The 1st Minnesota paid a terribly brutal price at a little place called Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. Stemming a Confederate charge, the unit suffered over 80 percent casualties. Can there be a more apt name for a battleground? 18th Century tactics, 19th Century weaponry—the carnage in that war seems almost unbelievable today.

As we celebrate our independence today in America, let us not forget that 85 years later we nearly severed the compact that has held us all together. Happy 4th.