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Show SH FOR THE COLORS. forlorn Charge of the First Minneseta. Infantry at Gettys-' burg. ABALLELED IN HIBT0BY. er of Killed Nerer Equalled in ,Begiment-A Similar Fate Befel the First Texas. . t : 0 MORE gallant deed recorded recor-ded in history, was Gen. I Hancock's tribute to First 1 Minnesota for their forlorn charge at Gettysburg, July 1 o 1853. Unlike many brili-l brili-l hint feats of arms, the dash 1 of the First Minnesota was 1 attended with the most pala-..vidences pala-..vidences of the struggle cone The annals of fighting lied with accounts of charges iffflnnonVmouthaud hand to hand 'inters of indescribable fierceness tthe loss of life Is remarkably smalL wrcoatage of loss tn killed end nded in the charge of the First Minne-ras Minne-ras the highest sustained by any ,o regiment in the civil war, and it (icepded by only three-tenths of 1 tent by Confederate regiment, the Texas, in the fatal corn-field at ttwn. The percentage of killed in the .Minnesota, according to Col. Fox, the arj statistician, was unequaled in all laryeiperience so far as recorded. Of he grand exploits of that marvelous Itfisld of Gettysburg, the charge ..iw. Minnesota was bv all odds the The odds were with them if thevoW foresee the point, of attack McCWto Rf n TTemJnt 03 es left, where nSXS. " command. Around Dunker church, which stood near a turn pike, was an elevated wooded nLiHnn which McClellan hoped TcZ "J?4 ffa1 rora two Erections On the Confederate front there was a wide, open stretcu, with 80me elevated posi c2U tM t0? Unlon canno the Confederates would allow them to remain! Directly in front of the church, some hun-drcd hun-drcd yards distant, was a field of thick corn and a small, detached wood, and on the Confederate left flank of the corn field was the best high, open ground for Union batteries. Whoever controlled the corn field could control the artillery site. Hood's division advanced from the woods around Dunker church toward the corn field on the morning of the 17th They had occupied the ground the day before, be-fore, when the enemy was on one front only, the direct one, and they advanced cautiously through the tall corn toward what was supposed tone the only threatened threat-ened point, and where re-enforcements were needed for a fight already in progress. The First Texas was in Woff ord's brigade and was in the center, with two regiment on either flank. While marching forward in this mannor Col. Wofford saw the columns col-umns of Union troops threatening his left regiments and ordered the First Texas to face to the left and help beut off the enemy. en-emy. The regiment responded, but in a short time was ordered to move by the right flank again to correspond to the movement of the Union troops. These maneuvers threw tho Texans out of line with the rest of the brigiide and they entered en-tered the cora field of tall standing stalks fighting on their own hook. The enemy which the First Texas had been sent against was in the corn, and this was so dense that the eye could penetrate but a few feet. , 1 dramatic, the most eventful, the desperate. ie story of the disaster of the second of the battle, when Gen. Sickles' Third stras overwhelmed at the Peach Or-4 Or-4 is familiar to every one. Sickles the extreme left with one corps iso-!, iso-!, and was attacked at a time when he d not be withdrawn, and the only g to do, as Gen. Meade expressed it, to stand and fight it out. The battle d for hours with terrible fierceness, division after division was sent to the or of the Third corps. Hancock's Sec-corps Sec-corps was on Sickles' right and coned con-ed his line with the main army on etery Eidge. From this line detach-;j detach-;j had been made until there was ly a skirmish line left to support the tries, which were the mainstay of the . iioa. The turning point of Sickles' tiris when the angle ot his line was eo in and his troops forced to retreat, this moment the Confederate com-iiier com-iiier ordered forward fresh troops to the interval between Sickles and nock. The smoke of battle covered the le field and anxious uncertainty filled minds of Meade and Hancock, who ed up and down the line on the ridge i; to keep the run of what was hap-ng hap-ng to Sickles. When at last it was that the Third corps must fall back desrdered up reinforcements from an-rpart an-rpart of the field to support Hancock, Hancock himself went toward Sickles' to see what could be done to aid the ten corps. Idle making his way to that point he through a rift in the clouds of battle ke that hovered over the field a Con-rate Con-rate brigade (Wilicox's) moving up ly with flying colors within a few rods i exposed portion of his lino! The en-, en-, if let alone, would strike a battery xrted by eight companies of the First ntsota, and there were no other troops ijht. Re-enforcements were on the . but were some minutes distant, ting over the little phalanx of a couple hundred or so the hero exclaimed, ?ai God! is this all the men we have Then with a sweep of his eagle eye ;eadvancing columns and their men-? men-? battle flags of red, ho said to the mander of the First-. "f"nl PnWiilo THE LOST COLORS. In this thicket fighting began, and the colonel of the First Texas stated in his report t'.iat as soon as the ball opened he could not restrain his men. Formation could not be maintained main-tained and every