Michigan in the Civil War
Withington, William Herbert, 1835-1903.
Orlando B. Willcox, from Byron M. Cutcheon, Story of the Twentieth Michigan Infantry. Lansing, Mich.: Robert Smith Print. Co., 1904.
Correspondence (1861-1863). Ten letters written by him to members of his family in which he describes Arlington house and grounds, lists some of the men wounded at Bull Run, comments on Colonel Willcox and General McClellan and the battle of Fredericksburg. There are sixty-four letters to him from Governor and Mrs. Blair, friends, and men from his regiment. There is also a typed copy of his experiences as a war prisoner. Withington, of Jackson, Mich., was captain of Company B, 1st Michigan Infantry, 1861; wounded and taken prisoner at Bull Run, exchanged January, 1862; colonel of the 17th Michigan Infantry, August, 1862; discharged in March, 1863; brevet brigadier general, U.S. Volunteers, for conspicuous gallantry at the Battle of South Mountain, Md., September 14, 1862.
The collection also contains letters from a number of other soldiers:
Benjamin B. Baker, of Jackson, Mich., lieutenant, later captain of Company K, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Dec. 30, 1862) from Jackson, Mich.
Jonathan D. Bevier, of Grand Rapids, Mich., surgeon of 17th Michigan Infantry. Four letters: Mar. 7, 1863, from Grand Rapids, Mich.; May 13, 1863, from Columbus, Ky.; June 19, 1863, from near Vicksburg, Miss.; Aug. 2, 1863, from Milldale, Miss.
Julius C. Burrows, of Kalamazoo, Mich., captain of Company D, 17th Michigan Infantry. Four letters: Feb. 10, 1863, from Missionville?; Apr. 9, 1863, from Lebanon, Ky.; May 3, 1863, from Columbus, Ky.; Sept. 26, 1864, from Kalamazoo, Mich.
J. P. C. Church, of Jackson, Mich., 1st lieutenant in Company H, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Dec. 17, 1862) from camp near Falmouth, Va.
Gabriel M. Decker, of Hillsdale, Mich., formerly 2nd lieutenant in Company H, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Nov. 19, 1863) from Louisville, Ky.
Charles A. Edmonds, of Quincy, Mich., captain of company H, 17th Michigan Infantry, later in 50th Company, 2nd Battalion, Invalid Corps. Three letters: Dec. 2 and 18, 1862, from Quincy, Mich.; Sept. 27, 1863, from York, Pa.
Charles Ford, of Jackson, Mich., 1st lieutenant and quartermaster in 17th Michigan Infantry, later captain in Invalid Corps. Four letters: Feb. 17, 1863, from Kalamazoo, Mich.; Oct. 20, 1863 and June 4 and 12, 1864, from Philadelphia, Pa.
Charles E. Galligan, of Kalamazoo, Mich., formerly of Company I, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Aug. 23, 1864) from Decatur, Mich.
William C. Gunnell, engineer in charge of the defenses of Washington north of the Potomac.One letter (Aug. 31, 1862).
William Jacques, possibly William Jock, of Detroit, Mich., who served in Company F, 17th Michigan Infantry. Three letters: Apr. 19, 1863, from Lebanon, Ky; Oct. 26, 1863, from Louisville, Ky.; Feb. 1864, from Taylor Army Hospital, Louisville.
John Jones, of Dundee, Mich., member of company C, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Apr. 13, 1863) from Lebanon, Ky.
Constant Luce, of Monroe, Mich., colonel of 17th Michigan Infantry. Two letters (Apr. 5 and 9, 1863) from Lebanon, Ky.
G. Collins Lyon, of Jackson, Mich., major in 17th Michigan Infantry, later commanding District of Indiana and Michigan. Five letters: Feb. 19, 1862, from Camp Whittelsey, Laurel, Md.; Nov. 16, 1862, from Canandaigua, Mich.; Feb. 5, 1863, from Camp Pittman near Falmouth, Va.; June 4, 1863, from Lexington, Ky.; Aug. 4, 1863, from Indianapolis.
George S. Newman, of Detroit, Mich., lieutenant in Company F, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Mar. 30, 1863) from Honey Creek, Wis.
Delos Phillips, of Ypsilanti, Mich., captain of Company D, 17th Michigan Infantry. Two letters: Dec. 18, 1863, from near Blaine's Cross Roads, Tenn.; July 30, 1864, from Jackson, Mich.
Christian Rath, of Jackson, Mich., lieutenant in Company I, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (May 17, 1863), from Columbus, Ky., written to Colonel Withington. It contains news of the regiment and of some of the men. Rath was commissioned captain in 1863, wounded in action at Antietam, taken prisoner at Spotsylvania and escaped the same day, was on the staff of General Wilcox in 1864-1865, and made brevet major and brevet lieutenant colonel in 1865.
John H. Ripley, of Adrian, Mich., worked at the Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D.C. He was formerly a member of Company A, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Dec. 13, 1862) from Washington.
William W. Thayer, of Battle Creek, Mich., formerly captain of Company K, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Dec. 16, 1863).
James H. Tuttle, of Jackson, Mich., sergeant in Company K, 17th Michigan Infantry. One letter (Aug. 22, 1862), from Jackson, Mich.
John Tyler, of Detroit, Mich., captain of Company G, 17th Michigan Infantry and later appointed to Veteran Reserve Corps.Six letters (Jan. 14, Feb. 22, July 30, Sept. 6 and 20, and Oct. 1, 1864), written from Detroit, three of which concern the deaths of William and Alexander Jacques whose father has asked Colonel Withington to ascertain the particulars. Tyler was wounded in action at Campbell Station in Nov., 1863. After the war, he was in the regular army, 1866-1874.
Orlando B. Willcox, brigadier general commanding 1st Division, 9th Army Corps. One letter (Apr. 3, 1863) from Detroit, Mich.
William Winegar, of Grass Lake, Mich., 2nd lieutenant in Company F, 17th Michigan Infantry. Two letters (Nov. 24 and Dec. 9, 1862) written from Grass Lake, Mich. to Colonel Withington. In one he talks about recruiting and in the other recommends a chaplain for the regiment. Winegar was later first lieutenant in Company H, and captain in Company K, 17th Michigan Infantry. He was also commissary of subsistence, and commissary of muster on General Hascall's staff during Oct. and Nov. 1863, being discharged for disability in Dec. 1863.
This collection is available on microfilm for interlibrary loan.