1860 in Minnesota. The state continued to grow in population and wealth
at an extraordinary pace, but in a quiet and unobtrusive way. The
politics of the nation had been for some time much disturbed between the
North and the South, on the question of slavery, and threats of
secession from the Union made by the slave-holding states. The election
of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States, in 1860,
precipitated the impending revolution, and on the fourteenth day of
April, 1861, Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina,
was fired upon by the revolutionists, which meant war between the two
sections of the country. I will only relate such events in connection
with the Civil War which followed as are especially connected with
Minnesota.
When the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter reached Washington,
Alexander Ramsey, then governor of Minnesota, was in that city. He
immediately called on the president of the United States, and tendered
the services of the people of Minnesota in defense of the republic, thus
giving to the state the enviable position of being the first to come to
the front. The offer of a regiment was accepted, and the governor sent a
dispatch to Lieut. Gov. Ignatius Donnelly, who, on the 16th of April,
issued a proclamation, giving notice that volunteers would be received
at St. Paul for one regiment of infantry composed of ten companies, each
of sixty-four privates, one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants,
four corporals and one bugler, and that the volunteer companies already
organized, upon complying with these requirements as to the numbers and
officers, would be entitled to be first received.
Immediately following this announcement, which, of course, meant war,
great enthusiasm was manifested all over the state. Public meetings were
held in all the cities; almost every man capable of doing soldier duty
wanted to go, and those who were unable, for any reason, to go in
person, subscribed funds for the support of the families of those who
volunteered. The only difficulty the authorities met with was an excess
of men over those needed. There were a good many Southerners residing in
the state, who were naturally controlled in their sentiments by their
geographical affinities, but they behaved very well, and caused no
trouble. They either entered the service of the South or held their
peace. I can recall but one instance of a Northern man who had breathed
the free air of Minnesota going over to the South, and the atrocity of
his case was aggravated by the fact that he was an officer in the United
States army. I speak of Major Pemberton, who at the breaking out of the
war was stationed at Fort Ridgely in this state, in command of a battery
of artillery. He was ordered to Washington to aid in the defense of the
capital, but before reaching his destination resigned his commission,
and tendered his sword to the enemy. I think he was a citizen of
Pennsylvania. It was he who surrendered Vicksburg to the United States
army on July 4, 1863.
The first company raised under the call of the state was made up of
young men of St. Paul, and commanded by William H. Acker, who had been
adjutant general of the state. He was wounded at the first battle of
Bull Run, and killed at the battle of Shiloh, as captain of a company of
the Sixteenth Regular Infantry. Other companies quickly followed in
tendering their services.
On the last Monday in April a camp for the First Regiment was opened at
Fort Snelling, and Capt. Anderson D. Nelson of the United States army
mustered the regiment into the service. On the 27th of April John B.
Sanborn, then adjutant general of the state, in behalf of the governor,
issued the following order:
"The commander-in-chief expresses his gratification at the prompt
response to the call of the president of the United States upon the
militia of Minnesota, and his regret that, under the present requisition
for only ten companies, it is not possible to accept the services of all
the companies offered."
The order then enumerates the ten companies which had been accepted, and
instructs them to report at Fort Snelling, and recommends that the
companies not accepted maintain their organization and perfect their
drill, and that patriotic citizens throughout the state continue to
enroll themselves, and be ready for any emergency.
The governor, on May 3d, sent a telegram to the president, offering a
second regiment.
The magnitude of the rebellion becoming rapidly manifest at Washington,
the secretary of war, Mr. Cameron, on the 7th of May, sent the following
telegram to Governor Ramsey:
"It is decidedly preferable that all the regiments from your state not
already actually sent forward should be mustered into the service for
three years, or during the war. If any persons belonging to the
regiments already mustered for three months, but not yet actually sent
forward, should be unwilling to serve for three years, or during the
war, could not their places be filled by others willing to serve?"
A great deal of correspondence passed between Lieutenant Governor
Donnelly at St. Paul and Governor Ramsey at Washington over the matter,
which resulted in the First Minnesota Regiment being mustered into the
service of the United States for three years, or during the war, on the
eleventh day of May, 1861. Willis A. Gorman, second governor of the
territory, was appointed colonel of the First. The colonel was a veteran
of the Mexican War. The regiment when first mustered in was without
uniform, except that some of the companies had red shirts and some blue,
but there was no regularity whatever. This was of small consequence, as
the material of the regiment was probably the best ever collected into
one body. It included companies of lumbermen, accustomed to camp life,
and inured to hardships; men of splendid physique, experts with the axe;
men who could make a road through a forest or swamp, build a bridge over
a stream, run a steamboat, repair a railroad, or perform any of the
duties that are thrust upon an army on the march and in the field. There
are no men in the world so well equipped naturally and without special
preparation for the life of a soldier as the American of the West. He is
perfectly familiar with the use of firearms. From his varied experience,
he possesses more than an average intelligence. His courage goes without
saying, and, to sum him up, he is the most all-around handy man on
earth.
