On the hot summer evening of July 2, 1863, at the climax of the struggle for a Pennsylvania hill called Little Round Top, four Confederate regiments charge up the western slope, attacking the smallest and most exposed of their Union foe: the 16th Michigan Infantry. Terrible fighting has raged, but what happens next will ultimately—and unfairly—stain the reputation of one of the Army of the Potomac’s veteran combat outfits, made up of men from Detroit, Saginaw, Ontonagon, Hillsdale, Lansing, Adrian, Plymouth, and Albion. In the dramatic interpretation of the struggle for Little Round Top that followed the Battle of Gettysburg, the 16th Michigan Infantry would be remembered as the one that broke during perhaps the most important turning point of the war. Their colonel, a young lawyer from Ann Arbor, would pay with his life, redeeming his own reputation, while a kind of code of silence about what happened at Little Round Top was adopted by the regiment’s survivors. From soldiers’ letters, journals, and memoirs, this book relates their experiences in camp, on the march, and in battle, including their controversial role at Gettysburg, up to the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House.
ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1. April–September 1861: The Time for Action Has ArrivedChapter 2. September 1861–March 1862: Stockton's Worm-EatersChapter 3. September 1861–March 1862: The Michigan LancersChapter 4. March–May 1862: Victories without Blood Is McClellan's PlanChapter 5. May–June 1862: The Bullets Rained in Ranks around MeChapter 6. July–August 1862: It Was Awful to Look UponChapter 7. August–September 1862: Hurrah for HellChapter 8. September–December 1862: Farewell, McClellan, You Are About Played OutChapter 9. December 1862–January 1863: A Terrible and Destructive FireChapter 10. January–April 1863: This Cussed Soil of VirginiaChapter 11. April–May 1863: All the Devils in HellChapter 12. May–July 1863: We Shall Fight before the Fourth of JulyChapter 13. July 2, 1863: The Most Desperate Fighting I Ever SawChapter 14. July–November 1863: We Are Not Fighting for Generals, but Our CountryChapter 15. November 1863–May 1864: Old Lee Is a Tough CussChapter 16. May–June 1864: Battles without Gaining GroundChapter 17. June–September 1864: I Am Not Much More Than a ShadowChapter 18. September–December 1864: The Worst Fire a Mortal Ever EnduredChapter 19. December 1864–April 1865: A Blue Whiplash Encircling LeeChapter 20. April–July 1865: Think of the Noble Spirits We LostEpilogue. Your Names Are an Eternal BenedictionAppendix. Roster of the 16th Michigan Infantry RegimentNotesBibliographyIndex
