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Editor's Note: The following is taken mainly from the personal letters of Charles Edward Davis in the collection of the Minnesota Historical Society, and the account of the First Minnesota Volunteer Regiment in
Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1861-1865, published in 1889.
By Al Zdon
Work was not going well for Ed Davis in his adopted hometown of St. Paul in April of 1861. A railroad surveyor
by profession, he was 25 years old and unemployed. He wrote home about his prospects, "Everything in the future now looks dark and uncertain."
That concern with his personal future, though, was overshadowed in
his letters by descriptions of the war fever sweeping through St. Paul. On April 9, he reported a rumor he had heard that the soldiers at Fort Snelling had been ordered to Washington D.C., and that the St. Paul
Pioneer Guards, a state militia unit, was to be ordered to Ft. Ridgley on the Minnesota River.
Indeed, on April 13, in the wake of the firing on Ft. Sumpter, the Pioneer Guard unit held a meeting and the members
signed a paper agreeing to enlist in federal service when the call came forth.
Gov. Alexander Ramsey was on business that day in Washington and had tendered a regiment from Minnesota to President Lincoln, the
first state to offer troops in the developing crisis.
In a letter to his father on April 13, Davis said there was "intense excitement" in the war news, "and we shall await with some anxiety the telegraphs of
tomorrow."
"I regret civil war as much as anyone," he wrote. "But if all accounts are true, the Southerners richly deserve the 'dressing' they will receive." He concluded his letter, "My health is very good, and
if I had constant employment, I might be contented."
On April 16, the official call for volunteers did go out from Gov. Ramsey's office. The governor requested one regiment of 10 companies with 100 men in each
company. The call was received with enthusiastic support around the state.
Ed Davis didn't hesitate. He immediately went down and joined the Pioneer Guards. "The news has caused great excitement," he wrote his
brother, "and the Stars and Stripes are not only floating from all the places of business and public buildings, but even the private houses all over town are adorned with them."
"This City is unanimous for the
Union." He also told his brother that he hopes "the South gets whipped quicker than lightning."
Davis, who was 25 years old, had served earlier in the 7th New York Regiment and was an experienced soldier. He
talked about a commission in his letter, but concluded that, "I'd rather serve as a private." His enlistment was for three months.
The Pioneer Guards drilled daily in the St. Paul Armory and on the streets of the
city. "I am even at this late day better drilled than the best of them," Davis wrote home. "I could even learn the officers their tactics."
Despite his prowess at military life, Davis was somewhat bitter
to find that he was only being made a corporal. "I am willing to serve my country in any capacity, but this treatment is different from what I expected."
The First Minnesota was assembled and sworn in at Ft.
Snelling on April 29, 1861. The old fort was in a state of disuse, and the men spent some time getting it ready. They were served a good dinner that night on rough boards using tin plates and tin cups.
The men
had no uniforms, but were issued a blanket, a red flannel shirt and a pair of stockings. The shirts had been purchased hurriedly at various stores in St. Paul. Some of the units had brought Springfield rifles with
them, and others were issued .69 caliber muskets from the state armory.
Davis was assigned as a corporal to Company A, and he confided in a letter that the new officers assigned were lacking in military
experience and "about as inefficient set of men as could be found."
The drilling went on daily. On May 7th, Davis wrote: "I have been hard at work day after day drilling the boys." He was transferred from the St.
Paul Company to the Wabasha volunteers, Company I, and was acting as the company's orderly, in charge of much of the paperwork that had to be done.
"We have been given comfortable quarters and plenty to eat," he
wrote. He also had information that six of the companies would be sent off to garrison duty at regional forts in order to free up the regular army troops stationed there to be sent back East.
"The boys protest
against any such proceedings, and say they did not enlist to fortify the forts in the state," he wrote. "They cannot see how they can defend the Constitution when occupying a fort, even on the Red River."
Davis
said he enjoyed the group of men from Wabasha, "as good a lot of young fellows as could be found."
On May 7th, the men were asked to re-enlist for three years, or the duration of the war, rather than the three
months they had originally signed up for. The request was not greeted with enthusiasm by Company I.
"The boys are dissatisfied with their officers, and I think with some reason." Davis said the men would sign on
for three years if the present officers would resign, but they had declined to do so. Some of the men, including Davis, asked to be discharged so they could join the Stillwater company, but the request was denied.
Many of the men eventually did sign on for the three-year hitch, but many others had had their taste of army life and went home. Their ranks were quickly filled by new recruits eager to join the regiment and go
to war.
On May 9th, the regiment was issued black felt hats and black pantaloons to complete their wardrobe. The Winona company, though, kept their splendid gray uniforms that had been presented to them by the
people of Winona.
On May 21, the regiment was marched to Nicollet Island in Minneapolis for a banquet given on their honor. On May 24, they marched to the Capitol to receive a state flag from the women of St.
