1st Michigan, Part 2

 

    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 Henry Heth’s Virginians and BG Edward Thomas’s Georgians. Heavy fighting pushed Barnes Brigade back to the junction of Ely’s Ford Road and U.S. Ford Road. For the next three days, the men of the 1^st would often be sent out as pickets and skirmishers where they were consistently engaged, even though the battle was moving to the South East towards Fredericksburg. Early on the morning of the 6^th, Hooker withdrew. Barnes’s Brigade was put as a rearguard, to protect the withdrawing Union Army’s flank from any Confederate attacks there. The men were weary and in a foul mood. During the entirety of the Chancellorsville Campaign, the 1^st Michigan lost only 2 men killed and 12 men wounded. One man was reported as missing. Over the next three days, Barnes’s Brigade was tasked with covering the withdrawal of the Union troops over the Rappahannock River after a storm caused the roads to flood, resulting in a delay of movement.  

The 1st Michigan on May 3rd at Chancellorsville was apart of Barnes's Brigade, in the red circle.

During the month of May, the 1^st Michigan was encamped along Potomac Creek. While there, they were involved in the arresting and then further guarding of the 25^th New York, some of the 17^th and the 12^th New York Infantry, who’s enlistments were over after two years and they refused to further “do their duty”. On the night of the 20^th, three of them escaped. On May 28^th, Governor Blair of Michigan visited the camp, though many of the men of the 1^st missed him due to being on picket duty, which is men who’ve been deployed on the outer lines of the camp to guard from any surprise attacks (think of the Battle of Shiloh as a prime example of the value of having pickets).

By June 3rd, 1863, the Gettysburg Campaign had commenced. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains after Meanwhile, Hooker’s weary, battle-hardened Army of the Potomac gave chase. The 1^st Michigan moved along with the rest of the V Corps north, including the 4^th Michigan Infantry. According to Lockley, the two regiments intermingled and drank together on the night of June 9^th, before they set out. On the night of the 13^th, the men bivouacked at Morrisville, VA. On June 16^th, the regiment was encamped near Bull Run. It was their first time back to the place where they had suffered heavily in the first two years of the war. That day they were also paid. From there they camped at Centerville, and then Aldie, where, on the 17^th there was a battle between General Judson Kilpatrick’s Union cavalry troopers and Colonel Thomas Munford with the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th Virginia Cavalry.

On the 21^st and 22^nd of June the 1^st was assigned to General Alfred Pleasonton, commanding the Cavalry Corps. The Michigan regiment was used as skirmishers though reported to have not fired a shot. They would encamp near Middleburg, Virginia until June 26^th, when they began marching again. They crossed the Potomac into Maryland on a pontoon at Edward’s Ferry which is outside of Leesburg, Virginia. They marched until about near Franklin, Maryland, where they stayed camped until the 28^th of June. It was during this time that a big shift in the Army of the Potomac took place. Joe Hooker resigned after a heated argument with President Lincoln. Lincoln and General-In-Chief Henry Halleck both eagerly accepted his resignation. After Senior General John F. Reynolds refused Lincoln’s suggestion that he take the position, George Meade was appointed General of the Potomac Army. General George Sykes, commander of the Second Division, V Corps.

During the day of June 30^th, 1863, Barnes’s First Division arrived at Union Mills in Maryland, between Westminster and Hanover, Pennsylvania, where Confederate J.E.B. Stuart had briefly stopped after a skirmish with Union cavalry in Westminster on his now infamous ride to Gettysburg. The community was founded by the Shriver family in the 18^th Century and had loyalties to both sides. Some members had welcomed Stuart’s three brigades of some 6000 cavalrymen, while others had welcomed and hosted Gen. James Barnes. The regiment was put on picket duty that night.

In the early hours of the morning on Wednesday, July 1^st, the men again set out. They marched until about 4 pm and had scarcely been able to catch their breath at Hanover when they received orders to immediately advance to Gettysburg. They marched the 12 odd miles and stopped at 1 am about 2 miles from where the action had taken place there on the first day of fighting. After a few hours of rest, they resumed and reached Gettysburg at about 7 am. After General Dan Sickles astonishingly moved his III Corps west of Cemetery Ridge earlier in the battle, General Meade was forced to send reinforcements to the right of Sickles’ line to stop them from being cut off. The 1^st Brigade, commanded by Colonel Tilton, was placed on the edge of the woods south of the Rose House. About 5:30 pm, the men arrived and formed battle lines on the Stony Hill. They were almost immediately engaged with Kershaw’s Brigade of South Carolinians and Semmes’ Georgians from McLaws’ Dvision at the Rose Farm. After some heavy fighting, Tilton moved his brigade back under Barnes’ orders, for fear of being flanked. They held on the Wheatfield Road while Zook’s Brigade immediately countercharged and filled the position Tilton’s Brigade. On the 3^rd, the 1^st brigade was moved to Little Round Top to relieve the 3^rd Brigade, who had made its now infamous stand on the extreme flank of the Union line.

Gettysburg, on the second day. Circle number 1 is the 1st Michigan's location initially in the battle. No. 2 is The Rose House, and No. 3 is the infamous Wheat field. 

The 1^st Michigan had 21 officers and 240 enlisted men who were present at the battle. Over the two days they were engaged, they lost 1 officer and 4 men killed, as well as 6 officers and 27 men wounded. 4 men were reported missing, resulting in a 17.5% casualty rate. There is a monument in the spot where the men of the regiment were primarily engaged on the second day of fighting. It was erected in 1888 and dedicated in 1889 by the State of Michigan.

The monument to the 1st Michigan at Gettysburg

The regiment began to give chase along with the rest of the Army of the Potomac. They chased Lee south until he reached the Potomac River, which was swollen with rainwater after numerous days in a row of heavy storms in southern Pennsylvania and Maryland. By the 9^th of July, general feeling was that there was to be another major battle, potentially even a war-ending battle. Many in the rank and file believed that Meade needed to attack Lee before he could further retreat and find a defensive position “the devil couldn’t beat him out” of.

In October of ’63, the Bristoe Campaign kicked off in Virginia, after Longstreet’s Corps of Confederates were sent west to reinforce Tennessee. Meade’s goal was to push to the Rappahannock River and the crush Lee’s smaller army at the Rapidan River. However, two Union Corps, the XI and XII, were also sent to Tennessee, to take part in the Chattanooga Campaign. Lee decided to counterstrike. The 1^st, although present, did not see very much fighting. They did not report back any casualties of battle after Gettysburg. The 1^st Michigan took up winter quarters near Beverly Ford, Virginia. At the end of the year, the enlistments were up for the men of the 1^st.

This is where I will end this part, as it had become clear to me that trying to fit the events of 1863, 1864, and 1865 into one post was absurd. The next part will be the final piece on the 1^st Michigan Infantry, covering 1864 and 1865, as well as anything that did not fit into the timeline approach that I used here.

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