By Bretta Grabau
Fillmore County
Historical Society
It is always a pleasure for a museum to receive objects that can further explain the story of an artifact already in its collection. Years ago, before the Fillmore County Historical Society had even moved into its present facility in Fountain on County 8 just off of Highway 52 from the courthouse, a picture had been given to the society by a woman named Olive Elliott. This picture, which may have been one of his last, depicts the likeness of a man named Calvin Hoag, dressed in a uniform.
Calvin, who hailed from Harmony, enlisted into the 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment during the Civil War on August 2, 1862. He was promoted to Corporal in Company E on November 1, 1862. Just a few months later, his wife gave birth to his son, Calvin, Jr. In October 1863, the 7th was ordered south to first guard prisoners of war stationed at St. Louis, Mo. Their combat experience finally began on the battlefield of Tupelo, Miss., in July 1864 against the famous Confederate Cavalry commander, General Nathan Bedford Forest. At Tupelo, the 7th, 9th and 10th Minnesota regiments combined, handing General Forest one of the few defeats he ever endured.
At the end of the month, Calvin and the rest of the 7th left Memphis heading to the Tallahatchie River, fighting with the Confederate army on August 7 and 8, 1864. In the company of the 35th Iowa Infantry, the 7th Minnesota crossed the river under Confederate gunfire, spearheading the army’s fording. Once across, these two regiments covered the rest of the army as they crossed over. After that action, the regiment participated in pursuing Confederate General Sterling Price through Arkansas and Missouri. Shortly before November, the regiment had crossed back into Tennessee. It was here that Calvin’s luck ran out. He was killed in action on October 29, 1864, at Memphis.
Calvin’s story ended that October, but the regiment went on to seize the main fort of Mobile, Arkansas, Spanish Fort. By July 1865, after the war’s conclusion, the veterans of the regiment began the trek home to Minnesota.
This was the extent of Calvin’s story until one day in 2023, when a donor delivered a few other prizes to the Fillmore County Historical Society that would enhance it. These were papers, one being the promotional paper of Calvin Hoag to the rank of Corporal and the other a letter from Calvin’s wife Lucinda. The story continues like this: Calvin’s wife, now a widow, later remarried – twice more in fact – outliving all three of her husbands. Fifty years later, she contacted the county veterans agent, Asa R. Burleson – who was himself a veteran of the Civil War – about receiving her husband’s pension. As she had changed her name several times over the course of the years, Asa did request assistance from the local postmaster to clarify she was indeed Calvin’s widow.
Their son grew up in the Harmony area on Calvin’s farm. He was only 18 months old when his father died. Calvin Jr. eventually got married and moved to his own farm near the state line. He assisted in building the State Line Church before relocating to South Dakota.
Not much else is known about these Hoags, but together, these artifacts furnish a greater understanding of the man who gave his all for his country.
Linda Kappers says
Great report about a great man that was almost forgotten!