The Irish standard., 1902-07-12

Colonel Colville: do you see thos
4 colors? Take them!" The Confede
rate line was scarcely 400 yards away
( \ gentle descent led from the position
: of the battery to.that of the enemy.
, 1t scarcely needed the word of com
mand to send the regiment dashin.
l down the slope at double-quick
| straight into the jaws of death. TIL,
! fine of fire rippled and sputtered ant
: flashed in their faces, and brave mel
{ fell by scores; but the intrepid bant
never swerved from their course OF
! faltered in their swift pace. Tht
handful Of blue struck the line of gra,
and bent and broke it by the force Of
resistless impact. Friend and foe went
down in deadly strife, face to face al
most in the cloud of smoke and fur
mace Of fire which burst from the
muzzles of hostile rifles. The line of
gray not only halted, but it slowly fell
back before the murderous energy of
the blow which it had received. Then
the artillery from the Union side
Joined the fray, and sent its thunder
GUS messages into the wavering ranks,
The men Of Alabama gave way; the
men of Minnesota remained masters of
the position.
The most sanguine hopes OF the Off
Ger who sent the regiment upon it's
desperate mission had been fully real
lied, but at a terrible cost! OF the
262 officers and men taken into the
action, 215 had fallen, and every one
of that number had been either killed
or wounded. To the further glory of
the regiment be it said that in the
terrible ordeal not single man was
missing" Eighty-two per cent of
those taken into the action had fallen,
including the colonel, lieutenant
colonel, major and adjutant severely
wounded, with more than half Of the
line of officers either killed or disabled.
Fifty men had been killed outright,
and 25 others dying Of their wounds
brought the total death roll up to rs,
or % per cent of those taking part in
the engagement. When we consider
that the loss of the Light Brigade at
Balalllava. immOrtaliZed in Tennyson's
pocm only amounted to :,6.7 per cent
of the officers and men who rode into
the valley Of DEATH" it VIII he seen
how great the difference when Ameri-
cans met Americans.
General Hancock is reported to have
said aftcrward: There is no more
gallant deed recorded in history. l Or
dcred those men in there because l
saw that | must gain five minutes
time. Reinforcements We're coming on
the run, but | knew that Lef re they
could reach the threatened point the
Confederates, unless checked, would
seize the position. | would have Or
dered that regiment in if knew every
man would have been killed. 1t had
to be done, and was glad to find such
Il gallant body of men at hand, will
ing to make the terrible sacrifice that
the occasion demanded
1t would seem that the First Minnie
sofa had won glory enough for one bat
tie; but on the following day we find
the few that remained, reinforced by
the two companies absent Oh the I'd,
still at the battles front and active.
In connection with the famous "Pick-
etts charge" the First Minnesota was
among the troops closing in upon the
charging column; and although mus
tering altogether but about 100 officers
and men present for duty, the regl-
ment is credited with capturing about
500 prisoners and the colors Of the
Twenty y-eighth Virginia regiment, the
captur Of which received a congress
sional medal of honor.
1t is proper to add in this connection
that while no other regiment suffered
SO heavy Il percentage of loss, the en-
tire brigade to which the First Mime
sofa belonged at that time, consisting
in addition of the Nineteenth Maine, Fif-
teenth Massachusetts and Eighty-sec-
ond New York regiments lost at Get
tysburg 81 per cent of the number
taken into action-the heaviest loss Of
any brigade OF the Union army in Il
single battle during the war. The ell
tire division (Gibbon's) of three bri-
gades lost in this battle 43.5 per cent,
or a materially heavier percentage than
the Light Brigade of Crimean fame,
in its historic charge.
The honorable record Of service
which began so crcditably ut the first
hlttlc of Bull Run and reached its cul-
mination at the pivotal battle of the
war. fittngly closed only after the sur
render at !AppomattoX, and the dawn
ing of peace. The spring of 1864 saw
the First Minnesota. reduced to bat
TALON of two companies Of veterans,
which carried the name honoraby
through to the close of the war, giving
lives and shedding the blood of brave
men on nearly every field during the
sanguinary struggles of 1864 and 1865.
The regiment had an entire enroll
ment of only 1 ,242, but Of this number
1877 were killed CT mortally wounded
in action, making the very large death
loss of over Is per cent. Three-fourths