Paul. They then participated in a banquet in their honor at the Winslow House.
Fort Snelling was a beehive of activity in those weeks, always full of relatives, friends and visitors who came to see the regiment
drill and to bring them items of support.
A typical day for the soldiers began at 5 a.m. with roll call. Sick call was at 6:30 with breakfast at 7:30. The company drilled from from 8-10 a.m. and then joined the
rest of the regiment for a drill from 10 to 11:30.
Lunch was at 12:30, company drill from 2-4 p.m., regimental drill until 5:30, and supper at 6:30. There was a dress parade at 7, roll calls at 7:30 p.m. and 9
p.m. followed by lights out.
As expected, two companies each were sent off to Ft. Ripley, north of St. Cloud, to Ft. Ridgley on the Minnesota River, and to Fort Abercrombie on the Red River to relieve the army
troops. Four companies, including Davis' Company I, stayed at Fort Snelling.
Davis was proud of his comrades. "The boys are getting settled down in to something like soldiers. This is as fine a regiment as has
ever been mustered into service, and a fighting one at that." But the drilling was "monotonous. I shall be glad when we get started off South."
Davis had heard of a grand master plan where the Federal army would
soon number some 500,000 men and would march through the South from three points of the compass by early Fall of 1861.
By early June, Davis was promoted to a sergeant major of the regiment, but he still hoped for
eventual promotion to the officer ranks. "When we get into active service, I shall either get killed or get promoted."
On June 14, the First Minnesota received orders to Washington D.C., and the camp was filled
with joy. The men were awakened to the news, and they didn't bother getting dressed, but rushed around hurrahing loudly and hugging each other.
The companies who were stationed at the outlying forts were
recalled. The men of Company E, worried they might miss the movement to Washington, marched all night from Ft. Ripley to rejoin the regiment.
The regiment left Fort Snelling on June 22 at 6 a.m. on two
steamboats to take them down the Mississippi River to meet the nearest railroad lines. Davis was on board the Northern Belle and the boat stopped at Hastings, Red Wing, Wabasha and Winona along the way so the young
men could say goodbye to their families and friends. "The scenes of parting were truly affecting."
In a letter to his father, Davis recalled his thoughts at the boat left Winona. "As the moon rose above the
bluffs behind the town, we bid farewell to Minnesota to which place all of us can never hope to return."
The men reached LaCrosse at 11 p.m. that night, and were transferred to railway cars for the journey to
Chicago where they arrived the next evening. They marched through town, and the Chicago Tribune wrote, "They are unquestionably the finest body of troops that has yet appeared on our streets."
Onward they
traveled to Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, greeted all along the way by cheering crowds waving handkerchiefs and flags at the young soldiers. "It was a perfect ovation," Davis wrote.
Even when the train neared
Washington and entered areas considered loyal to the South, the reception was still warm. "The enthusiasm was just as great, especially among the ladies. The Minnesota First is truly a good looking body of men."
The reception in Baltimore, though, was not quite so cordial. A hostile throng quietly lined the street as the regiment marched from one train station to another. "We marched through the city with guns loaded and
capped."
"The boys would have given a good account of themselves had they been molested."
They arrived in Washington late at night on June 26 and were quartered in churches in the city. The next day, they
moved to a camp a half mile east of the Capitol, and on July 3, were marched to new quarters across the Potomac near Alexandria, Virginia. The Fifth Massachusetts was bivouacked on one side, and the 6th Pennsylvania
on the other side. "We allow no one in our camp, and none of the boys are allowed to go out."
"There are quite a number of Successionists about four miles from us strongly entrenched," Davis wrote. The weather
was "hot and sultry." He noted that Confederate Gen. Beauregard had been threatening Washington with his troops, but "He is as near Washington as he will ever get with an army."
Davis had a tent of his own, one
of perquisites of his rank, and he was situated about 25 feet from Col. Gorman, the regiment's top officer. As a sergeant major, he wore blue pants and a gray, flannel shirt. He carried no arms except a sword and a
pistol, "and I find them enough."
By July 8th, the Second Michigan and the New York Fire Zouaves had joined the camp near Virginia, swelling the population of the area to over 5,000 men. The weather had taken a
turn toward summer. "The heat is almost intolerable."
Life in camp was dreary, and the drilling was tedious. "The greatest caution to be taken is in health and I avoid all liquors of every kind, cold tea and
coffee being preferable to anything else. I regret to say that many of our boys are given to intoxication."
Davis wrote that the highlight of every day was the mail call.
He speculated in a letter to his
father what the upcoming action would be like. "A short and bloody fight's to many of us preferable to a protracted residence in this country where two hostile armies are gaping at one another." He compared the
standoff to a couple of school boys daring each other to fight.
