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Civil War Soldiers - Copeland

Copeland, Joseph T., brigadier-general, U.S. Army, was born in Michigan about 1830. Entering the 1st Mich. cavalry, which was organized in the summer of 1861, he was elected lieutenant-colonel on Aug. 22, fought through the Manassas campaign and then returned to Detroit in July, 1862. There he organized the 5th Mich. cavalry, of which he became colonel on Aug. 14, and on Nov. 29, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers and assigned to command the Michigan cavalry brigade, then forming in Washington. The brigade was a part of Hooker's cavalry, and was in Maryland after Lee crossed the Potomac. They were the first troops to enter Gettysburg, but, with other changes of commanders then carried out, Gen. Copeland transferred his command to Gen. Custer just before the battle, July 1, 1863. Subsequently he commanded a draft rendezvous at Annapolis Junction, Md., and at Pittsburg, Pa., and was then, until the close of the war, commander of the post and military prison at Alton, Ill. He died May 6, 1893.

Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
 


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