Forced March to Gettysburg

Wednesday, July 1, 1863

After leaving Thoroughfare Gap early on June 25 and crossing the Potomac River at Edward’s Ferry a day later the Twenty Seventh Connecticut Regiment marched rapidly for the next three days through the Monocacy River Valley in Maryland. Long, grueling marches from Poolesville to Uniontown brought praise from brigade commander Colonel John Brooke. Today the Twenty-Seventh reached Taneytown, several miles south of Gettysburg. Heavy fighting had commenced earlier in the day and the men received news of the death of First Corps Commander General John Reynolds. Second Corps Commander General Winfield S. Hancock hurried his men to within three miles of Gettysburg. The Twenty Seventh Connecticut was immediately deployed to build entrenchments in preparation for battle. ¹

References:
¹Winthrop Dudley Sheldon The "Twenty-Seventh," : A Regimental History (New Haven, Connecticut: Morris and Benham, 1866), 73-74.

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.