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‘A Great and Bloody Sacrifice’

by Bill Castanier

February 20, 2011

On May 16, 1861, only a month after Union troops surrendered Fort Sumter, members of the First Michigan Regiment marched into Washington, D.C. Just the mere arrival of the regiment, the first from a western state, was met with jubilation from a crowd gathered to welcome the soldiers. They were invited to an audience with President Lincoln, and it was then, popular lore has it, he uttered the everlasting, “Thank God for Michigan.”

His utterance would turn out to be prophetic in the long war ahead, as time and time again at battlefields with quirky names like Shiloh, Manassas and Gettysburg, the courageous interdiction of Michigan forces would turn defeat into victory for the Union. As Michigan author and Civil War historian Jack Dempsey points out in his debut book, Michigan and the Civil War: A Great and Bloody Sacrifice, after their triumphant arrival in Washington, Michigan troops wouldn’t have long to wait to engage the enemy. Eight days later, in what was the Union’s first aggressive action of the war, the First Michigan Infantry moved into Virginia to retake Alexandria.

Dempsey details Michigan’s role in the war in this omnibus book published to recognize the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. In less than two months, on the 150th anniversary of April 11, 1861, the nation will recognize the start of the war at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, where a besieged Union force surrendered to the South.

And that’s where Dempsey begins his story and the role Michigan men and women would play in all aspects of the battles and political intrigue surrounding the war. During the siege of Sumter, Second Lieutenant Norman Hall of Monroe would rescue the nation’s fallen flag and raise it over the fort in “an act of defiance.”

Dempsey says such valiantry was commonplace among the more than 90,000 Michigan men who answered the call to service. Michigan forces took a desperate toll, losing 14,000 men — nearly one-seventh of its force during the war.

Obsession
The author’s interest in the Civil War began with what he sometimes refers to as an obsession while in grade school in Redford. That interest was reignited during a Washington, D.C. internship while attending Michigan State University.

“With easy access to the Civil War battlefields I rediscovered my passion,” he told Dome during a recent interview.

Upon returning to MSU, he took several classes from the noted Civil War historian and author (Michigan Soldiers of the Civil War) Frederick Williams. In addition to Williams, Dempsey says, he drew inspiration from Michigan native and author Bruce Catton, who wrote extensively on the Civil War, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1954 for his work A Stillness at Appomattox.

“His writing was so powerful for me. He was a giant in my life,” Dempsey said of Catton. Other Michigan authors who influenced Dempsey with their books about the Civil War and its era were Wiley Sword (Shiloh) and Albert Castel (Decision in the West) of Hillsdale.

When Dempsey turned 50, he said, he realized he had spent nearly a lifetime studying the Civil War and still didn’t know that much about Michigan’s role in it. He quickly turned his focus there. “Michigan played a huge role in the war from beginning to end,” he said.

He also said he was impressed with the similarities between the Civil War and 9-11. “Michigan was not prepared for the entirety of the war. On the eve of the actual first shot, there was a lot of hot air and rhetoric.” At the time, Michigan had little more than 1,200 men in militia units, but through immense effort would quickly raise a force to be reckoned with.

He said Michigan stepped up once again in 1864 to support the war as it dragged on. “It was a long war already and not as successful as people [in the North] thought it would be. Even then Michigan sent as many or more troops as it had early in the war.”

Lasting lessons
Dempsey, who serves on the Historical Society of Michigan, the Michigan History Commission and the Michigan History Foundation, believes that it is still important to study the Civil War in contemporary society. “That history really deals with some issues we still face. Are we a society that embraces diversity and equal opportunity or a society that has an elite [class] holding others down?”

He said that in 1860 the country was at polar opposites, much like today, but “democracy won out.” The author likes to stress that, “Without studying history we lose a perspective of our past.”

Dempsey’s book is broken into 14 thematic chapters ranging from Women of War to Special Forces, and from Generals to POWs. The more than 150-page book highlights both little-known stories about Michigan’s role to those of legend, such as the tales of bravery that surround General George Armstrong Custer from Monroe.

“It’s probably true that most people would look to him as our most notable soldier, but what happened to him [at Little Big Horn] a decade later diminishes the contributions of all…His level of personal bravery is astonishing. Custer would lead his soldiers charging into battle.”

And as Dempsey points out in his book, Custer at the lead of Michigan Calvary Brigade would often turn the tide of battle to the North, and his brigade was key in turning the tide at Gettysburg and defeating “Mosby of the West” and Jeb Stuart, the South’s seemingly invincible cavalry leader.

Michigan’s role in the war, as the book aptly points out, may have begun on the first day of the war, but it also continued to the very end, when the 4th Michigan Cavalry captured Jefferson Davis as he was escaping to Florida, effectively putting an end to any further hostilities.

Dempsey’s book is an enormous contribution to detailing Michigan’s role during not only the war itself but to the events leading up to the war. Readers will be fascinated to learn more about the key role Michigan played in the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad. Readers also will appreciate the numerous photographs and illustrations that add so much to the book. All illustrations are from the Michigan State Archives.

Although we all know the outcome of the war, Dempsey’s ingenious writing, superlative battlefield scenes and clear-cut descriptions still provide a dramatic addition to the history of the Civil War and Michigan’s important role from the bloody battles of Shiloh, Gettysburg and Chickamauga to the “stillness at Appomattox.”

Dempsey’s writing piques the imagination, so it’s easy to relive Frederick Douglass and John Brown meeting in Detroit in 1859 on the eve of the Civil War, or the bravery of Robert Henry Hendershot, who earned the name “The Drummer Boy of Rappahannock,” or Michigan’s own Annie Oakley, Lizzie Compton, who fought in the war dressed as a man.

Disappointment
Dempsey admits to being somewhat disappointed by the level of interest at both the state and national levels about the upcoming sesquicentennial celebration, but he understands the restrictive budgets influencing these decisions. “I fantasize that the president will be at Fort Sumter in April or at Manassas in July to recognize the beginning of the war.” For his part, Dempsey plans to take time during the sesquicentennial to visit some of the battlefields in the Western Theatre of the war, such as Vicksburg and Shiloh.

He also talked about preliminary plans to place a state historical marker at Campus Martius in downtown Detroit (the site of a marker and the Michigan Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument originally placed there to recognize Civil War veterans). “When people stop for a moment to look at a building or a monument or a marker they are not just rushing by, they are discovering the lore that exists and take it to heart.”

Dempsey is more than taking it to heart; he is donating any proceeds from the book to Michigan sesquicentennial programs on the Civil War. He also plans to go on the road to promote his book to school children and historical and community groups across the state.

“There is a real joy to doing this. If I can pass the legacy along to one other person who will preserve the memory of these great people I will be happy. I want to touch as many people as possible and ask, will we have a Bruce Catton arise from this celebration?”

Jack Dempsey is a lawyer in Ann Arbor with Dickinson Wright PLLC. He is a former assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan and specializes in telecommunication and energy issues. Many will remember his father, Jack Dempsey, who served in the administration of Governor William G. Milliken as budget director and director of the Department of Social Services. And his brother David is an author on Great Lakes issues and biographer of Gov. Milliken.

The book is available at area bookstores, Barnes & Noble, Borders and on Amazon. The book also may be ordered directly from the History Press. More information also is available on Dempsey’s website.

(Note: The state maintains an official Civil War website.)

Bill Castanier, a retired state government administrator and Michigan State University advertising graduate, writes a weekly literary column for Lansing City Pulse and manages the blog mittenlit.com, a daily look at Michigan literature and authors. He also is a member of the Michigan Notable Book selection committee.