2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment | |
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![]() Battle Flag of the 2nd Minnesota Volunteer Cavalry Regiment | |
Active | December 5, 1863, to May 4, 1866 |
Country | United States |
Allegiance | Union Army |
Branch | Cavalry |
Engagements |
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Commanders | |
Colonel | Robert Neil MacLaren |
Lieutenant Colonel | William Pfaender |
Major | Ebenezer Alonzo Rice |
The 2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment was a Minnesota USV cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment was mustered at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. for three year's service on December 5, 1863, and were mustered out on November 17, 1865, and May 4, 1866. It served entirely in Minnesota, Dakota Territory, and Montana Territory guarding the frontier against the Sioux Indians. In 1864 the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry was headquartered at Fort Snelling under Colonel Robert Neil MacLaren. [1]
Organized in Saint Paul, Minnesota at Fort Snelling on December 5, 1863, to January 5, 1864. Duty there and garrison posts on Minnesota frontier till May, 1864. March to Fort Ridgely May 24–28, 1864. Sully's Expedition against hostile Indians west of the Missouri River June 5 to October 15, 1864. March to Fort Sully, Missouri River, June 5 – July 1. Pursuit of Indians to the Badlands July 5–28. Battle of Tah kah a kuty or Battle of Killdeer Mountain July 28. Passage of the Bad Lands August 348. Action at Two Hills, Bad Lands, Little Missouri River, August 8–9. Rescue of James L. Fisk's Emigrant train September 10–30. Engaged in frontier and patrol duty between Forts Wadsworth, Abercrombie, Ripley and Ridgley, Headquarters at Fort Snelling, till May, 1866. Mustered out Companies "B," "C," "D," "E," "F," "G," "I" and "M" November 17 to December 29, 1865, Company "A" April 2, 1866, Company "H" April 28, 1866, and Companies "K" and "L" May 4, 1866. [2]
The 2nd Minnesota Cavalry had 4 enlisted men killed in action or died of wounds received in battle and an additional 3 officers and 56 enlisted men died of disease. Total fatalities were 63. [4]
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Edward Thomas, a Welsh-language war poet native to Centerville, Ohio and whose Bardic name was Awenydd, was living and working as a schoolmaster at the Welsh-American farming settlement at South Bend Township, in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. In 1862, he enlisted in Company E of the 2nd Minnesota Cavalry Regiment. During his military service, Thomas wrote many Welsh language poems, including Pryddest ar Wir Fawredd, which later won the Bardic Crown at an Eisteddfod held in Minersville, Pennsylvania. Following the end of the war, Thomas became a Presbyterian minister. [5]
List of Minnesota Civil War Units