I am curious about how long it took Union volunteers to get from enlistment to the front lines near the end of the war.
For a little bit of background, I'm asking because I've been doing a bit of civil war family history. I had a 2nd great grand uncle who was in the war. I know he enlisted in the 5th Michigan Volunteers sometime in 1864. I also know that he was on the farm in rural Michigan in May of 1864 for the state census. In the local paper it is stated that "He was one of the company of Union soldiers who, with Grant at its head, was besieging Petersburg." (The siege of Petersburg beginning June 9, 1864). I know for certain he was at the battle of Boydton Plank Road, because he was captured there October 27th, and sent to Salisbury Prison Camp in North Carolina.
Long story short, I'm curious about how long it would take a new volunteer to get to the front after enlistment, and how intensive the training process was. Any help is much appreciated, and thanks for your time!
As a native Michigander, and future Civil War historian (not quite done with school yet), I've heard of the 5th Michigan. I included them in some research for one of my classes a while back. Interestingly enough, there was another 5th Michigan in the Union army at the time. This was a Calvary regiment in Gen. George Custer's "Michigan Brigade". The 5th MI Vol. infantry, was mustered in 1861 after Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers. The men participated in every major battle in the Army of the Potomac since after 1st bull Run. That being said, it seems that your ancestor was enlisted into the 5th before the Overland Campaign in 1864? If that to be true, he would be what is called a "replacement" recruit. The 5th was said to have had the second most causalities of a Michigan regiment of the war (Sebrell, Thomas E. II, The 'Fighting Fifth': The Fifth Michigan Infantry Regiment in the Civil War's Peninsula Campaign, The Michigan Historical Review, Volume 35 No. 2, Fall 2009, page 51."), so we can place him as a "green" or new recruit in 1864. The problem now is to find if he participated in the Overland Campaign, this started on May 4th, 1864. I am inquiring this because due to the fact that Grant lost many men in such a short amount of time, your ancestor could have only been involved in only a weeks worth of training before being sent to the front. The 5th was in constant campaigning during May 1864. Depending on when he joined, will tell us how much training he had gone through. Do you know what date he officially joined the regiment? Basic training consisted of learning to march in order and learning to move in proper order while under fire. Drill, drill and more drill basically. I hope this helps. I find his story fascinating already!