by Rosie Court
Guest Writer
Imprisoned soldiers had high death rates. “Standards of Conduct” of warfare were violated. Confederate prisons, especially “Andersonville” in Georgia, were notorious for having inhumane conditions. It epitomized the horrors of the Civil War. Prisoners had little shelter, lack of medical supplies, endured intense heat, insects, disease, overcrowding and virtually no sanitation in disgusting prison pens. Men were fed a spoonful of beans and a handful of corn a day. Water when available was full of bacteria. Virtually everyone was sick. At war’s end 13,000 prisoners died due to malnutrition or disease. A total of 50,000 died in prisons. The dead were buried in mass trenches. By August 1864 more than 32,000 Union troops were held in a 26-acre camp.
Union troops captured 462,000 soldiers during the war. A Union prison, Elmira (known as “Hellmira” by inmates), in New York had horrific conditions lacking proper provisions. One winter many POWs froze to death due to lack of shelter. Out of 12,000 inmates 25 percent died from disease and illness.
Desertion was a problem for both sides. For Union troops it was considered a capital offense, facing the possibility of execution. Desertion rates became more frequent later in the war, especially in the South. If returned to their ranks, some were offered amnesty.
The Battle of Fredericksburg on December 1862 was a decisive win for Gen. Lee. He stopped Gen. Burnside’s Union troops. Unable to advance through the securely entrenched Rebel line, they suffered casualties. During the night wounded troops froze to death.
On May 1, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Lee won another battle. Considered his greatest victory, it inflicted one of the worst defeats on the Union Army commanded by Gen. (Fighting Joe) Hooker. It came at a cost. Lee’s troops suffered 13,000 casualties and Stonewall Jackson was killed. Union losses were 13,000.
Lee decided to invade the North. After marching his 75,000 troops toward Washington, D.C., both armies met by chance at Gettysburg on June 30,1863. General Meade led 80,000 troops to the small town. On July 1, Rebels attacked Yankee troops. The next day both massive armies were on parallel ridges: Union forces on Cemetery Ridge and Confederates on Seminary Ridge.
For a month, the First Minnesota marched toward Gettysburg exhausted from intense heat with blistered feet, dirty, ragged uniforms in rain and mud. Thrust into the Battle of Gettysburg they showed their bravery. Soldiers engaged around the hills and in the fields at Little Round Top, Big Round Top, Peach Orchard, Wheatfields and Cemetery Hill. Out of the 1st Minnesota Regiment of 1,000 men, only 262 were left to fight.
On July 2, 1863, those Minnesotans were shouted an order by Col. William Colvill to charge. The goal was to stop a Rebel attack from breaching the Union Line. Reinforcements wouldn’t arrive for five minutes. As they marched a double-quick step with fixed bayonets, under a volley of rifle and artillery fire, they charged on 1,600 rebels down Cemetery Ridge. They knew it was a sacrificial attack to buy time. It ended in grappled hand-to-hand fighting. The greatly outnumbered 1st Minnesota made a heroic charge. They defended the position until reinforcements arrived. It was a sheer test of bravery under extreme hardships.
Stopping the attack came at a high cost. Only 47 of the 262 men were left standing. It was the highest casualty rate suffered by any Union regiment in a single engagement. Eighty two percent of that were killed or wounded. At Gettysburg, a large bronze statue commemorates the charge. Their actions turned the tide of the battle, a major turning point in the war. It was a victory for the North. Failure to drive back the rebels would have risked the Union’s capital being captured.
The next day, survivors of the 1st Minnesota were thrust into the thick of it again. Lee ordered Gen. Pickett to attack at the center of Gen. Meade’s battle line. Pickett led 12,000 Rebels charging across open fields towards the Yankees. Gen. Hancock ordered The 1st Minnesota to take action. The Rebels were mowed down in swaths. The Minnesotans repulsed the valiant but doomed charge with hand-to-hand fighting. The attack failed, costing Lee 5,000 soldiers in one hour. After the smoke cleared, what followed was the awful carnage with bloody, torn and mutilated corpses covering the fields. “Pickett’s Charge” was known as one of the worst disasters in the Civil War. Gettysburg evokes the triumph and tragedy of war. What remained were 8,000 bodies strewn across the fields left to decay. All buildings in the town were filled with wounded men on both sides.
An article in the Chicago Tribune stated: “There are few regiments seen that can compare to brawn and muscle as the First Minnesota. They are unquestionably the finest body of troops that has yet appeared in our streets.”
Their efforts at Gettysburg gave the regiment legendary status, distinguishing them as a brave fighting unit of the Civil War.
At the seven-month Battle of Vicksburg in July of 1863, Confederates surrendered. Union gunboats had shelled the city. Securing control of the Mississippi River was a blow to the Rebels. A vital port to the Confederacy, it cut its supply lines in half. It came the day after Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg. Both major losses impacted the soldiers’ morale.
Minnesotans played key roles in both battles. The 4th Minnesota Infantry was among the first to enter Vicksburg. The 5th Minnesota Infantry and the 1st Minnesota Light Artillery served in the campaign. During the battle the 3rd Minnesota Infantry participated in the final push to capture the city.
A well-known Union unit, the “Irish Brigade,” left Ireland hoping for a better life. However, the war found them fighting against one another. Five gallant regiments of the 28th Massachusetts marched proudly under a green battle flag. At Marye’s Heights at Fredericksburg, 535 men lost their lives at a failed attempt to charge near a stone wall held by the Rebels. Proud of their Irish heritage they fought for a cause proving they were truly Americans.
President Lincoln delivered his powerful speech, the “Gettysburg Address,” offering a sense of hope to heal our country. On this solemn day he dedicated part of the Gettysburg Battlefield be a Union National Cemetery. He wanted the nation to remember “that we highly resolve the dead should have not died in vain.” This epic address, many claim, was the most stirring 272 words ever spoken. Lincoln was Commander of the Fallen, establishing his relationship between the living and the dead. Now the battlefield was a haunting reminder of those lives lost.