Did you know that the 1st, 5th, and 6th Michigan Cavalry regiments of Brigadier General George A. Custer’s brigade served in the trans-Mississippi? In the summer of 1865 most of these regiment’s companies were dispatched to the West. Below is the short history of the 1st Michigan Cavalry from William F. Fox’s Regimental Losses In The American Civil War, 1861-1865 (1898). Note that the Wolverines suffered a loss of two killed at Willow Springs in the Dakota Territory.
For more information about the 1st Michigan Cavalry, see the following:
Michigan Historical Museum: has a photograph of a flag of the 1st Michigan Cavalry
Michigan in the Civil War: this website has a roster and a short history of the regiment
“Custer’s Brigade —Kilpatrick’s Division--Cavalry Corps, A. P.
| （1) Col. Thornton F. Brodhead; Bvt. Brig.-Gen. (Killed). | （2) Col Charles H. Town. |
| （3) Col. Peter Stagg; Bvt. Brig.-Gen. | |
| companies. | killed and died of wounds. | died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c. | Total Enrollment. | |||||
| Officers. | Men. | Total. | Officers. | Men. | Total. | |||
| Field and Staff | 2 | 2 | 4 | | 1 | 1 | 26 | |
| Company | A | 1 | 20 | 21 | 2 | 20 | 22 | 198 |
| | B | 1 | 15 | 16 | | 25 | 25 | 219 |
| | C | 3 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 24 | 25 | 222 |
| | D | | 5 | 5 | | 9 | 9 | 166 |
| | E | | 12 | 12 | | 18 | 18 | 201 |
| | F | 3 | 10 | 13 | | 17 | 17 | 228 |
| | G | 1 | 7 | 8 | | 13 | 13 | 201 |
| | H | | 15 | 15 | 2 | 20 | 22 | 205 |
| | I | 1 | 11 | 12 | | 25 | 25 | 183 |
| | K | 1 | 17 | 18 | | 18 | 18 | 197 |
| | L | | 16 | 16 | 1 | 28 | 29 | 239 |
| | M | 1 | 10 | 11 | | 26 | 26 | 201 |
| Totals | 14 | 150 | 164 | 6 | 244 | 250 | 2,486 | |
Total of killed and wounded, 584; died in Confederate prisons (previously included), 56.
| battles. | K. & M. W. | battles. | K. & M. W. | battles. | K. & M. W. |
| Charlestown, Va., March 7 1862 | 1 | Falling Waters, Md., July 14, 1863 | 2 | Trevilian Sta'n, Va., June 12, 1864 | 17 |
| Middletown, Va., March 24, 1862 | 1 | Rapidan, Va., Sept. 14, 1863 | 1 | Winchester, Va., Aug. 11, 1864 | 2 |
| Salem, Va., April 1, 1862 | 1 | Robertson's River, Sept. 23, 1863 | 1 | Front Royal, Va., Aug. 16, 1864 | 4 |
| Piedmont, Va., April 17, 1862 | 2 | Brandy Station, Oct. 11, 1863 | 1 | Shepherdstown, Va., Aug. 25, 1864 | 2 |
| Winchester, Va., May 24, 1862 | 10 | Centreville, Va., Nov. 6, 1863 | 1 | Smithfield, Va., Aug. 29, 1864 | 2 |
| Cedar Mountain, Va., Aug. 9, 1862 | 4 | Todd’s Tavern, Va., May 6, 1864 | 8 | Opequon, Va., Sept. 19, 1864 | 11 |
| Manassas, Va., Aug. 30, 1862 | 15 | Beaver Dam,Va., May 9, 1864 | 2 | Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864 | 7 |
| Brentsville, Va., Jan. 9, 1863 | 3 | Yellow Tavern, Va., May 11, 1864 | 14 | Picket, Va., Dec. 14, 1864 | 1 |
| Fort Scott, Va., Jan. 12, 1863 | 1 | Milford Station May 20, 1864 | 1 | Dinwiddie, Va., March 30, 1865 | 3 |
| Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863 | 14 | Hawes's Shop, Va., May 28, 1864 | 6 | Five Forks, Va., April 1, 1865 | 8 |
| Monterey Md. July 4, 1863 | 4 | Old Church, Va., May 30, 1864 | 2 | Willow Springs, D. T., Aug. 12, 1865 | 2 |
| Hagerstown, Md,, July 6, 1863 | 2 | Cold Harbor, Va., June 1-6, 1864 | 5 | Place unknown | 3 |
Notes.--This regiment, with one exception, sustained the heaviest loss in action of any cavalry regiment in the war. It was organized at Detroit in August, 1861, and left the State on September 29, with 1,144 officers and men. It went into winter quarters at Frederick, Md., but in February, 1862, moved into Virginia, joining Banks's troops in their advance up the Shenandoah Valley. While there it was attached to Williams's Division, and took a large share of the cavalry fighting in that campaign. Colonel Brodhead fell, mortally wounded, at Manassas while leading a charge; the loss of the regiment in that battle was 8 killed, 13 wounded, and 97 captured,--many of the latter being wounded; it was then in Buford's Cavalry Brigade. In 1863 the regiment was assigned to Custer's Brigade of Michigan Cavalry. At Gettysburg the regiment lost 10 killed, 43 wounded, and 20 missing out of 300 engaged, the loss occurring in a charge against a superior force; a charge which Custer pronounced unequalled for brilliancy and gallantry in “the annals of warfare.” In the spring campaign of 1864, the losses from May 4th to June 30th were 40 killed, 138 wounded, and 65 missing; total, 243. The list of battles given above are those only in which men were killed, but the regiment participated in many others in which it lost men wounded or captured” (Fox, p. 376).
No comments:
Post a Comment