Michigan Civil War Blog

Lincoln in Michigan

We're almost to the end of the Bicentennial year, and it seems to be winding down with a whimper, not a bang. So it was a nice treat to wander thru a used book store recently on lunch hour to find this little publication:  Published by the "Detroit Fine Book Circle" in 1941, it contains an intro to the 1856 speech, the text, an intro to Lincoln's life story written by the author (Thomas I. Starr), and the short bio itself first published in 1860.

The 63 pages are more than worth the nine dollars it cost in 2009.
 

Grant: hero, myth, and forgotten

Just picked up Joan Waugh's US Grant: American Hero, American Myth. Yet another Grant book?! This one came out Fall 2009, so unlike many books that one prefers to let age a bit before plinking down the coin for it seemed worth a look, since Dr. Waugh attempts to explain how Grant could be so popular in his day and almost forgotten today.

The book caught the eye especially because of the Grant house here in Michigan. It was important 80 years ago when honored with a plaque by the Detroit Art Commission, and 70 years ago when renovated and donated to the people of Michigan by an insurance company, and 50 years ago when rescued from urban renewal by the same company and moved to the State Fairgrounds, and then viewable during the Civil War Centennial. Then, after a short period of renewed interest and reflected glory, it was consigned to utilitarian uses and eventually closed to the public. Would this have happened to a house occupied by a more modern hero, say, John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Perhaps the appearance of the book will coincidentally mark a new chapter for Michigan's Grant connection.

Si quarem historiam

(Never did pass Latin back in parochial school...) The play on words in today's post title is to call attention to the resource now available online at Seeking Michigan containing: "The Civil War Manuscripts collection consists of letters and diaries from the Civil War period (1861-1865).  The letters and diaries document Michigan soldiers' experiences while serving the Union in various units.  Most of the collection consists of personal narratives with a few official records concerning the war and later pensions."

The "Seeking Michigan" name comes from the State motto "If you seek a pleasant peninsula..."

The impact of the story

One of the main purposes of this blog is to try telling the full story of Michigan and the Civil War. Not just "Thank God for Michigan" and Custer and the 24th Michigan and the shot that took down Jeb Stuart. Even more that makes the era as alive as ours is.

So, recently, in trying to educate an educator, the use of numbers came in handy. Some 14,000 deaths among 90,000 soldiers. A rate as high or higher than any other Union State. The 90,000 coming out of a population of 750,000. A comparable rate today of over a million troops from Michigan in arms, with 150,000 deaths. Figures that produced a blank look of near incomprehension til it all sank in.

And we think we have it tough today.

Michigan on the map

The Civil War Preservation Trust, a great organization if there ever was one, does many good things including put up web materials to educate folks about the era. It has a John Brown trail map, and til recently Michigan was omitted. Thanks to the efforts of Michigan Historical Commission member James McConnell, that is being rectified:

Message 1:

Website and IT Matters

Rob Shenk, Director of Internet Strategy and Development

(P) 202.367.1861 x7207

rshenk@civilwar.org

Oct. 16, 2009

Hi,

I enjoyed your map of John Brown’s travles, but thought you might want to include the follwoing event, as described on a State of Michigan Historical Marker.  The University of Michigan-Dearborn, the Michigan Historical Commission, the Michigan Freedom Trail commission, the Dr. Charles wright Museum of African American History, and others sponsored a quality scholarly seminar on March 12, 2009.

i copied the  text from www.mimarkers.com.

Information on your resources will be shared, as i have done previously, in the printed and electronic communications of the Michigan Council for History Education, which I edit.

Best wishes,

Jim Mcconnell

Special Projects Coordinator

MCHE

Frederick Douglas - John Brown Meeting

In the home of William Webb, 200 feet north of this spot, two famous American's met several Detroit Negro residents on March 12, 1859, to discuss methods of abolishing American Negro slavery. John Brown (1800-1859), fiery antislavery leader, ardently advocated insurrectionary procedures, and eight months later became a martyr to the cause. Frederick Douglas (c. 1817-1895), ex-slave and internationally-recognized antislavery orator and writer, sought a solution through political means and orderly democratic processes. Although they differed on tactics to be used, they were united in the immortal cause of American Negro freedom. Among the prominent members of Detroit's Negro community reported to have been present were: William Lambert, George DeBaptiste, Dr. Joseph Ferguson, Rev. C. Monroe, Willis Wilson, John Jackson, and William Webb.

