Minnesota Book Award Winner! Now in paperback. The smoke had just cleared from the last volley of musketry at Gettysburg. Nearly 70 percent of the First Minnesota regiment lay dead or dying on the field--one of the greatest losses of any unit engaged in the Civil War. The significance of this July 2, 1863, battle at Gettysburg is widely known, but the harrowing details of the First's heroic stand that stopped a furious rebel assault have long been buried. In Pale Horse at Plum Run Brian Leehan brings the full story of the First at Gettysburg to light as he examines personal accounts, eyewitness reports, and official records to construct a remarkably detailed and compelling narrative. "Brian Leehan's account of the First Minnesota on Cemetery Ridge is the most detailed and complete I have read. His exhaustive research and compelling narrative are impressive and offer a much fuller understanding of the regiment's extraordinary feats." -- Richard Moe, author of The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers

It went on to take part in every significant battle in the war in the East from 1861 to 1864. In remarkable detail, Wright describes the fighting at Bull Run, the Peninsula Campaign, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the New York draft riots, and Bristoe Station. The most grueling battle for the First was Gettysburg. Detached from the main body of its regiment, Company F missed the bloody fighting on July 2 when the First lost 82 percent of its men in a suicidal attack. But the next day, Company F and the remnant of the First helped stop Pickett's Charge. The First's sacrifice inspired Gen.

The definitive history of the First Minnesota Volunteers in the Civil War.