Incidental Flag History 
 
 Second Michigan Infantry 
 1861-5. 
 
 \ 
 
 BY COL. FREDERICK SCHNEIDER 
 
INCIDENTAL HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FLAGS AND COLOR GUARD 
 
 WINFIELD S. SLY 
 
 SPECIAL AIDE FOR PATRIOTIC EDUCATION AND MILITARY 
 INSTRUCTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF MICHIGAN, G A R 
 
 LANSING, MICHIGAN. 
 
 ^• 
 
 Please send to my address, postpaid, ^€m ^i> pu ^>H^ed 
 
 copies of "The Prize Flag History of the 
 
 Second Michigan Infantry Flag," written by Col. Frederick 
 Schneider, foF=which I agree to p^y at the rate of TEN cents 
 per copy oiv-receipt of same. 
 
 Name 
 
 P. O State. 
 
 PUBLISHED AND SUNT POSTPAID TO ANY ADDRUSS BY 
 
 WINFIELD S. SLY 
 
 SPECIAL AIDE AMCHIGAN DEPARTMENT G. A. R. FOR 
 PATRIOTIC EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 217 NORTH PINE STREET, LANSING, MICHIGAN 
 
i 
 
INCIDENTAL HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FLAGS AND COLOR GUARD 
 
 OR THE 
 
 SECOND MICHIGAN VETERAN 
 
 VOLUNTEER INFANTRY 
 
 1861-5 
 
 — BY— 
 
 COL. FREDERICK SCHNEIDER 
 
 WHO ENLISTED AS A PRIVATE IN APRIL, 18 61 AND WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED IN 
 AUGUST, 18(.S, AS LAST COA\A\ANDbR OF THE REG1ME^T 
 
 AWARDED FIRST PRIZE IN THE FLAG HISTORY CONTEST 
 
 1905. 
 
 COPYKIGHT API^LIED FOK. 
 
 PUBLISHED AND SENT POSTPAID TO ANY ADDRESS BY 
 
 WINFIELD S. SLY 
 
 SPECIAL AIDE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT G. A. R. FOR 
 PATRIOTIC EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 217 NORTH PINE STREET, LANSING, MICHIGAN 
 
UbRARY of CONGRESS 
 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 DEC 13 1905 
 
 CflpyngM Entry 
 
 CLASS Ct XXC. No 
 
 / 5XL 16 
 
 COPY B. 
 
 s 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 January 1st, 1905, Wiiifield Scott Sly, Special Aide, Department 
 of Michigan G. A. R., for Patriotic Instruction and Military Training 
 in Public Schools, offered a prize of twenty dollars in gold for the 
 best incidental history of a regimental flag, for use in public schools 
 and otherwise, to be written by a comrade who carried or followed 
 it. The ofYer was extended to all old soldiers who belonged to the 
 Union Army. 
 
 Pursuant to this proposition, manuscripts were submitted. These 
 were numbered and placed, without name or address attached, in 
 the hands of a special committee to examine and award the prize. 
 The following is the report of said committee: 
 We, the committee appointed by Winfield Scott Sly, Special Aide, 
 Department of Michigan G. A. R. for Patriotic Education and Mili- 
 tary Training in Public Schools, having duly examined the manu- 
 scripts of "Incidental h^lag Histories" submitted to us, approve and 
 commend the manuscript marked "No. 1" as superior, in our judg- 
 ment, for its scope, detail, personal mention and literary finish. 
 
 Respectfluly submitted, 
 PATRICK H. KELLY, 
 Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 WALTER H. FRENCH, 
 
 Deputy Supt. Public Instruction. 
 
 I hereby certify that the "Incidental Flag History" manuscript 
 marked No. 1, above referred to by the committee of examination in 
 the prize Flag History contest, was written and submitted by Col. 
 Frederick Schneider of Lansing, Michigan, as a history of the flag 
 of the Second Michigan Infantry, of which he was a member from 
 the beginning to the end of the w^ar. To him the prize in the Flag 
 History contest has been duly awarded. 
 
 WINFIELD SCOTT SLY, 
 Special Aide Department of Michigan G. A. R. for Patriotic Instruc- 
 tion and Military Training in Public Schools. 
 
THE OLD FLAG OF THE SECO\"D MICHIGAX INFANTRY, 
 
 "Of scenes long passed, 'mid battle's strife, 
 Where it gained a halo of glory, 
 
 This dear old flag, each star and stripe. 
 Could tell many a touching story." 
 
LIEUTENANT COLONEL FREDERICK SCHNEIDER, 
 
 AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-FOUR. 
 
 LAST CO^nLXNDER OF THE SECOND MlCllKiAN \ OEUNTEER INFANTRY. 
 
 Note: — In a carefully prepared paper reviewing the character and services of the Second 
 
 Michigan Infantry and its coniniandcrs, read at a reunion of the survivors of this famous 
 
 regiment, the distinguished and brilliant General O. M. Poe — who achieved an international 
 
MILITARY RECORD OF COLONEL FREDERICK SCHNEIDER 
 (VETERAN), DETROIT. 
 
 li(ini at Saline, Michigan, Nov. 24, 1840. First enlisted in Detroit Scott 
 Guard, Co. li, Kirst Baltalion, Frontier Guards of Michigan Militia, Oct. 26, 185'J. 
 Removed to Chicago, 111., May, 1860. Enlisted as Sergeant in Co. C, First Illinois 
 Imanlry, April 15, IMil, at Chicago, 111., for three months, but on receipt of tele- 
 gram from Secretary Goebel of Detroit Scott Guard, saying that his company 
 had enli.^ted for the war, would he join? he at once canceled his Illinois enlist- 
 ment and immediately returned to Detroit, where he enlisted as private in the 
 Detroit Scott Guard— subsequently Co. A, Second Michigan Infantry — April 18, 
 1801, for three months, being at the time twenty years of age. Mustered into the 
 state service April 2'.\ 1801. Promoted Corporal, May. 1861 ; Sergeant, May, 
 1801. On non-acceptance by the government of Second Infantry for three months' 
 service, he re-enlisted as Sergeant for three years in same company. Mustered 
 into U. S. service May 25, 1801. Acting First Sergeant August to November, 
 1801, and June to December, 1802. First Sergeant (Orderly), Dec. 7, 1802. Act- 
 ing Sergeant Major, November, 1802. Severely injured and knocked unconscious 
 by a blow on left side of his head, by an artillery horse in a runaway accident on 
 the night of Jane 30, It'ij'l, while the army was retiring from the battle near 
 Charles City Cross Roads, Va. Re-enlisted at Blain's Cross Roads, Tenn., Dec. 
 31, 1803, and mustered Jan. 1. 1804. Sergeant Major May 14, 1864. Commis- 
 sioned First Lieutenant, Co. A. June 6, 1804. Mustered July 27, 1804. Acting 
 Adjutant July 30, 1<^04. Wounded in right arm in action near Petersburg, Va., 
 .June 18, 1804. Taken prisoner at explosion of mine under rebel fort before 
 Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864. Escaped same day. Wounded in left thigh and 
 tiken prisoner near Hatcher's Run, Va., Oct. 27, 1864. Again escaped, but was 
 recaptured af'.er great hardsh ps and suffering and confinement in jail at Peters- 
 burg, Va., in November, 1804, in Libby prison at Richmond. Va. ; stockade 
 prison at Saulsb iry, N. C, and Danville prison, Va. E.xchanged at Richmond, 
 Va.. l'"eb 22. 1805. Commissioned Captain of Co. A, to date July 30. 1804. Mus- 
 tered April 12, 1865. Comm ssioned Lieutenant Colonel Dec. 18, 1864. Mustered 
 to date April 18. 1805. Commissioned Colonel April 18, 1805. Mustered out and 
 honorably discharged at DeLaney House, D. C, July 28, 1865. Was the last 
 commander of his regiment, which he brought home to Detroit, Michigan, where 
 it was paid off and disbanded on Aug. 8, 1805, after a continuous service, mostly 
 at the front, in the field from April 18, 1861, during which he participated in 
 every march, campaign, siege, battle and skirmish in which his regiment w^as 
 engaged, except the two cnegagemcnts and such movements as took place while 
 he was a wounded prisoner of war. Colonel Schneider's present residence is 
 Lansing, Michigan. 
 
