Hans H. Danielson Diary, 1864.
Brief daily notations on letters sent and received by Danielson, finances, marches, and battles and skirmishes in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri, with information on distances traveled, men killed and wounded, and life in camp. On December 16, 1864, Danielson was wounded near Nashville and transferred to a hospital in Louisville, where he remained until the end of the war. At the end of the diary is a copy of a letter (Jan. 25, 1864) to his sister describing his living quarters in St. Louis, the city, weather, and his visit to the site of the ship Monitor.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P2153).
Ralph L. Dorrance Letters, 1864-1865, 1867.
Eleven letters from Dorrance to his father and stepmother of Walcott Township, Rice County, written while serving with Company A of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War (1864-1865). The eight Civil War letters (Dec. 1864 - June 1865) document Dorrance’s experiences in Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Topics relating to the regiment’s service include the Battle of Nashville and subsequent pursuit of the Army of Tennessee; the march from Mobile to Montgomery; other marches, campaigns, and skirmishes; duty at New Orleans and Montgomery; and other activities. He also describes march and battlefield conditions, the weather, his health and the health of other soldiers; and relates his views on local Minnesota war taxes, war news, Lincoln’s death, soldiers’ and civilians’ behavior, and the cities of New Orleans and Montgomery.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P424).
Elijah E. Edwards Civil War Journals, 1864-1865.
Three-volume set of journals kept by Edwards, chaplain of the 7th Minnesota Infantry during the Civil War. The journals contain observant and articulate descriptions of scenery, towns and villages, people, and the war in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Edwards documents camp life and marches, as well as the Battles of Tupelo (July 14-15, 1864), Nashville (December 12-13, 1864), and Mobile Bay (April 1865). He also comments on the attitudes, behavior, and morality of the people involved in the conflict. The journals are supplemented with over 100 ink and pencil sketches.
Surgeon’s reports on the sick and wounded, morning reports of Company H, and lists of clothing received by the men of Company H, kept while the regiment was in camp in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee during the Civil War.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (BG4/.M643 7th).
Charles Bornarth Papers, 1863, 1865.
Diary (July-September, 1863) of this Sibley County resident during his service with the Sibley expedition against the Dakota Indians. Countersigns (February-March, 1865) for U.S. Army headquarters in Morganza, Louisiana, kept by Bornarth as aide-de-camp.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P831).
Memorandum of Sibley's Expedition, 1863, kept by L. W. C.
Diary, kept by Loren Wallace Collins while on march with the Sibley Expedition as part of the 7th Minnesota Infantry, Company F, during the Dakota Conflict. Details his daily experiences. Both the original (1 volume) and a typed transcript (18 leaves) are present.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (M582: Collins).
Henry J. Hagadorn Diary, 1863.
Typed, bound copy of his diary (Jan. 11-Aug. 31), written while serving with the 7th Minnesota Infantry, Company H, on the Sibley Expedition, particularly at camps Pope and Atchison, Dakota Territory.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (M582: Hagadorn, Henry J.).
Chauncey B. Wilkinson Diary, 1863-1865.
Three diaries of Chauncey B. Wilkinson of Company H, 7th Minnesota Regiment, documenting his participation in General H. H. Sibley’s expedition against the Dakota (June-August 1863); containing religious thoughts and sayings while he was serving in the South (September 1864-February 1865); and commenting on the post-war situation, primarily while he was stationed in Selma, Alabama (May-October 1865). The diaries also contain additional accounts and memoranda.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P2820).
Edward F. Wright, Dakota War Diary, June 1-Sept. 12, 1863.
Diary of a member of the 7th Minnesota Regiment participating in the Sibley Expedition against the Dakota Indians. The diary contains battle and other military details, descriptions of the terrain and people, and opinions of the diarist.
MNHS call number: Reserve 149, digital copy
William R. Marshall Papers, 1853-1894.
Drafts of a narrative of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry by James T. Ramer; letters concerning its members (1888-1890); muster rolls and official papers of Marshall as colonel of the regiment; Marshall’s journal of Henry H. Sibley’s punitive expedition against the Dakota Indians in 1863; his diary for 1864.
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (A/.M369).
History of Co. G, 7th Minnesota Volunteers, War of the Rebellion August 12, 1862-August 16, 1865, by John Danielson.
A typescript copy of a diary (Aug. 12, 1862-Aug. 16, 1865) that documents a Goodhue County man’s military service during the Civil War. A portion of the record may have been taken from the diary of Danielson’s brother, H. H. Danielson, who was also a member of Company G. The record provides a brief account of the Minnesota 7th Infantry Regiment’s activity during the Dakota uprising (1862) and a detailed description of its participation in the Sibley Expedition (1863). Topics related to the regiment’s service during the Civil War include the Battle of Tupelo (June-July, 1864), the pursuit of General Sterling Price in Arkansas and Missouri (Fall 1864), the Battle of Nashville (Dec. 1864), the capture (April 1865) of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely outside of Mobile (Ala.), and a description of the regiment’s return to Fort Snelling (Aug. 1865).
MNHS call number: See the finding aid in the library (P1993).
7th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