On May 25th the ladies of St. Paul presented the regiment with a
handsome set of silk colors. The presentation was made at the state
capitol by Mrs. Ramsey, the wife of the governor. The speech was made on
behalf of the ladies by Captain Stansbury of the United States army, and
responded to by Colonel Gorman in a manner fitting the occasion.
On the 21st of June the regiment, having been ordered to Washington,
embarked on the steamers, Northern Belle and War Eagle, at Fort
Snelling, for their journey. Before leaving the fort the chaplain, Rev.
Edward D. Neill, delivered a most impressive address, concluding as
follows:
"Soldiers: If you would be obedient to God, you must honor him who has
been ordained to lead you forth. Your colonel's will must be your will.
If, like the Roman centurion, he says 'Go,' you must go. If he says
'Come,' come you must. God grant you all the Hebrew's enduring faith,
and you will be sure to have the Hebrew's valor. Now, with the Hebrew's
benediction, I close: 'The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make
his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his
countenance upon you, and given you peace.' Amen."
The peace the good chaplain asked the Lord to give to the regiment was
that peace which flows from duty well performed and a conscience free
from self-censure. Judging from the excellent record made by that
regiment, it enjoyed this kind of peace to the fullest extent, but it
had as little of the other kind of peace as any regiment in the service.
The regiment reached Washington early in July, and went into camp near
Alexandria, in Virginia. It took part in the first battle of the war, at
Bull Run, and from there to the end of the war was engaged in many
battles, always with credit to itself and honor to its state. It was
conspicuously brave and useful at the great conflict at Gettysburg, and
the service it there performed made its fame world-wide. In what I say
of the first regiment, I must not be understood to lessen the fame of
the other ten regiments and other organizations that Minnesota sent to
the war, all of which, with the exception of the Third, made for
themselves records of gallantry and soldierly conduct, which Minnesota
will ever hold in the highest esteem. But the First, probably because it
was the first, and certainly because of its superb career, will always
be the pet and especial pride of the state.
The misfortunes of the Third regiment will be spoken of separately.
The first conception of the rebellion by the authorities in Washington
was that it could be suppressed in a short time; but they had left out
of the estimate the fact that they had to deal with Americans, who can
always be counted on for a stubborn fight when they decide to have one.
And as the magnitude of the war impressed itself upon the government,
continuous calls for troops were made, to all of which Minnesota
responded promptly, until she had in the field the following military
organizations: Eleven full regiments of infantry; the first and second
companies of sharpshooters; one regiment of mounted rangers, recruited
for the Indian war; the Second Regiment of cavalry; Hatche's Independent
Battalion of Cavalry for Indian war; Brackett's battalion of cavalry;
one regiment of heavy artillery; and the First, Second and Third
Batteries of Light Artillery.
There were embraced in these twenty-one military organizations, 22,970
officers and men, who were withdrawn from the forces of civil industry,
and remained away for several years. Yet notwithstanding this abnormal
drain on the industrial resources of so young a state, to which must be
added the exhaustive effects of the Indian war which broke out within
her borders in 1862, and lasted several years, Minnesota continued to
grow in population and wealth throughout it all, and came out of these
war afflictions strengthened and invigorated.
THE THIRD REGIMENT.
Recruiting for the Third Regiment commenced early in the fall of 1861,
and was completed by the 15th of November, on which day it consisted of
901 men all told, including officers. On the 17th of November, 1861, it
embarked at Fort Snelling for its destination in the South, on the
steamboats Northern Belle, City Belle, and Frank Steele. It landed at
St. Paul and marched through the city, exciting the admiration of the
people, it being an unusually fine aggregation of men. It embarked on
the same day, and departed for the South, carrying with it the good
wishes and hopes of every citizen of the state. It was then commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Smith, and afterwards by Col. Henry C. Lester, who
was promoted to its command from a captaincy in the First, and joined
his regiment at Shepardsville. Colonel Lester was a man of prepossessing
appearance, handsome, well informed, modest and attractive. He soon
brought his regiment up to a high standard of drill and discipline, and
especially devoted himself to its appearance for cleanliness and
deportment, so that his regiment became remarkable in these particulars.
