CIvil War
CIVIL WAR: Many Area Men Saw Service
(Opening Guns of Civil War Fired Just 100 Years Ago)
by Frank Rathbun, May 11, 1961
Courtesy of The News Herald (originally published in The Mellus Newspapers)
One hundred years and one month ago, the Confederate States of America opened fire on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina--the opening guns of a Civil War which was to change the course of history and bring sorrow to thousands of homes throughout the nation.
Michigan responded with vigor to President Lincoln's call to arms, and the Downriver area gave generously of its young men to fill the ranks of the Union Army.
MOSTLY FARMLAND
Most of the Downriver area in 1861 was farmlands, with small settlements only at Ecorse, River Rouge and Wyandotte. The present day cities of Lincoln Park, Allen Park, Southgate and Melvindale were still far in the future.
The Downriver volunteers who enlisted in the Union Army were mostly farmers, men who made their living on homesteads in Ecorse Township and in Taylor Township.
NO WAR HEROES
They came primarily from French families which had settled along the banks of the Detroit River early in the century--the Bondies, Bourassas, Cicottes, LeBlancs, Salliottes and Goodells.
They enlisted in the infantry, the cavalry, and the artillery. No one from the Downriver area became a war hero, and none ever rose to a high commissioned rank. They were privates, corporals, and sergeants--the backbone, sinew and muscle of any army.
A large number of Downriver men served in the 24th Michigan Infantry, which won fame as part of the "Iron Brigade." This brigade lost a total of 298 men and 27 officers during the war--152 of whom were killed in action, and another 39 of whom died of wounds. The remainder died of disease--a bigger killer during the Civil War than bullets or shrapnel.
THREE FATALITIES
Three Ecorse Township men are listed among the brigade members who lost their lives.
One was Daniel Bourassa, who enlisted August 15, 1862, giving his age as 29 and his occupation as laborer. He was taken prisoner and died November 15, 1864, at Salisbury, North Carolina.
Charles Cicotte, age unknown, enlisted February 26, 1864, was killed four months later at Petersburg, Virginia.
Antoine LeBlanc, 34-year-old farmer, enlisted August 13, 1862, and died in a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, on January 6, 1864.
HIT AT GETTYSBURG
Another Downriver (man), Charles Gochy, 26, of Ecorse, enlisted in August, 1862. He was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. He survived, however, and lived until July 4, 1904, when he died at Gaylord, Michigan.
Other local residents who served in the Twenty-Fourth included Abram Akey, August Albrecht, Francis Baysley, Louis Beaubien, Anthony Bondie, Anthony Reno, Basil Valade, James Fairweather, John Beyette, John B. Cicotte, Charles B. Cicotte, Adam Oehring and Joseph Peyette, junior, all of Ecorse. The list included two Taylor Township men--Barney Litigot and Elijah Little.
Descendants of Gilbert Salliotte, of Ecorse, recall that he was shot through the chin and mouth during a now forgotten battle. Antoine Salliotte, born in 1841, marched through Georgia with Sherman and was wounded twice. Elijah Goodell served throughout the war, and participated in 63 battles and skirmishes.
