The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers

As the first troops offered to President Abraham Lincoln after the fall of Fort Sumter, the brave men of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment fought in virtually every major battle of the eastern theater during the first three years of the Civil War. From Bull Run to Antietam to Fredericksburg to their famed suicide charge at Gettysburg, these stalwart soldiers defended the Union and helped change the course of the war and their country’s history.

Drawing on personal letters, diaries, and recollections, author Richard Moe tells a dramatic and unforgettable true story that follows the members of the First Minnesota from their early days as raw recruits through their seasoning under fire and by hardship. Of the thousand who had responded to the call to enlist in 1861, only a handful survived the war unscathed. Their voices, and those of their fallen comrades, enhance a masterful narrative that vividly recreates the glory and despair of a nation’s tragic struggle.