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2 I Wish You Could Be Here To-day with Me march 1862 to august 1862 Madison joined the Union army assuming he would fight in battles that would ultimately lead to a Union victory. By the spring and summer of 1862, however, he became discouraged that inaction, poor leadership, and “this baby way of fighting” would deprive him of contributing significantly to the Union cause through battle. In the meantime Madison, the Third Minnesota, and the rest of the Twenty-third Brigade resumed their task of guarding railroads and towns, this time near Murfreesboro,Tennessee, an assignment that brought them little more than skirmishing with Confederate cavalry.Their presence was part of a plan by General Halleck to maintain railroads and eJectively occupy captured Confederate territory while General Buell moved slowly toward Chattanooga, Tennessee,with the Army of the Ohio,via Stevenson,Alabama. Although Madison was eager for battle and assuredly disappointed by his assignment,his guard duties did provide him leadership opportunities and new experiences.He took the lead in organizing his men on picket guard to respond to the Confederate cavalry advances.He also dealt with escaped slaves who conveyed military information to the Union army—as well as various oIcers’ reactions to these informants—and with slave owners seeking escaped slaves.Madison also continued to update Lizzie about the health and performance of Dakota County soldiers and assure her that he had plenty to eat because of the abundant wild berries and well-stocked Confederate farms. Lizzie’s two main concerns during this period were her sister Kate’s declining health and various rumors about the fate of the Third Minnesota. In late April she heard that the Third Minnesota had been taken prisoner,which at that time was only a rumor. In mid-July she would have heard the same news, but we do not know her reaction to the truth because some of her letters are missing from April through August 1862.Instead,we have Madison’s account of his first battle, his regiment’s surrender,and his feelings about being a prisoner of war. Early in the morning of July 13,1862,Confederate cavalrycommander Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the Ninth Michigan on the eastern side of Murfreesboro. 64   By daybreak the Third Minnesota was in battle position, but they did not move against Forrest’s cavalry.Around 8:00 a.m.a regiment from Georgia attempted a charge against theThird Minnesota,and there was brief fighting,which Madison describes.The Confederate infantry was repulsed, and the soldiers of the Third Minnesota felt sure that they had won a victory.But Forrest concentrated his cavalry forces against theThird Minnesota’s camp,one-half mile behind the regiment, and after intense fighting against the cook,wagon drivers,and convalescing soldiers , the Confederates took the camp.Byafternoon Colonel Lester,the temporary commanding oIcer of the Third Minnesota, summoned his oIcers to discuss surrendering to the Confederates.Two votes were taken: In the first vote a majority of oIcers voted against surrender.The second vote,taken after some oIcers who had voted against surrender returned to their companies,reversed the earlier decision, however, and at 3:30 p.m. Colonel Lester surrendered the stunned soldiers of the Third Minnesota.At McMinnville the noncommissioned oIcers and privates were paroled and eventually transferred to Benton Barracks, Missouri,near St.Louis.1As he waited to be released,Madison wrote letters filled with frustration and disappointment,describing the high rate of desertion in his regiment and calling the oIcers who voted to surrender cowards,even intimating that some were drunk.Bitter and lonely,Madison waited for his next assignment , hoping that it would bring him home to Minnesota and,more important, to Lizzie. * * * Steamer Denmark, March 20, 1862 My Dear Lizzie: Last Thursday, the date of my last letter to you, I was at camp near Louisville, expecting to be on my way to Nashville the following Sunday, but the Regt had to wait for transportation from day to day, expecting to start each moment.Yesterday , however, a messenger came into camp at full speed with despatches to Col. Lester ordering the Minn. 3d to start immediately for Lousville,where we immediately went on board Boats which were waiting for us.The right wing, comprising Co’s B, H, F, K, and E, are on the Denmark (the same old Denmark which runs to St Paul in the summer season.) and the left wing Co’sA,G,I,C,and Wish...

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