Answering the Call to Duty: Saving Custer, Heroism at Gettysburg, POWs and other Stories of Michigan's Small Town Soldiers in the Civil War by Richard Paul Liblong (review)

140 The Michigan Historical Review Richard Paul Liblong. Answering the Call to Duty: Saving Custer, Heroism at Gettysburg, POWs and other Stories of Michigan’s Small Town Soldiers in the Civil War. Traverse City, Mich.: Arbutus Press, 2011. Pp. 192. Illustrations. Index. Photographs. Sources. Paper, $17.95. Though today’s Michigan is quite different from the predominantly rural society that confronted the Civil War in 1861, the notion of community remains relevant. Sending 90,000 of Michigan’s sons (and a few daughters) off to fight for Union and liberty required a multitude of small towns, villages, and farms all across both peninsulas to endure steep sacrifices. Soldiers from these communities volunteered to risk their lives and forsake the security of home; while those who were left behind coped with major disruptions to the everyday social fabric and an uncertain future. Rick Liblong’s paean to his Michigan hometown seeks to preserve rural stories of those who answered the call to duty on behalf of their country. Their service deserves the remembrance. Of the book’s eight chapters, the first five set the stage by discussing Lapeer County, the town of Almont, and the broader context of the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in the nation’s history. The final two chapters center on the war memorial erected at the town’s main intersection in 1865—one of the earliest in Michigan, if not the nation— and life in Almont once the victors came home. Sandwiched between is the great substance of the work, a lengthy chapter in which Liblong recounts some two dozen memorable stories of individual soldiers. The book, then, is largely anecdotal. We learn of the five Austin brothers from St. Clair, including ten-year-old George, who served in an artillery unit as a drummer boy. Levi Clark was a 38-year-old farmer from Almont who enlisted late (1864) and participated in both the siege of Atlanta and Sherman’s renowned March to the Sea. In recounting a long-forgotten act of heroism by his own great-grandfather, Norvell Churchill, Liblong proves how one individual’s actions can change the course of history. Near the raging battle of Gettysburg, Churchill’s cavalry unit went into action under its new general, George Armstrong Custer, at the Pennsylvania hamlet of Hunterstown. Custer faced capture or death when his mount went down in front of enemy lines. The Almont lad bravely rode into hostile fire, hoisted his commander aboard his horse, and raced back to safety. William Hamilton, who was a teacher, was less fortunate. He spent 17 months in Confederate prisons, surviving despite the odds and returning home, where he later became a physician and one of Almont’s leading citizens. Book Reviews 141 This eminently readable effort by first-time author Liblong contributes to our knowledge of Michigan’s participation in America’s largest crisis. The key role played by Michiganders in preserving the Union deserves a fuller telling and a larger audience. Answering the Call to Duty shows how history is frequently comprised of inspiring accounts from small-town America that enrich understanding and increase appreciation for our rural heritage. Jack Dempsey, President Michigan Historical Commission Joseph M. Lubig. Maltese in Michigan. “Discovering the Peoples of Michigan” series. Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2011. Pp. 100. Appendices. For further reference. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Paper, $12.95. This booklet is the latest disappointing publication in the “Discovering the Peoples of Michigan” series. At its core is an illustrated 28-page essay (32 pages minus the blank pages numbered 18, 28, 34, and 38), which can be summarized briefly as follows: Attracted by jobs in the automobile industry, a wave of 5,000 Maltese came to the Detroit area in the 1910s and 1920s. This made Detroit home to the largest Maltese community in the United States. We read that these were hardworking people who migrated as families. This latter claim contrasts, however, with a statement on page 37 that the gender imbalance of Maltese in America in the 1920s was 1,000 (yes, 1,000) women for every 38 men! If the statistic is genuine, I imagine historians of gender would be fascinated to hear more...