 reputation as a military engineer, and who commanded the regiment from September, 1861, to 
 .'\pril, 1863- has put on record the following estimate of Colonel Schneider's military services: 
 Lieutenant Colonel Schneider was mustered in as such (commander of the regiment ' to date 
 from the 18th of March, 1805. Schneider was also commissioned as Colonel by the State, 
 but the regiment had been reduced below the standard, and he could not be mustered as 
 Colonel — more's the pity, for the name of a more sterling soldier never appeared on the 
 rolls of the regiment. Kntering the service with Its oruailizition il.s an Piili.><rp(l man. ht» rosf- to 
 the conuuand by his own unquestioned merit, and was one of the few whose fortunes were 
 east with it from first to last, from date of its muster iti to that of its muster out. He wa< 
 a type of the growth of the regiment, and it would be dilVicult to find a better one. .Mways 
 ready for any duty— always in front when hard fighting was to be done, always amenable to 
 discipline, steady, trustworthy and willing. Where is the "regular." who was a more "regular" 
 than Frederick Sclincider? When he rode at the head of the regiment in the Grand Review 
 at Washington at the close of the war, he fitly represented the valor and sacrifice of the old 
 Second Slichigan "regular volunteers." 
 
HISTORY O F THE OLD FLAG. 
 
 The liistory of the old flags, and Color Guard, of the Second Mich- 
 igan Infantry of the Civil War of 1861-1865; by Colonel Frederick 
 Schneider, its last commander, who served with it from its organiza- 
 tion, April 25, 1861, to its disbandment, August 8, 1865. 
 
 Of the tlinusands of visitors, who annually pass through the Mili- 
 tary Museum of Michigan's State Capitol, with but a perfunctory 
 glance at the old Michigan battle flags, stored there in glass cases, 
 probably not more than one in a thousand of the present generation 
 ever realizes or comprehends what a vast amount of heroism, sacri- 
 fice of noble lives and treasure it cost to bear them to a triumphant 
 issue in that great crucial struggle for national existence ; that most 
 tragic period in the history of this country — the great Civil War. 
 Oh, could they but speak, what touching scenes of heroism they could 
 give, scenes that no tongue can now tell nor pen adequately describe. 
 Upon the eloquent presentation of the subject to our Post by the 
 Rev. Winfield Scott Sly — whom the National Commander of the 
 G. A. R. has just appointed Special Aide for Michigan on "Military 
 Instruction and Patriotic Education in the Public Schools" — I was 
 induced to make the attempt, as well as I may, to rescue from oblivion 
 as far as possible, the history of the flags of the Second Michigan 
 Veteran Volunteer Infantry, with whose fortunes I was so intimately 
 connected. 
 
 Flags or banners have for ages been the symbols of the power, 
 glory and aspirations of the country they represented. In a regiment 
 of troops in battle, the flag was its guiding star to glory and victory, 
 and the most superhuman efforts were put forth to maintain it. It 
 was the star of hope in adversity. Plow the heart of every patriotic 
 citizen thrills when he reads those stirring lines in our national hymn 
 of the star spangled banner, so well describing the anxieties and 
 hopes of those American prisoners on board of the British frigate: 
 
 "Oh, say, can ybn see by the dawn's early light 
 
 What so proudly we hailed at the t\V'i!ight's last gleaming? 
 Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. 
 
 O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming ! 
 And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air 
 Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; 
 O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" 
 
During the preliminary organization of the Second Michigan 
 Infantry — which was completed April 25, 1861 — nearly every com- 
 pany was presented with a flag by the citizens of the locality where 
 it had been recruited ; and upon arriving at the rendezvous in Detroit, 
 Company "E" from Niles, having been designated as the "Color 
 Company," the flag brought by this company was used as the regi- 
 mental colors. In February, 1862, this flag, being of very light silk, 
 had become unserviceable. It was carried by the regiment through 
 all its hard fought battles up to and including Fredericksburg, when 
 it had become so tattered by wear, and by some forty bullet holes, 
 that it was deemed unfit for further service, and was returned to the 
 donors at Niles, who treasured it highly, and who finally caused it 
 to be stored in the Military Museum at the Capitol. It possesses a 
 gallant record, having come out gloriously from every engagement, 
 while eleven of its upholders or defenders were either killed or 
 wounded. At first it seems the Captain of the color company, 
 appointed the color bearer for the time being, and no special color 
 guard was appointed until the distinguished commander of the 
 regiment. Col. O. M. Poe, obtained from the War Department a 
 regulation set of regimental infantry colors, which he formally pre- 
 sented to the regiment with a stirring speech, and by battalion order 
 No. 61, dated October 31, 1861, established and provided for a special 
 "Color Guard," independent of any particular company, and directly 
 under the control of the Adjutant, consisting of one "Color Ser- 
 geant" — who was the color bearer — and five "Color Corporals," 
 directing that it be made a post of high honor; and Captains were 
 directed to make all promotions to Sergeants when vacancies oc- 
 curred, from the color guard. The remnant of this second flag, tat- 
 tered and battle scarred, is shown at the head of this sketch, 
 reproduced from an old photograph. It has been carried in thirty- 
 three engagements and under its folds eleven officers and one hun- 
 dred and ninety-four men have been killed in action or mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 At Loudon, Tenn., on November 12, 1863, this regiment, with 
 a division of Gen. Burnside's forces, was engaged in repulsing a 
 large force of the enemy under Gen. Longstreet, who was forcing a 
 crossing of the Tennessee river near that point, when Gen. Burn- 
 side was ordered by Gen. Grant at Chattanooga to draw the enemy 
 on to Knoxville, but to hold the latter point at all hazards. In 
 carrying out this difficult program the famous Michigan Brigade, 
 
then composed of the Second, Eighth, Seventeenth and Twentieth 
 Michigan Infantry and Reomer's Battery of the New York Artillery, 
 in command of the intrepid Colonel William Humphrey of the Sec- 
 ond Michigan Infantry, was assigned to the perilous position of rear 
 guard to cover the withdrawal of Burnside's forces from Lenoir to 
 Campbell's Station. The brigade had scarcely been withdrawn from 
 the enemy's front, about an hour before daylight on the morning of 
 November 16th, when the vigilant enemy discovered it, and McLaws 
 division of the enemy promptl}^ advanced upon us. Now followed 
 a most desperate struggle for twelve miles to Campbell's Station, 
 where Burnside's force had intrenched itself for a final repulse of 
 the enemy before retiring on Knoxville. But the brigade was so 
 skilfully handled by Colonel Humphrey that he succeeded in with- 
 drawing his brigade to the forks of the road at Campbell's Station 
 just in time to escape being cut off by another division of the enemy 
 hastening down the Kingston road. All through this desperate strug- 
 gle our gallant color bearer, Sergeant Ulysses D. Russell, had carried 
 our colors unllinchingly until our last stand was made at the forks of 
 the road, when the flagstaff in his hands was shattered and he was 
 mortally wounded and died a few days afterward at Knoxville. 
 
 At the siege of Knoxville, Tenn., on the 24th of November, 1863, 
 the regiment charged the enemy's rifle pits. Eighty-four were killed 
 or wounded out of one hundred and fifty engaged, including four 
 officers and two color corporals killed, and six sergeants who lost a 
 leg each, the flagstaft' being hit three times. 
 
 The patriotic enthusiasm, and heroic devotion of the Color Guard 
 of the Second Michigan Infantry, to the old flag under all circum- 
 stances, is well illustrated by the following extracts from a recent 
 letter, from Brevet Captain Wm. Gundlach, of Company A, who was 
 Senior Color Corporal, and carried the Colors in the charge at Knox- 
 ville, and other engagements. See portrait of this sturdy, brave and 
 gallant soldier, on tenth page, reproduced from an old photo taken 
 in 1865. 
 
