Rating: 
Summary: The People! The People!
Review: As the Ken Burns quote on the backcover says, this book is about the PEOPLE! The reader gets to really know individuals in the Regiment. This isn't a book that tries to do too much - you merely experience the war along with the First Minnesotans. It isn't about generals or politicans or who did what when. Richard Moe does a fabulous job.. as he states in his intro, he merely takes all the letters and testomonials and puts them together in a readable and exciting text. You will be amazed by the bravery of this regiment too. There are some very entertaining characters and stories along the way. One problem I have is that the most interesting soldier, Thomas Pressnell kind of dissapears before Gettysburg and isn't mentioned much in the epilogue. This guy climbed trees, escaped a Rebel Prison Guard, and even met Abraham Lincoln! Two of the main characters, Issac and Henry Taylor (featured on the cover photograph) are very real, likeable, honest guys. This book shows that the Civil War is about much more than Generals and Politicians bickering back and forth- there are REAL humans who experienced the war, and you can certainly relate to them.
Rating:
Summary: When was the last time a book made you cry?
Review: I heard Richard Moe on National Public Radio promoting this book. Having heard of the First's heroism in Ken Burns' "The Civil War" I was curious. Did 262 frontiersmen from Minnesota really save the Union line at Gettysburg? They did. I knew how these men's charge would end, and so did they. "Every knew in an instant what it meant. Death or wounds to us all." Knowing this, they fixed their bayonets and charged into a force that outnumberd them five to one. As I was reading the climactic pages of the book, my wife walked into the room and saw me with tears streaming down my cheeks, and asked why. I couldn't bring myself to read it to her aloud . Men like the First Minnesota willingly sacrificed themselves to save our Union. In so doing, they covered themselves in glory for all time. All Americans should pray that we as a nation be worthy of that sacrifice.
Rating:
Summary: Bless this man!
Review: Richard Moe does an outstanding job with a great piece of American history. I had never read a book that made me so proud to be a part of this great country. Author uses diary inscriptions and letters the soldiers sent home to piece together a brilliant story of the up's and down's of the First Minnesota Volunteer Regiment, some of our greatest men of the Civil War.
Rating:
Summary: The Spirit of the First Minnesota
Review: Richard Moe draws heavily from the letters and diaries (many of them unpublished) of the men of the First and weaves them into a complelling story. This is one of the few books on any topic that I have read twice and I am sure I will read it again. You will never forget Lyman and Issac Taylor and many of the other soldiers of the First after you have read this book. Their very personal writings cover a three year period and give the reader an insight into a soldier's life not often found in any book. I found myself not wanting to finish the book. These men had become friends and I knew full well their fate. They also knew their duty and did not hesitate. 262 of them charged 1,200. Gen. Hancock asked them to give him 5 min. to bring up reinforcements, they gave him 15. Of the 262 only 47 walked away. Many of the voices I had come to know fell silent. History does not allow you to change the ending as much as you might wish you could. By the way, I bought this book in Freeport ME at the 20th Maine Bookstore (it was their last copy). It can be argued that these two units, a mile apart, saved the Union line on July 2nd 1863.
Rating: 
Summary: Detailed Account of Civil War Service of the Famous 1st MN
Review: Richard Moe has written a good book. Drawing heavily on diary entries, he follows the course of the 1st Minnesota Volunteers during the Civil War. The unit had a rather typical experience of front line Union combat regiments. Until Gettysburg. Resting on Cemetary Ridge on July Second, they (all 262) were fortuitously (for the rest of the Union Army) available to throw against onrushing Confederates who had a chance to take the center of the Union line. Gen. Hancock ordered them forward, telling their Colonel to take the oncoming flag of the much more numerous rebels. In a shocking movement, the Minnesotans did their duty, knowing that they were being sacrificed so that the Union side could live to fight another day. They were successful, blunting the southerners. The cost: the 1st Minnesota had more causualties than any other Union regiment at Gettysburg. Moe lets his fellow Minnesotans do much of the speaking which lends great authenticity to the tale. This is a heroic story of grand sacrifice during the unit's unique moment in history. It also offers an informative telling of life on the road with the Army of the Potmac during the first three years of the war. (Moe describes being enthralled by a painting of the 1st Minnesota's heroic charge that hangs in that state's state house as a youth. It helped create a mental image that led to his writing the book. It also gave me the idea to tell a similar story of bravery via a painting in Delaware's state house. Next January, the State of Delaware will hang an oil by Bradley Schmehl in Legislative Hall in Dover, DE. The painting will depict the 2nd Delaware advancing through the Wheatfield during the Battle of Gettysburg, an action that helped secure the flank of Gen. Sickle's Corps during a time when it was threatened with being rolled up and opeining the Union center).
Rating:
Summary: Detailed Account of Civil War Service of the Famous 1st MN
Review: Richard Moe has written a good book. Drawing heavily on diary entries, he follows the course of the 1st Minnesota Volunteers during the Civil War. The unit had a rather typical experience of front line Union combat regiments. Until Gettysburg. Resting on Cemetary Ridge on July Second, they (all 262) were fortuitously (for the rest of the Union Army) available to throw against onrushing Confederates who had a chance to take the center of the Union line. Gen. Hancock ordered them forward, telling their Colonel to take the oncoming flag of the much more numerous rebels. In a shocking movement, the Minnesotans did their duty, knowing that they were being sacrificed so that the Union side could live to fight another day. They were successful, blunting the southerners. The cost: the 1st Minnesota had more causualties than any other Union regiment at Gettysburg. Moe lets his fellow Minnesotans do much of the speaking which lends great authenticity to the tale. This is a heroic story of grand sacrifice during the unit's unique moment in history. It also offers an informative telling of life on the road with the Army of the Potmac during the first three years of the war. (Moe describes being enthralled by a painting of the 1st Minnesota's heroic charge that hangs in that state's state house as a youth. It helped create a mental image that led to his writing the book. It also gave me the idea to tell a similar story of bravery via a painting in Delaware's state house. Next January, the State of Delaware will hang an oil by Bradley Schmehl in Legislative Hall in Dover, DE. The painting will depict the 2nd Delaware advancing through the Wheatfield during the Battle of Gettysburg, an action that helped secure the flank of Gen. Sickle's Corps during a time when it was threatened with being rolled up and opeining the Union center).
