Monument to the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which suffered 82 percent casualties during the Battle of Gettysburg, the highest percent of casualties ever suffered by an American military unit in any single engagement. The First Minnesota was also the first regiment of volunteers to answer President Lincoln's call for 75,000 soldiers in April 1861 in response to the secession of the Southern States. The monument shows a running soldier, carrying his rifle with fixed bayonet, heading towards the attacking Confederates. On July 1, 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade, met the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At the end of the first day's fighting, the Union forces had been pushed out of the town, and occupied the ridge east of the town, extending towards the south, ending at a hill known as Little Round Top. The First Minnesota, commanded by Colonel William Colvill, arrived the next morning after marching all night, and the men were sent to rest near the top of the hill near where the statue stands today. Two companies, C and F, were detached for guard duty, leaving 262 men remaining. On July 2, General Lee ordered two Confederate Brigades (about 1600 men each) to attack the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. As the Union line was extremely thin at that time (troops were still arriving), there was immediate danger of a Confederate breakthrough, with disastrous results should that occur. Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, seeing the danger, immediately went to the 1st Minnesota, and pointing to the attacking rebels, said, "Charge those lines." Colonel Colvill immediately formed up his unit, ordered them to fix bayonets, and charged the nearest of the two Confederate brigades, Wilcox's Alabama Brigade (commanded by General Cadmus M. Wilcox). Despite being outnumbered five to one, and running through a hail of Confederate fire, the men of the 1st Minnesota crossed 200 yards of open ground to reach the Alabama Brigade. The force of the bayonet attack into the Confederate units surprised them, and after sharp, hand-to-hand fighting, the Confederate units withdrew. Yet the 1st Minnesota proudly held their position until nightfall, returning only then back to the Union line. When the fighting stopped, the First Minnesota had lost 82 percent of its men, either killed or wounded, the highest percentage loss of any single unit in a single engagement, ever, in the history of the American Army. Of the 262 men before the battle, only 47 were still available that evening. The morning of July 3rd, the First Minnesota was reinforced by the two companies that had been detailed the previous day and had missed the fight. Now numbering about 150 men, they were assigned to defend a position of the line about 400 yards north of where the statue now stands. That day, July 3rd, Lee attempted to send Major General Pickett's Division through the center of the Union line, the attack known as Pickett's Charge. Again, despite their severe loss of the previous day, the 1st Minnesota was ordered to charge the attacking Confederate Division, which they did, suffering another 55 casualties. At the end of the battle, the evening of July 3, the First Minnesota had suffered 80 killed, 149 wounded, for a total two day loss of 70 percent of the entire unit. Colonel Colvill was severely wounded, and turned over command to the next senior surviving officer, Captain Henry C. Coates. On July 2, 1897, the statue, sculpted by Jacob Fjelde, was dedicated at Gettysburg. A few years later, a small obelisk was dedicated at the site where the First Minnesota had repelled Pickett's Charge. The battle is described in the book, "The Last Full Measure" by Richard Moe.
Monument to the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which suffered 82 percent casualties during the Battle of Gettysburg, the highest percent of casualties ever suffered by an American military unit in any single engagement. The First Minnesota was also the first regiment of volunteers to answer President Lincoln's call for 75,000 soldiers in April 1861 in response to the secession of the Southern States. The monument shows a running soldier, carrying his rifle with fixed bayonet, heading towards the attacking Confederates. On July 1, 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General George G. Meade, met the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At the end of the first day's fighting, the Union forces had been pushed out of the town, and occupied the ridge east of the town, extending towards the south, ending at a hill known as Little Round Top. The First Minnesota, commanded by Colonel William Colvill, arrived the next morning after marching all night, and the men were sent to rest near the top of the hill near where the statue stands today. Two companies, C and F, were detached for guard duty, leaving 262 men remaining. On July 2, General Lee ordered two Confederate Brigades (about 1600 men each) to attack the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. As the Union line was extremely thin at that time (troops were still arriving), there was immediate danger of a Confederate breakthrough, with disastrous results should that occur. Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, seeing the danger, immediately went to the 1st Minnesota, and pointing to the attacking rebels, said, "Charge those lines." Colonel Colvill immediately formed up his unit, ordered them to fix bayonets, and charged the nearest of the two Confederate brigades, Wilcox's Alabama Brigade (commanded by General Cadmus M. Wilcox). Despite being outnumbered five to one, and running through a hail of Confederate fire, the men of the 1st Minnesota crossed 200 yards of open ground to reach the Alabama Brigade. The force of the bayonet attack into the Confederate units surprised them, and after sharp, hand-to-hand fighting, the Confederate units withdrew. Yet the 1st Minnesota proudly held their position until nightfall, returning only then back to the Union line. When the fighting stopped, the First Minnesota had lost 82 percent of its men, either killed or wounded, the highest percentage loss of any single unit in a single engagement, ever, in the history of the American Army. Of the 262 men before the battle, only 47 were still available that evening. The morning of July 3rd, the First Minnesota was reinforced by the two companies that had been detailed the previous day and had missed the fight. Now numbering about 150 men, they were assigned to defend a position of the line about 400 yards north of where the statue now stands. That day, July 3rd, Lee attempted to send Major General Pickett's Division through the center of the Union line, the attack known as Pickett's Charge. Again, despite their severe loss of the previous day, the 1st Minnesota was ordered to charge the attacking Confederate Division, which they did, suffering another 55 casualties. At the end of the battle, the evening of July 3, the First Minnesota had suffered 80 killed, 149 wounded, for a total two day loss of 70 percent of the entire unit. Colonel Colvill was severely wounded, and turned over command to the next senior surviving officer, Captain Henry C. Coates. On July 2, 1897, the statue, sculpted by Jacob Fjelde, was dedicated at Gettysburg. A few years later, a small obelisk was dedicated at the site where the First Minnesota had repelled Pickett's Charge. The battle is described in the book, "The Last Full Measure" by Richard Moe.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6935558/1st_minnesota_infantry_monument: accessed
), memorial page for 1st Minnesota Infantry Monument (unknown–unknown), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6935558, citing Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg,
Adams County,
Pennsylvania,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for 1st Minnesota Infantry Monument
Fulfill Photo Request for 1st Minnesota Infantry Monument
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.