 In this letter, dictated to his daughter, from his sick bed, he says : 
 'T entered the Color Guard shortly before the battle of Fredericks- 
 burg, Va. ; at that time, the flag was carried by Sergeant Russell, of 
 Company I; at the battle of Jackson, Miss., Russell was overcome 
 by the great heat of that bloody day, so I took charge of the colors 
 during the battle- The next day, Russell was again able to take 
 
charge of it. At the battle of Campbell's Station, November 16, 1863, 
 Russell was killed. I then took charge of the Colors. On November 
 2-1 (yonr birthday), when our regiment made that gallant charge 
 on the enemy's works, our brave Major Byington, who was then in 
 command of the regiment, said to me: 'Sergeant, don't unfurl the 
 colors today, I am afraid you will never bring them back if you do.' 
 I replied, 'The Colors must fly,' and they did. I planted the Colors 
 on the enemy's rifle pit, which we had just captured, and driven the 
 enemy out of, but the enemy immediately rallied with overwhelming 
 force, while that masked battery on our right, enfilading our entire 
 line with a terrific fire of canister, just raked us fore and aft, it was 
 a miracle that any of us escaped from that murderous fire. The 
 rebels tried to take the flag from me, and had laid hands on it, but 
 with colors in one hand and my Colt's revolver in the other, and 
 with the timely help of Color Corporal Martin Rheule, of Company 
 H, who knocked one of the rebels on the head with the butt of his 
 gun, I got the colors back and down from the rifle pit. Adjutant 
 Noble, who was just in my rear, warned me not to be so daring with 
 the colors. Just then came the orders to fall back to our lines. The 
 noble Major Byington, our gallant Adjutant Noble, and two of my 
 color guards were killed close to me. I carried the colors safely back 
 to camp, not flying, but on my shoulders. How we got back, you, 
 yourself, know. During the siege of Knoxville. we had no regular 
 regimental headquarters where the colors could be kept, so I kept 
 them in my little dugout, day and night, sleeping with them in my 
 arms at night, for fear they might be stolen from me. I kept the 
 flag with me during the entire Tennessee campaign. In the follow- 
 ing February, the regiment having re-enlisted as veterans, and on its 
 way home on veteran furlough, we were quartered at the Fifth Street 
 Market House, in Cincinnati. Our Lieut.-Col. Hayden and I, pur- 
 suant to general orders from General Burnside, took the flag to a 
 painter's establishment, and had the names of all the principal bat- 
 tles, from Blackburn's I'ord to Jackson, IMiss., printed in gilt letters 
 on it. 1 felt very proud of that list of battles on our flag, and you 
 remember how the citizens cheered us, when on the '22d of February, 
 we marched through the streets on our way to the railroad station. 
 We felt still prouder — I know I did — when I carried it down Jefferson 
 avenue, Detroit, to our temporary regimental headquarters. After 
 we had received our thirty days veteran furlough, I took the flag to 
 my mother's home on W'ilkins street — there seemed to be no other 
 
WILLIAM GUNDLACH, FIRST LIEUTENANT AND BREVET CAPTAIN. 
 AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-SIX. 
 
 Note: — This gallant veteran enlisted at the age of twenty-two in Company A, Second 
 Michigan Infantry, as Corporal, April 18, 1861, at Detroit, Michigan, for three years. Mus- 
 tered May 25, 1863. Promoted Color Corporal. After Color Sergeant Ulysses D. Russell 
 was mortally wounded at Campbell's Station on Nov. 10, 1SC3, Corporal Gundlach became 
 Color Sergeant and re-cnlisted Dec. 31, 1863, at Blaine's Cross RoacJ^ Tpnn. Mustered Jan., 
 1804; rc-assigncd to Color Guard. (Sec his letter printed on pages 8 to 13, setting forth some 
 of his experiences while connected with the Color Guard.) Promoted First Sergeant (Or- 
 derly) Company A. Taken prisoner before Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1S64. Exchanged Feb. 
 22, 1865. Discharged for promotion April 30, 1865. Commissioned First Lieutenant, April 
 25, 1865. Mustered May 1, 1805. Mustered out and honorably discharged at De Lancy House, 
 D. C, July 28, 1865. Participated in all engagements of the regiment prior to July 31, 1864, 
 when he was taken prisoner. Brevetted Captain for conspicuous bravery in action and 
 meritorious service during the war. 
 
safe place for it — where I kept it locked up until we re-assembled at 
 our rendezvous at Mt. Clemens." 
 
 During this interval, the entire Ninth Army Corps under Gen. 
 Burnside, to which the Second Michigan Infantry was then attached, 
 was re-transferred to the East and again attached to the Army of the 
 PotDmac, rendezvousing at Annapolis, Md., in accordance with the 
 plans and orders of Gen. U. S. Grant, who had just been appointed by 
 ] 'resident Lincoln, Commander in Chief of all the armies of the 
 United States — where the decimated regiments of the Ninth Army 
 Corps, were rapidly being filled up with new recruits. It was at this 
 l)oint lliat the Second Michigan Infantry, with new recruits, after the 
 ex])iration of its veteran furlough, rejoined its army corps on April 
 G, 1864. 
 
 Captain (lundlach in the letter just referred to, goes on to say: 
 "You remember the day we marched from Annapolis, toward Wash- 
 ington, I believe it was the second day, after we had passed in review 
 at Washington before President Lincoln, we made a forced march 
 across Long Pridge towards Alexandria, in order to join the 
 remainder of the Corps. Many of the boys became exhausted on 
 that march, and were obliged to drop out — but of course it would 
 ne\er do for the colors to drop out; so. exhausted as I was, I kept 
 on, till we l)i\-ouacked for the night. Next morning T could hardly 
 stand, but 1 kept up till we reached Warrenton Junction, when I told 
 Adjutant Henry Daniels that I was not able to march that day, as I felt 
 unable even to stand. He sent Dr. Vickery to me ; I requested to be 
 carried in the ambulance part of the way, hoping to be Ijetter before 
 night. My request was granted. I turned the colors over to Color- 
 Corporal John J. Callahan. Before doing so, I severed a tattered 
 piece of the flag from it, that hung by a few threads only. I put the 
 fragment in my diary, thinking if I never see those colors again I will 
 at least have a small piece of it as a precious keepsake. 
 
 The doctor had me put on a stretcher and carried to the ambulance. 
 All day I thought I was following the regiment, but, behold at night, 
 I discovered my mistake; when the ambulance halted before the 
 Mansion House Hospital at Alexandria, and I was enrolled as an 
 inflammatory rheumatism patient. Two days later, most of the 
 l)atients were taken in a box car, to the South and 34th Street 
 Hospital, Philadelphia. Through the kind assistance of our former 
 surgeon, Alonzo Palmer (late Dean of the medical faculty of Michigan 
 
12 
 
 University), who ha|)])iMU'(l to visit tlic hospital, T was able within a 
 few weeks to walk again. 
 
 I was informed presently that I was to be transferred to the 
 Veteran Reserve Corps. 1 felt this would be a disgrace to me, so 
 when the time came for a crowd to be sent to the front from the 
 hospital, I went to the front under the name of Kelley. Kellcy was 
 an old Irishman, who had been at the hospital for two years, had had 
 a good time, and did not want to go to the front again. He willingly 
 agreed, when I suggested that we exchange names and I go to the 
 front in his place. Next morning when we assembled in front of the 
 hosi)ital, for roll call, T answered to the name of Kelley. When we 
 reached Washington, Kelley was missing, for I had resumed my own 
 name. I went to the Provost Marshal's office, inquired for my 
 regiment. T was given transportation to City Point, and informed 
 that the regiment was expected there that day. I arrived there 
 shortly before the regiment did, about the 15th or IGth of June, 1864. 
 Jesse Gaines of Company G was the Color Bearer, when I rejoined 
 the regiment. As our company was short of sergeants (you then 
 being Sergeant Major). Will Lang and myself being the only old 
 sergeants left, I remained with the company. Our terrible campaign 
 after that — our being taken prisoners, in the dreadful disaster at the 
 Crater — you will remember as well as I do. Under Sergeant Gaines, 
 the colors were lost at the Crater — but only for a time. 
 
