# William J. Colvill *Union Army colonel and Minnesota Attorney General (1866–1868)* William J. Colvill Jr. (April 5, 1830 – June 12, 1905) was a Union colonel in the American Civil War who led the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Gettysburg.[^1] After the war he held the office of [[Minnesota Attorney General]] from 1866 to 1868 and also sat in the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]].[^1] Colvill was born in New York and read law in the office of Millard Fillmore. He came to [[Minnesota]] in 1854.[^2] In 1855 he founded *The Red Wing Sentinel*, a Democratic newspaper. His papers stood for the Union and against secession.[^2] When the war began he was the first Goodhue County man to volunteer. He was shot in the shoulder at White Oak Swamp in 1862 and was promoted to major before Antietam.[^3] His Attorney General term ended in 1868, and he went back to practicing law in [[Red Wing, Minnesota]]. He returned to the House in 1878, and from 1887 to 1891 he was register of the Duluth Land Office.[^4] He died in 1905 at the Minnesota Soldiers' Home and was buried at [[Cannon Falls, Minnesota]], where a statue was dedicated next to his grave in 1928.[^5] A Red Wing park, a statue in the [[Minnesota State Capitol]], a stretch of [[Minnesota State Highway 19]] and a former town in Cook County carry his name or likeness.[^6] ## Early life Colvill's birthplace was Forestville, New York, and his date of birth was April 5, 1830. His parents were of Irish and Scotch descent.[^2] After finishing at the Fredonia Academy, he spent a year teaching at a country school.[^2] He studied law in Forestville and in [[Buffalo]], where he read law under Millard Fillmore. He gained admission to the bar in 1851 and then practiced in Forestville for about three years.[^2] Colvill came to Minnesota in 1854. For his first year or more he lived in St. Paul, where he worked first as enrolling clerk of the Territorial Council and then as its secretary.[^2] He next settled in Cannon Falls. There he claimed a tract of land on which part of the present city stands. He opened a law office in Red Wing in 1854.[^2] In 1855 he established *The Red Wing Sentinel*, a Democratic paper. The source says his papers were Democratic in politics but consistently pro-Union and anti-secession. Before the war, people who held such views were called Union Democrats, and they generally backed the policies of Stephen A. Douglas.[^2] ## Civil War At the outbreak of the war, Colvill was 31. He was the first volunteer from Goodhue County.[^3] The men of the locality chose him as captain of Company F of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The regiment reached Washington, D.C., on June 26, 1861.[^3] He led the 1st Minnesota at the Battle of Gettysburg, and his rank in that war was colonel.[^1] ### First Bull Run About a month after reaching Washington, the regiment marched with the Union Army into Virginia. On July 21, 1861, it engaged the Confederate Army near Manassas at the First Battle of Bull Run.[^3] On Henry House Hill, the regiment was ordered to support Rickett's Battery, and it fought heavily there. It was among the last regiments to withdraw from the field.[^3] Its casualties were the highest of any northern regiment: 48 killed, 83 wounded and 30 missing.[^3] ### The Seven Days Battle General George B. McClellan now commanded the Union Army. The army landed on the peninsula between the James and York rivers and pushed west toward Richmond, and a week of engagements followed, known as the Seven Days Battle.[^3] At the Battle of White Oak Swamp on June 30, 1862, a bullet struck Colvill in the shoulder. He was sent to Baltimore, where he recovered over the rest of the summer.[^3] ### Antietam Colvill rejoined the regiment on August 31 and was made major soon afterward.[^3] On September 17, the unit went into the Battle of Antietam with 435 men. The 1st Minnesota held the far right of the leading brigade, which was commanded by the regiment's former colonel, [[Willis A. Gorman]].[^3] That brigade was part of John Sedgwick's division in its assault on the West Woods, which ended in a Union rout on that part of the field. The column came out on the far side of the woods and drew heavy fire on both flanks.[^3] The regiment lost 15 killed and 79 wounded, along with a further 21 men listed in the truncated source text.[^3] ## Later life Colvill sat in the state legislature again after the war, serving until 1866.[^4] He then won election as Minnesota Attorney General and held the office from 1866 to 1868. Afterward he went back to his Red Wing law practice.[^4] In 1878 he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives.[^4] From 1887 to 1891 he was register of the Duluth Land Office.[^4] ## Personal life In April 1867 Colvill married Elizabeth Morgan of Oneida County, New York. She was a direct descendant of Elder Brewster, one of the Pilgrim Fathers.[^5] By 1893 Colvill held a 167-acre homestead at [[Grand Marais, Minnesota]], on the shore of [[Lake Superior]].[^5] Other settlers followed, and a small community grew up there. In 1906, after his death, it was given the name Covill.[^5] In 1905 Colvill went to the Minnesota Soldiers' Home in [[Minneapolis]] for a reunion of First Minnesota veterans. He died there in his sleep.[^5] The source's section text gives the date as June 13, while its lead gives June 12, 1905.[^5][^1] His grave is in the Cannon Falls Community Cemetery, where his original statue stands on a shaded hill above the grounds.[^5] President Calvin Coolidge attended the 1928 dedication of a statue placed beside the grave.[^5] ## Legacy Red Wing's Colvill Park bears his name, and a second statue of him stands in the Minnesota State Capitol.[^6] Minnesota State Highway 19 between Gaylord and Red Wing has a section designated in his honor.[^6] Colvill, a now-extinct town in Cook County, also took its name from him.[^6] At the Highway 61 wayside by the Kudunce River, a plaque records that he kept a summer home in the area.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *William J. Colvill* (rev. 1365802708, retrieved 2026-10-25) — lead: life dates, command of the 1st Minnesota at Gettysburg, Attorney General 1866–1868, Minnesota House service. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Colvill [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *William J. Colvill*, "Early life" section (rev. 1365802708, retrieved 2026-10-25) — birth, education, legal training, bar admission, Territorial Council posts, Cannon Falls and Red Wing, *The Red Wing Sentinel*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Colvill [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *William J. Colvill*, "Civil War" section (rev. 1365802708, retrieved 2026-10-25) — enlistment, Company F, First Bull Run casualties, White Oak Swamp wound, promotion, and Antietam strength and losses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Colvill [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *William J. Colvill*, "Later life" section (rev. 1365802708, retrieved 2026-10-25) — legislature to 1866, Attorney General 1866–1868, House 1878, Duluth Land Office 1887–1891. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Colvill [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *William J. Colvill*, "Personal life" section (rev. 1365802708, retrieved 2026-10-25) — 1867 marriage, Grand Marais homestead, death at the Minnesota Soldiers' Home, burial, and the 1928 statue dedication. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Colvill [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *William J. Colvill*, "Legacy" section (rev. 1365802708, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Colvill Park, Capitol statue, Highway 19 designation, Colvill town in Cook County, and the Kudunce River plaque. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Colvill