From St. Paul.. First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment was one of first units to start after Lincoln called for 75,000 troops in April, 1861. It was the first regiment from Minnesota. It formed after the governor of Minnesota, Alexander Ramsey, offered 1,000 troops for national service on April 14, 1861. We first gathered at Fort Snelling on April 29. Colonel Willis A. Gorman is our commander. Alexandria, Virginia is where we are currently stationed. We are part of the Army of the Potomac. We fought at the Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. It happened near Manassas, Virginia, and it was the first major battle of the Civil War. My unit was one of the last to leave, and we had many casualties. On October 21, we fought in the Battle of Balls Bluff. In May through July of 1862, we were part in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles near Richmond, Virginia. We were part of the First Brigade, Second Division, Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac. On September 17, 1862, we fought at the battle of Antietam, and one of our officers was killed. At the battle of Fredericksburg, which was December 11 to 15, 1862, and the battle of Chancellorsville, which was April 30 to May 6, 1863, we were present but weren’t part of the actual fighting. …show more content…
On July 2, 1863, which was the second day of fighting at Gettysburg, we attacked Wilcox’s Alabama Brigade under General Winfield Hancock’s orders. There were 5 to 1 odds against us. We kept the Confederates off of Cemetery Ridge. About 215 people died, including our commander Colonel William Colvill, and our flag fell 5 times. We were reinforced by Company F the next day. However, the Confederates attacked us at Pickett’s Charge and our Captain Messick and Captain W. B. Farrell both died, and our commander is now Captain Henry C.