Minnesota in the Civil War: An Illustrated History

From the opening shots at Bull Run until silence fell over Appomattox, the young men of Minnesota were active combatants in the nation's epic struggle.Minnesota in the Civil War draws upon the Minnesota Historical Society's vast collections of soldiers' diaries and letters, as well as contemporary newspaper accounts, rare photographs, drawings, maps, uniforms and equipment, to create a vivid picture of daily life. What emerges are vivid, haunting images of the heaviest and deadliest fighting—Bull Run, the Hornet's Nest at Shiloh, Antietam, Chattanooga, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Nashville, Sherman's march to the sea—but also the overwhelming loneliness and tedium of war. Amid the mud and monotony, the endless days of drilling interrupted by short spurts of intense fighting, these young men reflect, often eloquently, on their mortality and the persistent fear that they will never again see their loved ones.Every page contains moments of simple compassion: a Tennessee woman who gives her bes