Adam Marty Adam Marty ( August 2 , 1837 – February 7 , 1923 ) was a member of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War . After the war he became Commander of the Minnesota Department of the Grand Army of the Republic . Early life . Marty was born in Switzerland on August 2 , 1837 . When Marty was two , his father immigrated to the United States , settling in Stillwater . Marty ' s mother died when he was six . He was raised by his aunt and uncle in Switzerland until the family immigrated to St . Louis , Missouri . They moved to Stillwater when Marty was twelve . Marty lived with his father for a time , but they had a strained relationship as Marty grew older . Before the Civil War , Marty worked as a farmhand for local land owner Henry Jackman . At the age of eighteen he began an apprenticeship under Mort Webster , a Stillwater carriage painter . When news of the outbreak of the Civil War reached Stillwater , Marty enlisted in a local militia unit called the Stillwater Guards . Three of Marty ' s cousins also enlisted , including Samuel Bloomer . Marty and Bloomer were close and remained so throughout the war years and beyond . On April 29 , 1861 , Marty and his fellow guards marched to Fort Snelling and were enlisted in the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment . The Stillwater Guards became Company B of the regiment . First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry . As a member of the First Minnesota , Marty fought in early Civil War battles such as Bull Run , Ball ' s Bluff , and the Peninsula Campaign . The Battle of Antietam on September 17 , 1862 , had a particularly strong impact on him . During the battle Marty ' s cousin and closest friend , Samuel Bloomer was shot through the leg while carrying the regimental colors . Bloomer ' s leg required amputation , and he eventually returned home to Stillwater and then served in the Invalid Corps . Though Marty no longer had Bloomer by his side , the cousins began a rich correspondence for the remainder of the war . Marty continued to serve with the First Minnesota through the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville . His Civil War service culminated with that of his regiment , during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg . On July 2 , 1863 the First Minnesota was ordered to charge a numerically superior Confederate force in order to protect the Union line . The First Minnesota took the highest casualties of any regiment during the war : eighty - two percent . Company B entered the battle with thirty - six men , by the end of the charge only six remained standing . Marty was among the wounded . A musket ball tore a large hole in his right thigh . After being wounded Marty was sent to South Street Hospital in Philadelphia . He was bedridden for several agonizing months . Eventually he healed enough to get out and socialize , making friends and attending cultural events . In April 1864 Marty traveled home to Minnesota and was mustered out with the rest of the First Minnesota Volunteers on May 5 , 1864 . Post - Civil War . After the war Marty returned to Stillwater and worked as a carriage painter . He had no lasting physical limitations from his war service . He married Ottilie Hoffman in 1869 , but she died in childbirth in 1870 along with the couple ' s daughter . In 1884 he married Augusta Burrow . They had four children : Carl , Raymond , Arline , and Milton . In 1872 Marty was a charter member of the Stillwater Fire Department . He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1882 . In 1890 , he was elected sheriff of Washington County , serving two terms . Marty was also deeply involved in the Grand Army of the Republic ( GAR ) . He joined Stillwater ' s Muller Post in 1875 and served as post commander for six terms . In 1881 , Marty was elected Commander of the statewide organization . Together he and Bloomer rejuvenated the GAR in Minnesota . Marty also helped form the " Last Man ' s Club " in 1887 for members of Company B . It was the first of its kind in the nation . The members created an annual reunion on the anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run . As members died their chair would be draped in black . After 1910 , Marty moved to St . Paul . His wife died in 1922 and Marty then moved in with his daughter . He died at her home February 7 , 1923 and was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Stillwater .