General Joseph T. Copland the general Custer repalaced.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
I visited Monroe Michigan today and thought on my way home I would drive by Copland Castle, a massive Romanesque Revival house built like a Norman castle style home build by General Joseph T. Copland the general Custer replaced. Truly a house fit for a Norman lord or a southern gentleman. Sadly due to the traffic I could not stop for a photo. So here is an image from a postcard (the tall tower has collapsed and the house repaired.) Yhe shorter large tower is hidden behind the tree.
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This beautiful house is across the street from Orchard Lake and has a view to die for.
 
Copeland, Bill.

Joseph Copeland got an exceedingly raw deal from Alf Pleasonton. Yes, he was a bit older. No, he wasn't a West Pointer. He was a former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and was obviously extremely well-connected politically in Michigan, which is how he got the commission as colonel of the 5th Michigan. He was promoted to brigadier general because he earned it, and he had done a very capable job of commanding the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. Alf wanted his fair-haired boy (literally) Custer in command of the MCB, so he summarily dismissed Copeland without a word of explanation from Pleasonton as to why. Copeland never did get an explanation. He asked for--but was denied--a court of inquiry as to why he had been fired without cause.

Was Copeland the right guy to command the MCB over the long haul? No, probably not. But he also did not deserve the treatment that he got at the hands of Alf Pleasonton.

The image is of Copeland.

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He seemed to do fair as the LTC of the 1st Michigan Cavalry. Copeland did great service recruiting cavalry regiments in Michigan. He was probably a bit to old to command a cavalry brigade. I have yet to see a real reason to lose his command.

His house in Orchard Lake Michigan is on the National Registry. Copeland had turned it in to a motel after the Civil War. The motel was on a peninsula walking distance to two lakes and very near two other lakes. His house became the commandant's resident at Michigan Military Academy.
 
He seemed to do fair as the LTC of the 1st Michigan Cavalry. Copeland did great service recruiting cavalry regiments in Michigan. He was probably a bit to old to command a cavalry brigade. I have yet to see a real reason to lose his command.

And you won’t. There was no legitimate reason. The sole reason is that he wasn’t one of Pleasonton’s boys and had no loyalty to Alf.
 
Angelo Paldi of the Michigan Cavalry Regiment and Michigan Cavalrt Brigade was not a young man but seemed to have done well during the Civil War

The Michigan Hussars a.k.a. Michigan Huzzars a.k.a. Detroit Hussars, a.k.a. the Hussars (Detroit, Wayne County) as infantry, they became Company F of the 1st​ Michigan Three Month Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The company was founded in July 15 1859 and elected Angelo Paldi as their first commanderhttps://civilwartalk.com/#_edn1. I have seen some indication it was considered a “German” company, but not sure this is true. Captain Paldi was an experienced soldier who had fought for the French Army in Algeria and Spain as well as servicing in the U. S. Army in Florida and Mexico. Paldi departed the company at the start of the War to serve in the cavalry and Captain Horace S. Roberts took the company to war. The company appears to have reformed after their three month service and they appear in newspapers in 1862. When Captain Paldi joined the 1st Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment many of the Hussars joined with him.


https://civilwartalk.com/#_ednref1 Angelo Paldi apparently preferred to stay in the Cavalry and did not accompany the Detroit Hussars into the 1st​ Three Month Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Instead he became the commander of Company G. 1st​ Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.
 
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