The 6th Michigan Volunteer Infantry first deployed to Baltimore, where the soldiers' exemplary demeanor charmed a mainly secessionist population. Their subsequent service along the Mississippi River was a perfect storm of epidemic disease, logistical failures, guerrilla warfare, profiteering, martinet West Pointers and scheming field officers, along with the doldrums of camp life punctuated by bloody battles. The Michiganders responded with alcoholism, insubordination and depredations. Yet they saved the Union right at Baton Rouge and executed suicidal charges at Port Hudson. This first modern history of the controversial regiment concludes with a statistical analysis, a roster and a brief summary of its service following conversion to heavy artillery.

The hard-fighting 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry was recruited from sparsely settled southwest Michigan shortly after the Civil War broke out. Mainly composed of young farmers and tradesmen, the regiment rapidly evolved into one of the Army of the Cumberland’s elite combat units, tenaciously fighting its way through some of the war’s bloodiest engagements. This book—featuring a complete unit roster—chronicles the regiment through the words of the veterans, tracing their development from a rabble of idealists into a fine-tuned fighting machine that executed successful bayonet charges against superior numbers. The narrative continues into the postwar period, discussing the ex-soldiers’ careers through Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. Photographs, maps, illustrations and a statistical analysis round out the work.

In the summer of 1862, a group of volunteer soldiers joined the Twenty-First Michigan Volunteer Infantry in western Michigan. For the next two and a half years, these men saw extensive combat against the Confederacy in Americas most brutal and bloody war. Drawn from hundreds of letters, diaries, and memoirs, Into the Tornado of War is the complete history of this Union regiment as seen through the soldiers eyes. James Genco traces their movements from their first major battle at Perryville, Kentucky, through Tennessee, Georgia, and finally, the Carolinas. In addition to Perryville, the regiment was severely tested in the landmark battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Bentonville, and participated in Union General William T. Shermans March to the Sea in November and December of 1864. As the war wound down in 1865, the regiment was part of the Union Army that cut its way through the Carolinas, ultimately finding itself in the forefront of one of the last major battles of the war. In a valuable contribution to the scholarship on the American Civil War, Into the Tornado of War paints a picture of the realities of the war through the words of real soldiers.

This fascinating narrative tells the story of a remarkable regiment at the center of Civil War history. The real-life adventure emerges from accounts of scores of soldiers who served in the 4th Michigan Infantry, gleaned from their diaries, letters, and memoirs; the reports of their officers and commanders; the stories by journalists who covered them; and the recollections of the Confederates who fought against them. The book includes tales of life in camp, portraying the Michigan soldiers as everyday people—recounting their practical jokes, illnesses, political views, personality conflicts, comradeship, and courage. The book also tells the true story of what happened to Colonel Harrison Jeffords and the 4th Michigan when the regiment marched into John Rose's wheat field on a sweltering early July evening at Gettysburg. Beyond the myths and romanticized newspaper stories, this account presents the historical evidence of Jeffords's heroic, yet tragic, hand-to-hand struggle for his regiment's U.S. flag.

Michigan played a crucial role during the four years of the Civil War (1861-65), as well as in the tumultuous decades leading up to the outbreak of hostilities. The story of the Wolverine State during America's greatest conflict is a rich one, filled with tales of uncommon sacrifice, epic adventure, and heroic service, and it springs to life in this compelling narrative. A Distant Thunder: Michigan in the Civil War highlights the experiences and contributions of Michiganians during the Civil War era. Book jacket.