Isaac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site

Transcription

[ horse galloping ] [ General Hancock ] 'My God! Is this all the men we have? What regiment is this?!' [ Colonel Colvill ] 'First Minnesota, general.' [ General Hancock ] 'Colonel! Charge and take those colors!' [ Colonel Colvill ] Attention First Minnesota! Right shoulder shift arms, forward double quick, march! [ explosion ] [ gunfire, yelling ] [ William Lochren ] Every man realized in an instant what Hancock’s order meant- death or wounds to us all; the sacrifice of the regiment to gain a few minutes time and save the position, and probably the battlefield. [ John Cox ] For Robert E. Lee, this was it. Lee knew that invading the North, this was how he was going to win the war for the Confederacy. The United States of America is at stake. [ Narrator ] Minnesota’s Civil War Commemoration Task Force was created by Executive Order of Governor Mark Dayton.   Chaired by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Representative Dean Urdahl, the Task Force led a delegation of Minnesotans to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the three day battle. In July 2013, this Minnesota contingent of elected officials, authors, educators, artists, history buffs and students toured the battlefield and retraced the steps of the First Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. [ Diane Sannes ] From Wheaton, from Sauk Rapids, from Owatonna, from Rochester, from Duluth, from, of course, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. [ Darryl Sannes ] What the First Minnesota did at the Battle of Gettysburg, it definitely needed to be commemorated by the people of Minnesota at the 150th anniversary. [ Cox ] Then there’s this space where Lee is… I got a call from Darryl Sannes to guide the Minnesota Task Force around Gettysburg over the 150th anniversary. I was just honored to do that, it was great. [ Narrator ] The battle was Robert E. Lee’s second and final invasion of the north. [ John Cox ] The Battle of Gettysburg is called a meeting engagement, where both sides kind of accidentally on purpose run into each other. It seems inevitable that they would end up at Gettysburg, because Gettysburg is just about eight or nine miles north of the Maryland line. Ten roads lead to the town. It’s like the spokes on a wheel. South of the town of Gettysburg is where the higher ground is, the famous places, Cemetery Hill, Culp’s Hill, Little Round Top. Once the Union army gets that high ground, they’re able to build that fish hook battle line, the upside-down, backwards J. To the west of Gettysburg is a series of rolling hills where the Confederates come in on. [ Narrator ] On July 1st, 1863, the storied cupola of the Lutheran seminary, just west of town, served as the best vantage point to observe the converging Union and Confederate troops that would soon number more than 160,000. Closed to the public for many years, it reopened on July 1st, 2013 [ Darryl Sannes ] Very special to go up and see the view that those officers could see 150 years ago. [ John Cox ] On July 2, General Dan Sickles moves forward out of the Union fish hook battle line that General Meade has created. And by moving forward he opens up a gap in the Union line. From that point on, General Hancock and General Meade are throwing reinforcements as fast as they can to try and fill that mile-long gap in the line. Great confusion on the field. And Hancock rides over to the Minnesota boys... [ Narrator ] Union General Winfield Hancock ordered Colonel William Colvill, of Red Wing, to lead his Minnesota Regiment into Confederate forces from Alabama that outnumbered them more than 5 to 1. [ gunfire ] [ William Harmon ] If men ever become devils that was one of the times. We were crazy with the excitement of the fight. We just rushed in like wild beasts. [ explosion ] [ John Cox ] They got down in that valley of Plum Run, certainly they were losing men as they went, they were taking fire. They maintained as best line they could, went right into the Rebels and sacrificed themselves, only veterans could do that. [ Colvill ] I think this temporary check we gave the enemy was of the utmost importance, for as soon as they had formed they would have pushed forward, they would have immediately captured a battery and probably broken through our lines. [ explosion ] [ John Cox ] The Minnesota boys were able to hold them off for fifteen minutes, long enough to get reinforcements in to plug that gap in the line. [ Narrator ] Of the 262 men under Colvill’s command, only 47 answered the initial roll call later that evening. 150 years later, Minnesotans retraced the steps of this charge down to Plum Run and into enemy fire. What remained of the Minnesota Regiment, had to repel Pickett’s Charge on July 3rd. [ John Cox ] Pickett’s Charge is Lee’s final attempt to destroy the Union army. Lee believes that after he sends these 12 to 13 thousand men over, that the Union army is going to break and run and he’s going to win the war. Minnesota men found themselves right smack in the middle of Pickett’s Charge. The place where you really don’t want to be. They’re beat up but they’re not beaten and they’re going to make a tremendous stand. [ William Harmon ] Men swore and cursed and struggled and fought, kicked and yelled and hurrahed. [ Narrator ] Robert E. Lee’s desperate move failed. His army decimated, he retreated on July 4th. His wagon train of wounded stretched for 17 miles. It was the last major engagement for what remained of the First Minnesota Regiment. [ Cox ] Let’s move over to the Minnesota urn. [ Diane Sannes ] There was a gentle rain when we got to that urn right in the cemetery. [ Darryl Sannes ] It was placed by the survivors of the First Minnesota just a couple years after the war. [ Diane Sannes ] The students placing the First Minnesota flags on every one of the markers, that’s the biggest take-away that I’ll have. [ Narrator ] The Task Force trip to Gettysburg was an opportunity to remember and reflect on how far we have come. [ John Cox ] Gettysburg is part of the American psyche. Part of being a citizen of the United States is knowing a little bit of something that happened at Gettysburg. It's important to our nation. [ Narrator ] Foes in 1863, Minnesota and Alabama troops this time met as friends on the site of the July 2nd battle. [ General Perry Smith ] If it wasn’t for the First Minnesota, we wouldn’t be standing here as citizens of the United States of America.