Last Shot, The

Military Images, May/Jun 2009

Marshall Sherman's name goes down in the annals of the 1st Minnesota history as the man who captured the flag of the 28th Virginia at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, at the conclusion of Pickett's failed charge. He had originally enlisted at the start of the war and served through all the campaigns of the 1st Minnesota and the 2nd Army Corps.

After his three year enlistment was up, he was one of the veterans who re-enlisted and was placed in the successor unit, the First Battalion of Minnesota Infantry. On August 14, 1864, at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia, he was shot in the left foot. It was a severe wound and required that his leg be amputated below the knee. He was discharged for disability on July 25, 1865. As a civilian Marshall Sherman posed for this photo which showed his artifical leg and crutches. (CDV courtesy Minnesota Historical Society)