Service
The regiment was organized at Detroit, Michigan, and mustered in on August 28, 1862. Among the men who served in the 4th Michigan Cavalry was James Vernor, Sr., who after the war became a well known pharmacist and the developer of Vernor's Ginger Ale. Another early recruit was future Michigan politician Levi T. Griffin.
The 4th Michigan was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Dudley Pritchard of Allegan, Michigan. After training and drilling, it left the state on September 26 for duty in Louisville, Kentucky, and was soon attached to the 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, Army of the Ohio until November 1862.
Other assignments during the war included:
- 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863.
- 1st Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863.
- 2nd Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland, to November, 1863.
- 1st Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland, to November 1864.
- 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Wilson's Cavalry Corps, Military Division of Mississippi, to November 1864.
- 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division of Mississippi, to July 1865.
4th Michigan was attacked at Latimar's Mill on Noonday Creek by 4,500 of the Wheeler's cavalry and fell back, but repulsed the attack after being reinforced.
The 4th Michigan Cavalry was involved in the capture of Macon, Georgia, on April 20, 1865, along with Col. Henry Harnden and the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry. Subsequently, a detachment of the regiment participated in the pursuit and capture of Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10. Among the troopers credited with playing a key role in identifying and capturing Davis were George Munger and Andrew Bee. Also involved in the capture of Davis was Corporal John William Bowles of Company M. The 4th was assigned to routine duty at Macon and then at Nashville, Tennessee, until the end of June. The regiment mustered out on July 1, 1865.
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Famous quotes containing the word service:
“Books can only reveal us to ourselves, and as often as they do us this service we lay them aside.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The masochist: “I send my tormentor hurrying hither and thither in the service of my suffering and desire.””
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Human life consists in mutual service. No grief, pain, misfortune, or “broken heart,” is excuse for cutting off one’s life while any power of service remains. But when all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.”
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935)