The 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery Regiment mustered in at St. Paul, and Rochester, Minnesota, between November 1864 and February 1865. Many of the officers were recruited from discharged veterans: sergeants from the 1st Minnesota while corporals came from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Minnesota Vol. Regiments. The 1st Minnesota Heavy was composed of twelve companies / batteries, of 140 men plus officers in each. It was the largest unit Minnesota sent to war numbering 1700 men.

The regiment was assigned to garrison duty at Chattanooga, Tennessee. There it was in charge of the heavy guns at forts defending the city in anticipation Southern General John Hood might try and retake the Chattanooga. The regiment saw no combat, remained there until the close of the war. The 1st Minnesota "Heavies" were mustered out of service on September 27, 1865.

Albert Woolson, who was a 14-year-old company drummer in the regiment, became the last surviving veteran of the American Civil War from either side after passing away in 1956.

• Lt. Colonel Luther L. Baxter, February 25, 1865, to April 26, 1865.
• Colonel William Colvill, April 26, 1865, to May 6, 1865.
• Colonel Luther L. Baxter, May 7, 1865, to September 27, 1865.

The regiment lost 87 enlisted men to disease. Many more suffered from scurvy and would never regain complete health.[1]

• Andrews, C. C., ed. (1891). Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars 1861–1865. St. Paul, Minn: Printed for the state by the Pioneer Press Co. OL 7088819M.
• The Union Army; A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65, Vol 4. Federal Publishing Co. 1908.

• The Civil War Archive
• Minnesota Historical Society page on Minnesota and the Civil War

• List of Minnesota Civil War Units