Regiments of the American Civil War

       At the Battle of Chancellorsville, the 1 st Michigan was placed on the River Road along with the rest of Griffin’s Division. According to Colonel Lockley, leading up to the battle the men were feeling quite excited. Many of the men had been on furlough and had returned home for a few days to Michigan, including Colonels Lockley, Abbott, and Whilttsey. During much of the battle the 1 st Michigan served as pickets and skirmishers for the V Corps, who was commanded by General George Meade. This means that they were detached and sent out in a loose formation in front of the main ranks of the army for the purpose of finding the enemy and judging their positions. In the case of Chancellorsville, the 1 st was sent in front of the defensive lines of breastworks built by the men during the night of May 2 nd . On the 3 rd , the men of the 1 st were deployed in the woods below Ely Ford Road and the Chancellor House. Throughout the morning they were engaged with BG He...

      On May 1 st in 1861, 798 men were mustered into Federal Service as the 1 st Michigan Infantry. In response to Lincoln calling for 75,000 men on April 16 th , Governor Austin Blair issued a proclamation calling for one regiment. Within no time, the call was answered by men, many of whom were enrolled in local militias. The first to answer the call were the men of the Detroit Light Guard. This prestigious company would form company A in the new regiment. The nine other companies are as follows: the "Jackson Grays" Co B; the "Coldwater Cadets" Co. C ; the "Manchester Union Guards" Co. D; the "Stuben Guard", the "Michigan Hussars", the "Burr Oak Guard", the "Ypsilanti Light Guard", the "Marshall Light Guard", and the "Hardee Cadets".  They arrived in Detroit and marched to Fort Wayne there.  Fort Wayne in Detroit, MI             The first was placed under the command of Colonel Orlando Boli...

       Hi everyone, just I just wanted to post an update. The first post in the Regimental series should be up by Sunday, September 6th.      I will be covering the 1st Michigan Infantry, both briefly the 3 months regiment and more in depth with the 3 year regiment. It will be followed by the 1st Virginia Infantry.     Classes have started for me and I am working to better my employment situation, which means that this has been just a small portion of a busy fall schedule. The research that is going into this project is extensive, perhaps more extensive than it should be, but I do believe it's important to get the facts straight and to understand the topic that I'm writing about as fully as possible. As such, I will plan on a schedule of posting every Sunday for the foreseeable future.     I appreciate immensely everyone who reads this and plans on reading this series in the future. I have no idea where this will go; it really is a ...