 The day after I returned to Detroit on my thirty-day prison 
 furlough, as provided by the cartel of exchange, two ladies called to 
 see me. One was Mrs. Poe, wife of our beloved General, the other 
 the noble Mrs. Brent, her mother, and also of Mrs. Lyster, the famous 
 author of "Michigan, My Michigan." They had read in the morning's 
 "Free Press" the names of the members of the Second Michigan 
 Infantry who had returned from Libby prison. During the call 
 Mrs. Poe told me that the flag had been lost, and expressed deep 
 regret that she could or did not have a piece of it, as a memento of 
 our great sacrifices, and its awful baptism in the blood of her 
 husband's old regiment. I told her what I had done at Warrenton, 
 and that I had carried that precious fragment with me in the hospital, 
 the Petersburg campaign, and for seven months in Libby prison. 
 I took the piece from my note book, and gave each of them a piece 
 about the size of a half-dollar. Each of the ladies had her piece put 
 into a brooch. 
 
 At our regimental reunion of survivors, in Detroit in 1887, which 
 
13 
 
 was held on tlie steamer Sapho up to Lake St. Clair, with banquet at 
 the Star Island house at "Little Venice" on the Lake St. Clair Flats, 
 I found out that there was some dispute as to who had carried the 
 colors on the 24th of November, 1863. Mrs. Poe, who was present, 
 said that she had told the General, that the man who had claimed to 
 carry the colors on that day was not the right one, for the man who 
 had carried them had given her the piece in the brooch that she was 
 wearing. When she saw me, she said: "That is the man who gave 
 me the piece in my brooch," and asked if I remembered the circum- 
 stance. Of course I did, perfectly. "You are the man we have been 
 looking for, the one who carried the flag at Knoxville. The General 
 also said : "I remember distinctly about his carrying the flag on that 
 day, anxl also thinking that he would never return alive." I still have 
 the piece of the flag referred to, and it is one of my most treasured 
 keepsakes. This is all that I recall at present about my personal 
 experiences with the flag." 
 
 July 30, 1864, during the attack which followed the blowing up 
 of one of the principal forts within the enemy's lines, before Peters- 
 burg, Va., known in the list of engagements as "The Crater," the 
 regiment was in the advance of the charge made by the Second 
 Brigade, Third Division of Ninth Corps. At every step the fire 
 of the enemy in front and on each flank concentrated upon them 
 and plowed their ranks with great slaughter. The charge was 
 checked on the side of the crest; there was a halt, and finally the 
 the whole line, wavering under terrible odds, recoiled, nearly sur- 
 rounded, the regimental commander among the dead, fifty-seven men 
 killed and prisoners and, seeing escape hopeless. Color Sergeant 
 Jesse H. Gaines ran to the rear as far as possible and hurled the 
 flag over the parapet towards our lines, trusting it would be seen 
 and saved by some of our men. He was almost instantly a prisoner 
 with others of the color guard. The flag was found and taken by 
 the enemy and carried a trophy to Richmond. A Richmond paper, 
 narrating the events of this battle, said, in substance : "Among the 
 flags taken was that of the Second Michigan Infantry, an organiza- 
 tion well known in our army since the first Bull Run. It bears the 
 names of many prominent engagements with both the eastern and 
 western armies. This regiment must have been nearly annihilated, 
 or it would never have lost its colors." And Color Sergeant Gaines, 
 in his interesting sketch, pithily says: "It is true the flag was lost, 
 bui it was never surrendered." When Richmond was taken it was 
 
found in the rebel capitol, removed to Washington and later, by an 
 order of the War Department, sent to the regimental association of 
 survivors, and is now among the war relics in the Capitol at Lansing. 
 
 As a proof that no dishonor was attached to the regiment for its 
 loss under such trying circumstances, General Meade, commanding 
 the Army of the Potomac, ordered a new flag to be presented to 
 the regiment, which was done. 
 
 Upon general orders of Army Headquarters, the following most 
 prominent battles and sieges in which the regiment had borne a 
 creditable part were printed upon this last flag, as far as practicable, 
 all minor engagements being left out for want of space on the flag: 
 
 Blackburn's Ford, Bull Run, in 18G1, Siege of Yorktown, Will- 
 iamsburg, Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Bull Run in 1862, 
 Groveton, Chantilly, Fredericksburg, Siege of Vicksburg, Siege of 
 Jackson, Miss.; Blue Springs, Campbell's Station, Siege of Knox- 
 ville. Wilderness, Spotssylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold 
 Harbor, General Assault on Petersburg June 17 and 18, 1864, Siege 
 of Petersburg, Crater, Weldon Rail Road, Ream's Station, Poplar 
 Springs Church, Hatcher's Run, Fort Steadman, Capture of Peters- 
 burg and Appomattox. 
 
 But what of that gallant and brave band who from time formed 
 the Color Guard, that bore these glorious old flags to victory and 
 through adversity, who were the especial target of the enemy's 
 shot and shell in these great battles in all these nerve-racking, heart- 
 breaking campaigns? Who were they, and what became of them? 
 These questions and many similar questions regarding the rank and 
 file of Michigan troops, this great State has at last sought to answer, 
 as far as the very defective war records would permit, by the recent 
 publication of regimental, alphabetical individual records of the Civil 
 War. 
 
 No history of the Second Michigan Infantry flags can be com- 
 plete without an especial mention of the names and history of those 
 sturdy and gallant comrades who formed its Color Guard, who were 
 so intimately connected with its fortunes in the fierce strife of battle. 
 
 From the official order book of the regiment, running from 1861 
 to December 31, 1863 — which is now in the writer's possession — the 
 appended official data as to Color Guard promotions have been col- 
 lected and, for want of space in this article, have been arranged 
 chronologically. I regret exceedingly that the second volume of 
 regimental order book, running from January, 1864, to August, 1865, 
 
cannot be found, so that similar data might be given of those gallant 
 comrades who succeeded those mentioned in the tabular list which 
 forms an appendix to this article, also, that more war time photos 
 could not be obtained to illustrate this article. 
 
 The dramatic, death of Alfred Rowe, noted in the Color Guard 
 list just referred to, is thus reported in the regimental record recently 
 published by the State: "In the first charges on the enemy's out- 
 works made on that fatal day, the Color Sergeant was wounded, 
 and Color Corporal Rowe became Color Bearer, and in the last 
 assault, about 5 p. m., on the enemy's main line of defense before 
 Petersburg, he carried the regimental colors and rushed ahead of 
 the regimental line of battle about fifty yards through a very storm 
 of shot and shell, when he sank to the ground against some low 
 brush, ^hot through the head, but still holding up the colors in a 
 firm grip, rigid in death, with a smile of triumph lighting up his 
 countenance, when Lieutenant Frederick Schneider of Company 
 A went out to him under fire of the enemy and brought back the 
 colors to the regimental line of battle, the entire Color Guard having 
 been either killed or wounded."! The sequel to this incident shows 
 the remarkable fact that after dark that night a reserve brigade 
 with picks and shovels, reinforced our own brigade, and before day- 
 light the next morning we had thrown up a strong line of rifle pits 
 parallel with the enemy's line in our front, at the very point where 
 the brave Alfred Rowe had carried the Second Michigan flag, it 
 being the nearest point to the enemy's works that any regimental 
 battle line reached on that bloody day. Later on, during the siege, 
 right back of our position in the ravine, the Forty-eighth Pennsvl- 
 vania Infantry, a regiment of miners from the upper Schuylkill coal 
 region,* dug the tunnel out under the enemy's lines, through which 
 his main fort in our front was blown up on July 30, 186-1, which led 
 
 t [About twenty feet from where dirporal Rowe had fallen, clasping: the flag- 
 staff in his dying- grasp, lay a young comrade aged ahout eighteen, severely wounded 
 through the shoulder; weakened by pain and loss of blood, he was unable to rise, 
 ind faintly pleaded with Lieut. Schneider to help him from the field. Responding 
 to his appeal the lieutenant, grasping the flag in one hand, and lying flat beside 
 the wounded boy, he drew the well arm around his neck and by sheer strength 
 rose to his knees, then to his feet, and bore the sufferer on his back and amid 
 flying bullets, carried him and the rescued flag back to the line.]— Editor. 
 
