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1ST MICHIGAN INFANTRY A CIVIL WAR REENACTING GROUP
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January Newsletter
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Welcome to the year of the 1st Michigan. This year is already shaping up to be the greatest one yet for the 1st Michigan and it is only January. With Brandywine expanding, Hastings coming back and Gettysburg taking place, this will definitely be one special year.
BRANDYWINE May 16-18, 2008
The first planning meeting of the year has already taken place and this event is forming beautifully. This event is going to take place at the same location as last year and will be greatly expanded having several more cannons and cavalry. Also, Cedar Creek Sutlery just committed to attending this event. If interested the next planning meeting for this event will take place on February 17th at noon. It will be held at the actual reenactment site in the little house next to the covered bridge. Any/all help will be greatly appreciated to ensure this event will continue to grow and be great.
2007 YEAR IN REVIEW
BRANDYWINE
MARSHALL
COLDWATER
MARHSALL
JACKSON
GRAND ROGUE
BOWENS MILLS
FORT WAYNE
FEBRUARY MEETING
Our next meeting will be at noon, February 2nd at the Portage District Library. We will be voting on next years events, planning for Gettysburg as well as voting on our bylaws amendment. The snow day will be the following Saturday on the 9th.
GETTYSBURG
So far we have not gotten very many registrations in so make sure you get them in as soon as possible. You can now just submit the forms directly to the reenactment. All information and forms are available at the website listed above. Please consider attending this event as it will probably be the biggest reenactment in the country until the 150’s start rolling around.
UPCOMING KEY DATES
January 19, 2008- 1pm Statewide Scheduling Meeting, Michigan Historical Center Auditorium. Only Event or official group representatives need be present.
February 2, 2008- Noon February group meeting, Portage District Library.
February 17, 2008- Noon Brandywine planning meeting, Niles, MI
March 15-16, 2008- 33rd Annual Kalamazoo Living History Show
July 4-6, 2008- 145th Gettysburg
THIS MONTH IN FIRST MICHIGAN HISTORY Jan. 1862- Annapolis Junction guarding Washington & Baltimore Railroad Jan. 1863- “Mud March” 20-24 Jan. 1864- Winter Quarters near Culpepper, PA Jan. 1865- Siege Duty around Weldon Railroad Petersburg, VA
NEXT MONTH IN FIRST MICHIGAN HISTORY Feb. 1862- Annapolis Junction guarding Washington & Baltimore Railroad Feb. 1863- Winter camp in Falmouth, VA Feb. 1864- Winter Quarters near Culpepper, PA Feb. 1865- Battles of Dabneys Mills and Hatchers Run, 5-7
PEOPLE IN FIRST MICHIGAN HISTORY
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Capt. James Henry Wheaton – Chelsea, Michigan. James served in the First Michigan Infantry 3 month Regiment, 3 year regiment, and reformed 1st Michigan in late 1864. He moved up the ranks from Private to Captain of the Regiment. He served in different capacities in companies B, D, E, and F. He was wounded at Second Manassas. A bullet pierced his hat and entered his skull just above his eye. Emily Crittenden, who I believe to be his sister, removed the ball and parts of his hat from the wound over several days while he recovered at her home in Ann Arbor. The picture shows the effects of the bullet on his eye, which he tried to keep turned away from the camera. He returned to the First Michigan Infantry just before Gettysburg. He was killed in action at Poplar Grove Church, Va. (Petersburg), on September 30, 1864. A full day assault was unable to secure the Rebel Fort Archer. At approximately 4:00, the army called upon Capt. Wheaton and his regiment. His attack was successful but he was killed in the process. The Fort was renamed Fort Wheaton in his honor and still bears his name today. His widow Eleanor and daughter Kate, whom he never saw, relocated to Decatur, Michigan. James and Eleanor Wheaton are buried in Chelsea, Michigan. Photo courtesy of David Parks collection.
GEARING UP
Now that we are in the lull of winter with no events to attend our focus shifts on readying ourselves for the upcoming year and improving our impressions. There is beginning to be a trend in our group towards a more progressive form of reenenacting. This trend will hopefully make all of us and the group better at reenacting while still maintaining our love for the hobby and each other. There are several ways to improve ones impression. It does not always have to involve buying more expensive clothing and having hand sewn buttonholes. It could also be by improving how you act in camp and on the battlefield. I will start including in the newsletter a series of articles on how to improve ones impression through equipment purchases, how you wear your equipment, how you act in camp, how you camp as well as how you do battle. All of these articles are merely an informational source on how to improve ones impressions. Hopefully, we all can learn a bit from them and integrate a point or two from each article into our own impressions |
