Barnett Kenna

Axel Hayford Reed was born on March 13, 1835, in Hartford, Oxford County, Maine. As a young man he left New England for the rapidly developing Upper Midwest and eventually settled in Glencoe, Minnesota. Historical accounts describe him working in brickmaking and establishing himself in the new community before the American Civil War transformed his life. By the outbreak of the conflict, Reed had made Minnesota his home and would become one of the state's most remarkable Civil War soldiers. National Museum of Civil War Medicine In 1861, Reed entered the United States Army and joined Company K, 2nd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. The 2nd Minnesota served primarily in the western theater of the Civil War and developed a distinguished combat record. Minnesota Historical Society records place the regiment in major operations that included Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, the Chattanooga campaign, Atlanta, and Sherman's later campaigns through the South. Reed kept detailed wartime diaries, four volumes of which survive in the Minnesota Historical Society's collections. Those diaries document army life, military discipline, combat, slavery, and the regiment's movements, providing unusually direct evidence of his wartime experience. Minnesota Historical Society By September 1863, Reed had risen to Sergeant. His first Medal of Honor action occurred during the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia, beginning on September 19, 1863. At the time, Reed was under arrest for a breach of military discipline and was being held behind the fighting line. The War Department's later official account states that when the battle opened, Reed voluntarily left his position in the rear, went to the battlefield unarmed, obtained the musket and equipment of a wounded soldier, and joined the fight. U.S. Army He remained engaged through the bitter two-day Battle of Chickamauga. His conduct was considered sufficiently courageous that the disciplinary action against him was set aside. The War Department recorded that he was released from arrest and restored to duty by special order of General George H. Thomas in recognition of his bravery. It was an extraordinary reversal: Reed began the battle under military arrest and ended it formally recognized for gallantry under fire. Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Only a little more than two months later, Reed was again at the center of a major engagement during the Battle of Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on November 25, 1863. The 2nd Minnesota took part in the Union assault against fortified Confederate positions on the ridge. The Minnesota Historical Society identifies the regiment's attack there as one of its most prominent achievements, noting that Union soldiers successfully stormed a prepared Confederate defensive position. Minnesota Historical Society During the attack, Sergeant Reed took command of his company and led his men forward. His official Medal of Honor citation states that he was among the first to enter the enemy's works. The advance carried him directly into the Confederate defenses, but during the fighting Reed was severely wounded in his right arm. The injury was catastrophic and ultimately required the arm to be amputated. U.S. Army For many Civil War soldiers, such a wound would have ended military service. Reed was offered a disability discharge, but he declined to leave the Army. After recovering sufficiently, he returned to duty and remained with the Union forces. The 1898 War Department account specifically records that after the amputation he continued through the remainder of the war and participated in the Savannah and Carolina campaigns. Minnesota Historical Society material likewise records his later service during the campaigns associated with William T. Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas. Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Reed's continued service after losing an arm is one of the defining features of his military career. Surviving historical documentation shows that he adapted sufficiently to continue writing, working, and serving. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine notes that examples of his handwriting survive from both before and after the amputation, reflecting his adjustment to writing with his left hand. National Museum of Civil War Medicine His service also brought further promotion. Minnesota's official legislative biographical record lists his progression through the enlisted and commissioned ranks as Sergeant, First Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Second Lieutenant, and First Lieutenant. The Minnesota Historical Society's archival description similarly identifies him as a sergeant who later became a lieutenant. He remained in active service until the end of the war and was mustered out in Minnesota in July 1865. Minnesota Legislature This creates the historical rank distinction that needs to be preserved in Reed's profile. He was a Sergeant during the actions for which the Medal of Honor was awarded, while his directly documented wartime advancement reached First Lieutenant. Modern Medal of Honor databases also use the title Captain for Reed, and the name “Captain Reed” became associated with him after the war, but Minnesota's official service summary lists First Lieutenant as his final military commission. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Formal national recognition of Reed's wartime heroism did not come until more than three decades later. On April 2, 1898, he received the Medal of Honor for his combined gallantry at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. The official Army citation recognized his voluntary return to combat while under arrest at Chickamauga, his leadership at Missionary Ridge, the severe wound that cost him an arm, and his decision to remain in active service despite that disability. U.S. Army Because the Medal of Honor was presented in 1898, the correct historical ribbon category in the current database is: Medal of Honor 1896–1903 Army — No device No V device should be added. The Medal of Honor itself is the valor decoration; a separate V device is not part of Reed's historical award. Reed's story continued long after the Civil War. Returning to Glencoe, he became active in business, journalism, local affairs, and Minnesota politics. He worked as a merchant and entered state government service. Minnesota's official legislative database records that he served as Chief Sergeant at Arms of the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1868–1869 and was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives for the 1870 session, representing a district that included McLeod and surrounding counties. Minnesota Legislature His public involvement extended beyond the legislature. Reed later served as a McLeod County Commissioner from 1876 to 1878. He also became a newspaper publisher, operating the Glencoe Enterprise from 1878 until 1889. These activities made him an important figure in the civic development of the community where he had settled before the war. Minnesota Legislature Reed married Hannah Antoinette Morrison on April 15, 1869, and they had four children. Despite the permanent disability caused by his wartime wound, he remained active in public, commercial, and community life for decades. His surviving diaries and later genealogical work also reveal a strong interest in preserving family and historical records; Minnesota History noted the publication of his genealogical volume in the early twentieth century, which incorporated material from his Civil War diary. Minnesota Legislature Axel Hayford Reed died on January 21, 1917, in Glencoe, Minnesota. He was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Glencoe, where his burial is recorded by both the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Minnesota's legislative historical record. Congressional Medal of Honor Society Reed's legacy is unusual even among Civil War Medal of Honor recipients. At Chickamauga, he went from disciplinary arrest to voluntary front-line combat and earned restoration to duty through his battlefield conduct. At Missionary Ridge, he led his company into Confederate defenses, suffered a wound that cost him an arm, and then refused to allow that injury to end his service. He returned to duty, continued through the final campaigns of the war, rose into the commissioned officer ranks, and then spent decades contributing to the civic and political life of Minnesota. His Medal of Honor recognized not one isolated instant, but a sequence of actions that demonstrated courage, leadership, and continued military commitment under extraordinary circumstances.