About Us
Who we are
We are a community-based Civil War Union Army re-enacting organization, focused on remembering the sacrifices of our soldiers who defended our nation. We participate in school programs. Local historical events, parades and more.
Get Involved
Are you passionate about what we're doing? Let us know! We are always looking for a history enthusiast to help us bring history to life. We're excited to have you join the team!
Join the Engineers!
Membership in the First Michigan Engineers & Mechanics, Company E is open to anyone willing to exert a cooperative effort towards the accurate portrayal of a Union Army Civil War Engineer.
Based out of Northern Illinois and the Chicago land area, we participate in numerous local and national re-enactments and living history events each year. We welcome one and all.
In portraying a Union Civil War combat engineer we follow the guidelines and live up to the historical past of the 1st Michigan Engineers. We build towers, bridges, Chevaux DeFrise, abatis road barricades, wire entanglements, trenches and we also make field maps and reconnaissance/scout positions.
In the past 30 years we've built three 20 to 25ft. tall Signal Towers (Glenview, IL.
'97/'01 & Jackson, MI. '95), one 40ft Signal Tower (Minooka '06) and two 45ft. length wooded foot bridges (Palatine, IL. '93 & Billie Creek, IN. '04), and field trenches (Bentonville 2015).
Many of our members have been re-enacting for 10, 20 and even 30 years. They've also participated in many recent Civil War motion picture productions: "Gettysburg", "Andersonville" and "Gods & Generals" to name a few.
We're celebrating our 37th year in 2024.
If you have any questions or are interested in joining the unit, please e-mail the unit at coe1stmicheng@yahoo.com.