 *See Major Wm. H. Powell's famous account, "The Tragedy of the Crater," 
 in Vol. 12 of Century Magazine, page 760. 
 
to the disastrous battle of the "Crater," at which this same flag was 
 lost and some of our best ofificers killed or wounded. Among the 
 killed was the regimental commander, Captain John L. Young. Our 
 entire Color Guard was surrounded and captured. The writer was 
 also captured in this battle, but succeeded in escaping to our lines 
 the same day. 
 
 After tlic appointments to Color Guard, mentioned in the ap- 
 pendix, no definite data is available as to when and what subsequent 
 appointments were made. It seems that when the new flag was 
 issued in August or September, 1864, that Joseph Richardson of Com- 
 pany C was appointed acting Color Sergeant, and he, with the regi- 
 ment, were the first Union troops to enter Petersburg at the capture 
 on April 3, 1865, and in his hands the Second Michigan Infantry 
 fkig was the first Union flag to wave over the postofBce and United 
 States Custom House, where the rebel flag had floated so defiantly 
 before. When Color Corporal Nathan M. Richardson of Company 
 F had been exchanged and returned to duty with the regiment in 
 June, 1865, he Avas promoted to Color Sergeant, and was mustered 
 out as such with the regiment, after turning the colors over to the 
 State authorities. 
 
 As an instance of the terrible sacrifices the regiment made in the 
 Grant -campaign of 1864 : General Wm. Humphrey, who was then 
 Colonel of the regiment and commanding the Second Brigade, Third 
 Division of Ninth Army Corps, then composed of the Second, Eighth, 
 Seventeenth, Twentieth Michigan Infantry, and First Michigan 
 Sharpshooters, in his official report of casualties in the assaults of 
 June 17 and 18, 1864, reported a loss of killed and wounded in his 
 regiment of over sixty per cent of those present for duty in those 
 terrible two days of fighting. 
 
 The flag of the Second Michigan Infantry was in the first organ- 
 ized engagement of the Army of the Potomac in the war, it being 
 the first regiment to engage the enemy at Blackburn's Ford, Va., on 
 July 18, 1861, in the first Bull Run campaign, and was the last flag 
 to leave the first Bull Run battlefield. Its first commander — the 
 noted Colonel Israel B. Ricliardson — then commanding the brigade 
 composed of the Second and Third Michigan Infantry, First Massa- 
 chusetts Infantry, Twelfth New York Infantry and a Rhode Island 
 battery of Light Artillery, covering the retreat of the Army of the 
 Potomac from the Bull Run battlefield. 
 
17 
 
 Such, in brief, arc the main facts of the gallant record of the 
 Color (aiard of the Second Michio^an Infantry, in the life and death 
 struf^^.C^lc of this country in the Civil War. A record of patriotic 
 devotion and sacrifice in defense of the old flag, worthy of the pro- 
 found respect and admiration of their posterity. Worthy of publica- 
 tion, and being handed down in the family annals to the coming 
 generations; who, on learning the noble part borne by their ances- 
 t(M-s, who fought, bled and died in upholding tlie old flag, and bearing 
 it through a thousand i)erils to a triumphant issue, will cherish it 
 as a rich heritage, and feel a proprietary right in its glories; will 
 gather new inspirations, new love, and greater reverence for this 
 great symbol of the power, glory and aspirations of our Republic, 
 the illustrious Star Spangled Banner, the American Flag! Let us 
 ever cherish the noble sentiment in the national song by the famous 
 Geo. P. Morris: 
 
 "The union of lakes, the union of lands, 
 The union of States none can sever — 
 
 The union of hearts, the union of hands, 
 And the flag of our Union forever!" 
 
18 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN C. IIARDV, COMPANY D, SECOND MICHIGAN INFANTRY. 
 
 AT TIIK Ar,F. OF T\VF,NTY-THREE. 
 
 "The Hero of Petersburg, Va., at Fort Stcadman, March 25, 1S65 " 
 He enlisted April 20, ISOl, at the age of nineteen. Promoted to the Color Guard March 
 18, 1862, as Color Corporal, where he did valiant service defending the colors. Was promoted 
 Sergeant and returned to his company and advanced step by step to the rank of Captain. 
 
 Note: — Colonel March says: "The country can never pay to him, and to such as he. 
 the debt it justly owes. In times of danger that made the fearless quail, Captain Hardy 
 seemed never to think of himself, but of a soldier's duty. I promoted him, because of his 
 intrepid valor. To his clear perception and quick comprehension, a lialf defeat was tvirned 
 into a stimulating victory on the 25th of March, 18G5. His intelligence, courage, quick action 
 on tiiat desperate night attack of the enemy under General Gordon, stamped him a worthy 
 successor of the patriots of Lexington, Bunker Hill, Valley I'orgc and Yorktown." 
 
19 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Official announccnienls by battalion order of promotion to Color 
 Guard, indicated by number and date of order, with brief remarks on 
 subsecjuent career, of the noble heroes, who were so intimately con- 
 nected with the fortunes of these flags, in the fierce strife of battle, 
 
 and the many perils through which they bore them to a triumphant 
 issue : 
 
 No. 61. Oct. 31, 1861. WilliaTi H. Delano, Co. E, Color Sergeant. 
 
 Was prostrated with sickness and finally discharged July 21, 18G4. 
 No. 61, Oct. 31, 1861. Frederick Cook, Co. B, Color Corporal. 
 
 I'roniotcd Sergeant, disabled and discharged Sept. IG, 18G'2. 
 No. 61. Oct. 31, 1861. Charles C. Baker, Co. C, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant ; promoted First Lieutenant, tansferrcd to 159tli N. Y. 
 Infantry, Sept. 2(i, 18G2. 
 No. 61. Oct. 31, 1861. Elisha P. Clark, Co. G, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant and discharged at expiration of term of service, July 12, 
 ]8fi4. 
 No. 61. Oct. 31, 1861. William H. Johnson, Co. H. Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant; died of disease July 21, 1862. 
 No. 61. Oct. 31, 1861. John J. Callahan, Co. K, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant, re-enlisted, acting color-bearer; commissioned First 
 Lieutenant, Adjutant, Brevet Captain and Major for meritorious services 
 during the war. Mustered out July 28, 1865. | See portrait on page 24 L 
 No. 73. Dec. 1, 1861. John S. Moore, Co. E, Color Sergeant. 
 
 Promoted Lieutenant and Captain. Severely wounded while gallantly lead- 
 ing his company in disastrous battle at the Crater and discharged for dis- 
 ability April 30, 1865. 
 No. 77. Dec. 5. 1861. JOHN SCHULZ, Co. A, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant; wounded and discharged October, 18G4. 
 No. 77. Dec. 5, 1861. Stephen W. Lovett, Co. D, Color Corporal 
 
 Promoted Sergeant ; wounded and discharged July 9, 1864. 
 No. 77. Dec. 5, 1861. Nelson Fletcher, Co. F, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant, Q. M. Sergeant and Lieutenant. Killed in action at Ox 
 Ford, Va., May 24, 18(11. 
 No. 82. Dec. 17, 1861. Sidney R. Prentice. Co. I, Color Corporal. 
 
 Wounded and discliarged for disability' Sept. 2!», J862. 
 No. 84. Dec. £7. William Blombers, Co. H, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant^ First ^.t!.■!;•c-ant, Acting Sergeant, M.ijor Di:d oi woimds 
 received in actiin at Can-.pbell's 5-iation, Tenn., Nov. 16. ISGo. 
 No. 18. March 18, lS6!i. Hugh McCabe, Co. A, Color Corporal. 
 
