Minnesota's Civil War soldiers : personal accounts and ...
MINNESOTA¡¯S
CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
and PRIMARY SOURCES
at
THE MINNESOTA
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Stephen E. Osman
Senior Historian
Minnesota Historical Society
MINNESOTA¡¯S CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS and PRIMARY SOURCES
at
THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Introduction
Minnesotans fought two Civil Wars. The first state to offer volunteers, it was one
of the last to have volunteer units still on duty more than a year after the war ended.
Minnesotans fought in most of the War¡¯s campaigns and major battles, especially in the
Western Theater where most of its units served. Only sixteen months into the War the
Minnesota frontier exploded into a second front. In little more than a month more
civilians were killed than all of the state¡¯s Civil War combat deaths. For the next three
years Minnesota soldiers learned their trade garrisoning forts and outposts or enduring
arduous punitive expeditions into the Dakotas. Most were eventually deployed south
after repeated Federal demands. Those who came home had experienced a much more
diverse army life than other Civil War veterans.
Minnesota Historical Society collections are particularly rich in reminiscences,
letters and diaries documenting daily experiences of its 24,000 Civil War soldiers. Those
who donated and collected over the years were confident that this institution could best
preserve and make available the memories of Minnesotans to whom the Civil War was
the single most memorable event of their lives. As a story of ordinary people caught up
in extraordinary events the Civil War and the Minnesota Dakota War continue to
fascinate their descendants, students and scholars. This compilation includes most of the
individual soldier stories available in the Society¡¯s collections. These give a unique and
personal window on the war years.
Civil War soldiers served in military units called companies, numbering around
100 and commanded by a captain and two lieutenants. Ten or twelve companies formed
a regiment, commanded by a colonel assisted by a lieutenant colonel, one or two majors,
and several staff officers. Light artillery batteries of about 150 men functioned much like
companies. Most soldiers spent their entire one to three year enlistment in the same
company, frequently alongside other young men from the same community. Entries
below cite a company letter (from A through L, excluding J) and regimental number
following the collection location and title. This facilitates researching individual soldiers
by reading accounts from men who served in the same company and may have shared the
same daily experiences.
These personal accounts are organized by military unit and alphabetized by last
name of the soldier, rather than entry title. Descriptions are brief and may be incomplete.
Researchers should first consult the Minnesota Historical Society Reference Library on
line catalog and manuscript descriptive notebooks in the reading room for full
descriptions before requesting access to individual collections.
Brief service information on Minnesota soldiers is found in the Annual Report of
the Adjutant General of Minnesota, 1861-1866 and in Minnesota in the Civil War and
Indian Wars 1861-1865. Volume II of the latter includes reports of major battles in
which Minnesotans participated. Most individual records from these sources are
compiled in the more useable Minnesota Adjutant General¡¯s Report of 1866 published by
Park Genealogical Books. All are available in the reading room of the Minnesota
Historical Society Reference Library. Pension records may also be useful. Ledgers in
the Society¡¯s collections record nearly 30,000 pension applications from Minnesotans but
provide only a fraction of what is available in the individual pension files held at the
National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC. These are available
by mail order purchase from NARA.
Stephen E. Osman
Senior Historian
Minnesota Historical Society
February 2007
Infantry
Minnesota provided eleven infantry regiments and one smaller battalion for
Federal service. The First Regiment earned immortality with the Army of the Potomac,
however Minnesota Regiments serving in the west earned high reputations. The Second
Regiment fought heroically at the battles of Mill Springs, Chickamauga and Missionary
Ridge. The Fourth captured flags at Altoona and fought at the Battle of Nashville.
Heroic rear-guard action at Brice¡¯s Crossroads sent over 250 of the Ninth Regiment to
Andersonville Prison. Minnesotans typically garrisoned frontier posts before being
ordered south. Only the First Regiment, First Battalion and the First and Second
Companies of Sharpshooters served their entire enlistments in the Eastern Theater.
Rosters and brief histories and of each military unit written by participants are found
in Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861 - 1865, St. Paul, 1890. Minnesota units that
participated in Dakota War campaigns and expeditions of 1862, 1863 and 1864 are
mentioned in many of the general histories of that war.
First Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
P505 Howard S. Abbott and Family Papers, 1864 - 1944. (Asa, E, 1st)
Letter regarding transfer of Lieutenant Abbott to the Signal Corps.
P1290 Marion Abbott Diary and Genealogical Data, 1861 - 1975. (F, 1st)
Corporal Abbott¡¯s diary covers June - August 1861 including the Battle of Bull Run.
A.R495e Edmund Rice and Family Papers, 1845 - 1966. (William Acker, C, 1st)
Includes two September 1861 letters from Acker, later a Captain in the 16th U.S.
Infantry, with minimal information on the regiment. Other letters describe the recovery
of Acker¡¯s body after his death at the battle of Shiloh.
P1381 Henry T. Bevans Papers, 1846, 1861 - 1911. (F, 1st)
Correspondence and clippings cover Sergeant Bevans¡¯ service in the Regiment,
commission to Hatch¡¯s Battalion Minnesota Cavalry and resignation for work with the
US Secret Service.
A.B655 Samuel Bloomer Papers, 1861 - 1920. (B, 1st)
Color Sergeant Bloomer¡¯s letters and diaries contain particularly a good description of
Antietam where he lost a leg.
M165 Daniel Bond Reminiscences, Undated. (F, 1st)
Based on his diaries, Corporal Bond¡¯s 334 handwritten reminiscences cover his service with
the Regiment and Battalion, his capture, and imprisonment at Andersonville.
A/+B789 George F. Boyd and Family Papers, 1852 - 1961. (E, 1st)
Includes Lieutenant Boyd¡¯s commissions and Company E muster rolls.
[Not yet catalogued] George R. Buckman Papers, 1863 - 1865. (G, 1st)
Detailed and insightful daily journal of Sergeant Buckman¡¯s service in the Second Corps
Hospital following Gettysburg through his muster out at Fort Snelling.
P939 Carpenter, Alfred P. (K, 1st)
Transcript of July 30, 1863 letter describing his Gettysburg experiences.
P939 Colvill, William.
Biographical sketches and reminiscences of the Regiment¡¯s colonel at Gettysburg.
P939 Collins, George E.
Bandsman Collins¡¯ letter from Fort Snelling of June 6, 1861.
M233 Charles E. Davis Letters, 1859 - 1866. (I, E, C, 1st)
Nearly 200 detailed letters of sergeant, regimental sergeant major and later officer
include information on the regiment¡¯s training, daily activities, politics and campaigns.
A/.D989 G. Merrill Dwelle and Family Papers, 1843 - 1896. (L, 1st)
Descriptive letters and diary include activities of the Regiment during the Peninsular
Campaign. (A second diary has a bullet hole from Antietam.)
A/.D989 Thomas Dwelle Papers, 1861 - 1863. (K, 1st)
Typescript of Thomas Dwelle 1862 diary and copies of medical furlough papers.
P939 Eaton, Hattie A. R. (William, H, 1st)
Account of service in the Regiment and as a prisoner of war.
P513 Jerome Farnsworth and Family Papers, 1861 - 1902. (G, 1st)
Around 20 letters covering May 1861 - July 1863 until his death at Gettysburg.
Alpha First Minnesota Infantry Regiment Letters and Research Files, 1991 - 1993.
This large collection of clippings, obituaries, and copies of letters and diaries was
compiled by Richard Moe in preparation for his book, The Last Full Measure.
P615 Minnesota Infantry, First Regiment Papers, 1861 - 1864.
A collection of lists, reports, correspondence and other papers relating to the Regiment.
P939 Foster, Everett W. (I, 1st)
Autobiographical reminiscences of two months service with the Regiment in 1861.
P2476 Joseph P. Garrison and Family Papers, 1859 ¨C 1863, 1996. (F, 1st)
Photocopies of letters from Fort Snelling and Virginia plus condolence letters from others in
the Regiment following Garrison¡¯s wounding and capture at Bull Run and subsequent death
in Richmond.
P1434 Orrin F. Smith and Family Papers, 1829 - 1932. (Charles Goddard, K, 1st)
Around 113 letters from young Charles Goddard to his mother contain excellent trivia on
life in the Regiment.
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