The Princeton union., 1891-04-09
THE GALLANT FIRST.
The Charge that Turned the Tide
at Gettysburgh.

The Charge that Turned the Tide
at Gettysburgh.
Frank Y, Mead Makes AZ M an Earnest Plea for
MOnument to Mark the Spot Where
Minnesota Heroes FELL.
There are epochs in the lives
of states and nations as Of men
milestones Of development, as it
were, to mark for the constantly
renewing generations of the race
how far it has gone forward on
the highway Of actual progress.
The first of these guide-boards in
the military history of Minnesota
was the charge of the First Mime
sofa regiment at Gettysburgh.
The story has been often told, the
facts verified beyond cavil or ques-
ton. 1t was ordered by Gen.
Hancock, and took place under his
eye. A Confederate division com
posed of five thousand men-or
thereabouts- was marching at a
critical moment to occupy one of
the vital positions on that historic
field. Gen. Hancock had ordered
up a division of troops, but they
were slow in coming, and every
moment of time was precious be-
yond all comparison. The First
Regiment was the only body of
troops on hand. 1t mustered,
rank and file, all told, some three
hundred and sixty-odd men. The
order came short, sharp and deci-
sive: ''What regiment is this?
Charge that line!" .....
Then occurred an epic in action.
Three hundred and sixty men fixed
bayonets as though secret spring
of some complicated machine had
been touched. There was but one
word necessary-but how many
souls that word spoke into eternity.
Col. Colville gave the command
"charge!''- and, like the gentle
whirlwind of a summer breeze hur-
rylng to meet the destroying cy-
clone, that little band of men
swept onward into the embrace of
the thousands that confronted
them. s.
Three hundred and sixty men
started upon that charge. Ninety
four only answered to their names
when the roll was next. called.
ALI the rest were killed and
wounded. None were missing.
More than eighty per cent of loss
in less than one hour-the largest
percentage Of loss in killed and
wounded ever suffered by any one
body of men in any one engage
ment during the entire war Of the
rebellion. And that charge saved
the position. "
1t is now nearly twenty-eight
years since that deed became a
part Of the history Of this state and
nation. Monument after monu-
ment has been built by the citizens
of other commonwealths until the
field of Gettysburgh has become a
very wilderness of patriotic tokens
to- the nations dead-those who
died that law and liberty might
live. The spot of the famous
charge of, the First Minnesota still
remain unmarked. The common
wealth has been young and poor.
1t grows mature and rich. Is it
not time that this surprising deed
Of courage and heroism we're
marked by some enduring monu-
ment that would commemorate it
in some small degree?1 =
Gentlemen Of the house of rep
resentatives, the dead do not need
this monument-it is for the
living. It should stand. upon the
field of Gettysburgh forever as a
guide-board for the young men of
each recurring generation, point
ing toward law, justice, country,
home. The nation never needed
object lessons in self-sacrifcing
patriotism more than it does today.
Minnesota has done everything for
her people except to provide these
object lessons. The senate has
passed the bill giving $4,000 for
this monument. Will the house
place itself on record against it, or
even reducing it? l think not.
AS the years roll onward and
grow into centuries, the real monu-
ment to this event will be the
constantly increasing pride which
every citizen Of this state will feel
IN being allied to the common
wealth that sent that devoted band
to the war. Historians will dwell
upon it; poets will sing Of it;
painters will strive to reproduce it
upon canvass. It will outrank
Thermopyla and the charge of the
immortal six hundred in daring,
standing as the type Of American
manly courage in the Nineteenth
century. Gentlemen of the house
of representatives. do not LET If he