Message 2:

Jim,

Thank you for the note below.  I will forward this onto Nicole Osier who heads up our Education group and is responsible for the John Brown map. 

Rob Shenk

Civil War Preservation Trust

Message 3:

Dear Jim,

Thank you for your recent e-mail.  The event is now on our John Brown map listed under: Detroit, MI: March 12, 1862.  Thank you for your support; it is contributions like this that help us present the quality material we strive for.

Best regards,

Nicole

[Of course, the quibbler would suggest the date should be 1859...]

Signal of Liberty

Notice of this most interesting Michigan antebellum freedom-loving abolitionist newspaper came recently:

"I want to alert you to a link to a newly digitized resource - the Signal of Liberty.  We worked with
the U-M's Digital Library Production Services as well as with the Ann Arbor District Library as
an outgrowth of our joint site re "The Making of Ann Arbor.  Karen Jania of our staff was instrumental
in getting this digitized.

The Signal of Liberty is now online at:

http://signalofliberty.aadl.org/signalofliberty

According to Karen: If you click browse in the left column, it will list all of the dates available. Click on a date and it will list all of the articles in the paper."

Grant's visit pt. 2

According to The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, vol. 15 (edited by John Y. Simon), Grant and Julia left Washington in the summer of 1865 for Galena by a rather round-about route. He went through New York and then into Canada to fulfill a promise he had made to the Maj. Gen'l Charles H. Doyle, commander of British forces in Canada, who had visited Grant twice at City Point and had written him an effusive congratulatory note upon the victorious conclusion of the Civil War. On August 9 Grant left Toronto by steamboat for Detroit.

On July 19, J.C. Whiting and Co. of Detroit had written USG extending free passes for the couple aboard one of their vessels "should you wish to make a visit to the Lake Superior Country." On July 25, Gen'l E.O.C. Ord at Detroit wired USG asking whether he'd visit Detroit; Grant's aide Orville Babcock responded "in about two (2) weeks."

On August 11, the president of the City Council wrote USG enclosing resolutions welcoming him to Detroit. Grant arrived on August 12 and, despite protestations from the crowd, only responded to Romeyn's welcoming speech with "I bid you all good night."

He left Detroit on August 15 via the Michigan Central Railroad for Chicago, "making brief stops at towns along the route where large crowds had gathered." At Kalamazoo he reportedly said he would not reply to remarks with "I could not do so, if I should try."

A perplexing reply. Except when one finds that Grant was suffering from some form of laryngitis, according to other references.

At any rate, it appears that the Michigan receptions for the General were as effusive as Doyle's letter.

Grant's 1865 visit to Detroit

The previous post mentioned the reaction in the City of Detroit when victorious Lieutenant General U.S. Grant made his post-war return to the city where he'd been posted two decades earlier. Some online research reveals more.

The Aug. 13, 1865 New York Times reported:

"Movements of Gen. Grant--His Arrival at Detroit. Detroit, August 12. Gen. Grant and suite arrived at the Central Depot in this city at 11:00 o'clock to-day. The party immediately entered carriages and were conveyed to the Biddle House. The street through which the General passed was crowded with people, who greeted the distinguished visitor with loud and prolonged cheers. Gen. Grant gives a reception at the Biddle House this evening.

Detroit, Saturday, Aug. 12. At an early hour this evening a great number of citizens assembled in front of the Biddle House to welcome Gen. Grant to Detroit. Brief and eloquent speeches were made by Hon. Theo. Romeyn and Sen. Howard. The General after bowing to the crowd retired."

More to follow...

Today in history

Detroit prepares to greet General U.S. Grant.

A gala reception was planned when General Grant, whose victory in Virginia over Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee had taken place earlier that year, arrived in Detroit on August 12. Ten thousand people cheered the general and packed the city—"the excitement on the streets approached closely to wildness," the Detroit Free Press reported.

Women of the 2d Michigan Infantry

That's the title of an excellent article in the always-top drawer Michigan History magazine that just came out. Available on newstands everywhere. Go to www.michiganhistory.com and click on "Alias Franklin Thompson" for more info on a certain Sarah Edmonds.