Rating:
Summary: one of the best books on the Civil War
Review: The Last Full Measure proves to be one of the best books ever written on regimental history. The subject here was the First Minnesota who founded lasting fame on the fields of Gettysburg. The author, Richard Moe, did a superb job bring this regiment alive, using primary sources of diaries, letters and reports.
The book traces the regiment's history from its Minnesota origins as it mustered into the Union army and fought its campaigns from First Manasass to Gettysburg. After Gettysburg, the regiment wind down before it was discharged in February of 1864. But it was at Gettysburg where the regiment met their final fame and glory. Just as 20th Maine showed their right stuff at Little Round Top and General Greene's brigade held by their fingertips over at Culp's Hill, First Minnesota saved the Union center by making a "banzai" charge against overwhelming odds with successful result. Their losses were heavy. The book skillfully reflects on their heroic actions against unsurmountable odds. It proves to be a very exciting and informative reading.
They came on the field with roughly 330 men and lost 229 men (killed and wounded), about 67% loss. It was not the most in the Union Army for this battle. 24th Michigan of the Iron Brigade for example lost 73% loss while 2nd Wisconsin lost up to 77% of their strength. First Minnesota ranked 15th among Union regimental losses based on percentage.
A well written book, superbly researched and easy to read, many Civil War regiments could wish that their stories could be as well told as the First Minnesota's thanks to the author. I believed this book belong to the "must read if you are interested in the American Civil War" list.
Rating:
Summary: Grand Odyssey of Minnesota Frontiersmen in Civil War.
Review: The men of the First Minnesota could swing an axe, and did so, building bridges and making roads. They could shoot -- straight and fast, and did so on some of the most famous battlefields of the Civil War. They were a "cool" Regiment, men who stood fast. And they died, as a Regiment, on the battlefield of Gettysburg. This book should be read by every high school senior in Minnesota, and most elsewhere. Moe captures the simple competence of these frontiersmen, their ability to walk for long distances (Antietam), work with tools (Peninsula Campaign) and to stand fast and fight hard -- in each battle. The First Minnesota was raised in the West, in the new state of Minnesota, but fought with the Army of the Potomac. This gives their story a sense of an American Odyssey -- Moe captures the changing nation as a backdrop to the war. The First Minnesota struggles to learn how to cook crabs... and how to fight the Secesh. The diaries and newspaper articles of the time illuminate the nation through the stories these men tell. Finally, the Civil War buff will love this book. The book tells one entire arc of the Civil War through the life and death of this Regiment. And Moe's writing is so simple and clear, the story unfolds and makes the early eastern battles understandable.
Rating:
Summary: Grand Odyssey of Minnesota Frontiersmen in Civil War.
Review: The men of the First Minnesota could swing an axe, and did so, building bridges and making roads. They could shoot -- straight and fast, and did so on some of the most famous battlefields of the Civil War. They were a "cool" Regiment, men who stood fast. And they died, as a Regiment, on the battlefield of Gettysburg. This book should be read by every high school senior in Minnesota, and most elsewhere. Moe captures the simple competence of these frontiersmen, their ability to walk for long distances (Antietam), work with tools (Peninsula Campaign) and to stand fast and fight hard -- in each battle. The First Minnesota was raised in the West, in the new state of Minnesota, but fought with the Army of the Potomac. This gives their story a sense of an American Odyssey -- Moe captures the changing nation as a backdrop to the war. The First Minnesota struggles to learn how to cook crabs... and how to fight the Secesh. The diaries and newspaper articles of the time illuminate the nation through the stories these men tell. Finally, the Civil War buff will love this book. The book tells one entire arc of the Civil War through the life and death of this Regiment. And Moe's writing is so simple and clear, the story unfolds and makes the early eastern battles understandable.
Rating:
Summary: A fitting tribute to the bravery of the First Minnesota
Review: This is an outstanding book that gives the detail of the First Minnesota's glorious charge at Gettysburg and helped saved the Union line against a largely superior Confederate force. I have been to Gettysburg and saw the field on which they charged against the Confederate line and closed the gap for the critical time needed for Union reinforcements to fill in the gap. The author also gives great narrative in the book as it does not become overwhelmed with unnecessary details that would be distracting to the reader. The timeframe in the book is mostly the summer of 1863 before the Battle of Chancelorsville and ends with the valliant and brutal charge in which the 1st Minnesota lost so many men in less than five minutes. The details of the charge are gripping and individual accounts by the soldiers who were there make the book impossible to put down. The First Minnesota's bravery ranks it right along with Col Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's 20th Maine as doing the suprizing and remarkable thing at precisely the right time, in which saved the Union Army and possibly saved the Union from defeat. This book needs to be reprinted quickly so other Civil War/U.S. History readers could know about this fine, brave regiment.
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