man went on wherever wher-ever he could find a foeman, and no formidable for-midable check was made until the farther edge of the corn field was reached. Here there was a rail fence and beyond a low ridge crowned with Union batteries. As soon as the retiring Union troops passed under their line of lire the batteries opened on Wofford's men, and the First Texas, being in front, close on the heajs of the Union infantry, received a galling shower of missiles. The men halted, and opening on the gunners and horses inflicted a terrible ter-rible punishment, compelling the artillerists artiller-ists to limber up and prepare to move away. But a fresh column of Union infantry in-fantry came up, and moving in solid lines swept on through the corn, pushing Wofford's Wof-ford's brigade before them, and the doomed First Texas, far in the exposed rear, was caught the second time at a disadvantage. The commanding officer says in his report re-port that although he had but a handful of men he hesitated to order a retreat, and when at last he did so the few men remaining re-maining to him turned at regular intervals inter-vals and fired upon the enemy. Four of his color bearers were shot down under the eye of the colonel, and he recognized them all. Four others fell carrying the colors, s imhiu uuks oi reu, no saia io tne mander of the First, "Col. Colville, ioce snd take those colors. " ienien arose with a will and advanced lydown the slope to tho plain to per-i per-i their terrible task. : The situation one that every man in the ranks could :rstand. It was a movement to save nd the First Minnesota was to be a 8P to hold back the onrnshing flood lostile bayonets until succor came, 'twere SBofficers and men in the com-f com-f nd the Confederates numbered one , Willcox'a brigade being in- ad-. ad-. Shot and shell tore over the field, thousands of ffiuskets were sending rtr?8 theP!ain8 to clear tho road he Confederate advanw. At every me Minnesotiana fell, but they meld their fire, advanced with bare and at the signal, within fifty s of the enemy, they sprang ahead scheer. flax's men wrapped their line at the around the brave fellows, receiving in ," Minnesotian's first volley at 'length. The Confederate colors were 'm the advance was broken. -Ba-'tuicox could rally his men the Union at work uPn hlm-and .would have been a great Confederate ,an triumph was checked. The oi Willcox wandered off in the in- but none ot the Btirvivors couiu laenmy thorn. Finally the flag disappeared in the corn, the bearer falling unseen, and when the colonel asked for tho standard he was told that it had left the field. When the remnant came together in the open field beyond the corn swarmed with Union troops, and it was too late to attempt to recover re-cover the flag. Out of 228 Texans that entered en-tered the fight 45 were killed and 141 wounded, or 8B.3 per cent. The commander, after recounting his action and his loss, devoted much of his report to explanation of the loss of his colors. col-ors. He wrote: "While falling back (being still in the corn field) I gave the order to halt and inquired in-quired for the colors, intending to dress on them, when I was told the colors had gone out of the corn field. Then I gave the order or-der to move out of the corn and form behind be-hind the crest of a small ridge just outside. It was when I reached this point that I became satisfied our colors were lost, for I looked in every direction and they were nowhere to be seen. It was then too Jate to recover them. There was no one who knew the spot where they had last fallen, said owing to the density of the corn a view of no object could be had but for a few feet. By this time, also, the enemy had moved up within S"i or 40 yards of my I left and rear. No blame, I feel, snoum attach to the men or officers, all of whom fought heroically and well. There was no such conduct on their part as abandoning or deserting their colors. The colors started back with them, and when they were lost no man knew save him who had fallen with them." This apology, made when four out of every five of his men lay dead or bleeding, shows how strong is the soldier's ruling Dassion for the honor of his flag. v George L. Kilmer. ade's reinforcements came T5?,and the crisis of danger on llidge was over. But the First 40t,Was Rone. Forty-seven men ' ins T7, retttn- Fifty were dead or list xr tImes that nnmber wera il 5 one waa "aissing, for never rdiu ?!ered' and no man dodged s 2 ieftthe Forty-seven , hed back to the ridge, and the GcstL , Confederate shot were tho ravst .onnt for the absences of en left behind. amounted to 82 per cent, of Jed? u The kiUed mortally kf ,or88percent.-an aa, i ,.when one reflects that the and f eTel7 flve men four it Ts everv four ne was silenced c tx Jttfication for this sacrifice Pressed in the language of him I .SfMible, Gen. Hancock. He Isaw tif tthose men ln tnere be i f at I must gain flve minutes bat I en-te coming onjhe tneUni tha before'they could weatened point the Confeder- edbJ?ecked- W9nll sci26 aen? I would have ordered iaW hi'? ."IJ,bd known that every l&siflUed- It had to be done, . (a at h'.Hind 80011 gallant body 'eriflcet? WWtog to maka the teT' 1 otuTnflttheccasion demanded." to rl regiment tbe whole s Katies Percentage of loss among 'intha?1. Firat Texas, Hood's rout of n, ground of carnage U, He 'nker church, Antietam, jhe situation .grovyad |