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17th
Massachusetts Infantry
in the Civil War
| Regimental History |
| Seventeenth Infantry - Cols., Thomas J. C. Amory, John F. Fellows, Henry
Splaine; Lieut-Cols., John F. Fellows, Henry Splaine; William W. Smith; Majs., Jones
Frankle, Luther Day, Henry Splaine, William W. Smith, John E. Mullaly. The 17th was
mustered in at Lynnfield, July 21 and 22, 1861, and was mustered out on Aug. 3, 1864, when
the reenlisted men and recruits were formed into a battalion of three companies, which
continued the same name and were reinforced by the addition of several companies from the
2d Mass. heavy artillery. The battalion was mustered out July 11, 1865. The 17th
originally was composed of eight companies from Essex county, one from Middlesex and one
from Suffolk. Co. A was made up of the Newburyport City Grays; Co. B, the Foster Guards;
Co. C, the Danvers Light Infantry; Co. D, the Wallace Guards ; Cos. E and F, from
Haverhill ; Co. G, the Kimball Guard ; Co. H, the British Volunteers of Boston ; Co. I,
the Saunders Guard, and Co. K, the Maiden Light Infantry. The total strength was 1,411 men
when the regiment left the state for Baltimore on Aug. 23, 1861. It spent the winter near
Baltimore, with the exception of an expedition into Virginia, and in the spring of 1862
was ordered to New Berne, N. C. It took part in an expedition to Goldsboro and met the
Confederates at Kinston, Whitehall and Goldsboro. From Dec. 22, 1862, to July 25, 1863,
the headquarters were at New Berne, with several minor expeditions. On July 25 it embarked
in support of a cavalry raid on Weldon, but returned to duty again at or near New Berne.
In Feb., 1864, a detail of the regiment had a sharp brush with the enemy at Batchelder's
creek, and in April another detachment was sent to the relief of Little Washington. The
battalion spent the winter of 1864-65 near Beaufort, moved to Goldsboro in March,
encountering the enemy along the route, and closed its term of service in July, 1865. |
Footnotes:
Regimental history taken from "The Union Army" by Federal Publishing
Company, 1908 - Volume 1
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