Customer Reviews:
 1st Michigan Sharpshooters Hits the Mark February 9, 2007
I enjoyed this book extremely, all the way through, which is unusual nowadays. This is a real book, by an author who really cares about his subject. So many books nowadays are dashed off any old which way, but this one is obviously a labor of love--and competence as well. It is well researched, well organized, and well written.
It deals thorougly with its subject, and all the aspects are interesting--how the regiment was raised, how the men were trained and supplied, their service as prison camp guards in Chicago, and finally their service in the front lines in the terrible battles in Virginia in the last year of the War.
The author lets the story tell itself without much editorializing of any kind, but I think it is the most telling account I ever read of how bad management can nullify the best efforts of the people in the front lines, and how things sort themselves out over time. Somehow, after a few months, and after many of the original enlistees had been killed or captured, the incompetent officers went on to other jobs, the casualties went way down, and the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters had the honor of being the first to raise their flag over Petersburg.
An outstanding regimental history. Supurbly researched. January 21, 1999
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
The author has provided a well written and carefully researched narrative about a heretofore forgotten unit from Michigan. Herek consulted a wide variety of original manuscripts, letters, and diaries that add much to our understanding of the unit from a variety of perspectives.This regiment was unusual in that it contained a single company consisting of Native Americans, many of whom could hardly speak English. Herek explores the prevailing prejudice in a state that was part of the frontier only a few decades earlier, and how notions of citizenship evolved over the course of the war. I also highly recommend this book to those who are searching for a soldier's eye view of the Civil War. The book is full of details about regimental organization, recruitment strategies, rivalries between officers seeking to recruit companies, daily routines, food, and a host of other minutae. Finally, the book sheds light on prison conditions in the North, since the 1st Michigan SS were stationed in Chicago doing prison guard duty for much of 1863. There is also a great chapter on the unit's confrontation with rebel John H. Morgan's cavalry raid into Indiana. My only complaint is that the author should have provided more information in the regimental roster that appears at the end of the book. As it stands, the book is not of much help to those seeking to do statistical analysis or geneological research. For the average reader, though, this is only of passing concern.
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