Tweet
1stMinnesota-Banner.jpg
1ST MINNESOTA INFANTRY AT GETTYSBURG - JULY 1-3, 2022
Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania
THE LIBERTY RIFLES, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, WILL BE HOSTING A LIVING HISTORY EVENT TO ACCURATELY PORTRAY THE 1ST MINNESOTA INFANTRY ON THE SAME GROUND IT CHARGED ON JULY 2, 1863.
lincoln-guards.png
Company D: The Lincoln Guards
By the time of their first engagement at Bull Run in July 1861 recruiting had allowed the regiment to Field all 10 companies. Within these 10 companies were included many Minnesota natives with a considerable number having been previously employed in the Lumber industry. New England transplants to Minnesota in the 1850’s saw a considerable number of men born in the state of Maine Enlisted in companies D and E of the regiment. Of the 1,242 men that served in the regiment by the conclusion of its enlistment, over 10% had been born in Germany or Prussia, while other members hailed from Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Canada.
Following the disaster at Bull Run in which the regiment lost more men than any other federal regiment on the field, the 1st Minnesota was assigned to the Corps of Observation along the Upper Potomac along with many of the regiments that would come to comprise the Second Division of the Army of the Potomac’s Second Army Corps. During the Peninsula Campaign the regiment was well known for its proficiency in felling lumber and constructing roads. An officer in the 15th Massachusetts claimed that the Minnesotans could do, “more chopping in one day than [his] regiment could do in two.” Captain Mark Downie of Company B was even credited as having been responsible for the construction of the Grapevine bridge that saw the passage of Sumner’s Second Corps south of the Chickahominy during the Battle of Fair Oaks.
By the battle of Antietam the 1st Minnesota found itself number just 435 strong when it entered the west woods with Sedgwick’s Second Division. Situated on the left of Gorman’s Brigade, the Minnesotans suffered 122 men killed, wounded and missing. In October the regiment was reduced by nearly 100 men who re-enlisted in the United States Regulars. At Fredericksburg the regiment found itself in one of the many doomed assaults on Marye’s Heights and by Chancellorsville the regiment, along with the rest of John Gibbon’s Second Division guarded the Army’s lines of supply on the north bank of the Rappahannock.
After a series of grueling marches north in pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1863, the 1st Minnesota found itself on the battlefield at Gettysburg in the early Morning of July 2nd on Granite or Cemetery Ridge. By this time it had been reduced by Company C which was assigned to Provost duty at Division Headquarters, Company L (also known as the 2nd Company of Minnesota Sharpshooters) was attached to the 1st USSS, Company F was held in reserve, and 20 men were assigned to the division hospital in anticipation for the casualties to be taken on that field. This left the regiment with only 262 men and officers when they were ordered forward by General Winfield S. Hancock on the afternoon of July 2nd. Of this number, a total of 215 men and officers (82%) were killed, wounded, or missing on the afternoon of July 2nd 1863.
1ST MINNESOTA INFANTRY AT GETTYSBURG - JULY 1-3, 2022
Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania
THE LIBERTY RIFLES, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE GETTYSBURG NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, WILL BE HOSTING A LIVING HISTORY EVENT TO ACCURATELY PORTRAY THE 1ST MINNESOTA INFANTRY ON THE SAME GROUND IT CHARGED ON JULY 2, 1863.
- Strict authenticity guidelines and drill practices will be adhered to by all participants.
- Rations matching exactly what was provided to the 1st Minnesota will be issued.
- Camp site will be at the Leister farm with programs on the ground the 1st Minnesota charged.
- Registration is $10 for Liberty Rifles members and $25 for non-members – send via PayPal “to a friend” to LibertyRiflesEvents@gmail.com.
- Registration is now closed.
lincoln-guards.png
Company D: The Lincoln Guards
By the time of their first engagement at Bull Run in July 1861 recruiting had allowed the regiment to Field all 10 companies. Within these 10 companies were included many Minnesota natives with a considerable number having been previously employed in the Lumber industry. New England transplants to Minnesota in the 1850’s saw a considerable number of men born in the state of Maine Enlisted in companies D and E of the regiment. Of the 1,242 men that served in the regiment by the conclusion of its enlistment, over 10% had been born in Germany or Prussia, while other members hailed from Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Canada.
Following the disaster at Bull Run in which the regiment lost more men than any other federal regiment on the field, the 1st Minnesota was assigned to the Corps of Observation along the Upper Potomac along with many of the regiments that would come to comprise the Second Division of the Army of the Potomac’s Second Army Corps. During the Peninsula Campaign the regiment was well known for its proficiency in felling lumber and constructing roads. An officer in the 15th Massachusetts claimed that the Minnesotans could do, “more chopping in one day than [his] regiment could do in two.” Captain Mark Downie of Company B was even credited as having been responsible for the construction of the Grapevine bridge that saw the passage of Sumner’s Second Corps south of the Chickahominy during the Battle of Fair Oaks.
By the battle of Antietam the 1st Minnesota found itself number just 435 strong when it entered the west woods with Sedgwick’s Second Division. Situated on the left of Gorman’s Brigade, the Minnesotans suffered 122 men killed, wounded and missing. In October the regiment was reduced by nearly 100 men who re-enlisted in the United States Regulars. At Fredericksburg the regiment found itself in one of the many doomed assaults on Marye’s Heights and by Chancellorsville the regiment, along with the rest of John Gibbon’s Second Division guarded the Army’s lines of supply on the north bank of the Rappahannock.
After a series of grueling marches north in pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1863, the 1st Minnesota found itself on the battlefield at Gettysburg in the early Morning of July 2nd on Granite or Cemetery Ridge. By this time it had been reduced by Company C which was assigned to Provost duty at Division Headquarters, Company L (also known as the 2nd Company of Minnesota Sharpshooters) was attached to the 1st USSS, Company F was held in reserve, and 20 men were assigned to the division hospital in anticipation for the casualties to be taken on that field. This left the regiment with only 262 men and officers when they were ordered forward by General Winfield S. Hancock on the afternoon of July 2nd. Of this number, a total of 215 men and officers (82%) were killed, wounded, or missing on the afternoon of July 2nd 1863.