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| Minnesota National Guard | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Minnesota National Guard | |
| Active | 1856–Present |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Allegiance |  State of Minnesota |
| Type | Joint |
| Size | 13,060[1] |
| Part of |  U.S. National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | St Paul, Minnesota |
| Nickname | NorthStar Guard |
| Motto | Always Ready |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief | GovernorTim Walz |
| TheAdjutant General | Maj. Gen. Shawn P. Manke |
| TheCommand Senior Enlisted Advisor | Command Chief Lisa Erikson |
TheMinnesota National Guard is the component of theUnited States National Guard based inMinnesota, composed of more than 13,000[2] soldiers and airmen in theMinnesota Army National Guard andMinnesota Air National Guard, serving in 61 communities.
The Minnesota National Guard finds its origins in the Minnesota Pioneer Guard, first organized inSt. Paul in April 1856, and formalized byHenry Hastings Sibley in 1858. The guard was deployed in-state for theWright County War of 1858. Due to GovernorAlexander Ramsey's quick support of Abraham Lincoln on the breakout of theAmerican Civil War, theFirst Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment is recognized as the first unit to volunteer to fight. The 1st Minnesota battled bravely at theBattle of Gettysburg, leading a famous bayonet charge.
The Minnesota Guard played roles in the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II.
The34th Infantry Division and other Minnesota Guard units played large roles in theGlobal War on Terror in the 2000s. The Minnesota Guard deployed in-state to handle unrest during theGeorge Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and the subsequenttrial of Derek Chauvin. The Guard was again mobilized in January 2026 following thekilling of Alex Pretti.[3]
The Minnesota Pioneer Guard was organized on April 15, 1856. A rented hall on Wabasha Street in St. Paul served as its armory.[4] It was the first organized military company in the state.[5] Their uniforms consisted of a blue,single-breasted coat and sky blue pants. The coat had three rows of gilt buttons. A binding of orange cord decorated the coat, and orange stripes went down the pant legs. Orange pompoms decorated the hats of the private, and orange plumes for those of the officers. An company made up of Irish citizens of St. Paul was formed on July 8, 1856, called the Shields Guards. TheCity of St. Anthony followed up with the formation of the Falls City Light Guards on July 12, 1856. TheRed Wing Rifles were formed in March 1957. The St. Paul Light Cavalry Company was organized on April 15, 1857.[6]
The guard was formally reorganized under state law on November 4, 1858. Any group to raise forty men into a militia would be appointed an officer to lead the company by the governor. Six months later, the companies stood as the Minnesota Pioneer Guard, City Guard, and Light Cavalry, of St. Paul; and the Jackson Rifles, Stillwater Guard, Washington Light Artillery, Red Wing Rifles, Mankato Rifle Company, Garden City Sharpshooters, Little Falls Guard, and St. Cloud Rifle Company. Additional companies were at Blue Earth City and Traverse des Sioux.[6]
The Guard performed parade marches at annual Fourth of July festivities,Alexander Ramsey's gubernatorial inauguration, and other festivities. A guard band was created on November 30, 1858.[6]
Future railroad tycoonJames J. Hill was a member of the Pioneer Guard. When the Civil War broke out, he wanted to join theFirst Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, but due to blindness in one eye he did not pass medical inspection.[7]
In September 1858, Henry A. Wallace, a 28 year-old assessor ofRockford, Minnesota, was murdered and his body found on his property. A sharecropper who had been working with Wallace, Oscar F. Jackson, was put on trial and found not guilty on April 3, 1859. On April 24, a mob assembled and took Jackson from the protective safekeeping of the Wright County sheriff. Jackson was lynched the following day.[8][9]
On April 29,Governor of MinnesotaHenry Hastings Sibley Sibley issued a reward for $500 for the apprehension and conviction of those responsible for Jackson's lynching, calling it a "high-handed outrage against the peace and dignity of the state".[8] The $500 reward went unclaimed until July 1858 when Jackson's wife Elizabeth spotted Emery W. Moore at a gathering inMinnehaha Falls. Moore had been a member of the lynch mob. Mrs. Jackson alerted St. Paul's chief of police, who arrested Moore for murder, and he was sent to Rockford to stand trial. However, before Moore could be tried for murder he was set free by a group ofvigilantes.[8]
On August 5, 1859, Sibley mustered the Minnesota militia, declaring the "civil officers of Wright county" as "perfectly powerless to enforce and execute laws", and a state of insurrection to exist within the county. Among the troops who responded were forty-two St. Paul Pioneer Guards, forty-five Stillwater Guards, and thirty-five St. Paul police.[9] The state militia and police interrogated citizens until they found three of the mob assailants responsible for Jackson's lynching.[8] However, when put before a grand jury the assailants were not indicted.[10]
