But there was no time to tardy. Bands of Confederate raiders were plaguing the small towns and rural areas of Northern Kentucky, and the 22nd (assigned to the Army of Central Kentucky) was needed to help secure the region. After an exhausting journey of about forty hours, the 22nd crossed the, Ohio River at Cincinnati and reached Covington, Kentucky in the very early morning hours of September 6th. The small town was not prepared for their arrival and the men had nowhere to sleep but in the paved streets. After a fitful rest of only three hours, they were awakened with the alarming news of approaching Confederate forces. This information caused chaos and panic among the men because the regiment had nor yet been issued ammunition. However, they dutifully followed orders and prepared to meet the enemy with fixed bayonets. In their nervousness and clumsy execution of unfamiliar military maneuvers they succeeded in destroying a large field of cabbage outside of town, but never found the enemy. Luckily, the Confederates (led by Kirby Smith) had seen the glint of the 22nd's bayonets and left the area. The men of the 22nd affectionately dubbed this first "battle" as "The Cabbage Hill Fight".

After spending ten days fortifying Covington (digging trenches. etc.). the regiment was sent on several marches through the countryside chasing John Morgan's Raiders. They were often ordered to march eight or so miles one way, and the very next day ordered to march right back (which greatly irritated the men). One soldier complained that after leaving Pontiac they weren't able to bathe or change their clothes for four weeks because their baggage was fifteen miles away. Far over ten days their only water came from a green, stagnant duck pond. They were filthy, dusty, and homesick (and greatly disliked Kentucky), but became very competent Long-distance marchers.

For seventeen days beginning October 9, the regiment had to travel "in light marching order" - meaning no tents - and snow was already on the ground! On October 18th. intelligence reports warned that John Moran (with 2,000 cavalry and a light artillery battery) was threatening Paris, a town eighteen miles from the 22nd's location. The regiment was ordered to rush to the towns defense and it managed to cover the eighteen miles in only five hours. An impressed Union cavalry unit that witnessed this feat promptly named the 22nd Michigan "The Marching Regiment”.

In late October, the 22nd was ordered to the large Union winter encampment at Lexington, Kentucky, and its marching days were temporarily over.
 
 

Colonel Wisner, the commanding officer, died of typhoid January 4, 1863. The regiment marched at Reverse Arms behind the hearse to the train depot, and the body was shipped back to Michigan  The men had respected Wisner and considered him  a good soldier, but he was very strict and there did  not seem to be much affection for him. Lt. Col.
Heber Le Favour, very competent and well liked, was promoted and became the regiment's new cornmanding officer When not on duty that winter, the men spent  many hours drilling. There were also target practices, inspections, dress parades and "fatigue duty" (cleaning tents and camp).
 
On February 21, 1863, the 22nd received marching orders. The men were relieved to be out of camp and on the road again. Unfortunately, by 4:00 p.m. they were trudging through four inches of snow. In spite of the weather they walked eight  miles that day, and for most of the spring of '63   they were on the move. They were usually in pursuit of Morgan's or Pegram's troops, and were called upon to guard Union supply wagons, bridges, and small towns. Again, they sometimes had to travel light and sleep in snow or mud with only a blanket for shelter. During this time Confederate  forces were always close by, and there were several small skirmishes (for instance, while guarding a wagon train of supplies they were shot at from the nearby woods) but no major engagements.
 
Nashville: On April 13, 1863, the regiment left by train for Nashville. The weather was so hot many men chose to ride on top of the train cars. Some were reportedly intoxicated and had to he tied to the tops of the cars so they wouldn't fall off. One officer was killed when the train went into a tunnel and he didn't bend down fast enough.
 
Once in Nashville, the regiment again performed guard and provost duty - often at the   depot, market, or town jail (filled with "rough characters" and Confederate officers) - and acted as pickets along the roads leading to Nashville. It was hot standing on the streets that summer, but compared to Lexington, the men found Nashville pleasant.
 
On September 5., 1863, the regiment received orders to strike tents, leave Nashville, and head for Georgia.
 
