After the confederates fired on Fort Sumter, Lincoln asked the loyal states to provide a total of 75,000 soldiers.  The peace time army had been very small and Washington DC was left practically undefended.  There were some fears at first that some of the northern states would not furnish troops or in sufficient numbers in time.

However, on May 16, 1861 newly formed Michigan regiments came marching into Washington DC to defend the capital...the very first state to respond to Lincoln's call and with more troops than Lincoln had asked from the state of Michigan.  Lincoln is alleged to have responded: "Thank God for Michigan.”

Many Michigan units would go on to great fame in the Civil War.

At Gettysburg the 24^th Michigan pushed back a confederate regiment and then faced a much larger regiment with elements of another regiment allowing them to be flanked.  They fought back ferociously and fell back multiple times to try and resume the fight.  They suffered the most casualties of any unit at the Battle of Gettysburg.  They were later chosen to be the honor guard for President Lincoln’s funeral.

In fact so many Michigan units fought well at Gettysburg, that Michigan’s 2^nd State Flag (we are on our 3^rd) was deliberately unfurled and raised for the first time ever in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 4^th, 1865 above the graves of Michigan soldiers in the national cemetery there.

At Fredericksburg the 7^th Michigan completed the first successful amphibious attack in US Army history.  They volunteered to row across the Rappahannock River under fire.  Their commanding general said if they could do it, it would be one of the greatest feats of the war.  They successfully established a foothold and helped build a pontoon bridge to bring the rest of the army over and into the city.  They got the nickname the “forlorn hope regiment” for the willingness to take the toughest tasks.

The 4^th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry captured a fleeing Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.  His wife threw her shall over him to try and disguise him at the last moment and some of the Michigan soldiers embellished a bit and said that he was dressed in woman’s clothing.

Michigan regiments captured a significant amount of confederate flags in the war and a few were put on display in the state capitol rotunda until they were later returned to southern states in 1941, months before Pearl Harbor.  I suppose southerners complained a lot about their captured flags being on display in our state capitol building as they didn’t have satellite camps to whine about yet.

Remember the reasons for Memorial Day.