The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers

The first Minnesota Volunteers company, that state's sole representative in the Army of the Potomac, is best remembered for its heroic charge on the second day of Gettysburg. The Minnesotans, however, served for three full years, beginning in 1861 at Bull Run and enduring some of the Civil War's bloodiest battles. Of a thousand original enlistees, fewer than 200 stood in ranks when the regiment mustered out in April 1864. Moe's account is regimental history at its best, as he synthesizes letters, diaries and contemporary newspaper reports to recapture the perspective of the men themselves. He depicts their bursts of patriotic zeal, their frustration in the face of repeated defeats, and above all their sense of duty and comradeship, which kept the regiment steadfast through the Union's darkest days. Moe is president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. (Apr.)