08/10/2026
Michigan’s 24th Infantry went into the Battle of Gettysburg with 496 men. By the end of the fighting, 397 were casualties.
That staggering loss is part of the story behind the 24th Michigan monument pictured here at Gettysburg National Military Park. The regiment was part of the famous Iron Brigade, a hard-fighting Union unit made up largely of soldiers from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
The 24th Michigan joined the brigade in October 1862 and fought alongside troops who became known as the “Black Hats” because of the distinctive black Hardee hats they wore instead of the more common blue forage caps.
At Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, the Iron Brigade played a major role in the opening day of the battle. The brigade initially pushed back Confederate forces near Herbst’s Woods before facing a powerful counterattack and eventually falling back toward Seminary Ridge.
The cost was enormous. The Iron Brigade entered the battle with 1,883 men and had just 671 reporting for duty afterward. The 24th Michigan’s losses were especially severe, roughly 80 percent of the regiment.
The regiment’s story did not end at Gettysburg. In 1865, the 24th Michigan was selected to serve as part of the honor guard for Abraham Lincoln’s funeral in Springfield, Illinois.
It is easy to walk past an old monument and see only stone. This one represents hundreds of Michigan men who marched far from home and paid an extraordinary price.
Michigan history reaches much farther than the borders of the Mitten.
