The 2nd Minnesota Regiment at Missionary Ridge (Painting)

Stephen Douglas Volk's 1906 painting depicts the Second Minnesota's 1863 charge up Missionary Ridge (previously called Mission Ridge), in southern Tennessee (near the Georgia border) during the Civil War. The Minnesotans were among a group of Union soldiers who advanced without orders, defeating the Confederate soldiers, and resulting in a Union victory.

According to the Minnesota Historical Society: "On November 25, 1863, still stinging from defeat in the Battle of Chickamauga two months earlier and under siege with dwindling supplies, Union forces charged Confederate-held Missionary Ridge, outside Chattanooga, Tennessee.

After overtaking trenches at the base of the steep hills, the Army of the Cumberland, including the Second Minnesota Regiment, daringly pushed forward without orders, and swept Confederate troops from atop the ridge. Because this assault was spontaneous, many have called it the 'Soldiers’ Battle.' The officer waving his hat and urging his men upward is Lt. Col. Judson Bishop, a teacher and newspaper editor from Chatfield, Minnesota."

Artist: Stephen Douglas Volk
Date: 1906
Original medium: Oil on Canvas
Orientation: Horizontal/Landscape
Image enhanced by Rebel Seed Studio