Today is the anniversary of the 2nd day of battle at Gettysburg, and is perhaps most famous for the action that took place at the Devil’s Den and Little Round Top.

I want to mark the day a little differently this year.  You see, many people – especially those who get their impression of the battle from the movie Gettysburg, imagine that once Chamberlain and the 20th Maine fought off the Confederate attack at Round Top with their gallant bayonette charge, the thing was pretty much over.°   

 That is completely false, however.  Longstreet’s attack against the Union line was part of an “oblique”.  Imagine, if you will, a wave coming in at an angle to the beach.  Little Round Top was the extreme left of the Union line, but the Rebel wave continued to roll farther north all day and into the evening.  Indeed, the attack didn’t really peter out until it had worked its way all the way around to Culp’s Hill on the Union right.

One incident of outstanding courage and valor among the many that get overshadowed by Chamberlain’s charge occured later in the afternoon about halfway along Cemetary Ridge.  The Union III Corp, under the hapless Sickles, had got itself out of position and chopped up, leaving a gap in the line the Confederates eagerly moved to exploit.  The only thing stopping them was the 1st Minnesota Infantry.  One of its officers takes up the story:

“…but the First Minnesota had never deserted any post, had never retired without orders; and, desperate as the situation seemed, and as it was, the regiment stood firm against whatever might come. Just then Hancock, with a single aide, rode up at full speed, and for a moment vainly endeavored to rally Sickles’s retreating forces. Reserves had been sent for, but were too far away to hope to reach the critical position until it should be occupied by the enemy, unless that enemy were stopped. Quickly leaving the fugitives, Hancock spurred to where we stood, calling out as he reached us, “What regiment is this?” “First Minnesota,” replied Colvill. “Charge those lines!” commanded Hancock. Every man realized in an instant what that order meant–death or wounds to us all, the sacrifice of the regiment, to gain a few minutes’ time and save the position. And every man saw and accepted the necessity for the sacrifice; and in a moment, responding to Colvill’s rapid orders, the regiment, in perfect line, with arms, at “right shoulder, shift,” was sweeping down the slope directly upon the enemy’s centre. No hesitation, no stopping to fire, though the men fell fast at every stride before the concentrated fire of the whole Confederate force, directed upon us as soon as the movement was observed. Silently, without orders, and almost from the start, “double-quick” had changed to utmost speed, for in utmost speed lay the only hope that any of us could pass through that storm of lead and strike the enemy.  “Charge!” shouted Colvill as we neared the first line, and with leveled bayonets, at full speed, we rushed upon it, fortunately, as it was slightly disordered in crossing a dry brook. The men were never made who will stand against leveled bayonets coming with such momentum and evident desperation. The first line broke in our front as we reached it, and rushed back through the second line, stopping the whole advance. We then poured in our first fire, and availing ourselves of such shelter as the low bank of the dry brook afforded, held the entire force at bay for a considerable time, and until our reserves appeared on the ridge we had left. Had the enemy rallied quickly to a countercharge, its overwhelming numbers would have crushed us in a moment, and we would have effected but a slight pause in its advance. But the ferocity of our onset seemed to paralyze them for a time, and though they poured in a terrible and continuous fire from the front and enveloping flanks, they kept at a respectful distance from our bayonets, until, before the added fire of our fresh reserves, they began to retire and we were ordered back. What Hancock had given us to do was done thoroughly. The regiment had stopped the enemy, held back its mighty force, and saved the position, and probably that battle-field. But at what a sacrifice! Nearly every officer was dead, or lay weltering with bloody wounds–our gallant colonel and every field-officer among them. Of the two hundred and sixty-two men who made the charge, two hundred and fifteen lay upon the field, struck down by Rebel bullets; forty-seven men were still in line, and not a man was missing. The annals of war contain no parallel to this charge. In its desperate valor, complete execution, successful result, and in its sacrifice of men in proportion to the number engaged, authentic history has no record with which it can be compared.”

 Lieutenant William Lochren, 1st MN Infantry
The First Minnesota at Gettysburg,
“Glimpses of the Nation’s Struggle.”
A Series of Papers Read Before the
Minnesota Commandery of the
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
1887-1889 Vol 3., St. Paul: D.D. Merril Co. 1893

Pretty amazing story, isn’t it.

A few years ago there was a minor flap when the North Carolina legislature started suggesting that Minnesota should give back some of its captured regimental battle flags that now hang in the Minnesota State House.  Then-governor Jessie Ventura very sensibly replied, “Why? We won.”

I don’t know if any of the flags in question were picked up by the 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg, but even if not they completely justify the state hanging on to them.

º This is not really the fault of the movie.  It takes its material directly from Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels, and Shaara says explicitly in his introduction that the book is not about the battle itself, but about some of the men who fought in it.  The result, however, is that many other people and events get left out.