"Grand Rapids responded to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops with passionate swiftness. Kent County men fought stubbornly on memorable battlefields like First Bull Run, Stones River and Gettysburg, as well as obscure places like Boonville, La Vergne and Mossy Creek. An affinity for cavalry earned Grand Rapids the moniker "Michigan's Horse Soldier City," while Valley City engineers designed and constructed spectacular railroad bridges throughout the South. Back home, the soldiers' mothers, wives and sisters faced the conflict's many challenges with patriotic doggedness. Dr. Roger L. Rosentreter chronicles how Grand Rapids citizens responded to wartime trials and tribulations while helping the North save the Union and end slavery."--Back cover.
Grand Rapids responded to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops with passionate swiftness. Kent County men fought stubbornly on memorable battlefields like First Bull Run, Stones River and Gettysburg, as well as obscure places like Boonville, La Vergne and Mossy Creek. An affinity for cavalry earned Grand Rapids the moniker "Michigan's Horse Soldier City," while Valley City engineers designed and constructed spectacular railroad bridges throughout the South. Back home, the soldiers' mothers, wives and sisters faced the conflict's many challenges with patriotic doggedness. Dr. Roger L. Rosentreter chronicles how Grand Rapids citizens responded to wartime trials and tribulations while helping the North save the Union and end slavery.
Courage without Fear: The Story of the Grand Rapids Guard recounts the long history and traditions of one of Michigan's most decorated military regiments. It begins with the Guard's inception following its early days as local firefighting companies, through the pre-war militia days, to the battlefields of the Civil War, extending through two world wars, and eventually helping to win the cold war. Originally organized as four independent militia companies in Grand Rapids, beginning with the Grand Rapids Light Guard on July 12, 1855, the organization grew into the Fifty-first Regiment that formed the nucleus of the Third Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. The Third left Grand Rapids in June of 1861 and fought in twelve major campaigns over the course of the next three years, beginning with the first Bull Run and ending at Cold Harbor. Several years after the close of the war, the militia reappeared as the Grand Rapids Guard Company that eventually mustered in as Company B of the Second Regiment of Michigan State Troops. The Second was renamed the Thirty-second when it mustered for federal service in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and again for service on the Mexican Border in 1916. One year later, in a sweeping restructuring of the American army, the Guard became known as the 126th Infantry Regiment, and served as part of the famed 32nd "Red Arrow" Division during both world wars. This book is not a detailed history of the Grand Rapids Guard's experiences in combat, but rather a story that tells how the Guard evolved from the early volunteer fire companies to an infantry regiment that served in five wars, and eventually becoming an integral part of the total Army force that saw the cold war end with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Scattered along this journey are stories of the struggles the individual companies experienced trying to survive with little or no support from the state or federal governments, as well as the gaiety of militia life expressed through numerous military balls and the other social benefits of membership in the Guard. Courage without Fear concludes with a picture of the Grand Rapids Guard's changing role in the post-cold war era of international terrorism. Throughout are the brief accounts of real American heroes commanders, Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, as well as key civic and business leaders who sacrificed their time and sometimes their lives for the cause of freedom. Courage without Fear is not an original story, but one compiled from hundreds of sources. Using extensive materials from the State Archives, Grand Rapids Public Library, oral accounts, and the archives of local Guard units, LTC David Britten has weaved together an account of the Grand Rapids Guard that goes beyond its well-known war experiences. He has pulled together from many sources a moving picture of the Grand Rapids community over time from the point of view of local militia companies and their various armories. An extensive bibliography, source footnotes, and appendices listing events and the men who played key roles in the history of the Grand Rapids Guard, will no doubt be a value to genealogists as well as local historians. Lieutenant Colonel Britten has produced a clear and definitive historical portrait of his city's militia and its evolution. The casual and curious reader is invited to experience these exploits by turning these pages. Found within are acts of bravery, feats of great and inspiring leadership, chronologies of arduous and costly military campaigns and throughout it all the selfless loyalty of Michiganians to the cause of Freedom and prosperity. The serious military historian will know that within these pages is found a thoroughly professional and loving study, one fit to stand the test of time. -- Colonel William R. Ewald, Commander, 46th "Wolverine" Brigade
The Vicksburg Campaign, November 1862-July 1863 continues the series of campaign brochures commemorating our national sacrifices during the American Civil War. Author Christopher R. Gabel examines the operations for the control of Vicksburg, Mississippi. President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg "the key," and indeed it was as control of the Mississippi River depended entirely on the taking of this Confederate stronghold.
A City within a City examines the civil rights movement in the North by concentrating on the struggles for equality in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Historian Todd Robinson studies the issues surrounding school integration and bureaucratic reforms as well as the role of black youth activism to detail the diversity of black resistance. He focuses on respectability within the African American community as a way of understanding how the movement was formed and held together. And he elucidates the oppositional role of northern conservatives regarding racial progress. A City within a City cogently argues that the post-war political reform championed by local Republicans transformed the city's racial geography, creating a racialized "city within a city," featuring a system of "managerial racism" designed to keep blacks in declining inner-city areas. As Robinson indicates, this bold, provocative framework for understanding race relations in Grand Rapids has broader implications for illuminating the twentieth-century African American urban experience in secondary cities.
Readers interested in American history, Civil War history, or the ethnic history of Detroit will appreciate the full picture of the time period Taylor presents in "Old Slow Town."
"A fast-paced, often riveting account of the military and political events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and those that followed during the war ... Brands does his readers a service by reminding them that division, as much as unity, is central to the founding of our nation."—The Washington Post From best-selling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands comes a gripping, page-turning narrative of the American Revolution that shows it to be more than a fight against the British: it was also a violent battle among neighbors forced to choose sides, Loyalist or Patriot. What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were the unlikeliest of rebels. Washington in the 1770s stood at the apex of Virginia society. Franklin was more successful still, having risen from humble origins to world fame. John Adams might have seemed a more obvious candidate for rebellion, being of cantankerous temperament. Even so, he revered the law. Yet all three men became rebels against the British Empire that fostered their success. Others in the same circle of family and friends chose differently. William Franklin might have been expected to join his father, Benjamin, in rebellion but remained loyal to the British. So did Thomas Hutchinson, a royal governor and friend of the Franklins, and Joseph Galloway, an early challenger to the Crown. They soon heard themselves denounced as traitors--for not having betrayed the country where they grew up. Native Americans and the enslaved were also forced to choose sides as civil war broke out around them. After the Revolution, the Patriots were cast as heroes and founding fathers while the Loyalists were relegated to bit parts best forgotten. Our First Civil War reminds us that before America could win its revolution against Britain, the Patriots had to win a bitter civil war against family, neighbors, and friends.
This two-volume encyclopedia offers a unique insight into the Civil War from a state and local perspective, showing how the American experience of the conflict varied significantly based on location. Intended for general-interest readers and high school and college students, American Civil War: A State-by-State Encyclopedia serves as a unique ready reference that documents the important contributions of each individual state to the American Civil War and underscores the similarities and differences between the states, both in the North and the South. Each state chapter leads off with an overview essay about that state's involvement in the war and then presents entries on prominent population centers, manufacturing facilities, and military posts within each state; important battles or other notable events that occurred within that state during the war; and key individuals from each state, both civilian and military. The A–Z entries within each state chapter enable readers to understand how the specific contributions and political climate of states resulted in the very different situations each state found itself in throughout the war. The set also provides a detailed chronology that will help students place important events in proper order.