 Wounded and dischargeil f.*r disability at Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 8, 18G2. 
 No. 18. March 18, 1862. Edward F. Tucker, Co. B, Color Corporal. 
 
 Missing at Conrad's l-'erry, ]\Id., Sept. 25, 18G2. No further record. 
 No. 18. March 18. 1862. Charles D. White, Co. C, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted to Sergeant. Participated in all battles of regiment to Knoxvillc, 
 and discharged July 21, 1864. Present residence. Battle Creek, Mich. 
 
20 
 
 No. 18. March 18, 1862. John C. Hardy, Co. D, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant, First Sergeant, First Lieutenant and Captain for con- 
 spicuous gallantry in action. Present residence, Detroit, Mich. [See por- 
 trait on piifre 18 I 
 No. 18. March 18, 1862. Joseph Richards, Co. E„ Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant, Q. M. Sargeant, Second Lieutenant. Resigned April 21, 
 1864. 
 No. 18. March 18, 1862. William Shakespeare, Co. K. Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant, I'"irst Sergeant. Wounded in action six times at Jack- 
 son, Miss., July 11, 1863. Was appointed P>rigadier-Cleneral and Q. M. Gen- 
 eral of State, in 1883 and 1884. [See portrait on page 27.] 
 No. 29. May 4, 1862. Ulysses D. Russell, Co. I, Color Corporal. 
 
 This particularly gallant soldier was promoted Color Sergeant Oct. 8, 18()2. 
 Was wounded in action at Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 180'2, and died of 
 wounds received in action at Campbell's Station, Tenn., Nov. l(i, 18G3, where 
 the enemy's shot shattered the flag staff in his hands. 
 
 No. 30. May 12, 1862. Charles W. Mitchel, Co. F. Color Corporal. 
 
 Missing Aug. 11, 1803. No further record. 
 
 No. 31. May 27, 1862. Zephania Sexton, Co. D, Color CorporaL 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Reinli^led and transferee! to Medical Dept. Mustered 
 out with regiment. 
 
 No. 52. Aug. 1, 1862. Charles D. Morse, Co. E., Color Corporal. 
 
 Transferred to 15attery K, 3d U. S. Artillery. Promoted Sergeant. 
 No. 52. Aug. 1, 1862. Roscoe D. Dix. Co. K, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. While acting First Sergeant was severely wounded in 
 action at Knoxvillc, Tenn.. Nov. 24, 1863. Taken prisoner, exchanged and 
 discharged for disability May 25, 18G4. Since has been elected to many 
 offices of trust and honor, among which were Commissioner of State Land 
 Office for 1886 to 1890, and Auditor General for 1897 to 1900. Present resi- 
 dence Berrien Springs, Mich. 
 
 No. 53. Aug. 9, 1862. George A. Southworth, Co I, Color Sergeant. 
 
 Supposed to have been wounded and lost. No record. 
 No. 56. Sept. 26, 1862. Stephen G. Colvin. Co. I, Camp Color Bearer. 
 
 Killed in action at Wilderness, Va., May (), 18()1. 
 No. 85. Nov. 10. 1862. Frederick J. Sheldon, Co. B, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Wounded in artion at Knowille, 'Jenu., autl discliarged 
 
 for disability June G, 1864. 
 No. 85. Nov. 10, 1862. Herman Rohns, Co. A, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Discharged for disability April 25, 1864. Participated 
 
 in all engagements to June 11, 1863. Died at Detroit, Mich., September, 11)04. 
 No. 85. Nov. 10. 1862. Sheldon Rinehart, Co. B, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Wounded in action at Knowille, Tenn., Nov. 24, 18(i3. 
 
 Discliarged for disability June 6, 1861. Now a physician at Laporte, Mich. 
 No. 85. Nov. 10, 1862. Thomas P. Jones, Co. C, Color Corporal. 
 
 Wounded in action at Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 21, 1863. Promoted Sergeant. 
 
 Participated in all engagements to Knoxvillc. Discharged July 21, 1864. 
 
 Present residence, Detroit, Mich. 
 No. 85. Nov. 10, 1862. Elias J. Schokley, Co. E, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Died of wounds received in action at Knoxville, Tenn., 
 
 Nov. 24, 1863. 
 
No. 85. Nov. 10, 1862. Peter Smith, Co. G, Color Corporal. 
 
 Wounded in action at Fort Saunders, Tenn., Nov. 29, 1863, and discharged 
 for disability July 9, 1864. 
 
 No. 85. Nov. 10, 1862. Charles H. Rogers, Co. H, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promnlfd First Sergeant, iMrst Lieutenant and Captain. Wounded in action 
 at Wilderness, Va., May 6, 18G4. Mustered out with regiment. Present resi- 
 dence, Northville, Mich. 
 
 No. 85. Nov. 10, 1862. Charles H. Butler, Co. I, Color Corporal. 
 Discharged at expiration of term of service, July 21, 1864. 
 
 No. 88. Nov. 18, 1862. Richard H. Halstead. Co. F, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted First Sergeant. Taken prisoner in action at Campbells Station, 
 Teun., Nov. 16, 1863. Exchanged and mustered out. Died at Concord, Mich., 
 in 1903. 
 
 No. 4. Jan. 13, 1863. Oscar F. Lockhead, Co. H, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Ordnance Sergeant, First Lieutenant and Quartermaster. Mus- 
 tered out with regiment. 
 
 No. 17. March 3, 1863. Alonzo Huxley, Co. K, Color Corporal. 
 Promoted Sergeant. Re-enlisted and mustered out with regiment. 
 
 No. 18. March 6, 1863. William Gundlach, Co. A. Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted First Sergeant and First I>ieutenant. Hrevetted Captain for 
 conspicuou.s gallantry in action and raeritorions .services during the war. 
 Participated in all en gagcmcnts to July 30, 1864, when he was taken 
 prisoner and contracted disease of the eyes, from which he finally lost his 
 sight. Mustered out with regiment. Present residence. White Bear Lake, 
 isfinn. [See portrait on page 10.] 
 
 No. 18. March 6, 1863. William Fuller, Co. D, Color Corporal. 
 
 Wounded and taken prisoner in action at Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 24, 1863. 
 E.xchangcd and discharged for disability, July 9, 18G4. 
 
 No. 18. March 6, 1863. John S. Glidden, Co. E, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant, First Sergeant and Captain in Colored Regiment. Was 
 acting Color Bearer and wounded in action at Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 
 
 1862. Discharged to accept commission. 
 
 No. 18. March 6, 1863. James N. Willett, Co. F. Color Corporal. 
 
 Participated in all engagements to Knoxville, Tenn., where he was woimded 
 in action Nov. 24, 1863, and /^.nally discharged for disability, May 25, 1864. 
 
 No. 18. March 6, 1863. Martin Ruehle, Co. H, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted First Sergeant rfud Second Lieutenant. Wounded in action before 
 Petersburg, Va., Feb. 22, 1865. Taken to Satterlec Hospital, Philadelphia, 
 Pa. No further record. 
 
 No. 36. June 1, 1863. William H. Flagg,, Co. C. Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Wounded in action at Blue Springs. Tenn., Oct. 10, 
 
 1863. Subsequently attached to Engineer Dcpt. of 9th Army Corps. 
 
 No. 55. Oct. 19, 1863. Cyrus Knight, Co. G, Color Corporal. 
 
 Promoted Sergeant. Wounded in action at Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862, 
 
 and killed in action at Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 24, 1863. 
 
 Note : No record for interval from December, 1863, to June, 1864. 
 
 — May, 1864. Alfred Rowe, Co. G, Color Corporal. 
 
 When the Color Sergeant was wounded at the beginning of the engagements 
 on June 18, 1864, he became Color Bearer and was killed near the close of 
 the action of that day. [See description on page 15.] 
 
22 — 
 
 — May 25, 1864. Nathan M. Richardson, Co. F. Color Corporal. 
 