By the twelfth day of July, the Third became brigaded with the Ninth
Michigan, the Eighth and Twenty-third Kentucky, forming the Twenty-third
Brigade, under Col. W. W. Duffield of the Ninth Michigan, and was
stationed at Murfeesboro, in Tennessee. For two months Colonel Duffield
had been absent, and the brigade and other forces at Murfreesboro had
been commanded by Colonel Lester. A day or two before the 13th Colonel
Duffield had returned and resumed command of the brigade, and Lester was
again in direct command of his regiment. In describing the situation at
Murfreesboro on the thirteenth day of July, 1861, Gen. C. C. Andrews,
the author of the "History of the Third Regiment," in the state war
book, at page 152, says:
"The force of enlisted men fit for duty at Murfreesboro was
fully one thousand. Forest reported that the whole number of
enlisted men captured, taken to McMinnville and paroled was
between 1,100 and 1,200. Our forces, however, were separated.
There were five companies, 250 strong, of the Ninth Michigan in
camp three-fourths of a mile east of the town, on the Liberty
turnpike (another company of the Ninth Michigan, forty-two
strong, occupied the court-house as a provost guard). Near the
camp of the Ninth Michigan were eighty men of the Seventh
Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Major Seibert; also, eighty-one men
of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, under Captain Chilson. More than
a mile distant, on the other side of the town, on undulating,
rocky and shaded ground, near Stone river, were nine companies
of the Third Minnesota, five hundred strong. Near it, also, were
two sections (four guns) of Hewitt's Kentucky Field Artillery,
with sixty-four men for duty. Forty-five men of Company C, Third
Regiment, under Lieutenant Grummons, had gone the afternoon of
July 12th, as the guard on a supply train, to Shelbyville, and
had not returned the thirteenth."
Murfreesboro was on the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad. It was a well
built town, around a square, in the center of which was the court-house.
There were in the town valuable military stores.
On July 13th, at daybreak, news arrived at Murfreesboro that the rebel
general, Forest, was about to make an attack on the place, which news
was verified by General Forest capturing the picket guard and dashing
into the town soon after the news arrived, with a mounted force of 1,500
men. A part of this force charged upon the camp of the Seventh
Pennsylvania, then reformed, and charged upon the Ninth Michigan
Infantry, which made a gallant defense and repulsed the enemy's
repeated charges, suffering a loss of eleven killed and eighty-nine
wounded. The enemy suffered considerable loss, including a colonel
killed, up to about noon, when the Ninth Michigan surrendered. General
Crittenden was captured in his quarters, about eight o'clock. Almost
simultaneous with the first attack, a part of Forest's force moved
toward the Third Minnesota, which had sprung up at the first sound of
the firing, formed into line, Colonel Lester in command, and with two
guns of Hewitt's Battery on each flank, marched in the direction of
Murfreesboro. It had not gone more than an eighth of a mile when about
three hundred of the enemy appeared approaching on a gallop. They were
moving in some disorder, and appeared to fall back when the Third
Regiment came in sight. The latter was at once brought forward into line
and the guns of Hewitt's Battery opened fire. The enemy retired out of
sight, and the Third advanced to a commanding position in the edge of
some timber. A continuous fire was kept up by the guns of Hewitt's
Battery, with considerable effect upon the enemy. Up to this time the
only ground of discontent that had ever existed in this regiment was
that it had never had an opportunity to fight. Probably no regiment was
ever more eager to fight in battle than this one. Yet while it was there
in line of battle from daylight until about noon, impatiently waiting
for the approach of the enemy, or what was better, to be led against
him, he was assailing an inferior force of our troops, and destroying
valuable commissary and quartermaster's stores in town, which our troops
were, of course, in honor bound to protect. The regiment was kept
standing or lying motionless hour after hour, even while plainly seeing
the smoke rising from the burning depot of the United States supplies.
While this was going on, Colonel Lester sat upon his horse, and
different officers went to him and entreated him to march the regiment
into town. The only response he gave was, "We will see." The enemy made
several ineffectual attempts to charge the line held by the Third, but
were driven off with loss, which only increased the ardor of the men to
get at them. The enemy attacked the camp of the Third, which was guarded
by only a few convalescents, teamsters and cooks, and met with a
stubborn resistance, but finally succeeded in taking it, and burning the
tents and property of the officers, after which they hastily abandoned
it. The firing at the camp was distinctly heard by the Third Regiment,
and Captain Hoyt of Company B asked permission to take his company to
protect the camp, but was refused. While the regiment was in this
waiting position, having at least five hundred effective men, plenty of
ammunition, and burning with anxiety to get at the enemy, a white flag
appeared over the crest of a hill which proved to be a request for
Colonel Lester to go into Murfreesboro for a consultation with Colonel
Duffield. General Forest carefully displayed his men along the path by
which Colonel Lester was to go in a manner so as to impress the colonel
with the idea that he had a much larger force than really existed, and
in his demand for surrender he stated that, if not acceded to, the whole
command would be put to the sword, as he could not control his men. This
was an old trick of Forest's, which he played successfully on other
occasions. From what is known, he had not over one thousand men with
which he could have engaged the Third that day.
