MINNESOTA IN THE CIVIL WAR 1861 - · PDF fileCarley, Kenneth, Minnesota in the Civil War ... Minnesota in the Civil War – An Illustrated History, St. Paul ... The Civil War in the

Stephen E. Osman, 4/22/2011
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MINNESOTA
IN THE CIVIL WAR
1861 - 1866
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF
PUBLISHED SOURCES
Compiled by Stephen E. Osman
Minnesota Historical Society
345 Kellogg Blvd. W.
St. Paul, MN 55102
2006

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MINNESOTA IN THE CIVIL WAR
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLISHED SOURCES
Compiled by Stephen E. Osman
INTRODUCTION
These references provide a survey of Minnesota's military role in the Civil War.
Not included here, for the sake of brevity, are those works relating to the U.S. - Dakota
Conflict of 1862 that are not concerned specifically with military activities. Also not
included are works concerning Civil War veterans' activities and organizations unless they
contain specific information on wartime service.
Sources additional to those listed that are recommended for in depth research on Minnesota
in the Civil War include:
Minnesota state, county and city histories published during the late 19th century are
often rich in personal military anecdotes.
Earlier collections of Minnesota biographies frequently detail the war service of
prominent Minnesotans.
Newspapers, especially those dating from the 50th (1911 - 1915) and the 100th (1961 -
1965) anniversaries of the war, and war time papers dating from the weeks following
specific battles or military unit activities.
Grand Army of the Republic and other veterans' publications sometimes contain
biographical memorials or anecdotes of service.
Minnesota Civil War soldier manuscript diaries, journals, letters and photographs, of
which the Minnesota Historical Society preserves rich and well cataloged collections.
Contemporary unit records of various Minnesota military organizations, including order
books, rosters, descriptive books and regimental papers, held both by the Minnesota
Historical Society and the National Archives and Reference Administration.
Card File of Minnesota Civil War Veterans maintained by the Minnesota Historical
Society Reference Department that lists military unit and often other data such as burial
location and G.A.R. membership affiliation of Minnesota Civil War soldiers and other
Civil War veterans residing in the state.
Special Veterans Census of 1890 available on microfilm and with index.
Battle and movement reports, orders and correspondence concerning Minnesota troops are
located throughout the 128 volumes of The War of the Rebellion. Official Records of the

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Union and Confederate Armies. The most important of these reports were reprinted in
Volume II of Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861 - 1865. Both volumes of this
reference are the essential start to any study of Minnesota's military role in the Civil War.

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PART ONE - GENERAL REFERENCES
Ackermann, Gertrude W., Volunteer Guards in Minnesota, Minnesota History, Vol. 16,
No. 2 (June 1935), 166-177.
Aldrich, Stanley J., Minnesota's Military Contributions to the Civil War, unpublished M.A.
thesis, Moorhead State University, 1961.
Amann, William F., Personnel of the Civil War, Vol. II, New York, 1961, 134-135.
A New Home and a Vote for Lincoln - Minnesota Pioneers 1860, Gopher Historian, Vol.
22, No. 1 (Fall 1967), 6-8.
Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Minnesota for the Year Ending Dec.
1, 1866, and Of Military forces of the State from 1861 - 1866., St. Paul, 1866.
April, 1861, Minnesota Goes to War, Minnesota History, Vol. 37, No. 5 (March 1961),
212-215.
Babcock, Willoughby M., Fort Snelling and the Civil War, Gopher Historian, Vol. 16,
No. 1 (Fall 1961), 3-7.
Babcock, Willoughby M., Minnesota's Frontier, A Neglected Sector of the Civil War,
Minnesota History, Vol. 38, No. 6 (June 1963), 274-286.
Bakeman, Mary H., A Genealogists Guide to Researching Civil War and Dakota Conflict
Ancestors in Minnesota, Roseville (MN), 2005.
Bakeman, Mary H., Index to Claimants for Depredations following the Dakota War of
1862, Roseville (MN), 2001.
Bean, Geraldine, General Alfred Sully and the Northwest Indian Expedition, North
Dakota History, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Summer 1966), 240-259.
Becker, William M., The Origin of the Minnesota State Flag, Minnesota History, Vol. 53,
No. 1 (Spring 1992), 2-8.
Bergstrom, Robert A. and Underleak, Judd, Area Civil War Veterans, Chattfield (MN),
1996.
Blegen, Theodore, Minnesota in the Days of the Civil War, The Minnesota Alumni
Weekly, Vol. 32, No. 19 (February 11, 1933), 319-320.

