Profile
Catalog Number
2020.9.485Title
Buursma, AleDescription
Image of former Holland MI resident Ale Buursma's record of service in the "Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War, Vol. 25" and obituary in the December 6th, 1901 edition of Holland City News, page four.History
Reverend Ale Buursma (Also spelled Bursema, Bursma) was born on July 9th, 1841 in the Netherlands. On February 18th, 1865, he enlisted with the 25th Michigan Infantry Company I. On June 15th, 1865, he was transferred to the 28th Michigan Infantry, Co. K, in which he served until February 21st, 1866. After the war, he became a minister and eventually moved to Grand Rapids, MI, where he became the pastor of the 5th Reformed Church there. He was also a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Education. Ale died on December 5th, 1901 in Grand Rapids. He is interred in Oakhill Cemetery in Grand Rapids.The 25th Michigan Infantry Company I was largely made up of Dutch immigrants from Holland, Michigan and its surrounding areas. The company is most famous for its involvement in the Battle at Tebb's Bend, where roughly 200 Union soldiers repulsed an attack by the Confederate general John Hunt Morgan and his raiders. The 25th Infantry was also involved in several campaigns in Eastern Tennessee and Sherman's March to the Sea, where the 25th fought at Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Cassville, Kingston, Allatoona, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, and Kenesaw. The regiment also took part in the siege of Atlanta. The regiment was mustered out on June 24th, 1865.
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