The 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was part of the Union Iron Brigade. It was chosen to be the honor guard for the Funeral of Abraham Lincoln.
Service The 24th Michigan Infantry was organized at Detroit, Michigan and mustered into Federal service on August 15, 1862. It was assigned to the famous Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. The brigade's commander General John Gibbon had requested a new regiment be added to his command because its four original regiments (the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin and the 19th Indiana) had been severely depleted by combat action and numbered less than 1000 men total by October 1862. He said that ideally it should be a Western regiment since the others were from that part of the country. Gibbon's request granted, the 24th Michigan joined the brigade and saw its first action at Fredericksburg taking on a nuisance battery of Confederate horse artillery south of the town. The regiment would follow up its actions at Fredericksburg with a raid on Port Royal, Virginia and fighting at Fitzhugh Crossing. It would earn the Model 1858 Hardee Hat of the Iron Brigade in May, 1863.
The 24th saw no major action during the Chancellorsville campaign, but at Gettysburg it "Went into action with 496 officers and men. Killed & mortally wounded: 89; Otherwise wounded: 218; Captured: 56; Total casualties: 363. Nine color bearers were killed or mortally wounded and two wounded, of 13 men to hold onto the flag during the first day of the battle, and all the color guard killed or wounded, a net loss of 80%. The 24th Michigan alongside the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment suffered the highest casualties of any Union forces that fought at Gettysburg."24th Michigan monument, Gettysburg National Battlefield Park
Colonel Morrow was wounded while holding the regimental flag. "Just before reaching the fence, Col. Morrow was wounded in the head while bearing the colors. He was stunned by the wound and fell down. He was then helped from the field by Lt. Charles Hutton of Company G, with the last alive and non-wounded officer, then Captain Albert M. Edwards, assuming command of the regiment."Hadden, Robert Lee. "The deadly embrace: the meeting of the Twenty-Fourth Regiment, Michigan Infantry and the Twenty-Sixth Regiment of North Carolina Troops at McPherson's woods, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1863." Gettysburg magazine. No. 5 (July 1991). Pages 19-33: ill., map; 28 cm. Page 30.
Thereafter, the 24th participated in the rest of the Army of the Potomac's campaigns and battles, participating in the Overland Campaign, being heavily engaged at both the Battle of the Wilderness and the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, with Colonel Morrow being wounded in the Wilderness and Lieutenant Colonel William Wight would take command through the rest of the Overland Campaign except for the latter portion of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House when he was sick and led by Albert M. Edwards, by then a major, until he was forced to resign to his wounds he sustained at Gettysburg, with command of the Regiment once again falling on Albert M. Edwards, who was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel with Captain William Hutchinson being promoted to Major and Edwards would be the commander of the regiment until December, 1864 when Colonel Morrow would return and then would become commander once again when Morrow was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General. The 24th after the Overland Campaign would participate in the Petersburg Campaign, participating in various battles during the siege such as the Battle of Globe Tavern, Battle of Boydton Plank Road, and the Battle of Peebles’ Farm in a supporting capacity but was not present at Appomattox because it had been reassigned to Camp Butler (Illinois) in Illinois two months earlier after participating in the Battle of Hatcher's Run.
The regiment was selected as an escort at the funeral of President Abraham Lincoln.
The regiment was mustered out on June 30, 1865.
Total strength and casualties The regiment suffered 12 officers and 177 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 3 officers and 136 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 328 fatalities,http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unmiinf3.htm#24th The Civil War Archive website after Dyer, Frederick Henry. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 vols. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959. including John Litogot, the maternal uncle of auto tycoon Henry Ford, who was killed at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Barney Litogot, another uncle of Ford's, was wounded at Gettysburg and would serve with the regiment till the end of the war and serve on the honor guard for Lincoln's funeral.