"The boys are not afraid, and all they want is orders and they will be to Fairfax (Court House) in one night, and to Manassas the next day ready to
do or die."
On July 14, the men were ordered to place three days rations in their haversacks, pack up 40 rounds of ammunition and a blanket, and get ready to travel. "I have no doubt that our progress through
Virginia will be obstinately contested," Davis wrote. He noted the rumor that the Southern army was not allowed to have newspapers in camp, a sure sign to him that the Confederates didn't believe in their cause. He
expected victory by spring, and used several handwritten sheets of letter paper on expounding his bravado about the situation.
"Many of us will leave our bones in Southern soil, but they will die in a holy and
noble cause and in defense of the only flag worth dying for — the Stars and Stripes."
On July 16th, they finally began the slow trek south, leaving their knapsacks packed and in their tents. Ten men from each
company were left behind to guard the camp. The road to Fairfax Court House was 16 miles and crowded with troops, wagons, artillery and hundreds of spectators from Washington who had come down to see the battle.
By the 19th, they were in Centreville, just about three miles from Bull Run and five miles from Manassas Junction. The Union's ultimate objective was Richmond, but the short-term goal was to push the Confederate
Army back and give Washington D.C. some breathing room.
There were about 35,000 Federals on the field, the largest army ever assembled in North America to that point, under the direction of Gen. Irvin McDowell.
The Rebels had about 20,000 men, under Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, but reinforcements were arriving on the railway system at Manassas by the hour.
The First Minnesota was on the far right of the Union attack, and
crossed Bull Run early in the morning on July 21 at Sudley Ford. The plan was for the Union forces to wheel around and hit the Confederates hard from the northwest.
The battle went well for the Union through the
morning and they captured several hills from the Southern forces as they drove them back. Victory seemed almost in sight, with the road to Richmond open and waiting.
About 2 p.m., the tide of battle turned,
though. The Federals brought two batteries to the top of Henry House Hill. Ricketts' Battery was supported by the First Minnesota. The Federals were unaware that a very large Southern force was in the woods just 80
or 100 yards from where the artillery was set up.
Ricketts Battery came up through the middle of the Minnesotans, splitting the regiment in two for the remainder of the battle. As the guns were just beginning to
fire, the Confederates attacked. The Minnesotans and other units held off the ferocious attack, including point blank blasts of canister and grape from Southern artillery. Three times the Rebels captured the Federal
guns, and three time the Union troops recaptured them — twice by the First Minnesota. Finally, with a pause in the action, it looked like the Federals had won the day. There were "huzzahs" of triumph at Henry House
Hill.
Despite the temporary victory, the Union regiments were disorganized and also very thirsty by this time. Many of the men had gone to fill their canteens, and others had gone souvenir hunting. Many others
were just overcome by the long and hot day. When the Rebels came again, the First Minnesota was forced to fall back with the other Union regiments.
The Minnesotans marched through Centreville all the way to
Alexandria, and after a few hours sleep, were awakened to march into Washington.
Ed Davis wrote a letter to his brother on July 23, probably as soon as he had a chance after the long march. "We were in the
thickest of the fight," he began.
He praised the regiment and reported that the Minnesotans had continually and cooly fired, reloaded and fired again despite being under heavy fire from "thousands of the enemy
within 100 feet of us."
"No soldiers in the world could stand such a fire as we experienced, and so we retreated. We are cut almost to pieces."
Davis said in that letter written hours after the battle that
over 400 of the regiment were killed or wounded. Those figures were exaggerated, but the First Minnesota did suffer the highest casualty rate of any unit in the battle with 42 killed, 108 wounded and 30 missing in
action — fully 20 percent of the men engaged at Bull Run.
Davis survived with no major wounds, but his description of rain of fire on Henry House is harrowing:
"I have, thank God, escaped unhurt with but one
scratch during the action. I wear a sword scabbard of heavy copper. A bullet struck it within 1/4 inch of its top indenting it so much that I could only put the point of my sword in. 1/2 inch higher, and it might
have gone through my body. Another bullet struck the scabbard about midway bending it out to nearly a right angle. Another took my pistol holder clean off my belt. While another took a small piece from the top of my
ear."
Davis described one incident when the Minnesotans were attacked by Confederate cavalry. "I picked up my revolver, and when the cavalry made its charge, I fired my shots then threw my revolver at them and
broke for the woods. I think I was the last of our regiment (alive) to leave. When I went over the fence they were not 50 feet behind me and the bullets were whistling about my head like rain. How I escaped, I don't
know."
Davis wrote that after the First Minnesota's second charge, when they held the hill for a time, the regiment was only able to muster 450 men. As the Confederates counter-attacked, Col. Heinzelman rode up
to Col. Gorman and said, "Good day, officer. Take your men from the field or they will all be slaughtered."
