Wednesday, June 24, 2026
The Minnesota Volunteer
My Great-Grandfather was a pretty remarkable man. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in the 1890's on his way to being a lead engineer for Westinghouse. He went all over the world setting up electrical systems-- as far as Patagonia. Later, he was one of the people who established the first commercial radio station in the US, KDKA in Pittsburgh.
I knew that he was from Almond, Wisconsin, so when I was driving through that area I stopped in. It's a pretty quiet little down, and I wandered over to the cemetery. There I found the grave of my Great-Great Grandfather, Charles Webster. And when I swept away the grass at the bottom of the headstone, I saw something remarkable-- that apparently he was a member of the Minnesota 1st Volunteers in the Civil War.
The Minnesota 1st were among the very first to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops, and they fought at Antietem, Bull Run and Gettysburg.
There is a monument to them at Gettysburg, because they held the line at Cemetery Ridge when greatly outnumbered, suffering an 82% casualty rate as they pushed back the Alabama Brigade.
I suppose that after the war he went back to the little town of Almond, part of my midwestern legacy.
