

When you look at the map posted, the 1st Minn. was one of the few unbroken units available to plug a big hole in the line. Without their sacrificial assault, the line is broken at a bad spot. Amazing action.

 

[theoldman]

The painting of before the charge is beautiful but if I recall correctly the unit never stopped moving. Hancock yelled at them and they went straight into an attack. Any loading of weapons or fixing of bayonets was done on the run. Hancock had been shifting forces all day to plug gaps and was about to run out of units to plug when he saw the 1st MN. Really heroic action as an understatement.

 

[E_just_E]

The painting of before the charge is beautiful but if I recall correctly the unit never stopped moving. Hancock yelled at them and they went straight into an attack. Any loading of weapons or fixing of bayonets was done on the run. Day 1 was a foot race in many respects, for both sides.

that was day 2

 

[theoldman]

that was day 2

Thanks , don't know why Day One was on my mind. Maybe it was another thread.

 

[AUG]

The painting of before the charge is beautiful but if I recall correctly the unit never stopped moving. Hancock yelled at them and they went straight into an attack. Any loading of weapons or fixing of bayonets was done on the run. Day 1 was a foot race in many respects, for both sides.

The 1st Minnesota was held in reserve during the attacks on the second day, on Cemetery Ridge. They were positioned in support of Battery C, 4th U.S. Artillery, just to the north of their position. As they were standing their they could see the Federal troops to their right being routed by Wright's Brigade, some of the stragglers running through their lines.

As Wilcox's Brigade was moving up the ridge to their front, Gen. Hancock rode up to the 1st MN, asking who the command was. Seeing they were some of the only fresh troops around he ordered them to counter-attack.