 Wounded in action at Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 24, 18G3. Wounded in action 
 before Petersburg, June 18, 1864. Taken prisoner in action at the Crater, 
 July 30, 1804. Exchanged Feb. 22, 1865. Promoted Color Sergeant June, 
 1865 and mustered out with regiment. Was appointed Lieutenant Colonel 
 and 'Assistant Adjutant General of State for 1897, 1898 and 1899. Present 
 residence, Caro, Mich. 
 
 — June 19, 1864, Jesse H. Gaines, Co. G, Color Sergeant. 
 
 Taken prisoner in action at the Crater, July 30, 1864, with entire Color 
 Guard, after hurling the colors over the ramparts towards our lines, being 
 cut otT from support and surrounded by the enemy. Was exchanged, and 
 promoted First Lieutenant. Mustered out with regiment. Present resi- 
 dence, Mishawaka, Ind. 
 
 — Sept. — , 1864. Joseph Richardson, Co. C, Acting Color Sergeant. 
 
 At the capture of Petersburg, Va., April 3, 1865, the 2d Mich. Infty. being 
 the first of the Union troops to enter the city, he had the honor of first dis- 
 playing the Union colors over the Post Office and U. S. Custom House 
 where the rebel flag had so long floated defiantly in the breeze. Promoted 
 Sergeant and was mustered out with regiment. Died at Charlotte, Mich., 
 Nov. 17, 1899. 
 
 To further emphasize the great and unsurpassed devotion of the 
 followers of the flag of the Second Michigan Infantry, the writer begs 
 to quote here, from page 199 of "Michigan in the War," the following 
 pathetic extracts from a letter written by Gen. O. M. Poe, shortly 
 after the regiment had re-enlisted, and was about to start for home 
 on its thirty-days veteran furlough. Gen. Poe was then Chief 
 Engineer on Gen. Burnside's staff, and had learned, when too late, 
 of the blundering, stupid order which sent his brave old regiment 
 into a useless bloody sacrifice, viz : "Anticipating their return to the 
 State, their old commander. Colonel Poe, who had been Chief 
 Engineer during the siege of Knoxville, wrote a friend in Detroit a 
 letter, of which the following is an extract. Coming from one so 
 capable of judging, it unquestionably estimates correctly the bravery 
 and valuable services of the regiment, while it breathes the true 
 feeling of his heart for those he had cominanded in so many hard- 
 fought fields, and whom he loved so well : 
 
 " 'On the 24th November, 1863, the Second Michigan with 150 
 men, charged the enemy's rifle pits and the Major lost a leg and was 
 mortally wounded through the hips ; Adjutant Noble and Lieut. 
 Galpin were killed ; six Sergeants lost a leg each ; the Color-bearer 
 was mortally wounded and has since died;*' in all eighty-four were 
 
 *This is an error, resulting undoubtedly from Color Bearer Russell — who was 
 mortally wounded on the 16th of November, having died a day or two before, 
 which undoubtedly mislead the General, unwittingly to attribute his death to the 
 battle on Nov. 24th. — F. S. 
 
23 
 
 killed ami wounded out of the small party — about sixty per cent. 
 Yet the remnant of the brave old regiment was in the bastion which 
 the enemy tried to carry by assault on the morning of the 29th, and 
 their courage and cheer were as great yesterday as when I took 
 command of them two years ago a thousand strong. 
 
 " 'There is no language that can exaggerate the behavior of these 
 "brax-es." They will probably be almc^st unnoticed in Detroit, because 
 tluy have e\er ])vvn too i)roud to seek any demonstration. Yet I 
 would pity any one's liumanit}- who could look unmoved upon that 
 renmaiit of a regiment whose Hag has area enough to bear only a 
 portion of their battles. Proud am I that T was ever associated with 
 such heroes, and if there is any event of my life with which I am 
 particularly satisfied, it is that I built Fort Saunders, and that, 
 protected by its parapet, the regiment I once had the honor to 
 command burled back, discomfited and demoralized more than ten 
 times their number of the best troops in the rebel service. There is 
 something sublimely grand in the steady, rpiiet courage of those men 
 of our "Scond." They are all intelligent enough to know their 
 danger, and always true and brave enough to face it. They never 
 yet have failed in time of need, and they never will. I would ask no 
 higher honor than to ride at their head through the streets of Detroit, 
 for you know I am ashamed neither of them, their deeds, nor of my 
 enthusiasm for them. I have written thus warmly about them 
 because my feelings are wrought up, and I know you can appreciate 
 them. If any of the wounded Second reach Detroit I beg of you to 
 look after them as I know you can.' " 
 
 While other regiments from this State who came out under the 
 first call were cither disbanded or consolidated with other regiments 
 when their term of service expired and new organizations took their 
 numbers, the Second Michigan Infantry was the only regiment from 
 Michigan that re-enlisted and retained an unbroken organization 
 throughout the entire war, from its very beginning to its close. 
 Always at the front to the end at Appomattox. It had a total enroll- 
 ment during the war of 2,151. Many of its members were recruited 
 from the students of the University, Albion. Hillsdale and Kalama- 
 zoo Colleges. Mciny of its rank and file were promoted to commis- 
 sioned ofificers in other regiments. Its first two commanders who 
 rose to great distinction during the war were of the regular army, 
 and graduates of West Point. It was frequently mentioned in gen- 
 eral orders for conspicuous gallantry in action, and was received 
 
24 
 
 TOIIN T. 
 
 CALLMIAN, OF COMPANY K, AT THE AGE OF 22. 
 15UKVET MAJOR AT CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 Note: — Tlie subject uf the above portrait — reproduced from an old war time photo, taken 
 in 18G3 — was a member of the Color Guard from September to December, lS(iI, and from 
 August, 1862, to May, 18C4. He carried the colors througli the bloody battle of the "VVilder- 
 ness," Va., May 6, 18(!4, where he was wounded and disabled. Nov. 14, 1863, when General 
 Hurnside's force was opposing the overwhelming force of the enemy under General Longstrect, 
 near Soudon, Tenn., General Grant ordered our forces to retire on Knoxville, and hold the 
 latter point at all hazards. The Second Michigan Infantry formed part of the rear guard. In 
 the desperate struggle that followed. Corporal Callahan, who had been greatly weakened by 
 sickness had nevertheless ])luckily attcmi)tcd to keep up with the Colors, but had to finally 
 fall behind, and was near being captured by the enemy, when bis younger brother, "Billy," 
 came running up to him crying over his distress, took his gini and dragged him along to a 
 point where he got him into an ambulance that carried him to Knoxville, where, although still on 
 the sick list, he rejoined the Color Guard, and was in the disastrosu charge of his regiment 
 Nov. 24, 1863. When the regiment was ordered back into the fortifications, he fell down 
 completely exhausted, but was miraculously saved by his comrades, but to his inexpressible 
 
^ 
 
 with a grand ovation by a large concourse of citizens at Detroit on 
 its return from the war, on August 1, 1865. 
 
 The following is an official list of the engagements it participated 
 tn under fire of the enemy : 
 
 1861. 
 
 *Blackl)urn"s l<ord, Va.. July 18. 
 *Bull Run, Ya., July 2\.' 
 Bailey's Cross Roads and Munson's Hill, Va.. in iVugust, Sep- 
 tember and October, 18(51. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Siege of Yorktown, Va., April 1 to May 4. 
 *VVilliamsburg, Va., May 5. 
 *Fair Oaks, Va., May 31 and June 1. 
 
 Near Richmond, \^a., Jiuie 18. 
 
 Jordan's Ford, Va., June "ii). 
 *Glendale, \'a.. lune ;U). 
 
 Malvern ]lill, \'a., July 1. 
 
 Second ]'>lack])urn's Ford. \'a., August 28. 
 
 Second Bull Run, \'a., August 2!>. 
 *Groveton, Va., August -W. 
 *Chanlilly, Va., September 1. 
 
 Frederickslnirg, Va., I)eeend)er 12 to 14. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., June 22 U) July t. 
 *Siege of Jackson, Miss.. July 11 to July 18. 
 *Charge at Jackson, Miss., July 11. 
 
