Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-05-15

round shot, grape and shrapnel were
rainea on them. Our boys did not N AXE
| aaolse The gaps were closed up and
i.the line moved forward within hundred
1 feet of .lhe rebels at a double q.ick. =. In
a halt sssa Minute Col Colvill, 1t. Col.
| Adams, Maj Downie, Adjt jtPeteler. Capt
Muller, Lieut.. Farrell, Capt. Pcriam
Iieuts. Sinclair, .Demorest, Gray and
Boyd fell. Two-thirds Of the men were
/ killed or wounded. But :he line wen.
on with fixed bayonets and with wild
avenging shouts they charged Al the foe
I Five volleys were poured in OH The reb.
! els, and they broke and fell back. Here
Bark TEL, dead. The bravery Of
those few Minnesota 1;oys, who could
stand as if lin the middle Of He'll. and
load, and fire and charge. terrified them.
| Just at, this minute Gibbons division
came up and the rout began. .,
. >THE FIRST HAD SAVED TRE DAY.
I I"uA W0iS hliICV, tlIN 4 uNcI :
13 officers and 162 men we're wounded,
a total OF S2s ont of 324. The lignt
brigade at Balak1ava Jared better than
this. Capt. Messick, who took COM
mand after Colvill, Adams and Downie
fell, was killed next day. Three times
the color guard was shot down, and the
flagstaff was cut in two and carried by
the stump.
That fall the First was treated to ban
!!,Quet at the National hotel in this city
an honor no regiment in the field ever
| before had. The wounded had by this
time recovered and were back in camp
Col, Co|vill was carried in on the shoul-
ders of his men. His bravery would
have procured him a brigadier's CON-
mission had he not been shot to pieces
50 that he could no longer bo of service
OF this there is an amusing story which
[ will tell little later. At the supper
the boys were given all the champagne
they could drink, and Secretary Stanton
came down and ate and drank with them
The expense was met by the Minnesota
people in town and it ran up over ST 900.
The regiment from this time was the he
70 regiment Of the army. It's men were
all tall and finely built, and their enthus-
iasm was one Of the fine things of the
service Gen. Hancock wrote q letter 10
President Lincoln recommending that
1t. Col. Adams be promoted to brigadier
for his gal}anlry. That he skoula over
look the bravery of Col. Co1yill was re-
markable, 1t happened in this way.
An order had been issued when the regi |
ment marched from Falmouth, Va, to.l
Gettysburg that the men should rot be
allowed to take off their shoes and stock
ings when forcing a creek. The aim
wos to hasten the march al much as pos
sible. This order Co. Colv,l1e did not
observe atone point. An aid of Gen.
HancDck's. drunk at the time, came up
as the men were putting on their shoes
and stockings. He ordered Colvi]l un-
der arrest. The boys were very glad to
bathe their swollen feet as they marched,
and at the risk Of punishment for disc
beying the order, Col. Colyill had allow
ed his men to do as they pleased. Col.
Colvill explained that his men would
march faster and get to the field in time,
but it did no good. He marched into
Gettysburg at the rear of his regiment
He at once explained the situation TO
Gen. Gibbon, who released him. The
aide reported to Gen. Hancock, and at
the very moment when Colyill was lead
ing his men against Barksdale he was
down on Hancock's books as under ar
rest. The matter was explained to Lin
coin, and Col Adams was not made
brigadier. When Hancock was asked
why he put those men into that place to
be slaughtered, he said: "I would have
done it if had been morally certain
that every man Of them would be killed,
They were put there because l knew
they were fighters. 1 wanted just fiye
minu:esto get my line up, and they gave
me Just that. It was the best fighting
of the whole war; ~|%... ~.
I