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Board of Commissioners (ed.), Minnesota in the Civil War and Indian Wars 1861 - 1865, 2
volumes, St. Paul, 1890-93. (Volume I contains rosters and brief histories of each
Minnesota unit.)
Bodnia, George, Fort Pillow 'Massacre': Observations of a Minnesotan, Minnesota
History, Vol. 43, No. 5 (Spring 1973), 186-190.
Bodnia, George, The Racial and Political Attitudes of Minnesota Soldiers During the Civil
War, unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Minnesota Graduate School, 1974.
Borrett, George T. (Bertha L. Heilbron, ed.), Minnesota As Seen By Travelers: An English
Visitor Of The Civil War Period, Minnesota History, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Sept. 1928), 270-284,
and Vol. 9, No. 4 (Dec. 1928), 379-388.
Brooklyn Center Civil War Enlistees, Minnesota Genealogist, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Sept.
1989), 114-116.
Carley, Kenneth, Minnesota in the Civil War, Minneapolis, 1961.
Carley, Kenneth, Minnesota in the Civil War An Illustrated History, St. Paul, 2000.
Castle, Henry A., Minnesota, Its Story and Biography, Chicago and New York, 1915, 183-
215.
Chicoine, Stephen, The Oldest Soldier: for 80 years the ex-slave and former Union soldier
Henry Mack was the continuing reminder of the dedication and service of African
Americans in the Military, American Legacy, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring 2004), 47-48, 50, 52,
54.
Clodfelter, Michael, The Dakota War: The United Sates Versus the Sioux, 1862-1865,
Jefferson (NC), 1998.
Constitution and By-Laws of the Minnesota Pioneer Guard, Organized April 17, 1856, St.
Paul, 1856.
Cooke, Chauncey H., A Soldier Boys Letters to his Father and Mother 1862-65,
Independence (WI), 1915.
Cooke, Chauncey H., A Badger Boy in Blue: The Letters of Chauncey H. Cooke,
Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1920).
Dalby, John, Rice County Military Personnel, Volume I, Roseville (MN), 1995.

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Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (Gwen Meyer, comp.), Stories of Civil
War Veterans, Researched and Written by Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil
War, 1861-1865, 1994.
Dilts, Bryan L. (comp.), 1890 Minnesota Census Index of Civil War Veterans or their
Widows, Salt Lake City, 1985.
Donnelly, Kate, A Country Fourth of July in Minnesota, 1862, Minnesota History, Vol.
38, No. 2 (June 1962), 72-73.
Downs, Lynwood G., The Soldier Vote and Minnesota Politics, Minnesota History, Vol.
26, No. 3 (September 1945), 187-210.
Dyer, Frederick H, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Vol. III, New York, 1959,
1293-1301.
Ellis, Richard N., Political Pressures on Army Policies on the Northern Plains 1862
1865, Minnesota History, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Summer 1970), 42-53.
Engebretson, Betty L., Minnesota Women in the Civil War, Gopher Historian, Vol. 17,
No. 3 (Spring 1963), 10-13, also Gopher Reader II, St. Paul, 1965, 238-241.
Executive Documents of the State of Minnesota, For The Year 1861, St. Paul, 1862,
(Annual Report of the Adjutant General, also for 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865 and 1866).
Fullard, Joyce, Venerable Old Fort Snelling, Minnesota Took On A New Role As A Union
Training Center In The Civil War, America's Civil War, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Nov. 1990), 58.
Furness, Marion Ramsey, Governor Ramsey and Frontier Minnesota: Impressions from
His Diary and Letters, Minnesota History, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec. 1947), 325-328.
Gillespie, Vera W., A Study of Four Minnesota Newspapers During the Civil War Period,
1861 - 1865, unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Minnesota, 1946.
Gove, Gertrude B., A History of St. Cloud in the Civil War, 1858 - 1865, St. Cloud (MN),
1976.
Guide to finding Civil War soldiers, Minnesota Genealogist, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec. 1990),
150.
Harbison, Winfred A., President Lincoln and the Faribault Fire-Eater, Minnesota History,
Vol. 20, No. 3 (Sept. 1930), 269-286.
Haugland, John C., Politics, Patronage, and Ramseys Rise to Power, 1861-63, Minnesota
History, Vol. 37, No. 8 (Dec. 1961), 324-334.

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Heck, Frank H., The Civil War Veteran in Minnesota Life and Politics, Oxford (OH), 1941.
Heck, Frank H., The Grand Army of the Republic in Minnesota, 1866-80, Minnesota
History, Vol. 16, No.4 (Dec. 1935), 427-444.
Hedren, Paul L., On Duty at Fort Ridgely, Minnesota: 1853 1857, South Dakota
History, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1977), 168-192.
Heilbron, Bertha L., Matthew Bradys Portraits of Prominent Minnesotans, Minnesota
History, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sept. 1956), 130-132.