On April 13, 1861 — the day after the attack on Fort Sumter — Charles T. Foster becomes the first Lansing resident to sign up to fight for the Union at a rally at the State Capitol. Although Lansing was Michigan’s capital city, it was not then large enough to field its own regiment. Charles and his Lansing comrades made their way to Grand Rapids, where they joined the Third Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Foster would eventually lose his life at the Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, on May 29, 1862.
Source : Matt VanAcker and Kerry Chartkoff, “To His Country and His Flag”, Seeking Michigan, April 5, 2011.
Also see Men of the 3rd Michigan Infantry