Military Units of Fort Snelling

Military Units of Fort Snelling. . , Fort Snelling has been home to several notable military units. Some units were based at the fort for a long time. Others were here briefly. Still, all of them left their mark on the history of the fort., Fragment of the 1st Minnesota flag carried at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1861-1865, Minnesota Historical Society, 1st Minnesota Volunteer Battalion regimental battle flag, 1861-1865, Minnesota Historical Society, 99th Infantry Battalion at Fort Snelling, 1942, Minnesota Historical Society, 99th Infantry Battalion patch, 1942-1945, Minnesota Historical Society, First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, The First Minnesota was among the first state regiments offered for Civil War service following President Lincoln's call for troops on April 15, 1861. Within two weeks of the President's call, the 1,009 men of the First Minnesota mustered at Fort Snelling for duty., The First Minnesota was involved in several Civil War battles, and is best known for its actions at the Battle of Gettysburg. On the second and third days of the battle, the First Minnesota helped hold the Union line despite being vastly outnumbered by Confederate forces. Gettysburg was considered a turning point in the war., "Battle of Gettysburg," Rufus Zogbaum, 1907, Minnesota Historical Society, This brass trefoil badge was the regimental insignia of the First Minnesota Infantry Regiment. First Minnesota Corps Insignia, 1861-1864, Minnesota Historical Society, Third United States Infantry, The Third Infantry Regiment is the Army's oldest active-duty infantry unit, formed in 1784. It was stationed at Fort Snelling in 1888, where troops moved into the new barracks here at the Upper Post. The regiment was stationed at the fort for twenty years, earning it the nickname "Minnesota's Own.", Third United States Infantry, Fort Snelling, preparing for Cuban Campaign, 1898, Minnesota Historical Society, The regiment returned to the fort in the 1920s and 1930s, training for cold weather warfare. They also entertained fort visitors with ceremonial parades, public band concerts, and horse shows featuring Whiskey, the "Smartest Horse in the Army"., Twenty-fifth United States Infantry, From 1882 to 1888, Fort Snelling was home to the Twenty-fifth U.S. Infantry, an all-African American unit referred to as "Buffalo Soldiers." Much of the service of the Twenty-fifth Regiment was in the frontier west. At Fort Snelling, troops spent time practicing, drilling, and parading. They served in the Spanish-American War, the Phillippine-American War, and World Wars I and II before the United States military was fully integrated in 1954., Buffalo soldiers of the 25th Infantry, some wearing buffalo robes, Fort Keogh, Montana, Courtesy of the Library of Congress, African American troops, Company B, 25th Infantry, Fort Snelling, 1883, Minnesota Historical Society, Ninety-ninth Infantry Battalion, The ninety-ninth Infantry Battalion, sometimes referred to as the Norwegian Ski Troop, came to Fort Snelling in autumn 1942. The unit recruited native Norwegian speakers as well as Norwegian-Americans who were familiar with the language. The soldiers, who ideally also knew how to ski, prepared to operate against German forces in Norway.