The 17th Massachusetts was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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The 17th Massachusetts was organized at Camp Schouler in Lynnfield, Massachusetts[i] and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on July 22, 1861 under the command of Colonel Thomas J.C. Amory.
1864 Operations
Early in 1864 the 17th met with its first serious experience in action. On February 1, an attack was made by the Confederates under MGEN Pickett on the Union outpost at Batchelder's Creek, some eight miles from New Bern,[ii] and LTC Fellows with 115 members of the five companies located outside the city and a section of artillery set out for the support of the 132nd New York Infantry, then holding the threatened position.
The bridge across the creek had just been carried by the strong force of the enemy when the 17th detachment arrived, and Fellows placed his command to the front and left of the New York regiment. In that position they repelled the Rebels several times. The enemy's overwhelming numbers began to tell as they carried the bridge at Batchelder's Creek and soon crossed over. As the defenders began to run low on ammunition, COL Peter Claassen, commanding the 132nd New York Infantry, ordered his men back into New Bern. He detailed the 17th to provide cover for the battery and the 132nd made their withdrawal. The order was then given to fall back to the crossing of the Trent road to make another stand, but in heavy fog, the Confederates flanked the party and cut off a large portion of them before they could escape. Three had been killed and three severely wounded during the fighting, and 66 were made prisoners, including Fellows, Surgeon Galloupe, and Adjutant Henry A. Cheever — the latter severely wounded.
Those that made good their escape made their way back to New Bern and assisted in manning the works and picketing the approaches while the city was attacked over the next three days.
Organizational affiliation
Attached to:
- Dix's Command, Baltimore, Maryland, to March 1862.
- Foster's 1st Brigade, Burnside's Expeditionary Corps, to April 1862. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Department of North Carolina, to December 1862.
- Amory's Brigade, Department of North Carolina, to January 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XVIII Corps, Department of North Carolina, to July 1863.
- Defenses of New Bern, North Carolina, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to July 1864.
- Sub-District of Beaufort, North Carolina, Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to January 1865.
- Sub-District of Beaufort, North Carolina, Department of North Carolina, to March 1865.
- 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Beaufort, North Carolina, Department of North Carolina, to March 1865.
- 1st Brigade, Division District of Beaufort, to April 1865. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, XXIII Corps, to July 1865.
List of battles
The official list of battles in which the regiment bore a part:
Detailed service
1861
- Left Massachusetts for Washington, D.C., August 23
- Duty at Baltimore, Md., until March 1862.
1862
- Ordered to New Bern, N.C., March 12,
- Duty there until December.
- Reconnaissance toward Trenton May 15–16.
- Trenton Bridge May 15.
- Trenton and Pollocksville Road May 22 (Company I).
- Expedition to Trenton and Pollocksville July 24–28.
- Demonstration on New Bern November 11.
- Foster's Expedition to Goldsboro December 11–20.
- Kinston December 14.
- Whitehall December 16.
- Goldsboro December 17.
1863
- Provost duty at and near New Bern until April 1863.
- March to relief of Washington, N.C., April 7–10.
- Blount's Creek April 9.
- Expedition to Washington April 17–19.
- Expedition toward Kinston April 27-May 1.
- Wise's Cross Roads and Dover Road April 28.
- Expedition to Thenton July 4–8.
- Quaker Bridge July 6.
- Raid on Weldon July 25-August 1.
- Duty at New Bern until February 1864.
1864
- Operations about New Bern against Whiting January 18-February 10, 1864.
- Skirmishes at Beech Creek and Batchelor's Creek February 1–3.
- Expedition to Washington April 18–22. Washington April 27–28.
- Duty at New Bern and vicinity until July 27, and at Newport Barracks until September 23.
- Veterans on furlough until November 10.
- Duty at Newport Barracks November 20, 1864 to March 4, 1865.
1865
- Moved to Core Creek.
- Battle of Wyse Fork March 8–10, 1865.
- Occupation of Kinston March 15.
- Occupation of Goldsboro March 21.
- Advance on Raleigh April 9–14.
- Occupation of Raleigh April 14.
- Duty at Greensboro May 5-July 11.
- Mustered out of service on July 11, 1865 at Greensboro, North Carolina
The regiment lost a total of 172 men during service; 21 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 4 officers and 147 enlisted men died of disease.
