Officers Return for Service

Thursday, June 11, 1863

Colonel Richard Bostwick, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Merwin, Major James Coburn, and Lieutenants Frank Chapman, Burdick, Muhler, Rice, and Cross returned for command. Colonel Bostwick was suffering from a illness that prevented him from taking command of the regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Merwin assumed command. Three companies were formed from Companies D, F and the remnants of the remaining companies and placed under the command of Captain Jedediah Chapman.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 70.

Preparation for March

Monday, June 8, 1863

The Twenty-Seventh Connecticut received orders to prepare for march at any time with three-days rations.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 72.

Wounded Return for Service

Wednesday, May 13, 1863

The Twenty-Seventh regained several of their wounded men from hospitals in Fredericksburg.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 69.

Retreat to Falmouth

Wednesday, May 6, 1863

The Union Army, ordered to retreat to Falmouth, were delayed by heavy rain on Tuesday. This morning at 4 A.M. the Union Army resumed their march and crossed the Rappahannock River at the United States Ford. Marching for twelve hours they finally returned to Falmouth in the late afternoon.

The debacle at Chancellorsville left the Twenty-Seventh Connecticut with only two active companies, D and F, and had reduced their numbers from four-hundred to one-hundred and sixty.

General Darius Couch, commander of the Second Corps, requested a new assignment and was replaced by General Winfield S. Hancock. ¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 69-70.

Advancing toward Chancellorsville

Wednesday, April 29, 1863

After two weeks of heavy rain the weather cleared on Monday. After receiving orders to march on Tuesday evening the Twenty-Seventh broke camp at Falmouth this morning and began a march toward the river crossing at United States Ford.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 43-44.

Preparation for Advance

Wednesday, April 15, 1863

The Twenty-Seventh received orders for eight days of rations in preparation for an advance. The men were inspected every day for the next eight days to ensure that they were prepared to move. Along with these orders the Twenty-Seventh Connecticut had been transferred to the Fourth Brigade of the First Division of the Second Corps, under the command of Colonel John R. Brooke of the Fifty-Third Pennsylvania Regiment.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 43.

President Lincoln Presides at Grand Review of Union Army

Wednesday, April 8, 1863

General Abraham Lincoln visited the Union camp at Falmouth and presided over a grand review of the Army of the Potomac, marking the opening of the Spring Campaign of 1863. Fifty to sixty-thousand men participated in the review, and many observed that the Union Army had never looked better.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 43.

Balloon Surveillance

Tuesday, March 31, 1863

As the end of March neared and the weather improved Union Commander General Joseph Hooker anticipated a movement of the Confederate army. Surveillance balloons were deployed daily along the Rappahannock River to determine the position of the Confederates.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 41-42.

General Hooker Reviews the Second Corps

Thursday, March 5, 1863

General Joseph Hooker reviewed the Second Corps of the Union Army at Falmouth. General Darius Couch, commander of the Second Corps, accompanied General Hooker during the review. Fifteen-thousand men lined up on the plain near General Winfield S. Hancock’s headquarters and marched in column by company.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 41.

Snowstorm

Sunday, February 22, 1863

The heaviest snowstorm of the winter hit the camp of the Twenty-Seventh Connecticut in Falmouth today as the holiday observation of George Washington’s birthday was celebrated near his childhood home. Several inches of snow blanketed the region by nightfall.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 41.

Burnside's "Mud March"

Tuesday, January 20, 1863

The Twenty-Seventh Connecticut received orders to march toward Fredericksburg, as General Ambrose Burnside planned to advance upon the city once more. Generals Joseph Hooker and William Franklin were ordered to march north six miles and cross the Rappahannock River at Banks' Ford in a flanking move on Fredericksburg and General Edwin Sumner was to cross at Falmouth to advance directly upon the city. As the army began their move rain ensued for several days, and the advance of the army was impeded by heavy rain and mud. After three days the campaign, known as the "Mud March," was halted permanently.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 38-9.

Burnside and Sumner Review the Second Corps

Sunday, January 18, 1863

The Twenty-Seventh Connecticut participated in a review of the Second Corps by Generals Ambrose Burnside and Edwin Sumner.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 37-8.

Dress Parade and Orders to March

Saturday, January 17, 1863

On Friday the Twenty-Seventh Connecticut participated in a regimental dress parade and received orders to march this morning with three day rations. They arose early this morning and awaited orders to prepare for march, but the orders did not come.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 37.

Arrival at Falmouth

Tuesday, December 9, 1862

The Twenty-Seventh Connecticut arrived at Falmouth at noon and immediately reported to the headquarters of General Darius Couch, commander of the Second Corps. The Twenty-Seventh Connecticut officially joined the Army of the Potomac, assigned to General Samuel Zook's Third Brigade of General Winfield S. Hancock's First Division of the Second Corps of General Edwin "Bull" Sumner's Right Grand Division.¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 20.