The 16th Michigan Infantry In The Civil War Revised And Updated

On the hot summer evening of July 2, 1863, at the climax of the struggle for a Pennsylvania hill called Little Round Top, four Confederate regiments charge up the western slope, attacking the smallest and most exposed of their Union foe: the 16th Michigan Infantry. Terrible fighting has raged, but what happens next will ultimately—and unfairly—stain the reputation of one of the Army of the Potomac’s veteran combat outfits, made up of men from Detroit, Saginaw, Ontonagon, Hillsdale, Lansing, Adrian, Plymouth, and Albion. In the dramatic interpretation of the struggle for Little Round Top that followed the Battle of Gettysburg, the 16th Michigan Infantry would be remembered as the one that broke during perhaps the most important turning point of the war. Their colonel, a young lawyer from Ann Arbor, would pay with his life, redeeming his own reputation, while a kind of code of silence about what happened at Little Round Top was adopted by the regiment’s survivors. From soldiers’ letters, journals, and memoirs, this book relates their experiences in camp, on the march, and in battle, including their controversial role at Gettysburg, up to the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House.

Here is the narrative history of the 16th Michigan, from its formation as Stocktons Independent Regiment on through its service in the Eastern Theater of the war, beginning in the spring of 1861when Col. Thomas B.W. Stockton, attempting to answer the direct call of President Abraham Lincoln, found his path to command a state regiment blocked by Michigan Governor Austin Blair. Also presented is the previously untold story of the ill-fated Michigan Lancer Regiment, and how nearly 200 men who had originally wanted to fight in the manner of knights of old ended up in Stocktons command. Recounted too is the regiments role in the nightmarish battles that took place in darkness at Gaines Mill, Fredericksburg and Laurel Hill at Spotsylvania Court House, and in daylight attacks and charges across open ground at the Second Battle of Bull Run and Peebles Farm.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- We Will Strive to Do Our Duty as American Soldiers -- The Loss Is Great, the Confusion Greater -- McClellan Moves Slow but Sure -- We Shall Go into the Storm of Battle with Brave Hearts -- A Whirlwind of Bullets, Yells, and Shrieks -- At It We Went Tooth and Nail -- The Sight Was Horrible and One I Hope I Never See Again -- Three Cheers for Colonel Jeffords -- Christ How the Canister Flew -- They Were Soon on All Sides of Us -- We Have Seen a Pretty Hard Campaign -- They Say Let the War Go On -- I Am Well but Don't Know How Long -- The Regiment Is in a Bad Situation at Present -- We Have Broke the Backbone of the Rebellion -- I Saw Passing a Great Army -- Roster of the 4th Michigan Infantry Regiment -- Notes -- Bibliography.

In the summer of 1862, a group of volunteer soldiers joined the Twenty-First Michigan Volunteer Infantry in western Michigan. For the next two and a half years, these men saw extensive combat against the Confederacy in Americas most brutal and bloody war. Drawn from hundreds of letters, diaries, and memoirs, Into the Tornado of War is the complete history of this Union regiment as seen through the soldiers eyes. James Genco traces their movements from their first major battle at Perryville, Kentucky, through Tennessee, Georgia, and finally, the Carolinas. In addition to Perryville, the regiment was severely tested in the landmark battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Bentonville, and participated in Union General William T. Shermans March to the Sea in November and December of 1864. As the war wound down in 1865, the regiment was part of the Union Army that cut its way through the Carolinas, ultimately finding itself in the forefront of one of the last major battles of the war. In a valuable contribution to the scholarship on the American Civil War, Into the Tornado of War paints a picture of the realities of the war through the words of real soldiers.

The 6th Michigan Volunteer Infantry first deployed to Baltimore, where the soldiers' exemplary demeanor charmed a mainly secessionist population. Their subsequent service along the Mississippi River was a perfect storm of epidemic disease, logistical failures, guerrilla warfare, profiteering, martinet West Pointers and scheming field officers, along with the doldrums of camp life punctuated by bloody battles. The Michiganders responded with alcoholism, insubordination and depredations. Yet they saved the Union right at Baton Rouge and executed suicidal charges at Port Hudson. This first modern history of the controversial regiment concludes with a statistical analysis, a roster and a brief summary of its service following conversion to heavy artillery.

This detailed history of the Twentieth Michigan Infantry offers a firsthand account of the regiment's experiences during the American Civil War, as well as official records related to its service. With its comprehensive coverage of one of the war's most storied units, this book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the Civil War. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

At the outbreak of war in 1861, Russell M. Tuttle was a junior at the University of Rochester. Inspired by the death of a friend, and urged by classmates and an influential professor, he enlisted with the 107th Regiment, New York Volunteers in August 1862. During the war, he saw action in Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee, took part in the Siege of Atlanta and the March to the Sea, and returned through the Carolinas on his march home in the waning days of conflict. An orderly sergeant at muster, he achieved the rank of captain before discharge at war's end. Sensitive, introspective and literate, Tuttle kept a journal of those bloody years between 1861 and 1865. Previously unpublished and only recently discovered, the journal tells the story of a young man driven to war by principle and the resulting struggle of loneliness, bloodshed, self-preservation and hope that often defines soldiers. This volume contains the text of Tuttle's journal along with 38 photographs, rare period illustrations, maps and an index of names and locations. Appendices include an obituary of Tuttle, an overview of the 107th and an 1861 description of the effects of disease on an army in the field.

These Men Have Seen Hard Service recounts the fascinating history of one outstanding Michigan regiment during the Civil War. A compelling political, social, ethnic, and military drama, this book examines the lives of the 1300 men of the First Michigan Sharpshooters for the first time, beginning with the regiment's inception and extending through post-war activities until the death of the last rifleman in 1946. Beyond presenting numerous anecdotes about the men and officers and their contributions during the war, Raymond Herek provides insight into the medical community of the time, the draft, other commands in the same division, the politics endemic in raising a regiment, and Michigan's Native American contingent. The extensive appendices will be of particular use to genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, and historians, because they list the men in the regiment, and also battle and camp casualties.