{{Infobox military unit , unit_name= 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment , image=Flag of Michigan.svg , image_size = 100 , caption=Michigan state flag , dates= July, 1861 to July 8, 1865 , country=

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Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

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Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

, equipment= , battles= Peninsular Campaign
Battle of Second Bull Run

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because h ...

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

Battle of the Wilderness

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Appomattox Campaign Norval E

The 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Service

The 16th Michigan Infantry was organized as

T.B.W. Stockton Thomas Baylis Whitmarsh Stockton, commonly known as T.B.W. Stockton was an American Colonel and Engineer who commanded the 16th Michigan Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War as well as being a major contributor to the infrastructure o ...

's Independent Regiment at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

between July and September, 1861. Among the soldiers in the 16th was future Michigan state politician Henry H. Aplin. It was mustered into U.S. service as the 16th Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry on Sept. 8, 1861 with an enrollment of 761 officers and men. The Regiment left Detroit for Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16, 1861 to join Butterfield's Brigade, Fitz John Porter's Division,

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

. It went into camp at Hall's Hill, Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Defences of Washington, D.C., for the winter of 1861-62.

Gettysburg

At the

on the second day they defended

Little Round Top Little Round Top is the smaller of two rocky hills south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—the companion to the adjacent, taller hill named Big Round Top. It was the site of an unsuccessful assault by Confederate troops against the Union left f ...

against a determined Confederate attack aimed at flanking the Union Army. They were one of four regiments, of the 3rd brigade, of the 1st Division of the

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

of the

Union Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

. The 3rd brigade was commanded by Col.

Strong Vincent Strong Vincent (June 17, 1837 – July 7, 1863) was a lawyer who became famous as a U.S. Army officer during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded while leading his brigade during the fighting at Little Round Top on the second day of ...

. It consisted of the 16th Michigan, the 44th New York, the 83rd Pennsylvania, and the 20th Maine, placed in that order right to left, with the 16th at the right end closest to the rest of the Union Army, and the 20th Maine at the left end, the actual end of the entire Union Army at Gettysburg. The 3rd brigade arrived at Little Round Top only minutes before the Confederate attack. The 16th Michigan bore repeated attacks from the 4th and 5th Texas. The 16th was the smallest regiment in the brigade, with only 263 men. Several times Vincent successfully rallied the 16th Michigan to repel the Texas charge. Vincent was mortally wounded during one Texas charge and died on July 7, after receiving a deathbed promotion to brigadier general. Before the Michiganders could be overrun, reinforcements arrived in the form of the 140th New York and a battery of four guns— Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery. The 140th New York took position immediately to the right of the 16th Michigan. The 16th Michigan remained in position on Little Round Top for the rest of the Battle of Gettysburg.

End of Service

The regiment was mustered out of service on July 8, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 12 officers and 235 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 143 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 390 fatalities.http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unmiinf2.htm#16th The Civil War Archive website after Dyer, Frederick Henry. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 vols. New York:

Thomas Yoseloff __NOTOC__ Alfred Smith Barnes (January 28, 1817 – February 17, 1888) was an American publisher and philanthropist. Early life Barnes was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Eli Barnes of Southington, Connecticut, a farmer and innkeeper, who fo ...

, 1959.

Original field staff

*Colonel Thomas B. Stockton of

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

, age not available *Lt. Colonel John V. Reuhle of

, age not available *Major Norval E. Welch of

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, 26 *Surgeon Isaac Wixam of

Argentine, Michigan Argentine is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Argentine Township, Genesee County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,685 as of the 2020 census, up from 2,525 at the 2010 census. It was first set ...

, 58 *Asst. Surgeon William H. Butler of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, 36 *Adjutant Thomas E. Morris of

East Saginaw, Michigan East Saginaw is a defunct city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. History Much of the area that later became East Saginaw was granted by treaty to James Reilly, the Métis son of fur trader Stephen V. R. Reilly and his Chippewa wife ...

, 26 *Quartermaster Miner S. Newell of

Flushing, Michigan Flushing is a city in Genesee County, Michigan, Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,411 at the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census. Flushing is considered a suburb of Flint, Michigan, Flint. It is situated withi ...

, 32 *Chaplain William H. Brockway of

Plymouth, Michigan Plymouth is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. The population was 9,370 at the 2020 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by Plymouth Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Plymouth is a western suburb of Metro ...

, 48

Notes

References

The Civil War Archive
Units and formations of the Union Army from Michigan 1865 disestablishments in Michigan 1861 establishments in Michigan Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865