 

                                                            "That's it got dark . . . I went down
                                                            and got hay and water several times
                                                            for the poor boys was so awful
                                                            thirsty.  There was several hundred
                                                            boys there.  All wounded and some
                                                            of them awful. . .Just (then) an
                                                            officer rode up and yelled  'Out
                                                            all you boys that can walk.  Get to
                                                            Rossville for the rebs will be here ...."
                                                            Tom Tucker diary entry 9/20/63
                                                            Describing 22nd's field hospital

 
During this time, the 22nd Michigan was sent from Nashville to join General Rosecrans' ill-fated Reserve Corps at Rossville, Ga. On the way, the  regiment spent several nights in old rebel camps, where they  battled hordes of body lice. September 13 required an all night  march over the rocky trail around  Lookout Mountain. Some men became so exhausted they started  to fall asleep while marching. To stay awake someone started singing "John Brown's Body", and as everyone joined in, the  moving refrains of the song drifted from the mountainside into the dark night. As the regiment approached Ringgold, Ga.  on Sept.17, they surprised some rebel pickets who  were busy cooking a dinner of boiled pork, sweet  potatoes and corn pones. The rebels ran off and left  their dinner behind, much to the 22nd's pleasure

The two armies finally clashed on September 19 in a wooded, hilly, middle-of-nowhere spot near Chickamauga Creek. The 22nd Michigan, being reinforcements, tensely listened to the sounds of  battle from behind the lines near Rossville and  wondered when their turn would come.
 
When September 20 dawned, the fight  resumed. General Granger became alarmed when  sounds from the battle indicated a failing Union line.  As the men were lining up for breakfast, he ordered "Double quick to the relief of General Thomas!",  and they were off to battle with empty stomachs.
 
At 1:00 pm, after hurrying several miles over rough ground, they reported to Thomas just as Confederate forces were about to overrun part of Snodgrass Hill and break through the Union line  On the command of "Fix Bayonet! Charge Bayonet! " the 22nd, as part of Whitaker's Brigade,  charged the hill and with heavy losses took possession. For over four hours the Confederates vainly tried to re-take the hill, but the 22nd Michigan, with the 89th Ohio and 21st Ohio, fought off ever.   By early evening the 22nd was out of ammunition and had to scavenge what  they could from the bodies of the dead and wounded.
 
As it got dark, the 22nd made an unnerving discovery. While  they had been holding the Confederates back, the rest of the  Union army had taken the opportunity to retreat towards Chattanooga. By the time the 22nd Michigan realized they had been abandoned (and there is evidence  they were purposefully left on the field) it was too late to withdraw and they were surrounded. In the confused darkness, some of the men managed to play dead or roll into the bushes and hide, but almost everyone else was captured. Libby and Andersonville Prisons awaited.
 
All that night the few who had escaped capture straggled back into the Rossville camp. The regiment now numbered about 70, not counting the wounded, and almost all its officers were gone.
 
                            Note:  the 8th Arkansas also participated in the battle,
                                but did not engage the 22nd.
 
 

Libby Prison for the Officers
 
Sept.29 The officers take cars for Richmond.
 
Sept.30 Take up our abode in Libby Prison.
 
Oct.17 Lice, lice, lice.
 

                                        How to Smuggle Money into Prison

                                        "Should I send for clothing you can put
                                        gold or greenbacks safely in the waistbands
                                        of my pants and when you inform me by
                                        letter of the contents of my clothing you
                                        can underscore some particular word that
                                        will tell me where to look for it.  Gold
                                        exchanges at the rate of 1 dollar for 30
                                        Confederate.  Some buttons are made so
                                        as to be capable of holding coin.  You can
                                        find roughs enough to help you carefully
                                        conceal it"
                                        Instructions from Capt. Keeler to his wife
                                        in michigan  8/1/64

Nov. 3 They give us bread, fresh beef, rice, salt & vinegar daily. The authorities take our "greenbacks" &  give us Confederate money with which they will buy for us daily such vegetables, groceries etc. as we  are able to buy. You can send groceries, provision  clothing, books, papers etc. by express safely. We  have rye coffee for breakfast with rice or hash &
bread, good bread. Rice soup and bread for dinner. Coffee (rye) & bread for supper. 1300 officers cook  over 9 stoves in messes of 28 each. Private messes for extras. My room is 40 x 100 feet - 3rd story - contains 150 officers.
 
