See PAST EVENTS for photos and information on events already completed.
JAN 3: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
JAN 14: 1st Minnesota Regiment at Henry Hill, Bull Run 1861, aka 1st Manassas. This vignette will be performed at the Department of Minnesota, VFW Mid-Winter Conference at the Minneapolis Marriott.
FEB 7: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
MAR 7: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
APR 4: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
APR 28-30: Spring Muster - Sunny Hill Farm
MAY 2: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
MAY 29: Memorial Day- Parade in White Bear Lake and ceremony recognizing 1st Minnesota Soldier who eventually died of his wounds from Gettysburg at the Union Cemetery.Uniform is sack coat, forage cap, blackened leathers and polished brass. . JUN 6: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
JUN 16: Manitou Day Parade- in White Bear Lake, MN. Form up at 5:30, parade starts at 6:30 on Friday. Meet at the corner of 2nd Street and Clark Avenue by the GAR monument. Uniform: Traps, canteen full of water, sack coat, trousers, forage cap or hat, blackened brogans, cleaned musket.
JUN 23-25: Gettysburg 160th(battle reenactment) in PA.
JUL 15:Pan-O-Prog Parade - in Lakeview, MN. Be there well before 4:30 as streets are closed off, parade starts at 5:30. Uniform: Traps, canteen full of water, sack coat, trousers, forage cap or hat, blackened brogans, clean musket and 10 blanks as we march and fire in this parade with an "... estimated 20,000 spectators lining the entire parade route".
AUG 1: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
AUG 12: Last Soldier Dedication ceremony - in Duluth. The Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War have invited members of the 1st Minnesota to participate in the ceremony for Albert Woolson, the last soldier in the Civil War who died in 1956
SEP 5: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, meeting (w/ nominations) at 8:00 at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
SEP 8-10: Reenactment- LeDuc Civil War weekend in Hastings at the LeDuc Mansion
SEP 17: MN Military & Veterans Museum - Living History and Honor Guard at groundbreaking ceremony
OCT 3: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting (with elections) starts at 8:00 at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
OCT 27: The 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Inc. 50th Anniversary - 1973 -2023. 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Bloomington Event Center 1114 American Boulevard West Spouses/guests are welcome. Period attire encouraged but not required. $35/person
NOV 7: Meeting - Drilling starts at 7:00 PM, the meeting starts at 8:00 PM at the Fort Snelling Base Camp
DEC 5: Meeting - Waldmann Brewery & Wurstery, 445 Smith Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55102
Addition Event Details
More on Drilling before Meetings New to the unit and want to prepare for muster? Or, are you in a new leadership position and need to practice giving marching orders before a reenactment? Or do you just need to knock the rust off your marching? Take advantage of the opportunity to socialize and drill with your pards before the meeting. This is also a good time to pay for bus tickets, buy what you need from the Quartermaster, coordinate with an NCO, or show the guys a new Civil War item you purchased for your collection.
More on Cedar Mountain Battle Reenactment Included in the slideshow are original photos and action photos taken at previous Cedar Mountain Reenactment Photos of Company D, 1st MN.
Planned event for 2023
.July 2023: Living History at Gettysburg. At this 160th Anniversary event we will actually be in the Gettysburg National Military Battlefield with our partners from D Company, 1st Minnesota Regiment! The First Minnesota is the only unit to have three monuments at Gettysburg. The big one was paid for in blood during their famous charge led by Colonel Colvill on Day 2, the second one is from their actions during Pickett's Charge on Day 3, and the third one is the urn (first regimental monument at Gettysburg) memorializing those Minnesota soldiers who were buried there.
Why is this battle so important to Minnesota? Why are there so many Civil War prints made about the 1st Minnesota Regiment at Gettysburg? Why should you go to Gettysburg to see this particular battlefield that became the turning point of the Civil War?
Day 2 at Gettysburg: After a series of grueling marches north in pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1863, the 1st Minnesota found itself on the battlefield at Gettysburg in the early Morning of July 2nd (day 2 of the battle) on Cemetery Ridge. At this time Company C was on another assignment. This left the regiment with only 262 men and officers. Union II Corp commander, Major General Hancock, seeing the danger of the Union position being overrun rode up to the Minnesota troops and asked Colvill "What Unit is this?" Colvill responded "1st Minnesota Sir!" Hancock's response was "Charge that line". Hancock knew that the charge was suicidal but hoped to delay the Confederates long enough to get reinforcements to the ridge. Without hesitation, Colvill ordered the charge against a brigade four to five times larger. Their sacrificial charge against overwhelming odds halted the Confederate advance. It bought desperately needed time for the center of the Union line to reform. Corporal Henry D. O’Brien of Company E was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on July 3rd when, “taking up the colors where they had fallen, he rushed ahead of his regiment, close to the muzzles of the enemy’s guns, and engaged in the desperate struggle in which the enemy was defeated, and though severely wounded, he held the colors until wounded a second time.” A total of 215 men and officers (82%) were killed, wounded, or missing on the afternoon of July 2nd 1863, the highest casualty rate in the Civil War. Among the wounded was Colvill who was hit three times and severely wounded. General Hancock ascribed unsurpassed gallantry to the famed assault stating: "There is no more gallant deed recorded in history".
Day 3 at Gettysburg: On July 3rd, the survivors of this regiment aided in repelling Pickett's Charge, running to the aid of Webb's Brigade taking a conspicuous part in the counter-charge which successfully ended the conflict. Amid the firefight, Private Marshall Sherman of Company C eyed a Virginian "shouting like mad,". He was barefoot, the legend goes, as he charged the Virginian with his bayonet. Jabbing at the enemy, Sherman said "Throw down that flag or I'll run you through." He was awarded the Medal of Honor for capturing the flag of the 28th Virginia Infantry. While they were a key part in this monumental victory, they lost an additional 17 and wounded.