The morning after theBattle of Fort Sumter,Alexander Ramsey, governor of Minnesota, was in Washington D.C. and stated to Secretary of WarSimon Cameron that Minnesota would volunteer 1,000 troops for the cause of theCivil War. Cameron had Ramsey write out the offer, and took it toAbraham Lincoln later that day. It would be the first such offer accepted by the federal government. From the Minnesota militia would be put together the1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment.[11] The first man to enlist in the "First Minnesota" wasJosias Ridgate King, later earning acommission and serving as theinspector general of the nascent Minnesota National Guard; he would become known as the "Father of the Minnesota Guard".[12]Willis A. Gorman, former governor of the Minnesota territory, was named as the colonel of the First Minnesota.[11]
One month after leavingFort Snelling, on July 21, 1861, the First Regiment participated in theFirst Battle of Bull Run. Forty two Minnesotans were killed, 108 were wounded, and thirty went missing. At theBattle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, the regiment saw 147 more casualties. The regiment, now much weaker than its original 1,000 men, accompanied the rest of theArmy of the Potomac towards Gettysburg.[11]
On the morning of July 3, 1863, Confederate GeneralRobert E. Lee orderedan attack on theUnion Army during theBattle of Gettysburg. The 28th Virginia Infantry Regiment was part of abrigade led by Brigadier GeneralRichard Garnett, positioned at the point of a lopsided V-shape formed by the marching Confederate troops. The Union soldiers, located ahead of and above the Confederate troops, opened fire, but the Confederates broke through upCemetery Ridge in places.[13]
The First Minnesota was ordered toattack the flank of the Confederate troops, and did so while protecting their own flag after the last remaining member of theircolor guard was shot through the hand.[13] More than 70% of the regiment's members were killed, wounded, or captured in the course of the battle.[14]: 142 The28th Virginia battle flag was captured by PrivateMarshall Sherman of the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment, Company C. Sherman would later be awarded theMedal of Honor for his actions during the battle.[15][13]
After the war, Minnesota's militia fell into disarray. In 1879, an effort was made to revive it and the Minneapolis Light Infantry was created on May 12.[16]
The first annual encampments of the Minnesota Guard took place inWhite Bear Lake in 1882 and 1883. In 1884, the annual training was held at a makeshift camp atLake Calhoun called Camp Sheridan. Encampments were again held at White Bear Lake in 1885 and 1886. In 1887, it was held atFort Snelling.[16] At this time, theUniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 had not yet been passed; employers rarely gave Soldiers time off to attend the trainings, so men would work all day, take the train to the encampment in the evening, and then an early train back to the city in the morning.[16]
In 1888, the state began training atCamp Lakeview inLake City, Minnesota alongLake Pepin.[16][17]
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Following the conclusion of the war, GeneralEllard A. Walsh, the Assistant Adjutant General of Minnesota, realized that Camp Lakeview was insufficiency for training of the Minnesota Guard. By 1929, he had settled upon the former location ofFort Ripley and by December, approval was given from theWar Department. The State of Minnesota purchased the land, some 13,000 acres. Money from federal appropriations was used to build the field training center. While the land is owned by the State of Minnesota, the buildings are owned federally.[18]
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47th "Viking" Infantry Division
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The Minnesota National Guard's involvement in the globalwar on terror began immediately on September 11, 2001, protecting the airspace overWashington, D.C. immediately after theSeptember 11 attacks.[19][20] In the days following, they provided protection to the airspace around Minneapolis, including a Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins.[21]
In 2003, around 1,100 Minnesota National Guard troops deployed to Bosnia to assist with peacekeeping missions.[22] Eight hundred Minnesota National Guard troops deployed to Kosovo as part of theNATO operationKosovo Force in 2003.[23][24]
The Minnesota National Guard deployed 2,600 troops to Iraq, activating them for preparations in October 2005 and deploying in March 2006. In January 2007, they learned they would be affected by theIraq War troop surge of 2007 extending their stay in Iraq by eighteen weeks.[25] When they returned in July 2007, they had been mobilized for 22 months, 16 of which were in Iraq; up until that point, they had been deployed the longest of any National Guard unit during the Iraq war.[26] ThroughoutOperation Iraqi Freedom, over 8,000 Minnesota National Guard soldiers and airmen deployed to Iraq. Fourteen members of the Minnesota National Guard died in Iraq, and 79 earned the Purple Heart.[27]
The Duluth-based148th Fighter Wing provided real-time surveillance for ground commanders using their Theater Aerial Reconnaissance System. St. Paul's 34th Combat Aviation Brigade was responsible for corps-level helicopter support from 2008 to 2009. In 2009-2010, the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division Headquarters provided command and control for 16,000 U.S. military Service members operating in nine of Iraq's 18 provinces. With the prevalence of improvised explosive devices on the roadways in Iraq, the St. Paul–based133rd Airlift Wing provided critical aerial transportation of people, equipment and materiel throughout the region.