Jan.24, 1864 Men here are either boys or men as  they think they can best enjoy the time. They tell stories, talk over battles, brag & boast, play at cards,  chess, checkers & backgammon, - they gamble for money or eatables others read, write, sing, study and play. Play at foot ball, walk, run, jump and do every thing boys could.
 
April 1 Order issued that no more bread should be  thrown out the windows to the beggar children...
 
April 7 Oh for a release from  torment in this loathsome prison.
 
 
Andersonville Prison for Enlisted Men
 
Although the officers had a hard time coping with poor sanitation, overcrowding, and dreary boredom in Libby Prison, most survived. I  contrast, the enlisted men truly faced Hell on Earth. They spent time in various Confederate  prisons, including Danville, Virginia, where many died o  illness. When Andersonville opened in early 1864, the enlisted men of the 22nd were some of its earliest arrivals. By the time the war ended a year later, disease and starvation had killed many. Those that survived often suffered from the effects of scurvy (tooth loss, shooting pains, swollen limbs) for the rest of their lives.
 
Many tributes were written about the  bravery of the 22nd at Chickamauga. Glory went to  those who died in battle. But those who suffered an agonizing eighteen months in prison are rarely recognized. They, perhaps, served the hardest duty of all.
 
 
 

Not everyone in the regiment became a casualty or prisoner at Chickamauga. A lucky few escaped capture by playing dead or hiding in bushes on the battlefield. And there were those who missed the battle -  the sick and those on special detail. One man was excused from duty because he didn't have any shoes! All night after the battle men straggled back to the  22nd's Rossville camp. By morning there were about 70 men at roll call, and only three or four commissioned officers. To the men's chagrin, the officer given  command had abandoned them on the field and run  away during the battle's final charge. They considered him a coward and were loathe to obey him.
 
As the Rebel army approached, the regiment was pulled back from Rossville to Chattanooga. Camped outside of town, they were pickets on the banks of the   Tennessee River and helped build breastworks. Company B soon returned, which had been on detail  guarding General Granger's headquarters during the  battle, adding almost 100 men to the regiment Cap. (soon to be Major) Henry Dean also returned. He had  missed the battle due to illness, but was now named  the regiment's commanding officer. He found the 22nd on the verge of mutiny against its "coward" officer.
 
Even with the new, competent commanding  officer, life was miserable. Rebel forces held the territory around Chattanooga, including Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, and from these points shelled  the city almost constantly. Food became scarce, and a  small ration often had to last several days.
 
Then Grant, Hooker and Sherman arrived. In October the regiment was moved to assist General  Hooker in opening the "hard-tack line". As the 22nd  passed Hooker's army, his easterners made rude  comments about the ragged appearance of the Michigan men, who replied, "You may wear better clothes, but you can't do any better fighting."
 

                                "Not satisfied with having played the sneak on the battlefield, this officer
                                attempted to create discord and insubordination in the Regiment...  I finally
                                gave him his choice to be placed under arrest and tried for cowardice in
                                the presence of the enemy, or to resign on the grounds of 'incompetence'
                                and for the good of the service'.  He chose the latter....  and the Regiment
                                was rid of the only officer that failed in duty on that terrible day Sept. 20th 1863."
                                Capt. Henry Dean
 

Through November Grant worked to dislodge the Confederate forces from Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge. The 22nd did not participate in the fighting, but was used to lay pontoon bridges and corduroy roads, and slog starving mules and supply wagons over muddy trails. And the men were always hungry. Moldy ears of corn picked up along the roadside became valuable finds. Not until  January 16, 1864, when a Union train finally got through to Chattanooga, did full rations return. As new recruits from Michigan also arrived, the regiment began to regain its strength.
 