The regiment retreated, much to the chagrin of Davis. "I was on the field till the battle was over, and
I never was so mortified as when I heard that our army was in full retreat. I wished at that moment that I had left my body there."
The next day, July 24, as the regiment took up temporary quarters in Washington,
Davis had time to right a longer letter to his brother with more details about the battle.
He describes how the First Minnesota had left Centreville about 2 a.m. the morning of the battle. Davis filled his
canteen with cold coffee, and left his blanket behind.
By 9 a.m., they could hear the battle, and an hour later they were near the scene of the fighting. They filled their canteens with water "almost unfit for
cattle" and marched quick time and then double quick time to the front, seeing many dead and wounded along the way.
The men stripped off their haversacks and blankets, "throwing them aside as we advanced,
retaining nothing but our arms, accouterments and canteens."
After this quick advance, the regiment was then ordered to wait for the arrival of Ricketts' artillery pieces. Davis checked his men. "I passed through
the lines and found everyone in good spirits and anxious to take a hand in."
The men advanced in four ranks on the extreme left of the enemy in an attempt to turn the Confederate left flank and, after a two mile
hike, "the cannon balls and shells were flying thick and fast, fortunately most of them over our heads."
The Minnesotans marched up Henry House Hill and formed a line of battle. "The battery was miserably
placed," Davis wrote. He informed Col. Gorman that the enemy was within 100 yards of their position, but Gorman mistakenly thought the men in the nearby woods were Union soldiers. Davis argued otherwise, but Gorman
replied, "No, sir, they are our friends. I depend on you to form the left wing."
Confusion was the rule of the day. The Union and Confederate troops were not yet outfitted in the blue and gray that became
traditional. For instance, the First Minnesota and the Alabama regiment they faced that day both wore red shirts. The Virginians, next to the Alabamans in the line, wore blue uniforms. And, of course, the First
Minnesota's Winona company was still attired in its gray uniforms.
Adding to the mess was the fact that Confederate flag carried at this battle looked a lot like the U.S. flag from a distance.
Davis
went down the line, readying the men, and saw clearly that the soldiers in the woods were not friendly troops. "Without waiting for the Colonel, I ordered 'Fire and load lying.'" Just as a hail of bullets exploded
from the woods, the Minnesotans hit the ground and began firing at the enemy, reloading four times before retreating from that exposed position.
The First Minnesota at that point received help from the New York
Fire Zouaves on the left, and Davis tried to rally his troops. Again, though, Col. Gorman intervened. "Cease firing, they are our friends," he ordered. The men stopped firing and were rewarded by another hail of
gunfire from the woods, and a charge of Confederate troops.
Again the Minnesotans fell back. Davis and the officers formed ranks "without regard to company, and up we went again over the hill." Once again, they
were forced to back off. "We retired in good order, firing as we went."
Davis wrote that at that point of the battle he hoped the Union troops were merely reorganizing for another attack, but he soon realized
that the orderly retreat by the Union army was becoming a rout. "It was indeed a terrible sight."
"I thought then and I think now we were betrayed by our generals. We had no reserves, nothing to rally on."
Davis recounted the retreat back to Alexandria and Washington, "the last 18 miles in heavy rain." The men had had nothing to eat for nearly two days. Davis, himself, was destitute. "I have lost everything but my
clothes."
The First Minnesota kept in marching order as they left the battlefield. "Minnesota need never be ashamed of her sons. No troops were more brave or courageous or stood their ground under such a
murderous fire."
Later, Davis was congratulated by Col. Gorman. "The conduct of none of my officers affords me more satisfaction then did yours, and I thank you for it."
Though small compared to later battles,
the Battle of Bull Run, or Manassas as the South called it, was a bloody encounter. The CSA lost 387 killed, 1,582 wounded and 13 missing. The U.S. lost 470 killed, 1,071 wounded and 1,793 missing.
The Southern
army was too beat up to mount a successful attempt to attack the retreating Union troops, but the battle was a wake-up call for the Union and the hundreds of idle spectators who rode their buggies into the Virginia
countryside. It was going to be a long war.
After the battle, the first Minnesota was ordered to Camp Stone, northwest of Washington along the Potomac River in Maryland. The regiment took part in nearly every
major battle until it was mustered out in 1864 at the end of its three-year enlistment. The regiment became famous for its charge at Gettysburg where it encountered over 80 percent casualties.
Charles Edward
Davis did get promoted, as he had hoped. He served as second lieutenant in Company I, first lieutenant in company A and captain in Company E. He was discharged on May 5, 1864, never have suffered a serious wound.
Davis returned to St. Paul where he continued his career as a railroad surveyor. He died on May 10, 1886, at the age of 50.
Special thanks to Stephen Osman, director of the Ft. Snelling History Center.
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