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

The First Minnesota Volunteers, the first regiment offered to Lincoln after the fall of Fort Sumter, served in virtually every major battle fought in the eastern theater during the first three years of the Civil War. This is the story of the Army of the Potomac during that period: the initial enthusiasm dashed by sudden defeat at Bull Run; the pride at being shaped into an army by George McClellan and the frustration with his - and his successors' - inability to defeat Robert E. Lee; and, finally, the costly victory at Gettysburg, the decisive battle in which the First Minnesota played a crucial, and tragic, role.

Drawing on a wide array of letters, diaries, and personal reminiscences, many of them previously unpublished, Richard Moe tells the story anew through the experiences of the men who lived it.