The 27th Maine Infantry Regiment was a nine-month regiment raised for service in the

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during the

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Service

One of eight regiments raised by Maine in the fall of 1862 under the call for men to serve nine-month terms, the 27th Maine was formed primarily of volunteers from

York County, Maine York County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Maine, along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County, New Hampshire, by the Salmon Falls River, and the connected tidal estuary—the Pi ...

. They went into camp at

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, on 10 September, with the officers being mustered into service on the 19th and the enlisted men on the 30th. After a short furlough home, and the addition of a few later enlistments to complete the regiment, they left for

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

on 20 October 1862. The unit was attached to the XXII Corps, first belonging to

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Division and later to the division of General

John Joseph Abercrombie John Joseph Abercrombie (March 4, 1798 – January 3, 1877) was a career United States Army officer who served in numerous wars, finally reaching the rank of brigadier general during the American Civil War. Early life and career Abercrombie w ...

. They served as pickets in the defenses of the capital through their entire term. First encamped on East

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upon their arrival in Washington, they soon moved to Arlington Heights,

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and afterward to

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, where they went into winter quarters until March 1863. In the spring, they relocated along with the 25th Maine to

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and were there until 25 June, when they were transferred into the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

and ordered to report to

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and the

XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to: * 12th Army Corps (France) * XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army * XII ...

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. This order was quickly changed, as it had not been known that the 1st Brigade (25th Maine and 27th Maine) were only nine-month units and their terms were about to expire, so they were instead sent to Arlington Heights for preparations to their mustering out and subsequent return to Maine.

Volunteer service and the Medal of Honor

On the request of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, Secretary of War

Edwin Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize t ...

sent letters on 28 June 1863 to the commanding officers of the 25th Maine and 27th Maine regiments, asking for them to remain beyond their contracted service due to the invasion of

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and his army. Declined first by the 25th Maine, the 27th was then asked, and over 300 men volunteered to remain beyond their service time in the defenses of Washington during what became the Gettysburg Campaign. When Colonel Wentworth delivered the message to Secretary Stanton, he was informed that "''Medals of Honor would be given to that portion of the regiment that volunteered to remain''". With the battle soon over, they left Washington for home on 4 July, reuniting with the rest of the regiment in Portland for their mustering out on 17 July 1863. Following the end of the war, when the promise to award medals to the volunteers was fulfilled, there was a lack of an agreeable list of those who stayed behind in Washington. This resulted in some 864 medals being made, and it was left up to Wentworth to distribute them to those members he remembered staying behind with him. The MOH awarded to George Washington Emmons can be seen a
Old Gordon Gravestones
These medals were later purged by Congress in 1917 as the actions of the regiment did not meet the criteria for receiving such a medal.

Commanders

With Colonel Rufus Tapley leaving the regiment in January 1863, Lieutenant Colonel Mark F. Wentworth resumed command of the unit. He was formerly of the

Kittery Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

militia, and stationed at

Fort McClary Fort McClary is a former defensive fortification of the United States military located along the southern coast at Kittery Point, Maine at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. It was used throughout the 19th century to protect approaches to the harb ...

during the early part of the Civil War. Following his service in the 27th Maine, he became commanding officer of the 32nd Maine Infantry Volunteers in February 1864, but had to resign on October due to being seriously wounded at the

Battle of the Crater The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the siege of Petersburg. It took place on Saturday, July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Arm ...

in July.

Complement and casualties

There were a total of 949 men listed on the muster rolls for the 27th Maine. During their service, the regiment lost nineteen men by disease and one was killed by the accidental discharge of his musket.1863 Adj Rep, pgs 748-772

Bibliography

*Hodsdon, John L, Adj Gen (1863). ''Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Maine for the Year Ending 31 December 1863''. Augusta, ME: Stevens & Sayward, State Printers. *Pullen, John J. (1966). ''A Shower of Stars''. Philadelphia: J B Lippincott Co. *Stone, Lieut.Col. James M (1895). ''The History of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment Maine Volunteer Infantry''. Portland, ME: The Thurston Print.

Notes

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External links

The 27th MainePhotograph of veterans of the 27th Maine Infantry from the Maine Memory Network
27th Maine Infantry Regiment 1862 establishments in Maine Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1863