A perceptive and detailed Civil War memoir of the First Minnesota
Regiment chronicling such famous battles as Bull Run, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg.
James A. Wright was an orderly sergeant in Company F of the First
Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War. His memoir,
based on his diaries and letters, is the fullest personal account of the
battles, marches, and soldier life of one of the most renowned regiments
in the Army of the Potomac. The First took part in every significant
battle and action in the war in the East from 1861 to 1864. In
remarkable detail, he describes the fighting at Bull Run, the Peninsula
Campaign, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Bristoe Station. At
Gettysburg, the First Minnesota halted the Confederate charge and
suffered an 82 percent casualty rate. Wright's account of the battle is
striking in its description of the horror the men felt at facing their
foes, their determination to do their duty, and the shock of the loss of
so many of their comrades.
With an eloquence rare in war memoirs, Wright recalls the long marches,
the poor food, the inadequate shelter, the dedicated officers, the
debilitating illnesses, the longing for home, and the sense of pride in
carrying out the struggle to preserve the Union. For conveying what the
Civil War meant to one man, it is unmatched.
