Outstanding in appearance, discipline, and precision at drill, the Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry was often mistaken for a regular army unit. Rebel Colonel Ponder described the regiment as “the hardest lot of men he’d ever run against.” Betrayed by its higher commanders, the Third Minnesota was surrendered to Nathan Bedford Forrest on July 13, 1862, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Through letters, personal accounts of the men, and other sources, author Joseph C. Fitzharris recounts how the Minnesotans, prisoners of war, broken in spirit and morale, went home and found redemption and renewed purpose fighting the Dakota Indians. They were then sent south to fight guerrillas along the Tennessee River. In the process, the regiment was forged anew as a superbly drilled and disciplined unit that participated in the siege of Vicksburg and in the Arkansas Expedition that took Little Rock. At Pine Bluff, Arkansas, sickness so reduced its numbers that the Third was twice unable to muster enough men to bury its own dead, but the men never wavered in battle. In both Tennessee and Arkansas, the Minnesotans actively supported the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) and provided many officers for USCT units. The Hardest Lot of Men follows the Third through occupation to war’s end, when the returning men, deeming the citizens of St. Paul insufficiently appreciative, spurned a celebration in their honor. In this first full account of the regiment, Fitzharris brings to light the true story long obscured by the official histories illustrating aspects of a nineteenth-century soldier’s life—enlisted and commissioned alike—from recruitment and training to the rigors of active duty. The Hardest Lot of Men gives us an authentic picture of the Third Minnesota, at once both singular and representative of its historical moment.

Tom nearly dies while saving his men in war, resulting in the loss of his eye. Although he's awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions, he has to fight to stay in the navy. Joan overcomes childhood insecurities to reach her own navy career goals, and as a wife and mother. Later these two meet and, in a unique twist of fate, become soulmates. This book differs from the ordinary military memoir in that it gives a woman's perspective on service, while sharing the journey these two make over their lives, traveling on separate but parallel paths in their quests for meaning outside themselves. The overarching theme guiding them toward their destiny is perseverance. Separately, then together, they learn how to overcome obstacles and move on from adversity while taking the high road. A unique aspect of this book is that while the authors give both points of view, the story is unified by common experiences of two similar individuals who become a strong team due to their bonds of service and faith. Told with humility, humor and honesty, the authors inspire readers to hold onto their hopes and dreams even in the darkest hours.

In summer 1862, Minnesotans found themselves fighting interconnected wars—the first against the rebellious Southern states, and the second an internal war against the Sioux. While the Civil War was more important to the future of the United States, the Dakota War of 1862 proved far more destructive to the people of Minnesota—both whites and American Indians. It led to U.S. military action against the Sioux, divided the Dakotas over whether to fight or not, and left hundreds of white settlers dead. In Columns of Vengeance, historian Paul N. Beck offers a reappraisal of the Punitive Expeditions of 1863 and 1864, the U.S. Army’s response to the Dakota War of 1862. Whereas previous accounts have approached the Punitive Expeditions as a military campaign of the Indian Wars, Beck argues that the expeditions were also an extension of the Civil War. The strategy and tactics reflected those of the war in the East, and Civil War operations directly affected planning and logistics in the West. Beck also examines the devastating impact the expeditions had on the various bands and tribes of the Sioux. Whites viewed the expeditions as punishment—“columns of vengeance” sent against those Dakotas who had started the war in 1862—yet the majority of the Sioux the army encountered had little or nothing to do with the earlier uprising in Minnesota. Rather than relying only on the official records of the commanding officers involved, Beck presents a much fuller picture of the conflict by consulting the letters, diaries, and personal accounts of the common soldiers who took part in the expeditions, as well as rare personal narratives from the Dakotas. Drawing on a wealth of firsthand accounts and linking the Punitive Expeditions of 1863 and 1864 to the overall Civil War experience, Columns of Vengeance offers fresh insight into an important chapter in the development of U.S. military operations against the Sioux.

