Camp Blair
Jackson, Michigan
During the the Civil War one of Michigan's military headquarters was in Jackson. Over 22,000 Michigan troops returned home via Camp Blair. Erastus Champlin's older sons, William and Lyman may have mustered out here.
"The First Michigan Regiment was one of the first to advance into Virginia, and, on the 24th of May took possession of Alexandria. It participated in the battle of Bull Run. In the first year of the war, Michigan raised and sent 22 regiments to the front. The Michigan Cavalry Brigade under the command of General George A. Custer became the most effective and the most famous cavalry brigade in the service.
Michigan blood marked the trail of the army of the Potomac from Manassas to Gettysburg and from Gettysburg to Appomattox, in the east, and in the armies of the West, from the Ohio river to Savannah and New Orleans. It woud be most unbecoming the historian of Michigan to claim pre-eminence for valor or patriotism for the Michigan troops in the great war, but it is simple truth and justice to say that there were none superior."
-Michigan as a Province, Territory and State
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