History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of their prominent men and pioneers.

FIFTH INFANTRY.

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tons of coal, and two regiments, and with the assistance of
five tug-boats, she at last got afloat and moved down the
river and through Chesapeake Bay to the ocean, where she
turned northward towards her destination (which was the
city of New York), and arrived there on the 30th. The
troops, which had been sent here to assist in quelling the
draft riots, if necessary, were disembarked on Governor's
Island. The Third Michigan had preceded the Fifth by
another vessel, and these two regiments were now ordered
to proceed up the Hudson River to Troy. They embarked
on river steamers, reaching Troy the next morning. They
were first quartered at the armory, a day or two later at
the court-house, and finally, on the 5th of September, they
were removed to the Fair-Grounds. The Trojans were
very much surprised at seeing two Michigan regiments in
their streets, but they received them most hospitably, so
that the men of the Fifth counted their stay at Troy among
the most pleasant of all their war experiences. No duty beyond that of the camp and the drill-ground was required
of the regiment during its sojourn at Troy, and the necessity for its presence there having passed it left on Sunday
evening, September 13th, for New York by steamer, and
arriving there in the following morning, left immediately
by railroad for Washington under orders to rejoin the Army
of the Potomac. It arrived at Washington in the night of
September 15th, and three days later proceeded to Alexandria, whence, alter a stop of one day, it was moved to
Fairfax Station, and from there to the camp of its old brigade, between that place and Culpeper. The brigade was
the Third of the First Division, Third Corps, Army of the
Potomac.
On the 17th of November the regiment moved to the
Rappahannock River, crossed at Kelly's Ford, and soon
after moved to near. Brandy Station, occupying a deserted
camp of the enemy. On the 26th it crossed the Rapidan
with the forces which were moving to Mine Run. Taking
part in that expedition, it was engaged at Locust Grove on
the 27th, and there lost several killed and wounded. It
reached the front of the enemy's works at Mine Run, where
for thirty-six hours it remained in support of a battery.
From Mine Run the Fifth fell back with the army, and
again occupied its camp at Brandy Station, which became
its winter quarters until the 28th, when (the requisite number of re-enlistments having been obtained) it left for
Michigan on veteran furlough. It arrived on the 4th of
January at Detroit, which was designated as the rendezvous, and then its members entered upon a brief period of
freedom and enjoyment with their families and friends.
Having been considerably augmented by recruiting
during its stay in Michigan, the Fifth Regiment, composed
of veterans and recruits, left Detroit on the 10th of February, 1864, and proceeding by way of Washington, reached
Brandy Station in the evening of the 17th, and marched
four miles northwest to camp, and took position with its old
command in the Army of the Potomac. In the latter part
of March a general order was issued dissolving the First
and Third Corps, and consolidating their troops with those

of the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps. The First and
Second Divisions of the Third Corps were transferred to the
Second Corps, and made to constitute its Third Division.
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The Third Division of the old corps was transferred to the
Sixth Corps.* "Thus," wrote a member of the Fifth
Regiment,-A. K. Sweet, of Detroit,-" was wiped out of
existence the gallant old Third Corps, with which our fortunes had been so long associated, and of which we formed
a part. Its glorious name, which we in some small degree
had helped to make illustrious, and in which we justly felt
a soldier's pride, became one of the things that were. The
corps had long been a mere skeleton of its former self.
The old Third Division had been consolidated with the
First and Second immediately after the battle of Gettysburg, and a new division of ten thousand fresh troops,
under command of Gen. French, added. The old commanders of heroic fame, whom the men had learned to
love and respect, had gone, and a stranger filled the place
of command made glorious by Heintzelman and Hooker.
Still the glorious associations that clustered around the
name gave it a tender place in our hearts, and when at last
its death-knell struck, and the men so long associated in a
common history of the toil and triumph separated to their
various destinations, many a brave fellow felt a twinge of
sorrow and pain like that which pierces the heart as we
stand at the grave of a fiiend, and the cold clods of the
valley close over the dear face and shut it from our sight
forever..
"' On the 31st of March we broke camp and marched to
the' south side of the railroad in the vicinity of Brandy
Station, and took up our new quarters in the Second
Brigade, Third Division, and Second Corps. The men
were allowed to retain the diamond badge,-a deference to
their feelings which was thankfully appreciated. The sense
of pain and disgrace slowly passed away as we became
better acquainted with our new companions in arms, for
they were as fine a corps of men as the Army of the Potomac or any other in the world could boast, and we were
now under command of a general of brilliant abilities and
most intrepid bravery, Gen. W. S. Hancock. Gen. D. B.
Birney, our old brigade and division commander, was in
command of the division. We soon began to feel at home
in our new relations, and with the old red diamond to 'remind us of the glorious past, we were soon ready as ever to
do and dare for the honor of the old flag and the success of
the common cause.
"... Towards the last of April nature had begun to
spread her rich garniture of green over hill and plain, and
soft gales from Southland fanned us with the first delicious
breath of spring. The warm sunshine, as May approached,
soon dried up the mud from the spring rains, and the roads
were once more in a condition for the movement of army
trains. On every hand the sure indications of an early
opening of field operations were apparent. A few days of
bustle and preparation and the last finishing touches were
complete. A week of comparative quiet followed, like the
lull that precedes the bursting of the storm, and then, on the
evening of the 3d of May, the first move in what will go down
to history as the great campaign of the war commenced. No
drum-beat or bugle-note sounds a warning, but silently as

0 The Fifth Regiment at this time was only three hundred and
ninety strong, including twenty-four sick.