Arresting Development For The Second Michigan Cavalry In The Civil War

While researching a soldier in the Second Michigan Cavalry, Norman Benedict, one resource consulted was the book, "A Hundred Battles In The West" that chronicled that regiment. One incident was not in the heat of battle:

"The news that the second Michigan cavalry were to be disarmed and put under arrest had created quite a stir in camp."

In April of 1864 in Chattanooga, the 2nd MI Cavalry was scavenging material to build a shelter when a colonel from a different outfit jumped on a board and crushed the fingers of a soldier in Company A.

The colonel, whose rank was obscured in the darkness, was punched in the face. General Whipple reprimanded the 2nd MI and said that they would be "put under arrest in the morning, their furlough taken from them, and the regiment otherwise punished." In 24 hours they were released and went home.