When Colonel Lester returned to his regiment his mind was fully made up
to surrender. A consultation was held with the officers of the regiment,
and a vote taken on the question, which resulted in a majority being in
favor of fighting and against surrender, but the matter was reopened and
reargued by the colonel, and after some of the officers who opposed
surrender had left the council and gone to their companies, another vote
was taken, which resulted in favor of the surrender. The officers who,
on this final vote, were against surrender, were Lieutenant Colonel
Griggs and Captains Andrews and Hoyt. Those who voted in favor of
surrender were Captains Webster, Gurnee, Preston, Clay and Mills of the
Third Regiment, and Captain Hewitt of the Kentucky Battery.
On December 1st an order was made, dismissing from the service the five
captains of the Third who voted to surrender the regiment, which order
was subsequently revoked as to Captain Webster.
The conduct of Colonel Lester on this occasion has been accounted for on
various theories. Before this he had been immensely popular with his
regiment, and also at home in Minnesota, and his prospects were most
brilliant. It is hard to believe that he was actuated by cowardice, and
harder to conceive him guilty of disloyalty to his country. An
explanation of his actions which obtained circulation in Minnesota was,
that he had fallen in love with a rebel woman, who exercised such
influence and control over him as to completely hypnotize his will. I
have always been a convert to that theory, knowing the man as well as I
did, and have settled the question as the French would, by saying
"Cherchez la femme."
General Buell characterized the surrender in general orders as one of
the most disgraceful examples in the history of war.
What a magnificent opportunity was presented to some officer of that
regiment to immortalize himself by shooting the colonel through the head
while he was ignominously dallying with the question of surrender, and
calling upon the men to follow him against the enemy. There can be very
little doubt that such a movement would have resulted in victory, as the
men were in splendid condition physically, thoroughly well armed, and
dying to wipe out the disgrace their colonel had inflicted upon them. Of
course, the man who should inaugurate such a movement must win, or die
in the attempt, but in America death with honor is infinitely preferable
to life with a suspicion of cowardice, as all who participated in this
surrender were well aware.
The officers were all held as prisoners of war, and the men paroled on
condition of not fighting against the Confederacy during the continuance
of the war. The Indian war of 1862 broke out in Minnesota very shortly
after the surrender, and the men of the Third were brought to the state
for service against the Indians. They participated in the campaign of
1862 and following expeditions. For a full and detailed account of the
surrender of the Third, consult the history of that regiment in the
volume issued by the state, called "Minnesota in the Civil and Indian
Wars."
It would please the historian to omit this subject entirely, did truth
permit; but he finds ample solace in the fact that this is the only blot
to be found in the long record of brilliant and glorious deeds that
compose the military history of Minnesota.
A general summary will show that Minnesota did her whole duty in the
Civil War, and that her extreme youth was in no way a drawback to her
performance. She furnished to the war, in all her military
organizations, a grand total of 22,970 men. Of this number, 607 were
killed in battle and 1,647 died of disease, making a contribution of
2,254 lives to the cause of the Union on the part of Minnesota.
Our state was honored by the promotion from her various organizations of
the following officers:
C. P. Adams, Brevet Brigadier General.
C. C. Andrews, Brigadier and Brevet Major General.
John T. Averill, Brevet Brigadier General.
James H. Baker, Brevet Brigadier General.
Theodore E. Barret, Brevet Brigadier General.
Judson W. Bishop, Brevet Brigadier General.
William Colville, Brevet Brigadier General.
Napoleon J. T. Dana, Major General.
Alonzo J. Edgerton, Brevet Brigadier General.
Willis A. Gorman, Brigadier General.
Lucius F. Hubbard, Brevet Brigadier General.
Samuel P. Jennison, Brevet Brigadier General.
William G. Le Duc, Brevet Brigadier General.
William R. Marshall, Brevet Brigadier General.
Robert B. McLaren, Brevet Brigadier General.
Stephen Miller, Brigadier General.
John B. Sanborn, Brigadier and Brevet Major General.
Henry H. Sibley, Brigadier and Brevet Major General.
Minor T. Thomas, Brevet Brigadier General.
John E. Tourtellotte, Brevet Brigadier General.
Horatio P. Van Cleve, Brevet Brigadier General.
George N. Morgan, Brevet Brigadier General.
THE INDIAN WAR OF 1862 AND FOLLOWING YEARS.