Sacrifice of the 1st Minnesota
July 2, 1863 - Second Day
"Every man realized in an instant what that order meant - death or wounds to us all, the sacrifice of a regiment to gain a few minutes' time..."
Lieut. William Lochren, U.S.A.
1st Minnesota Infantry
Late on the afternoon of July 2, after the collapse of the Union line at the Peach Orchard, Confederate infantry in front of you threatened to pour through a gap in the Union line here. When Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, commander of the Union Second Corps, rode up to assess the situation, only one regiment was at hand to stop the Confederate tide - the 1st Minnesota.
"My God, are these all the men we have here?" Hancock asked. It was, but they would have to do. "Charge those lines!" shouted Hancock, and immediately the lone regiment swept down the slope "double quick." With levelled bayonets, the Minnesotans crashed into Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox's Alabamians who outnumbered them 4-to-1.
The charge broke the Confedereate ranks and stalled the Southerners long enough for Union reinforcements, but at a terrific cost. According to a regimental officer, of the 262 Minnesotans in the charge, only 47 escaped death or injury.
Marker is at the intersection of Hancock Avenue and Humphreys Avenue, on the left when traveling north on Hancock Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
