Civil War

Minnesota—a three-year old state—had a small population of only 175,000 when it offered a regiment of 1,000 volunteer militia troops to President Lincoln to uphold the Union in April 1861. It was the first state to do so and first to enlist was Aaron Greenwald of Anoka, who was killed at Gettysburg. Josias B. King from St. Paul later claimed the title of the first volunteer in the Union Army. Over 22,000 Minnesotans served in 22 different volunteer military organizations between 1861 and 1865. More than 600 these died in action and three times that number died of disease and accident. 

Minnesotans played a conspicuous part in many of the major battles of the Civil of War. The First Minnesota Infantry fought with the Army of the Potomac in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The other regiments, battalions, and batteries fought Confederates elsewhere in the south or in pursuit of Dakota Indians in the western campaigns. Altogether, Minnesota fielded eleven infantry regiments, an independent infantry battalion, two companies of sharpshooters, a regiment of mounted rangers, a regiment of cavalry, two cavalry battalions (Brackett’s Battalion and Hatch’s Battalion), a regiment of heavy artillery, and three batteries of light artillery. 

The last surviving soldier in the Union Army was also a Minnesotan. Albert Woolson from Duluth died in 1956 at age 106. He had enlisted as a teenager in the First Regiment of Minnesota Heavy Artillery.