These Men Have Seen Hard Service: The First Michigan Sharpshooters in the Civil War

by Raymond J. Herek

Using materials from the National Archives, the State Archives of Michigan, university collections, and private holdings, Raymond Herek weaves together a full account of the First Michigan Sharpshooters, complete with nearly 100 photographs. Beyond presenting numerous anecdotes about the men and officers and their contributions during the war, he provides insight into the medical community of the time, the draft, other commands in the same division, the politics endemic in raising a regiment, and Michigan's Native American contingent. The extensive appendices will be of particular use to genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, and historians, because they list the men in the regiment, and also battle and camp casualties.

680 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily one of the most exhaustive regimental histories. Despite the amount of information, the book is a trifle shallow and not a great read, but hardly a true slog.

[Jim]

A good regimental history. The First Michigan Sharpshooters were recruited as a sharpshooter regiment but they never received the Spencer or Henry repeating rifles their colonel requested. Instead they were armed w/ the Springfield rifle musket like many other infantry regiments.



One of the unusual things about the First Michigan Sharpshooters is that Company K was composed of Native Americans who were some of the most effective skirimishers in the regiment. There were a few Native Americans in some of the other companies too.



The First Michigan Sharpshooters were recruited late in 1862. They saw their first action fighting Morgan's cavalry during their raid into Indiana and Ohio. Then they guarded the Dearborn Arsenal and the Camp Douglas prison in Illinois. They didn't join the Army of the Potomac until the Overland campaign in 1864. They saw more than their share of combat during the Overland campaign and during the Siege of Petersburg. The First Michigan Sharpshooters were the first regiment to raise the Union flag after the fall of Petersburg.



Check out their monument in the southeast corner of the Capitol grounds in Lansing.

[Stephen Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly average regimental history. The regiment itself was a mid-war organization and spent time on less glamorous work, which duty often goes unremarked. Herek does a good job situating the regiment within the politics of Michigan. As many regimental histories do, the narrative can wander and figures are introduced and dismissed with little warning. The author is also not always good at explaining when and how someone was promoted, so ranks can change without warning and there appear to be points of confusion between brevet and substantive rank. As is too common, the last chapter boils down to a litany of bare facts (post-war career and death) about an assortment of individuals who may or may not have figured in the narrative. It falls into the category of books that have no strong recommendation to read them, but are also not a waste of your time.