Here is a recent oil painting of the first Minnesota’s role at Gettysburg. I usually paint in Acrylic but I thought it was time for an oil painting. If you understand the history of the Minnesota First at Gettysburg it is nothing less than awe inspiring. The men of the 1st Minnesota are most remembered for their actions on July 2, 1863, during the second day’s fighting at Gettysburg, where the regiment prevented the Confederates from pushing the Federals off of Cemetery Ridge, a position that was to be crucial in the battle.
Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, commander of the II Corps, ordered the regiment to assault a much larger enemy force (a brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox) telling Col. William Colvill to take the enemy’s colors. The fateful charge bought the time needed while other forces were brought up. During the charge, 215 members of the 262 men who were present at the time became casualties, including the regimental commander, Col. William Colvill, and all but three of his officers.
The unit’s flag fell five times and rose again each time. The 47 survivors rallied back to General Hancock under the senior surviving officer, Captain Henry C. Coates. The 83 percent casualty rate stands to this day as the largest loss by any surviving military unit in American history during any single engagement. The unit’s flag is now in the Minnesota Capitol’s rotunda.
Despite the horrendous casualties the 1st Minnesota had incurred, it continued the fight the next day, helping to repulse Pickett’s Charge. The surviving Minnesotans just happened to have been positioned at one of the few places where Union lines were breached during that engagement, and, as a result, charged the advancing Confederate positions one last time as a unit. I have had the honor of viewing (see previous blogs) the captured Virginia battle flag captured by the Minnesota First during Picketts charge which currently resides at the Minnesota Historical Society. I have painted my versions of the Virgina flag and it prints are available..
