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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