On the opening of the spring campaign it moved with the other cavalry forced Of Sheridan, February 27, 1865, towards Gordonsville, and fought at Louisa Court House, March 8. Then the command moved by way of White House Landing to and across the james river, and joined the Army of the Potomac in time to take part in the final battles of the war, being engaged at Five Forks, Virginia, March 30, 31 and April 1; at Southside railroad, April 2; Duck Pond Mills, April 4; Sailor's Creek, April 6 and Appomattox, April 9. In one of these engagements the rebel General Picket was captured, and he afterwards spoke to the charge of the Sixth on that occasion as "the bravest charge he ever had seen."

After Lee's surrender the regiment moved to Petersburg, thence to North Carolina, and then north to Washington, D. C., where it marched in the great review of May 23. Immediately after it was order west, and moved with the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, via the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, to Ft. Leavenworth. There ti received orders to move over the plains, westward, on duty in the Indian country. The officers and men were greatly disgusted tat this, but they would not soil their noble record by disobedience, and so they moved unhesitatingly to the performance of the disagreeable duty, on which they remained till the 17^th of September, 1865, when the men of the regiment whose term did not expire before February 1, 866, were consolidated with the First Michigan Cavalry, and the remainder of the command as ordered back to Ft. Leavenworth, where it was mustered out of service, November 24, 1865. Returning to Michigan, it arrived at Jackson, November 30, and was there disbanded.

The sixth Cavalry, together with the First, the Fiftieth and the Seventeenth, formed the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, which was under command of the redoubtable Gen. George Armstrong Custer in the battle of Gettysburg. The following account, taken from the Detroit Free Press, is from the pen of the well-known writer, Charles A. Ward:

Custer's command occupied the extreme right of General Meade's army on that eventful day. the brigade held is position unmolested until ten a. m., when the enemy appeared in force on the right flank of the brigade and began to pour solid shot and shell into the Union ranks from a battery of six guns. The marksmanship of the confederate gunners was accurate and their fire caused havoc among the Michigan men. Custer at once reformed his lines until they were shaped like al letter L

One section of Battery M, Second Regular Artillery, supported by four squadrons of the Sixth Michigan, facing towards Gettysburg, formed the shorter branch of the new line. Two sections of battery, supported by portions of the Sixth on the left and the First Michigan on the right, with the Seventh still further to the right, and in advance, were in readiness to check any attack that might be made by way of the Oxford road. The Fifth Cavalry, the only regiment in the brigade armed with the new Spencer carbine, was dismounted and placed in front of the center and left.

The two sections of Battery M soon drove the confederate gunners from the field. Again followed a period of anxious waiting. The road of cannon, the incessant rattle of musketry, the huge clouds of smoke away tot he let apprised the waiting brigade that their comrades were engaged in a deadly struggle. The troopers of the brigade were listeners, but not spectators. Whither the tide of battle surged they could only guess. The next moment might involve them in its maelstrom.

Hot, thirsty, hungry, the men sat, arms in hand, until long after noon. The sensation of physical discomfort were, however, minimized by their appreciation of the great tragedy that was being enacted about them. The crisis of the long struggle was at hand. The cause for which they fought was the pawn of battle that day.

Suddenly Custer's outposts on the Oxford road came scurrying in. The attention of the command was riveted on the flying trooper's. Each individual unit was alert. And then over the crest of the range of hills in the foreground came the enemy's skirmishers, a line of dismounted cavalry that extended far to the left of Custer's position. The Fifth, lying dismounted in front of the brigade, was order to a more advanced position to meet the enemy's advance with their Spencer carbines. Custer's orders were to hold the position at all hazards. This order the Michigan man literally obeyed until their last cartridge was expended.

Col. Russel A. Alger, Major N. H. Ferry and Major L. S. Trowbridge led the regiment into this action. They occupied the middle ground between the two armies. Their valor was witnessed by the troopers massed along the York pike. It stimulated the command for the greater struggle that was to come. The confederate line came on the Fifth with a yell. From the shelter of fences, rocks and friendly hillocks the Spencers poured forth a fire that made the enemy recoil. Again they came down the slope in increased numbers and with augmented fury. Again the Fifth met the shock and rolled the attacking party back upon itself. The next time the insistent rebel skirmishers struck Alger's regiment on the left flank. It was then that the gallant Ferry fell, cheering his battalion to hold its ground.

The resistance of the dismounted Fifth to these repeated attacks was made with the carbine. The rapidity with which the new repeating weapon could be discharged was a painful surprise to the enemy. One deadly volley followed another so swiftly that the living could not fill the gaps made by this terrible new instrument of destruction. Each time they hesitated, poised for a moment in swaying column, turned and fled. The efficiency of the weapon had compensated for the disparity in numbers. It had also made serious inroads in the stock of shells carried by the troopers of the Fifth. The last round was in the magazines. Empty weapons would be useless even in the hands of brave men. Colonel Alger sound the retreat.

