5th Michigan Cavalry Regiment

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5th Michigan Cavalry Regiment
Joseph Tarr Copeland
Russell A. Alger

The 5th Michigan Cavalry Regiment was a

Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer
.

Service

Organized in Detroit, Michigan, the 5th Michigan Cavalry was mustered into service on August 30, 1862, and left for Washington, D.C., on December 4 of that year. The regiment served in the

defenses of the capital until June 1863, when it joined the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Over the next month, the 5th Michigan Cavalry took part in several major battles, including the Battle of Hanover on June 30, the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1 to July 3, and the Battle of Williamsport from July 6 to July 14. The regiment then participated in a series of smaller engagements followed by the Battle of Mine Run from November 26 to December 2.[1]

Early in 1864 came the

Sayler's Creek, Appomattox Station, and finally Appomattox Court House, which ended with the surrender of the Confederate Army. After participating in one last expedition, the regiment headed to Washington in May, where it took part in the Grand Review of the Armies.[1]

The regiment was moved to

1st Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.[1]

Total strength and casualties

Post Civil War reunion of Veterans of Company M 5th Michigan Cavalry

The regiment suffered 6 officers and 135 enlisted men killed in action or mortally wounded and 3 officers and 322 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 466 fatalities.[2]

Notable soldiers

J.E.B. Stuart; during the Battle of Yellow Tavern
, Private John A. Huff of Company E shot and mortally wounded the general.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Merwin Lee was brevetted Brigadier General and later became the first Secretary of State of Wyoming.

Noah Ferry (of the Ferry Family) served as a Major in Michigan's 5th Cavalry. He was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.[3]

Three men earned the

Battle of Opequon at Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864.[4]

Crawley P. Dake raised a company of volunteers for the 5th Michigan Cavalry.[5] He was later a U.S Marshal in the Arizona Territory from 1878 to 1882 noted for introducing new techniques and helping to improve working relationships between law enforcement officers. He was noted for his creativity and ability for deputizing civilian posses after the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was passed.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "5th Regiment, Michigan Cavalry". Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 14, 2001. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  2. ^ http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unmicav.htm#5th The Civil War Archive website after Dyer, Frederick Henry. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 vols. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  3. ^ "National Park Service: Gettysburg Seminar Papers — Unsung Heroes of Gettysburg". npshistory.com. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  4. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A-L)". United States Army Center of Military History. August 6, 2009. Archived from the original on November 25, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  5. ISBN 978-0826306173
    . Retrieved October 20, 2014.

References
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