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Virginia Tech

A Regimental History of the 5th Michigan Infantry Regiment From Its Formation Through the Seven Days Campaign

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Every regiment that fought in the Civil, Union and Confederate, has a story to tell. Unfortunately, too many of these historic units’ legacies are not recorded and made available to modern-day scholars and citizens. Such was the case for the 5th Michigan Infantry before this thesis was written. This work is part one of a regimental history of the “Fighting Fifth,” covering the first year of the war. It draws from the unit’s soldiers’ diaries and letters, as well as those of members of the 5th Michigan’s “sister” regiments: the 2nd and 3rd Michigan and 37th New York. The perspectives of Detroit-area newspapers are included, as are the Regimental Descriptive Books and Order Book. No longer are these documents simply sitting in a vault, but now are largely included in this thesis and made available for all people. Here is the first part of the story of a unit that led charges against enemy lines frequently and suffered the fifth highest casualty rate of all Union regiments during the Civil War.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
History
Department dc:contributor.department
History
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2004

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Sebrell, Thomas E.
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Robertson, James I. Jr.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Thorp, Daniel B.
  • Davis, William C.

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-05202004-160643
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33026

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Sebrell, Thomas E.. A Regimental History of the 5th Michigan Infantry Regiment From Its Formation Through the Seven Days Campaign. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33026