The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-03

Hancock stripped all this ground of
infantry to send to the aid of SickleS.
leaving only his batteries to defend
Cemetery Ridge. The movement of
these troops from Hancock's line away
to the left could be seen by the Con-
federates on our front, and they were
suddenly inspired to rush forward and
pierce the interval between Sickles and
Hancock. Hancock remained near
here, the point of danger, and he saw
through rift in the clouds of battle
smoke that lowered over the field a
column of the enemy, marching boldly
with flying colors. within few rods
of his line. If left alone they would
strike Battery c, Fourth United States
artillery, which stood upon this knoll
supported by the First Minnesota.
There were no other Federal troops
in sight. Reinforcements were on the
way from the extreme right flank,
away on the other side of the ridge,
but it would take time to get them
here. Looking over the little phalanX
of a couple of hundred or 50, Hancock
exclaimed:
What regiment is that?'
: Its leader answered, The First Min
nesota'
Some who were near Hancock at
the time say that he also exclaimed:
Great God Is this all the men we have
herer Then with a sweep of his eye
toward the advancing Confederates
and their menacing battle flags of red,
he shouted to the commander of the
First:
"'CoL Colvin, charge and take those
colors.
"Others say that he said simply:
Charge those lines Others still say
that he exclaimed: DO you see those
To. fol- hoy pt1t
the strict wording of the order is i'm
material; the idea was carried out to
the letter.
There was no blunder about this
forlorn hope. What followed was mag
nif1cent and it was war. The men
knew the terrible situation all about
them just as we'll as their leaders.
quickly down the slope toward the
plain this side of Emmitsburg road,
first at a lope, then at double quick
muSkets at right shoulders hift-then
into a run at their utmost speed.
There were exactly 262 officers and
men in the First Minnesota that day,
and the Confederates were a whole
division, led by Willcox's brigade.
Shot and shell from the Confederate
cannon tore up the field. and hun
dreds of the sharpshooters' muskets
were sending their bullets across the
plains to clear the ground for Will.
cox's advance At every step some
Minnesotans fell, but their command
ers CALAMITY held their fire, finally
dwelling their bayonets for close en-
counter At the signal, which was
enemy, they sprang forward with d
cheer. They seized the brigade colors,
Willcox's men giving way around
them so that for a moment the little
phalanx was actually swallowed up i'll
the ranks of the enemy, exactly as
when, at Balaklava, Scarlett's Three
Hundred HeaVies rode into the solid
squadrons of 5000 Russian cavalry
The Confederates were brought to a
halt by sheer establishment at, the
valor of the little band of bIuecoats
The Minnesotans gave the enemy their
first volley at arms length, and in
racoiling from that and hating ito
close ranks the impetus of WILCOX 5
line was fatally broken.
Before Wilcox could rally his men
Haneock's fresh batteries on the right
and the left were at work upon him.
His supporters wandered away in the
confusion and meanwhile Hancock S
reinforcement came to the scene, end
ing the terrible crisis on Cemetery
Ridge.
But the First Minnesota was gone
their regimental flag and the captured
Confederate colors. Fifty-six were
dead or dying there on the field and
three times that number were lying
wounded or dragging themselves back
to the shelter Of the battery saved by
their valor. Now the Light Brigade
lost more heavily in prisoners than it
did in killed and wounded; but in this
affair of the Minnesotans not one was
no
ordeal and left the ranks
Forty seven heroes marched back to
the ridge, and the blood marks of Con-
federate shot were the certificates to
account for the absence of 215 brave
men left behind"
Are you from Minnesota, colonel?''
said listener
NO" retorted the colonel, "I never
was in that state even. This incident,
told in bare outline, became my stock
story of the bravest deed L ever saw.
Once, one of my auditors called me
down, saying that he had had two
brothers in the First Minnesota, and
| had never heard them speak of MAX
ing the desperate charge as described
/ by me. His words aroused my indig-
nation, for I could not doubt my own
senses. So I set to work to prove il
by official evidence, and it was all so
fascinating that I kept on until 1 have
become soneth ing of a crank on Ameri-
can VaIor.
'I consulted the United States mus
ter rolls of the First Minnesota and
verified them by those in the adjutant
generals office at st. Paul; also the
morning report of the companies for
July 2, 1868. There L found the names
of the killed and wounded in that
memorable charge and copied them
as a souvenir Of the most glorious bit
of valor I ever witnessed. The names
show sprinkling of foreigners in the
the ranks, Seandinavians, Germans and
Irishmen, but the majority were young
fellows from eighteen to twenty-five
years, and born on American soil.
''The most of those killed, and the
same can be said of the wounded, had
been previously wounded in some of