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What happened in February

• The Wasioja Civil War Committee "Friends of Wasioja" have hosted three of the seven Civil War Monday Night Forums in the local communities so far.  Thank you to the Claremont, Dodge Center, and West Concord Legion Clubs for hosting the Civil War Forums.  The Dodge County Historical Society was able to lend the two GAR (Grand Army Republic) Civil War flags for one of the forums; one flag being Jo Garrison's Post from Dodge Center, and the other flag being Joseph Orcutt's Post from West Concord.  These flags were displayed at the West Concord Legion during the Forum.  There are pictures of these flags in the website: www.civilwarmn.com.

News Flash
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 1-3, 2009

 Upcoming events
April 4th"Bonnet Making Workshop"    with Mary Ann Kelling. 
   An exciting day to complete your beautiful Civil War Bonnet.  Workshop runs from 9:30 am - 4 pm.  See www.civilwarmn.com for more information and to register. You can wear your new bonnet to the Muster in May.
Registration deadline is March 17th. 

• March 2nd - Hayfield Trinity Lutheran Church - Costumes, quilts and paper embroidery
• March 16 - Mantorville Opera House - Personalities of Dodge County in the Civil War
• March 30 - Diggers in Kasson - Tom Hosier will present "Small Arms Used at the Battle of Gettysburg.
• April 6 - Wasioja Community Church - The Sanitary & Christian Commissions.

June 27 "Blue and Gray Civil War Tea"
An elegant Tea, held at the Milton House Retreat Center. The old Milton Cheese Factory.  There will be two seatings.  One at 11 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m.  Cost is $20.00 per person.  Might make a great Mothers Day gift. More information will be in the next newsletter and on the web site.  Reservations available at tea@civilwarmn.com

"Old Fashioned 4th of July" in Mantorville

• February Overview
• 3rd MN Re-enactors
• Bonnet Making Workshop
• March & April Forums
• Blue and Gray Civil War Tea
• 4th of July
• How the Forces were organized.
• The Minnesota 2nd - first article

How the Union Army was organized
 

Infantry

• Company - 75-100 men; commanded by a captain and two lieutenants
• Battalion - group of companies too few to make up a regiment
• Regiment - two companies; commanded by a colonel, who was assisted by a major
• Brigade - four or five regiments; commanded by a brigadier general
• Division - three or four brigades; commanded by a brigadier or major general
• Corps - three or more infantry divisions and several artillery batteries; commanded by a major general
• Army - two or more corps of infantry, along with artillery and cavalry; commanded by a general; i.e. Federal forces had a total of sixteen separate armies.

Light Artillery

• Battery - four to six guns; commanded by a captain; each two-gun unit commanded by a lieutenant and each gun by a sergeant; 25 to 30 men per gun.

Cavalry

• Same organization as infantry; companies referred to as troops.

taken from Kenneth Carley's "Minnesota in the Civil War"  submitted by Mary Ann Bucher

The 2nd Minnesota

The 2nd Minnesota Veteran Volunteer Infantry was originally mustered into service by companies during the summer of 1861, and was employed in the post and garrison duty at the different frontier forts in Minnesota, until the close of September of the same year. The regimental commander was Colonel Judson W. Bishop, from Chatfield, Minnesota. The men of Company A came from around Chatfield. Company B was from Rochester. Company D came from the Ramsey county area. Company E came from the St. Peter area. Company H was recruited from the Mankato area. What is significant is that Company C came from one small community, Wasioja in Dodge County. Wasioja had two important feature to draw from that was the seminary and an army recruiting station.

In January 1862, the 2nd Minnesota fought in the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. At the Battle of Chickamauga they withstood repeated Confederate attacks. Two months later, the 2nd Minnesota and the rest of the Army of the Cumberland attacked Confederate troops dug in on Missionary Ridge; this was a spontaneous attack not ordered by any officer and resulted in a Union victory. The 2nd Minnesota then fought to capture Atlanta under General Sherman and continued the famous "March to the Sea". The 2nd Minnesota fought under General Sherman until the end of the Civil War.

The above information is taken from the book of "The Story of a Regiment" Service of the Second Regiment Minnesota Veteran Volunteer Infantry by Judson W. Bishop with additional history by Newell L. Chester, editor. submitted by John Kvasnicka