- Colonel Thomas J.C. Amory
- Colonel John F. Fellows
- Colonel Henry Splaine - commanded at this rank, but not mustered
Union forces had captured New Bern during Ambrose Burnside's North Carolina Expedition in March 1862 and had been under Union control ever since. In 1864 the Union garrison was a brigade-sized force commanded by Brig. Gen. Innis N. Palmer. MGEN George E. Pickett commanding the Rebek army units coordinated an attack against New Bern with a detachment of Confederate Marines and sailors led by Commander John T. Wood. Pickett launched a three-prong attack without success and withdrew in defeat February 4.
Sources
- Bowen, James L (1889). Massachusetts in the War 1861–1865 (PDF) (1st ed.). Springfield, MA: Clark W. Bryan & Co. pp. 274–280. LCCN 02014318. OCLC 1986476. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Dyer, Frederick Henry (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (PDF). Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. pp. 25, 158, 279, 353, 354, 357, 161, 393, 1253. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q. LCCN 09005239. OCLC 8697590. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Federal Publishing Company (1908). Military Affairs and Regimental Histories of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, And Delaware (PDF). The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States, 1861–65 – Records of the Regiments in the Union army – Cyclopedia of battles – Memoirs of Commanders and Soldiers. Vol. I. Madison, WI: Federal Publishing Company. p. 176. OCLC 694018100. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Hall, Charles Winslow (1900a). Regiments and Armories of Massachusetts. An historical narration of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. With portraits and biographies of Officers, past and present, etc (PDF). Vol. I. Boston: W.H. Potter & Co. OCLC 559765857. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Hall, Charles Winslow (1900b). Regiments and Armories of Massachusetts. An historical narration of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. With portraits and biographies of Officers, past and present, etc (PDF). Vol. II. Boston: W.H. Potter & Co. OCLC 559765857. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Headley, Phineas Camp (1866). Massachusetts in the Rebellion: a Record of the Historical Position of the Commonwealth, and the Services of the Leading Statesmen, the Military, the Colleges, and the People, in the Civil War of 1861–65 (PDF). Boston, MA: Walker, Fuller & Co. pp. 242–246. OCLC 8406829. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (State Historian (1896). Massachusetts in the Army and Navy During the War of 1861–65 (PDF). Vol. I. Boston, MA: Wright and Potter Printing Co, State Printers. pp. 34, 50–55, 72–79, 92–103, 115–130, 137, 147–151, 230–231, 565–569. OCLC 1049652105. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (State Historian (1895). Massachusetts in the Army and Navy During the War of 1861–65 (PDF). Vol. II. Boston, MA: Wright and Potter Printing Co, State Printers. pp. 176, 183–184, 226, 235. LCCN 02014316. OCLC 1049652105. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Vol. I" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1 (Library ed.). Boston, MA: American Biographical Society. p. 484. OCLC 848266989. 13960-t1jh3jn1z. Retrieved October 26, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Vol. IV" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 4 (Library ed.). Boston, MA: American Biographical Society. p. 484. OCLC 848266989. 13960-t78s4qp47. Retrieved October 26, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Kirwan, Thomas. Soldiering in North Carolina (Boston: T. Kirwan), 1864.
- Kirwan, Thomas and Henry Splaine. Memorial History of the Seventeenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Old and New Organizations) in the Civil War from 1861-1865 (Salem, MA: Salem Press Co.), 1911.
- McPherson, James M. (1988). Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (PDF). Oxford History of the United States (1st ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 904. ISBN 978-0-19-503863-7. OCLC 7577667.
- Schouler, William (1861). Annual Report of the Adjutant-General, December 31, 1861 (PDF). Boston, MA: Adjutant General's Office, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Schouler, William (1868). A History of Massachusetts in the Civil War (PDF) (1st ed.). Boston, MA: E.P. Dutton & Co. pp. 190, 310, 316, 337, 387, 508, 536, 619, 649. LCCN 02014327. OCLC 2662693. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Stevens, Jesse F (1931). Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War (PDF). Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War in Eight Volumes. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). Norwood, MA: Norwood Press. pp. 409–491. LCCN 31027863. OCLC 11485612. Retrieved December 15, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
