Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/600

 520 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY fortunately it was slightly disordered in crossing a dry run at the foot of the slope. The men were never made who will stand against leveled bayonets coming with such momentum and evi- dent desperation. The first line broke as we reached it, and, rushed back through the second line, stopping the whole ad- vance. We then poured in our first fire, and availing ourselves of such shelter as the low bank of the dry brook afforded, held the entire force at bay for a considerable time, and until our reserves appeared on the ridge we had left. Had the enemy rallied quickly to a countercharge, its great number would have crushed us in a moment. But the ferocity of our onset seemed to paralyze them for a time, and although they poured upon us terrible and continuous fire from the front and enveloping our flanks, they began to retire, and we were ordered back. What Hancock had given us to do was done thoroughly. The regiment had stopped the enemy, held back its mighty force and saved the position. But at what a sacrifice! Nearly every officer was dead of lay weltering with bloody wounds, our gallant colonel and every officer among them. Of the 262 men who made the charge, 215 lay upon the field stricken down by the rebel bul- lets; forty-seven were still in line, and not a man was missing." General Hancock, speaking of this charge, is reported to have said: 'There is no more gallanl (rinl recorded in history. I ordered those men in there because I saw I must gain five min- utes time. Reinforcements were coming on the run, but I knew before they could reach the threatened point the Confederates, unless checked, would seize the position. T would have ordered that regiment in if I had known that every man would be killed. It had to be done, and I was glad to find such a gallant body of men at hand willing to make the terrible sacrifice that the occasion demanded." Colonel William Colvill, who was a figure of national prom- inet by reason of his memorable feat at Gettysburg, was of Scotch descent on his father's side and Irish on his mother's, his ancestors on both sides having participated in the American Revolution. He Avas born in Chautauqua county, New -York, read law in the offices of Fillmore & Haven, in Buffalo, N. Y., and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He became a resident of Red Wing in 1854. and the following year established the Red Wing "Sentinel." a Democratic paper, which he conducted until the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted as captain in the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry and was promoted for gallantry, to the colonelcy of the regiment, and finally mustered out of the service by reason of wounds, with the brevet rank of brigadier general. He was elected attorney general of the state in 1865, and was appointed register of the land office at Duluth by Presi-