"Michigan Answers the Call to Arms" Topic

"The surrender of Fort Sumter on April 15, 1861, was startling news throughout the country, and Michigan soon received the President's call for volunteers. The state was asked to furnish one regiment of infantry fully armed, clothed, and equipped to aid the federal government in suppressing the rebellion. Although the state treasury was not in a condition to meet this request, subscription made the necessary amount available; ten companies were at once mobilized.

The President's call for Michigan troops was promptly met by the mustering in of the First Regiment and its early movement to the seat of war in Virginia. In the meantime, the War Department authorized Michigan to raise three other regiments, but at the same time stated that it was "important to reduce rather than increase that number." This authority only covered the Second, Third, and Fourth Infantry Regiment, already in process of recruitment. Many companies throughout the state, not included in the regiments named above, recruited without authority in the hope of obtaining places in those or other regiments. They were disappointed however, and 13 companies found service in the units of other states. By December 1861, Michigan had sent 13 infantry regiments, three cavalry regiments, and five batteries of light artillery, totaling 16,475 officers and enlisted men to the front…."
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