 Major John Piper, of the 1st Regiment Michigan Volunteer Sharpshooters, was originally a member of Company "D" (WSS), but resigned in 1863 to take a position in the new Michigan sharpshooter regiment.A veteran of Company D ("The Michigan Boys"), Sergeant Lorenzo A. Barker, wrote the only history of the regiment, "With the Western Sharpshooters", published in 1905.Barker's manuscript diary is located in the Historical Manuscript collection of the Michigan Historical Museum where his engraved Henry Repeating Rifle is also preserved.