The 22nd (as part of the 1st Mich. Eng. & Mech.) was put to work rebuilding the military  infrastructure around Chattanooga  building bridges and storehouses, cutting timbers, repairing  railroad tracks, etc. In spite of their grueling hours of duty, the men found time for other pursuits. Three even married local southern girls!! (Majo  Dean found this hard to accept.)
 
One day some of the regiment's men, while walking the streets of Chattanooga, recognized Colonel LeFavour's beloved horse. The horse,  captured during the Battle of Chickamauga along with LeFavour, had  been taken by a Rebel officer who was in turn captured at the Battle  of Mission Ridge by a Union cavalryman. when the cavalryman refused to give the horse up to the 22nd, Dean successfully petitioned General Thomas for the horse's return. As a gesture of its loyalty to LeFavour, who was still in prison, the 22nd had his horse sent to safety in Michigan.
 
At about this time the regiment began having  trouble with its Quartermaster, Thomas Boughton. He would disappear for days at a time, and offer only weak excuses. Major Dean privately revealed  that alcohol had ruined the man. Boughton was
eventually dismissed for absence without leave.
 
 
 

 
                                 "Our whole brigade have been tearing up the R.R. track all day.  The way we
                                 done it, our whole reg. would line up close to gather and then we would take
                                 a hold of one side of the track and tip the whole thing right over.  Then with
                                 heavy sledges and crowbars, we would get the ties loose and put a lot of them
                                 in a pile, set them on fire,  then lay a lot of the iron rails across the burning ties
                                 and when the iron rails got red hot in the centers of the rails, 8 or 10 of us would
                                 carry  the iron rails and warp it around a tree or a telegraph pole.  It was awful
                                 hard work but great fun.  It was a sight to see, the miles and miles of piles of
                                 ties burning...."
                                 Tom Tucker, August 29, 1864, outside Atlanta.
 
 
 As the Confederacy began to disintegrate, the number of prisoners and deserters increased to unmanageable numbers. There was no room for them all  in Atlanta, so the 22nd was ordered to take 900 rebels  to Chattanooga where there was more jail space. For the rest of the war, the 22nd acted mainly as prisoner guards in Chattanooga and Nashville. It was a hazardous job and the men had to be constantly alert, as the  rebels continually tried to find ways to escape. One  young man of the regiment was arrested when he inadvertently allowed several rebel officers to escape. Another was killed when he was stabbed by a drunken Irishman while on duty. But the men of  the 22nd were not without compassion for the  unfortunate Confederates. Tom Tucker twice smuggled clothing to needy rebel prisoners.
 
As the war wound down, the men's patience  with army life ran out. The soldiers continued to do their duty, but their discipline and respect for officers began to lag. Once, the squad was drilled by a Dutchman who barely spoke English. He tried to get the unit to turn right by ordering, "[with] the heads turn to the right", the men in unison turned their heads to the right but kept right on marching straight, all the while laughing at the officer. He finally gave up trying to drill the unit. Another time a detail from the 22nd came upon a lone soldier with several barrels of beer. After dark they attacked the  soldier, fled him up, and stole all the beer.
 
When Lee finally surrendered, the regiment celebrated in Chattanooga, and Dean complained  that too many of expressed their joy by overindulging in alcohol.  The festivities, however,  were soon tempered by  the news that Abraham  Lincoln had been shot.

The regiment stayed  in Chattanooga until June  21, 1865, when the day to  go home finally arrived. As the men caught sight of the Michigan Central Railroad train sent to pick them up, there arose a  mighty cheer as their hats were thrown into the air  in jubilation.
 
Once home, most of the men stetted down and adapted easily into civilian life. But they never  forgot their army years together and held at least 70 annual reunions (their beloved cowbell was rung at  every one) until the end of 1938 when there was only one man left - Lucius Frank of Rochester.