 Blue Springs, Tenn., October 10. 
 
 griff, Iiis ptallant brother, "I'.illy," was killed in this bloody action. According to the oflicial 
 record published by the state: John J. Callahan (N'eteran), enlisted in Company K, Second 
 Infantry, May 10, 1801, at Kalamazoo, for :i years, age 20. Mustered May 2"), 1801. Pro- 
 iTioted Color Corporal and Sergeant. Rc-cnlisted Dec. .31, 1803, at Blain's Cross Roards, 
 Tenn. Commissioned I'"irst Lieutenant of Company C, June 0, 1805. Mustered to date June 
 13, 1805. Commissioned .\djulant July 22, IHOT). Breveted Captain and Major, II. S. Volun- 
 teers March 13, ISOfi. for gallant and nuritorious services during the war. Mustered out and 
 honorablv discharged at De I.aney House, D. C. July 28. ISO."). He had many miraculous 
 escapes from death, while many of his comrades aroinid him were killed or wounded, having 
 participated in nearly all of the many engagements of his regiment from Blackburn's I'ord. 
 July 18, 1801, to the Wilderness, Va., May 0, 1804. After his discharge he was appointed 
 to a clerkship in the War Department in the Adjutant (icneral's Oflice at Washington, D. C, 
 where, subsequently on the recovery of the Union battle Hags from Richmond, Va.., finding 
 among them the Second Michigan Infantry flag, umVer whose folds he bad so often periled 
 his life for its maintenance, he was instrumental in procuring its return from the War De- 
 partment to the Regimental Association of Survivors, by whom it was turned over to the 
 state for preservation. F. S. 
 
26 _____^ 
 
 Loudon, Tenn., November 14. 
 *Lenoir Station, Tenn., November 15. 
 *Campbeirs Station, Tenn., November 16. 
 *Siege of Knoxville, Tenn., November 17 to December 5. 
 *Charge at Knoxville, Tenn., November 24. 
 *Night Assault on Fort Saunders, Tenn., November 28 and 29. 
 
 Thurley's Ford, Tenn., December 15. 
 
 1864. 
 
 Strawberry Plains, Tenn., January 22. 
 
 Near Knoxville, Tenn., January 22. 
 ^Wilderness, Va., May 5, 6 and 7. 
 
 Ny-River, Va., May 9. 
 *Spottsylvania, Va., May 10, 11 and 12. 
 
 Ox Ford, Va., May 23. 
 
 North Anna, Va., May 24 and 25. 
 
 Tolopotomy, Va., May 30. 
 *Bethesda Church, Va., June 2 and 3. 
 
 Cold Harbor, Va., June 7. 
 *Assaults on Petersburg, Va., June 17 and 18. 
 *The Crater, Va. (explosion of mine), July 30. 
 
 Weldon Railroad, Va., August 19 and 20. 
 
 Ream's Station, Va., August 25. 
 
 Poplar Springs Church, Va., September 30. 
 
 Pegram Farm, Va., October 2. 
 
 Boydon Road, Va., October 8. 
 
 Hatcher's Run, Va., October 27 and 28. 
 
 1865. 
 
 *Night Assault on Fort Steadman, Va., March 25. 
 *Capture of Petersburg, Va., April 3. 
 Pursuit of enemy, ending with surrender of entire rebel army 
 at Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9. 
 
 ♦Indicates engagements where the regiment was especially mentioned in 
 general orders for conspicuous gallantry in action. 
 
^ 27 
 
 FIRST SERGEANT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, COMPANY K, SECOND MICHIGAN 
 
 INFANTRY. 
 AT THE AGE OF TWENTY. 
 
 He enlisted April 12, 1S61, at the age of seventeen, was assigned to the Color Guard 
 as Color Corporal March 18, 1862, was promoted Sergeant in his company May 27, 1862, and 
 First Sergeant March 1, 1863. Was severely wounded at Jackson, Miss., July 11, 1863. 
 Honorably discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability, after having participated with his 
 regiment in seventeen hard fought battles from Blackburn's Ford and Bull Run to Vicksburg. 
 
 Note: — The above portrait, although a reproduction from an old and faded photo of 
 1S(;2, still shows the great intelligence and determined will power of this brave young soldier, 
 that on occasions amounted to such an obstinate and determined spirit, that no amount of 
 suffering could subdue, as the following incident will show. In the gallant charge of his 
 regiment at Jackson, Miss., July 11, 18G3, he was wounded through both legs near the hips, 
 having both thighs fractured; while lying there on the battlefield, with these painful wounds, 
 he had several more bullets fired into his body. When carried off the battlefield to the field 
 hospital, and a consultation over his case was held by our surgeons, it was concluded by them 
 that his wounds were mortal and his case hopeless. Our surgeon, Dr. Henry Clelland of 
 Detroit — then said to him: "I don't want to alarm you unnecessarily, but you have only a 
 few hours to live, still you may live a few days, but I can't give you any encouragement." 
 He feebly responded that he thought it was not so bad. A short time afterwards the surgeon 
 came to him with a letter, saying to him that he had "written to his mother of his unfortu- 
 nate condition; was there any final message to add." He insisted on seeing that letter. 
 Finally the surgeon read it to him. Said he, "Doctor, I want to add a few words to it." 
 "Why," said the surgeon, "do you think you can write?" "Why, yes, I think I can scrawl 
 out a few words if you will prop me up," and they complied with his request. After propping 
 him up he added to that letter these words: "Do not be alarmed, dear mother, the doctor 
 is mistaken. I am going to get well and come back to you." Some time after he was brought 
 up to the general hospital at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lay for nine long months on his back 
 in an agony of suffering, unable to stir from one side to the other, and during all that tim« 
 the doctors were in doubt about his final recovery. Rut the obstinate determination not to 
 die but to come back to that dear mother pulled him through to final recovery. 
 
28 
 
 THE GRAND REVIEW— THEN AND NOW. 
 
 In eighteen hundred and sixty-five 
 
 We marched in the Grand Review. 
 In Wash ngton, in the month of May, 
 
 We marched in the Grand Review. 
 Then we were young and in our prime, 
 Onr hearts were light and our feet kept time 
 With the drums as theybeat a merry rhyme, 
 As we marched in the Grand Review. 
 
 Choru.s — 
 (Fall in!) We marched. (Shoulder arms !) We marched ; 
 
 (Forward!) We marched in the Grand Review; 
 (File rght!) We marched; (company into line!) We marched 
 
 (Present arms!) We marched in the Grand Review. 
 
 And Washington with banners gay, 
 
 As we marched ni th e Grand Review, 
 
 Her welcome sent to all that day, 
 As we marched in the Grand Review. 
 
 The happy throng, the gladdening cheer, 
 
 The countless thousands gathered theie. 
 
 With joyous music filled the air, 
 As we marched in the Grand Review. 
 
 The tattered flags we bore that day, 
 As we marched in th e Grand Review, 
 
 Thro' shot and shell had found their way. 
 To march in the Grand Review. 
 
 Forgotten then the battle's yell ! 
 
 The plunging shot, the shrieking shell, 
 
 For peace had come with us to dwell, 
 As we marched in the Grand Review. 
 
 And there was Grant and Sherman, too, 
 They marched in the Grand Review. 
 And Custer bold and Logan true. 
 
 They marched in the Grand Review. 
 Now many comrades have marched away, 
 Their silent tents but hold their clay, 
 But we shall meet them again some day. 
 When we march in the Grand Review. 
 
 But many years have passed away 
 
 Since we marched in the Grand Review; 
 And the dead outnumber the living today, 
 
 Who marched in the Grand Review, 
 And the' our heads are turning gray, 
 Our guns and knapsacks laid away, 
 iWe often think of the glorious day 
 
 That we marched in the Grand Review. 
 
 Lansing, Mich., Nov. 38, 1905. 
 
DEC IS •••jD5 
 
Official Badge of 
 
 Associatiorv of Survivors of Second 
 
 Michigan Infantrv 
 
 M. E.GARDNER. PRINTFR. LANSING. MICH. 
 
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