I was touched to receive the following message. The efforts made by Jerry Anderson and myself in regard to the information on this site have been primarily to assist genealogists. I had never considered that we were helping to preserve history, as the writer below suggests.
My name is Don Hunter. I have been reading Wabasha County's Civil War site with great interest.
My family settled in Anoka County in 1856. My great grandfather, John Hunter, and his brother Dan served in the war. John served with the 8th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry and Dan with the 2nd.
The 2nd was in the retreat from Chickamauga (there is a commerative statute) and was starving in Chatanooga when the Cracker Line kept the troops alive. The 2nd was in the lead when the Union troops took Missionary Ridge in the famous charge.
John Hunter spent 1862 and half of 1863 with the 8th Regiment chasing Indians into Montana in the aftermath of the 1862 uprising. The 8th fought in the battles around Nashville and then at the close in North Carolina. Because of its history fighting Indians, and because the men had adopted the Indian yell (scream or screech), the 8th was identified as the "Indian Regiment."
I commend your Wabasha County residents for their contributions to the web site. The effort is particularly notable in the absence of anything from the rest of the counties who sent men to serve and die. Thank you and yours for the contribution to our history.
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