In 1862, four years after Minnesota was ratified as the thirty-second state in the Union, simmering tensions between indigenous Dakota and white settlers culminated in the violent, six-week-long U.S.-Dakota War. Hundreds of lives were lost on both sides, and the war ended with the execution of thirty-eight Dakotas on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota--the largest mass execution in American history. The following April, after suffering a long internment at Fort Snelling, the Dakota and Winnebago peoples were forcefully removed to South Dakota, precipitating the near destruction of the area's native communities while simultaneously laying the foundation for what we know and recognize today as Minnesota. In North Country: The Making of Minnesota, Mary Lethert Wingerd unlocks the complex origins of the state--origins that have often been ignored in favor of legend and a far more benign narrative of immigration, settlement, and cultural exchange. Moving from the earliest years of contact between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the western Great Lakes region to the era of French and British influence during the fur trade and beyond, Wingerd charts how for two centuries prior to official statehood Native people and Europeans in the region maintained a hesitant, largely cobeneficial relationship. Founded on intermarriage, kinship, and trade between the two parties, this racially hybridized society was a meeting point for cultural and economic exchange until the western expansion of American capitalism and violation of treaties by the U.S. government during the 1850s wore sharply at this tremulous bond, ultimately leading to what Wingerd calls Minnesota's Civil War. A cornerstone text in the chronicle of Minnesota's history, Wingerd's narrative is augmented by more than 170 illustrations chosen and described by Kirsten Delegard in comprehensive captions that depict the fascinating, often haunting representations of the region and its inhabitants over two and a half centuries. North Country is the unflinching account of how the land the Dakota named Mini Sota Makoce became the State of Minnesota and of the people who have called it, at one time or another, home.

In the fall of 1862 Julia Wilbur left her family’s farm near Rochester, New York, and boarded a train to Washington, DC. As an ardent abolitionist, the forty-seven-year-old Wilbur left a sad but stable life, headed toward the chaos of the Civil War, and spent the next several years in Alexandria, Virginia, devising ways to aid recently escaped slaves and hospitalized Union soldiers. A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time shapes Wilbur’s diaries and other primary sources into a historical narrative of a woman who was alternately brave, self-pitying, foresighted, and myopic. Paula Tarnapol Whitacre describes Wilbur’s experiences against the backdrop of Alexandria, a southern town held by the Union from 1861 to 1865; of Washington, DC, where Wilbur became active in the women’s suffrage movement; and of Rochester, New York, where she began a lifelong association with Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony. Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents of a Slave Girl, became Wilbur’s friend and ally. Together, the two women, black and white, fought social convention to improve the lives of African Americans escaping slavery by coming across Union lines. In doing so, they faced the challenge to achieve racial and gender equality that continues today. A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time is the captivating story of a woman who remade herself at midlife during a period of massive social upheaval.

Every memory with your baby is precious, and every baby deserves a beautiful place to be cherished forever. I Love You Still: A Memorial Baby Book was carefully created to hold memories and love for babies taken too soon due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or in their first days of life. Each word and image of this sweet baby book was carefully chosen to be as inclusive as possible for all babies and gestational ages. Professional illustrations by award-winning children's book illustrator Priscilla Alpaugh feature a gender-neutral, nursery animal theme, and the book's secular content allows room for mom to include her own unique spiritual beliefs. I Love You Still combines aspects of traditional baby books with areas for memorialization, with lots of additional journaling space for grieving moms to complete whenever it feels right for them. The book's quality is meant to last, and its content can be revisited for months or years to come. * A beautiful baby memory book, memorial keepsake, and bereavement journal specifically created for the events and emotions that follow miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn loss * Over 50 full-color professional illustrations featuring a gender-neutral nursery animal theme. Words and images are and carefully designed to be as inclusive as possible for all babies and gestational ages. * Substantial 8 x 10.5 padded hardcover book with Smyth sewn, lay-flat binding. The cover features a soft matte finish with spot UV treatment for subtle shine on the imagery and title. * 64-pages, including traditional baby book sections, prompted journaling, freeform journal space and scrapbook. Example sections include: parents' backgrounds, trying to conceive, pregnancy test reactions, monthly pregnancy milestones, baby's due date, favorite memories and time spent together, memorial gestures, holding the space, scrapbooking, resources, and more. The mission of I Love You Still: A Memorial Baby Book is to cherish pregnancy, remember baby, and honor motherhood. Born and raised in Wayzata, Minnesota, Margaret Scofield attended the University of Arizona where she earned her BA in English with a minor in Family Studies and Human Development. In 2016, while taking time off from her career to start a family, Margaret's dear friend lost her daughter to miscarriage. As a new mom herself, Margaret wanted to do more to help. After she tried in vain to find a baby book that catered to the 1 in 4 women who endure miscarriage, Margaret's purpose became clear. In 2016, Margaret started a business and created the manuscript for I Love You Still: A Memorial Baby Book. Since then, the book has been circulated to over 20 countries, and her story has appeared on news outlets such as NBC News, The TODAY Show, People Magazine, FOX Television, and MSN News. Today, Margaret continues her mission to cherish pregnancy, remember baby, and honor motherhood by encouraging real conversation about pregnancy and baby loss, and postpartum mental health.