Around 3,000 members of the1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2011; this deployment was the largest in Minnesota National Guard history since World War II.[28]
In mid 2020, the Minnesota National Guard was mobilized in full in response to theGeorge Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul.[29] However, the Minnesota National Guard delayed its arrival to areas where unrest was occurring and afterwards received criticism for "lagging" in its response to the riots.[30][31] After being activated, Minnesota National Guard adjutant general Maj. Gen.Jon A. Jensen claimed he and other guardsman were not provided clear directions by Minnesota governorTim Walz on how to respond to the protests and riots.[30] It was noted that no Minnesota guardsmen were present during the May 29, 2020, riot which destroyed numerous businesses in Minneapolis and did not clear streets until the next day.[32][33]
The Minnesota National Guard conducted a security mission alongside local law enforcement as street protests turned violent over themurder of George Floyd. A soldier from the Minnesota National Guard fired his weapon at a vehicle that was speeding towards police officers and National Guard soldiers inMinneapolis. The driver of the vehicle was given several verbal commands, and nonverbal signals in an attempt to slow the driver down. After the driver refused to stop, a soldier fired 3 rounds towards the speeding vehicle. Minnesota National Guard Major General Jon Jensen said "Our soldier fired 3 rounds from his rifle in response to a perceived and legitimate threat to him and the Minnesota police officers he was in direct support of."[34][35] By June 7, when the troops demobilized, 7,123 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been called into duty in the largest deployment in the state's history sinceWorld War II.[36]
In early 2021, the Minnesota National Guard was proactively mobilized forprotests in Minneapolis regarding the trial of Derek Chauvin that began in March and concurrently responded toprotests and unrest overkilling of Daunte Wright by a police officer on April 11. Two National Guard soldiers sustained minor injuries after being shot at while sitting in a military vehicle. The two soldiers suffered injuries that included glass fragments in an eye and facial cuts caused by the shattering glass. One soldier was transported to a hospital for treatment.[37][38] Hennepin County officials charged Andrew Thomas, a 28-year-old man with home address in Minneapolis andChicago,[39][40] with first-degree and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and illegal weapons possession.[39] In July 2021, Thomas pleaded guilty in Hennepin County court to charges related to the drive-by shooting and illegal possession of a firearm. He received an eight-year sentence that included five years in jail and three years under supervised release.[40]
Following World War I, the State of Minnesota purchased some 13,000 acres nearLittle Falls to be used for military training. The remains of the former federalFort Ripley were within the boundaries, and the name ofCamp Ripley was given to the new facility. The State of Minnesota owns the land, while the federal government owns the buildings. It is a dualmilitary andcivilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard near the city ofLittle Falls in the central part of the state. The location of the camp was selected in 1929 byEllard A. Walsh, Assistant Adjutant General of theState of Minnesota.[18]
Camp Lakeview was a military training facility for the Minnesota National Guard inLake City, Minnesota, on the shores ofLake Pepin from 1881 to 1930.[41] It was superseded by Camp Ripley.[42][43]
TheMinneapolis Armory was completed in 1935 at a cost of $1,000,000 ($22.9 million in2024),[44] using aPublic Works Administration grant of $185,000 and a city tax of .04mills over 30 years.[45] The guard stopped using the building in 1983.[46] It was sold and now serves as an event venue.[47]
In addition to Camp Ripley, the Minnesota National Guard operates some 64 armories throughout the state.[48]
A separate but currently inactive component of the organized militia of Minnesota, theMinnesota State Guard, is astate defense force previously activated during World War I and World War II while the National Guard was federalized. It is defined byMN Statute 190.06.
List of adjutants general in Minnesota:[49]
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