The Film
• • •As part of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, First Minnesota Films is producing No More Gallant a Deed, a documentary film on the remarkable story of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Regiment.
This regiment, described by President Calvin Coolidge “as saviors of their country,” was composed of ten companies of 100 men each from nine Minnesota communities: Winona, Wabasha/Lake City, Red Wing, Hastings, Stillwater, Faribault, Minneapolis, St. Anthony, and St. Paul.
The story of the 1st Minnesota, once Minnesota’s greatest story, has been mostly forgotten. Through the use of archival photographs, newspaper reports, paintings, maps, music, and, most importantly, the voices of the soldiers and the citizens of Minnesota as captured in their letters and diaries, the story of the 1st and the state they called home will be brought to life. This project not only includes the film but also educational materials, books, public exhibitions, and other broadly based public education initiatives.
The premiere of the film is anticipated to be in May 2014, the 150th Anniversary of their being mustered out of the Union Army.
The 1st Minnesota’s signature act took place on July 2, 1863 during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, when two hundred sixty-two members of the 1st charged 1600 Confederates to buy five-minutes-time to allow Union reinforcements to arrive and close a dangerous gap in the Union line. At the end of the fight, only 42 men walked off the field; the rest were killed or wounded.
Our film is being funded through public support from Legacy Funds allocated by the State of Minnesota, from corporate sponsors and from private individuals. To date individual contributors have donated $100,000 in support of the research and story development.
Donations are being handled through IFP MN, a non-profit that supports the media arts and acts as a fiscal agent on behalf of filmmakers. Donations are fully tax deductible. Donations of $100 or more will receive a tax acknowledgement.
In our office is a forty foot long, eight foot high, white sheetrock wall on which the film is being storyboarded. 
On the evening of Thursday, October 11th, a gathering of Civil War stakeholders in Minnesota was held at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul.
Recently I had occasion to visit La Crosse, Wisconsin. An evening soiree on behalf of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy was held on sightseeing pontoon boat. 
Last week, Bill Semans, Director of No More Gallant a Deed, and I travelled to Rochester and Winona to speak to their Civil War Roundtables. 
It was a time before newsreels. It was a time before the 24-hour news cycle. There were no battlefield photos from previous wars to be seen. 
Charlie Goddard was born in Pennsylvania May 14, 1845 to Catherine and Abner Goddard. He was the only child of nine that survived childhood.
Edward Bassett was just 19 when he was mustered into Company G of the 1st Minnesota on April 29, 1861 as a private. His family moved west, settling in Morristown, Minnesota in the south central part of the state.
Mathew Marvin was born on September 21, 1838 in Connaston, New York. In 1859 at the age of 19, Matthew moved to Winona, Minnesota where he worked as a clerk for J. J. Randall & Co, a leather goods store. 
Samuel was born in Brookline, Vermont on April 30, 1830. Upon reaching his majority, he travelled quite extensively and worked at a variety of occupations before purchasing a farm near Winona, Minnesota in the fall of 1856. 