Custer's alert eyes, from his position on the pike, covered each minute detail. The Seventh, composed of raw men only four months on the muster rolls, lay to the right and somewhat in advance of the main position. It could save the Fifth. In a few moments the Seventh, following Col. William D. Mann, was flying across the broken ground to meet the Confederates charge. The flying column crashed in headlong collision. Neither the blue nor the gray gave heed to personal safety. The inspiration of the moment was in their blood. All were carried into the maelstrom by the irresistible impulse of a conflict. The appearance of the Seventh was a surprise to the Confederates. The momentum of the Michigan troopers rolled their squadrons back, one upon the other. Grasping this advantage of the first impact, colonel Mann pushed the enemy through the harvest fields in a hand-to-hand struggle until his adversaries found refuse behind a high unbroken fence which the mounted men could not clear. Nothing daunted, the Seventh rode bravely up to the fence and discharged their revolvers over it into the very faces of the foe.

The ground now occupied by he Seventh was untenable. They were compelled to retire, the enemy in swift pursuit. By this time the Fifth, from whose pursuit Colonel Mann's charge had diverted the yelling Confederates, had partially succeeded in remounting and Major Trowbridge led a battalion of this regiment to the succor of the Seventh. Trowbridge has his horse shot under him, but his charge checked the rebel pursuit. Custer's eye kindled with satisfaction as he noted the efficiency and valor of the troopers he had been named to lead. With such men he could make his brigade the pride of the army.

For the moment there was peace on the field before him, a peace broken now and then by the desultory firing of scattered skirmishers. The blue and the gray were breathing. The First and the Sixth were spectators from the vantage of the battery. Thus far the blue had held their position.

And then trouble again reared its head from behind the crest of that ridge. Four regiments of gray cavalry came over the summit and swept majestically down on the Michigan brigade. It was Wade Hampton's brigade of veteran troopers, the pride of Lee's army. To meet it Custer had but the fire of Battery M and the First Michigan formed in reserves. The odds were tremendous. But the young commander had orders to hold his position. He was protecting the right flank of the men who were defending, with desperate valor, the long line that stretched away to his left.

The First was formed in column of battalions. Custer ordered the First to meet the advancing foe. Battery M poured solid shot into the oncoming host.

With Colonel Town at its head, the regiment went forward at a trot, sabers drawn. Within a short distance of the enemy the charge was sounded and, with a mighty yell, the First hurled itself at the heavy columns. As each squadron, in almost faultless alignment, struck the enemy it was broken by the impact and spread out upon either flank of the succeeding one, as the currents of a river are and formed into eddies by an immovable obstruction. But these broken squadrons formed again in the wake of the regiment and returned to the assault. The audacity of the charge surprised Hampton's troopers. The rapidity of the blows threw them into confusion. The execution of the Michigan sabers turned the sweeping, cocksure advance into a rout and the enemy made haste to the protection of the ridge from behind which it had emerged.

Those who saw the gallant charge gave unstinted praise to the action of the Michigan men. In its execution it rivals the famous cavalry actions of history,. It was a fitting finale to the heroic deeds of an eventful day. it demonstrated the dependability of the Michigan brigade. It made Custer a marked man in the cavalry service.

And those laurels were dearly purchased. When the regiments formed again on the York pike, they were pitifully depleted. The First had lost in ten minutes six officers and eighty men. Of officers and men in the brigade five hundred and forty-two failed to answer roll call. Nine officers and sixty-nine men were killed. Twenty five officers and two hundred and seven men were wounded. Seven officers and two hundred and twenty-five men were missing. Such was the toll of the hard-fought struggle which protected Meade's right. Such was the sacrifice Michigan's cavalry made on the field of Gettysburg.

CUSTER'S FAREWELL ORDER.

Headquarters Third Cavalry Division,
Appomattox Court House
April 9, 1865.

SOLDIERS OF THE THIRD CAVALRY DIVISION:

With profound gratitude towards the God of battle, by whose blessings our enemies have been humbled, and our arms rendered triumphant, your commanding general avails himself of this, his first opportunity, to express to you his admiration of the heroic manner in which you have passed through the series of battle which today resulted in the surrender of the enemy's entire army. The record established b y your indomitable courage is unparalleled in the annals of war. Your prowess has won for you even the respect and admiration of your enemies.

During the past six months, although in most instances confronted by superior numbers, you have captured from the enemy in open battle, one hundred and eleven pieces of field artillery, sixty-five battle flags and upwards of ten thousand prisoners of war, including seven general officers. Within the past ten days, and included in the above, you have captured forty-five piece of field artillery and thirty-seven battle lags.

You have never lost a gun, never lost a color, and never been defeated, and notwithstanding the numerous engagements, including those memorable battles of the Shenandoah, you have captured every piece of artillery the enemy has dared to open upon you.

The near epoch of peace renders it improbable that you will be called upon again to undergo the fatigues of toilsome march or the exposure of the battlefield, but should the assistance of keen blades wielded by your sturdy arms be required to hasten the coming of the glorious peace for which we have been so long contending, the general commanding is proudly confident that in the future, as in the past, every demand will meet with a hearty and willing response.

Let us hope that our work is done; blessed with the comforts of peace, we may soon be permitted to return to the pleasure of home and friends.

For our comrades who have fallen let us cherish a grateful remembrance; to the wounded and those who languish in southern prisons, let our heartfelt sympathy be turned.

And now, speaking of myself alone, when the war is ended, and the task of the historian begins, when those deeds which have rendered the name and fame of the Third Cavalry Division imperishable, are inscribed upon the bright pages of our country's history, I only ask that my mane be written as the commandeer of he Third Cavalry Division.

GEORGE A. CUSTER.
Brevet Major-General