Submitted By: codger817@gmail.com – Click to email about this post
History is rhyming again.
During the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Maj. General Daniel Sickles was ordered to hold the center of the Union line. He thought it might be better if he advanced a mile to a peach orchard with slightly higher ground. His stupid move left a gap in the union line, and his own corps was easily outflanked.
262 troops from the First Minnesota Regiment were ordered to charge into the gap and hold back the Confederates until more troops could arrive. They were greatly outnumbered and suffered 215 casualties, but the line held and the Battle of Gettysburg became a turning point in the Civil War.
How poignant that 163 years later, Minnesota is holding the line for us once again.
Jim Heffernan
During the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Maj. General Daniel Sickles was ordered to hold the center of the Union line. He thought it might be better if he advanced a mile to a peach orchard with slightly higher ground. His stupid move left a gap in the union line, and his own corps was easily outflanked.
262 troops from the First Minnesota Regiment were ordered to charge into the gap and hold back the Confederates until more troops could arrive. They were greatly outnumbered and suffered 215 casualties, but the line held and the Battle of Gettysburg became a turning point in the Civil War.
How poignant that 163 years later, Minnesota is holding the line for us once again.
Jim Heffernan