27th ind vol regiment - Putnam

In 1965 the Indiana Civil War Centennial Commission published a Guide to Indiana Civil War Manuscripts. 1 On pages 87 and 88 we find a brief history of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment:

"Twenty-Seventh Regiment was organized at Indianapolis on the 30th of August, 1861, and was mustered into service for three years, at the same place, on the 12th of September, 1861. Leaving the Capital of Indiana on the 15th of September, it moved to Washington City, and in the following month was transferred to Banks' Army of the Shenandoah. During the winter the regiment was quartered in the huts at Camp Halleck, near Frederick City, Maryland, from whence it moved early in March, 1862 across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley. It marched into Winchester (VA) upon the evacuation of that place on the 9th of March, and, just after the battle of Winchester Heights, joined in the pursuit of Jackson's defeated army. On the 23d of May, it was engaged in the battle of Front Royal and formed part of the column that made the famous retreat on the Strasburg road the following day towards Winchester. Reaching Winchester that night, a furious battle was fought on the morning of the 25th, in which the Twenty-Seventh participated. The brigade to which it was attached Gordon's withstood the assault of twenty-eight rebel regiments for three and a half hours and repulsed them. An attempt to check a flank movement on the right was gallantly seconded by the Twenty-Seventh, but the rebels had massed such a force that our army could not resist it longer, and was forced to fall back into the town, engaging the enemy in the public streets. The retreat beyond Winchester was safely conducted, and the regiment crossed the Potomac at Williamsport on the 26th of May.

Soon after the regiment again marched into the Valley, and from thence to Culpepper C. H. (Court House) via Front Royal, where it became part of Banks' Division of Pope's Army of Virginia. On the 9th of August the regiment marched from Culpepper C. H. to Cedar Mountain, eight miles distance, and participated on that day in the battle of Cedar Mountain. After this battle it was withdrawn to the north side of the Rappahannock, and after the rebel army had forced its way through Thoroughfare Gap and across the Potomac, the regiment, as part of the 12th Corps, joined in the Maryland campaign. At the battle of Antietam, on the 17th of September, it was actively engaged, sustaining a heavy loss. After this engagement the regiment was placed on picket duty, the companies being stationed along the east bank of the Potomac, from Harper's Ferry to the mouth of Opequan Creek. During the winter it moved to the vicinity of Fairfax Station and Stafford C. H., and was not actively engaged with the enemy until the campaign of 1863.

Marching with the army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock, i6t participated in the great battle of Chancellorsville. On the 3d of May it was conspicuously engaged as part of the 12th Corps, suffering a severe loss in killed and wounded. . . . "