Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Goedkoop: Union Counterattacks Part 5
December 1, 2011
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock on horseback in the center of the painting, directs Colonel William Colvill of the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment to charge down the west slope of Cemetery Ridge towards Confederates approaching a weak point in the Union line. This image, titled “Minnesota Forward” by artist Dale Gallon is courtesy of Ms. Anne Gallon and Mr. Dale Gallon of Gallon Historical Art Inc., 9 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Their telephone number is 717-334-8666. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. Their web address is gallon.com.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Dr. Rich Goedkoop is the host for a series on Union Counterattacks on Cemetery Ridge During July 2, 1863. He is a professor of Communication at LaSalle University. Rich began his professional career in education as a Graduate Assistant at Central Michigan University. He received his Masters there in 1977 and went on to Pennsylvania State University to receive his Doctorate in 1980. Rich joined La Salle that same year. Throughout his career, Rich has taken an active interest in news and public affairs television programming which inspired his book, Inside Local Television News (1988). His numerous reviews and articles have appeared in such publications as Journalism Quarterly, The Journal of Broadcasting, Feedback, and Critical Studies in Mass Communication.
Rich Goedkoop writes, “I wish to thank Licensed Battlefield Guide and close friend Cliff Detweiler, for research assistance on this series, and especially on this post on the First Minnesota. I would also like to thank Mr. Dale Gallon and Ms. Anne Gallon of Gallon Historical Art, Gettysburg, PA (Gallon.com) for the gracious use of two of Dale Gallon’s paintings for illustrations of key moments of the First Minnesota at Gettysburg.”
In the first Union Counterattacks’ post, Rich Goedkoop introduces us to the Union Counterattacks’ series, and explains how Major General Sickles’ forward move on July 2, 1863 necessitated the counterattacks.
In the second Union Counterattacks’ post, LBG Rich Goedkoop shows us the monuments to the 39th New York, the 111th New York, and the 125th New York on the Gettysburg Battlefield.
In the third Union Counterattacks’ post, LBG Rich Goedkoop showed us the monument to the 126th New York and the markers for the positions of Willard’s Brigade and the site where Willard was killed.
In the fourth Union Counterattacks’ post, LBG Rich Goedkoop shows us the monuments to the 150th New York and the 1st Maryland Potomac Home Brigade on Culp’s Hill, and where they attacked at the Trostle Farm on July 2, 1863.
In today’s Union Counterattacks’ post, Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Goedkoop shows us the area where the First Minnesota Infantry Regiment charged from Cemetery Ridge into the area around Plum Run on July 2, 1863.
This map shows the location of the videos for Union Counterattacks series. Videos #1-#13 were shown in our previous posts. Video #11 was taken at the monument to the 150th New York Infantry Regiment. Video #12 was taken at the monument to the 1st Maryland Potomac Home Brigade. Video #13 was taken at the Trostle Farm. Videos #s 14-16 were taken near the monument to the 1st Minnesota Regiment on Cemetery Ridge. This map was created facing north at approximately 6:15 PM on Saturday, November 12, 2011.
Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Goedkoop is standing on Cemetery Ridge near the monument to the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
In Video #14 (Videos #1-#13 were shown in our previous posts) Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Goedkoop is standing by the July 2, 1863 monument to the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment on Cemetery Ridge. He provides some background on the regiment. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
A closer view of the bas relief on the north side of the monument to the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815-April 22, 1903) was the Governor of Minnesota at the beginning of the Civil War. He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1815 and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania as a Whig between 1843-1847 when he was appointed Territorial Governor of Minnesota. He became mayor of St. Paul in 1855 and was Minnesota’s second elected governor (as a Republican) serving between 1860-63. He may have offered the 1st Minnesota Regiment as the first volunteers for Union service. While in Washington, D.C. on April 13, 1861,(a day after the firing on Ft. Sumter) he personally offered President Lincoln 1,000 men “to defend the Union.” These soldiers became the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Ramsey resigns the governorship in 1863 and serves as U.S. Senator from Minnesota between that year and 1875. Later, he becomes Secretary of War during a part of the Rutherford B. Hayes administration. He was also known for his stern statements against Native Americans, once saying: “The Sioux Indians of Minnesota must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the state.” This view was created circa the 1860s and is courtesy of Richard Goedkoop.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Richard Goedkoop explains how Hancock approached the 1st Minnesota on Cemetery Ridge and ordered them to charge into the Confederates near Plum Run.This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
Colonel William Colvill Jr. (1830-1905) commanded the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg. Colvill was born in Forestville, New York on April 5, 1830. He died in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 13, 1905. In his early career he studied law in upstate New York in the office of Millard Fillmore, a future President. He moved to Minnesota in 1854 to practice law and established a newspaper in Red Wing. At 6’5″ tall and well-spoken, he was elected the first Captain of Company F of the First Minnesota in 1861. Wounded several times before Gettysburg, he became its last Colonel in May, 1863. At Gettysburg, he was wounded 3 times in his regiment’s famous counterattack; a foot wound required him to use a cane for the rest of his life. He returned to his regiment in February, 1864 and later was brevetted a Brigadier General in 1865. He held a number of elected and appointed political positions in his adopted state until his death in Minneapolis in 1905. A bronze portrait statue for him was dedicated in Cannon Falls, Minnesota in 1928, and the event was attended by President Calvin Coolidge and 20,000 citizens. This image was taken circa the 1860s and is courtesy of Richard Goedkoop.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Richard Goedkoop is standing on the west slope of Cemetery Ridge. On the evening of July 2, 1863, the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regient charged from the camera’s position towards Confederates approaching in the background. The trees and bushes in the background mark the course of Plum Run. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
In Video #15 Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Goedkoop moves down the slope in the area that the 1st Minnesota did on the late afternoon/early evening of July 2, 1863. He reads a quote from one of the survivors. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
This painting shows the members of the 1st Minnesota Regiment that formed a battleline along Plum Run on the late afternoon of July 2, 1863. Plum Run is the ditch to the left (west) of the battleline. This image, titled “Not a Man Wavered” by artist Dale Gallon is courtesy of Ms. Anne Gallon and Mr. Dale Gallon of Gallon Historical Art Inc., 9 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Their telephone number is 717-334-8666. Their e-mail address is [email protected]. Their web address is gallon.com.
In Video #17 Rich Goedkoop presents a quote from former Gettysburg historian Harry Pfanz on the importance of the 1st Minnesota’s charge on July 2, 1863. This view was taken facing southwest to east at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.
The strengths and losses of the Union units that counterattacked the Confederates along Cemetery Ridge on July 2, 1863.
One of the best books regarding the action on July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg is a book by a former Gettysburg National Park Service Historian, Harry Pfanz. It is titled, Gettysburg: The Second Day.
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