Rendezvous with Death: The Ryder Brothers at Gettysburg

Presented by Don Batkins. The Ryder Brothers of Plymouth, Alfred and John, served in the 1st Michigan Calvary, the Michigan Lancers, and the 24th Michigan Regiment during the Civil War. They died at Gettysburg in 1863. The brothers grew up on the family farm, located on Plymouth Road at the site of the current Ford plant. The land was purchased from the Government in 1827 and 1831 after the family moved from New York via the Erie Canal in 1826. This talk uses period illustrations, comments from the brothers' letters, descriptions of camp life and other interesting observations to describe events of this period. The talk ends with a short overview of what could be called a cottage industry as some locals disinterred dead soldiers and sent their bodies back home for reburial.