1st Regiment, Michigan Sharpshooters, United States Civil War

Date: 1863 to 1865
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: US_Civil_War Michigan

For a grouping of profiles of members of this unit, see the category for the 1st Regiment, Michigan Sharpshooters.

1st Regiment, Michigan Sharpshooters

Overview:Organized at Kalamazoo and Dearborn, Mich., April 14 to October 7, 1863. 6 Companies mustered in July 7, 1863, and ordered to Indianapolis, Ind.; thence to Seymour, Ind., to repel the Morgan Raid. Action with Morgan at North Vernon, Ind., July 13, and at Pierceville July 14. Returned to Dearborn, Mich., and duty there till August 16. Moved to Chicago, Ill., August 16, and duty guarding prisoners at Camp Douglas till March 17, 1864. Ordered to Annapolis, Md., March 17. Attached to 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 9th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to September, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Army Corps, to July, 1865.

Service:Duty at Annapolis, Md., till April 23, 1864. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James River, Va., May 4-June 15. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Spottsylvania May 8-12; Ny River May 10; Spottsylvania Court House May 12-21. Assault on the Salient May 12. North Anna River May 23-26. Ox Ford May 23-24. On line of the Pamunkey May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Bethesda Church June 1-3. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30, 1864. Weldon Railroad August 18-21. Poplar Springs Church September 29-October 2. Reconnoissance on Vaughan and Squirrel Level Roads October 8. Boydton Plank Road, Hatcher's Run October 27-28. Fort Stedman, Petersburg, March 25, 1865. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Assault on and fall of Petersburg April 2. Occupation of Petersburg April 3. Pursuit of Lee April 3-9. Moved to Washington, D. C., April 22-27. Grand Review May 23. Camp near Washington, D. C., till July 28. Mustered out July 28, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 6 Officers and 131 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 165 Enlisted men by disease. Total 362. ^[1]

Fox's History

Recruiting for this regiment began in the fall of 1862, and on July 7, 1863, six companies were mustered in. These six companies were immediately ordered to Indiana, where they took an active part in checking the advance of Morgan's Raid, after which they returned to the rendezvous at Dearborn, Mich., where the remaining four companies were soon afterwards recruited. It was ordered to Chicago in August, and placed on guard over the Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglass. It joined the Army of the Potomac in March, 1864, at Annapolis, Md., where it was assigned to Christ's (2d) Brigade, Willcox's (3d) Division. The regiment encountered hard fighting at Spotsylvania, its losses in the action of May 12th amounting to 34 killed, 117 wounded, and 3 missing, Major John Piper being among the killed. Another bloody contest occurred at the assault on Petersburg, June 17th, where, under command of Major Levant C. Rhines, the regiment took a prominent and meritorious part; its loss in that action was 75 killed and wounded, besides 81 missing, many of whom were killed or disabled; Major Rhines was killed in this action. The regiment was then transferred to the First Division, in which it afterwards remained. Upon the fall of Petersburg, the regiment — then in Ely's Brigade — was the first to enter the city, its flag appearing on the Court House, April 3, 1865, at 4.28 A. M. A few minutes later, the colors of the Second Michigan, of the same brigade, were unfurled from the Custom House.

One company in this regiment was composed of Indians, who distinguished themselves in action by their coolness and efficient markmanship.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ National Park Service Soldiers and Sailors Database
2. ↑ Taken from; William F. Fox, Lt. Col. U. S. V., Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865: A Treatise on the extent and nature of the mortuary losses in the Union regiments, with full and exhaustive statistics compiled from the official records on file in the state military bureaus and at Washington 1888