Commanders Colonel Henry Andrew Morrow, he would be regimental commander from its inception to his promotion to Brigadier General in January 1865, outside of his recovery from wounds he suffered at Gettysburg and The Wilderness and temporary brigade command. He was wounded three times during the war, he received a head wound while holding the regimental National colors at Gettysburg, during the opening fighting at the Wilderness, where he was wounded in the leg, and while as a general at Hatchers Run, being shot in the shoulder. When he was promoted to General he commanded the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Corps until his wounding at Hatcher's Run and then after his recovery became the last commander of the Iron Brigade then at muster out he was the commanding general of a Provincial Division in Kentucky. Morrow would lead the regiment at the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Port Royal Expedition, the demonstration at Fitzhugh Crossing, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg on the 1st day till he was wounded, the Battle of the Wilderness until he was once again wounded, and during the Siege of Petersburg from his return from convalescence from his Wilderness wound and leading a court martial board in Columbus, Ohio in November, 1864 until his promotion in January, 1865. Originally from Warrenton, Virginia, he served as a page at the United States Senate, where he was a favorite of Michigan senator Lewis Cass, who convinced him to move to Detroit and he also would fight in the Mexican-American War, seeing fighting at the Battle of Monterrey. Before the war he was a judge for Wayne County and after the war he would return to the army, initially serving in Louisiana assisting with Reconstruction efforts there before becoming Colonel of the 21st Infantry Regiment (United States). He is credited as to have created what would become the modern U.S. Army Post Exchange during his time with the 21st Infantry, being considered to be the "father of the PX”. He would continue serving in the regular army and continuing correspondence with his former soldiers in the 24th such as Colonel Edwards until his death in 1891. Breveted Major General. Lieutenant Colonel Albert Marshall Edwards, originally the commander of Company F, he was the highest-ranked officer alive and unharmed at the Battle of Gettysburg from the regiment and was the unofficial regimental commander from Gettysburg to his promotion to permanent commanding officer in January, 1865 after Colonel Morrow was promoted except at the times that Colonel Morrow would return from recovering from his wounds and when Lieutenant Colonel William Wight would return to command the regiment until Wight’s resignation in June, 1864. Edwards would lead the regiment during the rest of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Mine Run Campaign, Spotsylvania Courthouse due to Lieutenant Colonel Wight being sick, the Battle of Cold Harbor, on the June 18th portion of the Second Battle of Petersburg (Edwards was in charge of 4th Division, V Corps skirmishers during the fighting on June 17th, with Captain George W. Burchell leading the regiment in his place), a majority of the Siege of Petersburg, the Battle of Globe Tavern, the Battle of Boydton Plank Road, and the Battle of Hatcher’s Run. Edwards would promoted to Major in February, 1864 with the promotion back dated to November, 1863 then Lieutenant Colonel in July, 1864 with the promotion backdated to June on the same day Lieutenant Colonel Wight resigned, became permanent commander in January, 1865 after Colonel Morrow's promotion and served in the capacity for the rest of the war and Breveted Colonel in March, 1865 and served as the head of the honor guard for Abraham Lincoln's funeral. At the Battle of the Wilderness Edwards, then a Major, captured the flag of the 48th Virginia Infantry during the opening stages of the battle and at the same time of Colonel Morrow's wounding and would hand the Colonel the flag before he was sent to a hospital. Lieutenant Colonel Edwards was a rarity in the regiment as he fought in every single battle the regiment was in and was never wounded with the regiment, with his only injury during the war happening when he was serving as a sergeant with the 1st Michigan Infantry Regiment where he was wounded and captured at the First Battle of Bull Run. Before the war he was a journalism student at the University of Michigan and worked for the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune. Lieutenant Colonel Edwards would pass away in Detroit in 1909. In 2018 the Michigan House of Representatives would send a resolution to committee to recommend the United States Congress to award posthumously 109 years after his death Lieutenant Colonel Edwards the Medal of Honor https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2017-2018/Journal/House/htm/2018-HJ-02-08-014.htm. Breveted Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Flanigan, who was the original Lieutenant Colonel for the regiment and would be active commander when Colonel Morrow was serving as brigade commander. He was wounded at Gettysburg, losing a leg and being discharged for wounds. Before the war he was the Wayne County Sheriff and after his wounding and discharge he was appointed Provost General for the State of Michigan. Breveted Brigadier General.
Lieutenant Colonel William Wight, who would command the regiment after Colonel Morrow's wounding at the Battle of the Wilderness, leading the regiment for the rest of the battle, he would be ill for the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse but would return to lead the regiment at the Battle of North Anna until he would resign due to poor health in June, 1864. He would be the inspector sent by the State of Michigan during the Election of 1864. He was originally commander of Company K and was wounded at Gettysburg. Edwin Wight, the commander of Company A who would be promoted to Major before Gettysburg was his younger brother.
Major William Hutchinson, who would command the regiment at times in late 1864 and early 1865 especially after Colonel Morrow was promoted and Lieutenant Colonel Edwards was on leave for a brief period in January, 1865 and when Edwards was in charge of a court martial board in Springfield, Illinois after the regiment was assigned to Camp Butler. He was wounded twice during the war, his first wound during Gettysburg the second during the beginning of the Siege of Petersburg while having coffee with Lieutenant Colonel Edwards, just 15 minutes after his return from recruiting in Michigan. Major Hutchinson would serve a tour on the honor guard for President Lincoln’s funeral and was the drill master to prepare the regiment for the honor of being the funeral escort. After the war Major Hutchinson would be a victim of the sinking of the Morning Star (1862 ship) in 1868, one of the worst disasters of the Great Lakes. Breveted Lieutenant Colonel.
Captain George C. Gordon, he would command the regiment at times when Lieutenant Colonel Edwards and Major Hutchinson were otherwise busy between the end of the war and the muster out of the regiment. He was wounded and captured at Gettysburg and taken to Libby Prison and Andersonville Prison before escaping the prison later. Breveted Major.