N-SSA and SUVCW Team Dedicate Headstone
By Bruce W. Miller · Originally published September 2021 · p. 28
N-SSA and SUVCW Team Dedicate Headstone by Bruce W. Miller On July 6, 2021, members of the North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) and the General Israel B. Richardson Camp of Oakland County, Mich., Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) participated in the dedication of a new headstone for a local veteran of the famed Michigan Cavalry Brigade. Following the formal dedication ceremony that dates back to 1917 for members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Matt Van Acker, Chairman of Michigan’s Save the Flags program, presented a Legislative Tribute Certificate to the camp for their adopting the regimental flag carried by the First Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. This adoption also honors trooper George Washington Cole of Algonac, Michigan, who fought with the regiment’s Company H. A photo of the flag was presented to Mary Lewis, great granddaughter of trooper Cole. As part of Save the Flags campaign, the camp contributed $1,000 to “adopt” this flag and assist in its long-term care and conservation. The adopted flag is part of the Michigan State Capitol Battle Flag Collection, numbering 240 banners, including flags from the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. As part of “Save the Flags,” groups or individuals may adopt a flag by contributing to its preservation. The First Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was formed at Camp Lyons near Detroit in September 1861. Its commanding officer was Colonel Thornton Brodhead, a well-known former state senator and editor of The Detroit Free Press. The regiment later became part of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, commanded by the dashing “boy general,” George Armstrong Custer. The Brigade became one of the most famous fighting units of the Civil War. The regiment’s greatest moment in the Civil War occurred on July 3, 1863, near Gettysburg. The First Michigan Cavalry was ordered to charge the Rebel cavalry. As they formed, Custer rode up and, drawing his saber, shouted “Come on, you Wolverines!” Historians have described this as one of the most desperate, as well as brilliant, cavalry charges of the war. Trooper George Washington Cole was born in New York in 1841 and moved to Algonac, Mich., with his family as a child. At age 22, he enlisted with the First Mich. Cav. In December 1864, Cole was severely wounded by a gunshot to the chest during the 1864 Shenandoah Valley. After recuperating in the hospital until his discharge on July 12, 1865, he returned to Algonac. A carpenter by trade, he became a wood worker in the local boat factories. He and his wife Cynthia had eight children, two of whom he named after Civil War Generals, Fred Sheridan and Charles Custer Cole. Trooper Cole died on October 18, 1909, at the age of 68. The North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) was formed in 1950 to commemorate the heroism of the men, of both sides, who fought in the American Civil War. The N-SSA promotes the safe and competitive shooting of Civil War firearms and artillery while wearing Civil War uniforms. There are currently over 3,000 members composing over 200 units (teams). An N-SSA unit must represent an actual unit that existed during the Civil War, so you’ll see units from all over the Union and Confederacy, competing in a friendly and family oriented atmosphere. For more info visit http://www.n-ssa.org/.
